Rossi eeks out 0.099 second win over Lorenzo in Germany

The boys of MotoGP did not disappoint today in Germany. The race was a battle among the top four riders in the championship series - and there is no doubt why they are the 4 fastest men on two wheels. With only 28 points seperating first from third in the standings and half a season of racing to go, the claws are coming out.

Casey, Jorge and Rossi each shared the pressure of leading the race today at some point. Rossi led off the start and was eventually overtaken by Stoner, who volleyed the lead back to Vale, only to have Jorge Lorenzo swipe it again. Dani Pedrosa held his ground like a champ and ended up with the third place position over the line. Casey was remanded to fourth.

The last three laps of the race were a balls-out battle between Rossi and Lorenzo which ended in Rossi claiming victory with Jorge only 0.099 seconds behind him - or next to him as it were. It was indeed 30 laps of full-on entertainment.

Nicky Hayden got shut out and swallowed up at the start, backing him up to 13th position at the end of the first lap. He battled his way up to 8th by race end.... with some very impressive riding and aggressive overtakes.... looks like the Nikcy of yore may be on his way back. Yesterday during a wet qualifying session, Nicky suffered a tremendous high side and took Nicola Canepa out from behind.... with body to body contact. If you can find the clip, it's worth watcing. Canepa said later that he had no idea what hit him - I guess not!

Randy De Puniet made a brilliant start, finding himself in 4th position for nearly a whole lap before he duffed it. If you blinked, you missed it... one second he was right there behind Pedrosa, and the next second there was nothing but sparks and parts.... no Randy. Amazingly enough he didn't take anyone out with him.... and everyone else remained on two for the rest of the race. Andrea Dovizioso retired from the race early due to a tire problem.

The drama will continut next weekend in Donington followed by a short summer break. After the first half of the season, these guys will certainly be looking forward to that.... if for no other reason than to heal their wounds.

It's RUMOR season!!!

Mid season for MotoGP is here which means we are ushering in the Festival of the Signing of Contracts. This is the time of year when rumors start to circulate through the paddocks about who's riding for who next year and who will not be riding at all.

This morning's discussion during the first free practice session at Sachsenring proved to be interesting indeed. Practice, by the way, went swimmingly - except for Chris Vermeulen who suffered a devastating high side after hitting a wet patch on the track. He clearly injured his left foot/ankle, but left on the back of a moped as opposed to in the back of an ambulance, so hopefully he'll be alright and back on track tomorrow.

Anyway, on to the meat of the post.... First off, Grupo Francisco Hernando has terminated it's season with MotoGP, leaving Sete Gibernau rideless and MotoGP with only 17 bikes and riders. The "economic crisis" is to blame for the abandonment of their MotoGP program, according to them. It was good to see the Gibbers come out of retirement - therefore, it goes without saying, it sucks to see him go.... again.

Gresini Honda has it in the works to make some big changes for 2010, starting with signing on 250cc superstar Marco Simocelli. It appears they are eyeing up Marco Melandri as well to complete the team.

Jorge Lorenzo is rumored to be suffering from a case of the wandering eye... and contract. It seems he has expressed some discontent over the amount of money he feels he is worth as opposed to what Fiat Yamaha is actually paying him. There have been talks between he and Repsol Honda over a possible contract for 2010. Recent press releases may have come off as a little humiliating to him as well, as team Fiat stated in more than one publication that they need Rossi to race and help develop the bike, and Lorenzo.... they just need him to race. Telefonica Movistar is contemplating a comeback to MotoGP, and there has been spotty chatter leading some to believe that they too may entertain Lorenzo for a contract.

So, if he leaves, who will take his place? Possibly Colin Edwards (again). Ben Spies is eyeing up MotoGP for 2010, or adversely, MotoGP is eyeing up Ben Spies.... in either case, a new rule that prevents rookies from riding for factory teams their first year out would seat Ben with Tech 3 Yamaha. The possibility of Colin moving into Fiat in the case of Lorenzo moving to Repsol would leave a spot in Tech 3 for Ben. Even if Colin doesn't make a move, the possibility of a Spies Tech 3 ride exists through the further rumor that if James Toseland doesn't produce better results at Sachsenring and the upcoming Donnington race that he's going to get the boot. On the other hand, Dorna is enjoying the representation of a British rider in the championship series - their holding interest could indeed be a feather in Toseland's cap.

