Welsh rugby mourns Gallacher
looked set comfortably to win his first MotoGP at Phillip Island with a massive four-second advantage on his dominant Repsol Honda bike.
But the Spanish ace lost control of his front wheel on lap 19 of the 27-lap race at the bottom of Lukey Heights and crashed out unharmed, leaving Rossi to take over and go on to win by 10.836 seconds.
“When I saw Marc crash it was a surprise, and to finish first at Phillip Island after my last victory here in 2005 is a great achievement,” Rossi said.
“I love this track and I’ve won the two most important world championships of my career in 2001 and 2004.
“I won again here in 2005 but I have done a lot of podiums since then and never won.”
Rossi’s victory pushed him to an eight-point lead over Lorenzo in the fight for second place in the world championship standings behind Marquez, with two races remaining at Sepang and Valencia.
“I was focused on the second place in the championship and I am able to gain some points over Jorge, but it’s so close with two races to the end,” Rossi said.
Marquez’s Spanish Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa retired from the race on lap seven after his bike was hit in the rear by Andrea Iannone, resulting in a buckled rear wheel rim. He finished with zero points.
Pedrosa, currently trailing Rossi by 25 points in fourth spot, looks to have lost his chance of finishing second overall.
Rossi came off the third row of the grid — his worst qualifying position since 12th at Assen in late June — and diced with Lorenzo for second spot as Marquez extended his lead with every lap.
But the race took a dramatic turn when Marquez, looking set for his 12th GP triumph this season, lost his front wheel and tumbled onto the trackside grass, his race over.
“As I had no pressure on me I tried a different approach, pushing hard from the start to try to open the largest gap possible,” Marquez said.
“We were having a good race, right up until the crash. It was a pity that I went down at a time that I was not riding on the limit or faster than the lap before.”
Last year’s winner Lorenzo was critical of his Bridgestone tyres and said he was lucky to finish the race.
“It’s a fantastic result for Yamaha, it’s been a long time, but to be honest I’m very disappointed because you work hard for the best set-up of the bike. But sometimes you get this type of tyres that are a complete disaster,” he said.
“Over the last few laps it was a drama just to stay on the bike in the fast corners. But I managed to finish the race and I was very lucky, it’s probably been my luckiest second place.”
It was Smith’s first podium finish in two seasons of MotoGP. Fellow Briton Cal Crutchlow crashed out on his Ducati while in second place on the final lap. LONDON, Oct 19, (AFP): Noble Mission provided a memorable victory for the Cecil family by beating Al Kazeem to finish first in the Champion Stakes at Ascot on Saturday.
The horse’s brother Frankel, trained by the late Henry Cecil, ended his exceptional career by winning the same race at Ascot, south-west of London, two years ago.
Cecil, one of the outstanding English trainers of his generation, died a few months later but his widow, Jane Cecil, took over at his Warren Place yard.
Ridden by James Doyle, Noble Mission (7/1) was pushed all the way to the line by Al Kazeem but hung on to win by a neck in the feature race of the fourth Champions Day meeting.
Afterwards, an elated Jane Cecil said: “I was interviewed before the race, which I didn’t really want to do, and I said it would be a fairytale.
“That’s what it feels like to me. We hardly dared to dream. We knew he was in great shape but it was a tough race.
“What makes it so much more special, being Frankel’s brother. A year ago, who would have thought Noble would have been here today winning the Champion Stakes?
“It was nerve-wracking, that last little bit. James rode a brilliant race. I had my head in my hands because I didn’t think he would hang on, but he was so brave.”
Noble Mission, owned as was Frankel by Prince Khaild Abdullah, was cheered to the echo upon returning to the winner’s enclosure and Cecil said: “I know a lot of that was for Henry, it’s so wonderful. You can still feel all the love that everyone has for Henry.”
Teddy Grimthorpe, Abdullah’s racing manager, added: “What a happy day — it’s the emotions of the whole thing — with Jane, and the history of Champions Day with Henry, and the brother of Frankel.