Features 3 Sep 2016

Cycle 360

An all-access Australian view of road racing, presented by Alpinestars.

It will be great to see Australia’s Jack Miller back in action at this weekend’s British Grand Prix, round 12 of this year’s MotoGP series, after he was ruled out of both the Red Bull Ring and Brno rounds.

To refresh your memory, a crash in the Austrian morning warm-up saw Miller sustain a hairline fracture of the T6 vertebra and a hairline fracture in the radius bone of his right wrist. He was declared fit to race the following weekend in Czech Republic, but the team opted to sit him out.

Already secured for another season at Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda in 2017, it was probably a wise move to preserve his health and allow him to heal from what were minor, but still significant, injuries. Next year will be one of the most important of his career.

Source: Supplied.

Source: Supplied.

Up front, it’s becoming a case of now or never if Movistar Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo are to mount a series challenge to Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez in the standings. They need to start beating him race in, race out, to threaten him, but that won’t be easy whatsoever.

Meanwhile, things didn’t go to plan for the Australians in the FIM Endurance World Championship finals at the Oschersleben 8 Hours last weekend, but it was fantastic to see Alex Cudlin’s Team April Moto Motors Events Suzuki squad place on the podium overall.

Of course it would have been mega to see Cudlin or Broc Parkes’ YART Yamaha Official EWC Team take out the title, but it wasn’t to be and I’m sure they will be back again next season in some form for another crack, as will the likes of Damian Cudlin and the impressive Aaron Morris.

And how about Jason O’Halloran’s form in the British Superbike Championship so far this season? Despite missing much of last year with frustrating injuries, he’s established himself as a legitimate front-runner on a weekly basis. His dual Cadwell Park podiums confirmed that.

Source: Supplied.

Source: Supplied.

O’Halloran has already cemented himself a position in the title-deciding Showdown sector of the series, currently third overall, and a top three finish would be particularly rewarding when you consider he’s been based in the UK for eight years, working his way to such a position to do so!

That’s going to be it from me for this week, we’re coming off a huge last weekend at Coolum’s Motul MX Nationals finals, so I’ll wrap things up here, recharge for the weekend’s light run of content and then go ahead at full power for the rest of the season. Looking forward to it!

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