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MotoGPMoto2Pedrosa’s
Petronas lifeline
TECH 3 RACING’S Remy Gardner
made a gritty and painful return
to racing after a motocross injury
left him with two broken legs and
a broken ankle, but his three-race
absence has made it difficult for
him to retain his place with
the Tech 3 squad, which
will switch to KTMs
next season.
German rider
Marcel Schrotter is
already targeted for
one of the places with a
strong list of contenders
for the second place.
“Unfortunately for Remy, the
most important races for next
season are the ones between
Jerez and Assen so it is not
easy for him to make a play for
2019,” said Tech 3 boss Herve
Poncharal. “Remy made a strong
start to the season, but it’s a bit
of problem for me because now I
also have to involve KTM in this
process and there are a number
riders on a list for just two places.”
Gardner’s brave return sawhim grab an exhausting 15th-
place points fi nish in the Moto2
Catalunya Grand Prix. Gardner
raced carrying the metalwork
inserted to fi x the injuries, which
forced him to miss the Jerez, Le
Mans and Mugello races. Still
needing the aid of crutches to
walk, Gardner has two plates and
15 screws in his right ankle andlower leg, with a steel rod and four
screws following the compound
fracture to his right tibia.
“I was physically wrecked
at the end of the race,” Gardner
said after the 22-lapper. “I had
14th place until three laps to go
but couldn’t hold off Augusto
Fernandez. Still, got a point for
15th. It was a tough race.” CYTHE PROPOSED MALAYSIAN-
inspired satellite Yamaha team
backed by Petronas looks set to
be a lifeline for Repsol Honda’s
Dani Pedrosa who has been
cast aside by HRC in favour of
Jorge Lorenzo for 2019. Lorenzo
was originally in place for a
Yamaha return before a lateopportunity came up at Honda.
Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis
said there have been “positive
talks” about the project and
he expects resolution before
end of June. Adding he would
be “curious” to see how the
smooth-riding Pedrosa
performs on a YZR-M1. CYGardner’s future in doubt
Dovi’s dilema
ANDREA DOVIZIOSO ADMITS
his world championship
hopes have taken a hit, after
crashing out of the race his
teammate Jorge Lorenzo
went on to comfortably win.
Dovi realises he faces a
huge task not only to recover
the 49-point lead held by
Honda rival Marc Marquez,
but also to fight off the
uncomfortable presence of a
very fast teammate.
Marquez has won three
out of seven races so far, to
Dovi’s one, with Lorenzo now
with two wins. Marquez has
115 points to 66 each for Dovi
and Lorenzo.
“No question, the reality
is difficult,” Dovizioso told
AMCN. “If you are objective,
then 49 points, with a lot
riders in front of me, and
that Marc is very consistent
then the championship is
not easy.
“It is easy to make a
mistake when you are on the
limit, and all the fast riders at
the top of MotoGP are crazy,
so this can create some
strange situations.”
Marquez aside, Dovi now
faces an intense battle with
Lorenzo for superiority
within Ducati for the rest of
the season.
“The main thing for me
is to win races, and second
thing is be ahead of Lorenzo
in the points,” he said.
He fought to the
end, but Remy
was pipped to
14th in SpainGremlins hamper
Miller’s top form
A TOP-10 fi nish was snatched from
Jack Miller when his Ducati GP17
stalled with a faulty fuel pump
and forced his retirement from the
Catalunya Grand Prix. The glitch
came when he was in 10th and
tagging a fast group.
“A top 10 would have been a
piece of piss, I had plenty of rear
tyre left and just needed to stay
out there,” Miller said. “I’m kicking
myself for what could have been, I
was conserving the tyre and short-
shifting and still tagging along
with Maverick and Johann.
“Then, with seven laps to go, I
thought I was running out of fuel
with the engine cutting but it looks
like a fuel pump problem, Syahrin
(Yamaha) came past me on the
straight like I was walking.” CYYou’d be smiling too
if you thought you
needed to retire one
day... when a seat
comes up the nextMotoGP