These people tell me via social media that it is the normal thing to cheer when your favourite rider’s rival crashes, just as you cheer when your football team scores a goal. Or perhaps those celebrating Marc Marquez’s accident were marking the first anniversary of the supposed plot to rob Valentino Rossi of the 2015 MotoGP crown. Sunday’s race was poignant because it marked the fifth anniversary of Marco Simoncelli’s fatal accident and the 56 th birthday of three-time 500cc world champion Wayne Rainey, who was paralysed from the chest down when he crashed out of the San Marino GP at Misano in September 1993.įor these reasons (and also many more) it was sickening to witness a minority of Phillip Island spectators celebrating a rider crashing to earth at 80mph, like a bunch of neanderthals punching the air at a Donald Trump rally. Even nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi couldn’t match the winner’s pace during his inspired comeback from 15 th on the grid. He beat the best in the world by over four seconds, which is proper domination during an era of close finishes. Managing tyre temperature is a big part of MotoGP and Crutchlow did it perfectly.

Marc Marquez and Aleix Espargaro chose the same front and both fell, proving the tyre had riders walking the narrowest of lines. Once again Crutchlow showed aggression and intelligence – he was one of the few to choose Michelin’s hard-option front slick and understood that whenever the sun disappeared behind the clouds the track temperature dropped, so he had to push harder (but not too hard) to keep the tyre hot enough to grip the track. Sign-up now for access to a limited number of articles.

Pommie pufsters