De Angelis will most likely not be riding MotoGP next year, and lastly, Toni Elias looks to be planning to leave the Honda camp.

My head is spinning with all the swaps, cuts and rumors of new rookies. It will be very interesting to see how this all pans out. In my personal opinion, the biggest mistake to be made at this point will be with Fiat and Lorenzo. I don't think they should let him go to Repsol just yet. I say get off your wallet, Yamaha, and show him some support.... at least for another year.

Until next time....

Rubb'er Down

Kristen

Technorati

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Pedrosa breaks dry spell for Repsol

Very uncharacteristic of the European flat circuit terrain, the Mazda Raceway succeeded in tossing a lot of riders over the weekend. Many that rode on Sunday were riding injured from their tangles with the track during free practices and qualifying. Several riders feel victim to the track during the race on Sunday as well. Andrea Dovizioso, Sete Gibernau and fresh-meat G. Talmacsi all went skittering off into the gravel traps. Loris Capirossi didn't finish the race, however, his DNF was chalked up to mechanical problems, and James Toseland was "excluded" from competition for a refusal to take a ride-through as a penalty for jumping the start (which even on the replay.... in slow motion.... I did not see).

Dani pulled well away early after a perfect start, and maintained his lead throughout. There was a fantastic last-lap rally by Rossi, who ALMOST overtook him on the last turn before the line. In the post race interview, Dani admitted to being a little too comfortable with what he thought was a formidable lead - until he heard Valentino's bike. As he came to the realization that Rossi was a fraction of an inch off his six, he tipped his Honda in a hair earlier than necessary to close the gap and ran like hell for the line. I must say, it was amusing to see his reaction - equivalent to that of a fourth grader that got caught napping in class. Nice save Dani - and a well-deserved win.

Nicky Hayden with his fantastically festive Ducati and leathers, once again bettered his best, finishing 5th. He rode a spectacular race - who knows.... we may even see him back on the podium before season's end. Mika Kallio did not participate in this weekend's race due to a severely injured finger as a result of last week's untimely crash on the last turn at Assen. He will be back for Sachsenring.

Over all, it was a good race. Aside from the crashes, Jorge's hail Mary pass-attempt on Rossi (which damn near took them both out of the race) and Rossi's last minute sneak attack on Pedrosa kept it interesting. In two weeks, everyone should be healed from the beating inflicted by the infamous US circuit and back in form to entertain us with what will no-doubt be a close race at Sachsenring.

1	D. Pedrosa	Honda
2	V. Rossi	Yamaha
3	J. Lorenzo	Yamaha
4	C. Stoner	Ducati
5	N. Hayden	Ducati
6	T. Elias	Honda
7	C. Edwards	Yamaha
8	C. Vermeulen	Suzuki
9	R. De Puniet	Honda
10	M. Melandri	Kawasaki
11	A. de Angelis	Honda
12	N. Canepa	Ducati

Until next time....

Rubb'er Down

Kristen

Flawless victory in Assen marks 100 Grand Prix wins for Rossi

Valentino Rossi, once again, gave the master class in Grand Prix racing, as he dominated the Assen TT and brought home his 100th GP victory in classic Rossi style. The first two laps saw 3 different race leaders with Rossi, Stoner and Lorenzo teasing us with another epic battle, but it was not to be. Rossi pulled ahead and enjoyed a pressure-free race leaving Lorenzo and Stoner well spaced-out to claim 2nd and 3rd respectively. A full 23 seconds separated Rossi and Stoner - evidence of the total domination displayed by the Italian uber-racer.

The real action today was the race for 6-12. James Toseland, Randy De Puniet, Mika Kallio, Nicky Hayden, Toni Elias and Loris Capirossi absolutely battled for position - bumping, grinding, swapping paint and pushing one another off track several times. I think every rider in that group suffered an off-track excursion at some point during today's race. The biggest disappointment was Mika Kallio who rode an outstanding race, swapping licks with James Toseland for 6th place, which would have been his best finish yet in his MotoGP career..... had he not crashed out on the last turn before the finish line. Nicky Hayden bettered his best by finishing 9th this session - maybe he's finally getting a handle on that big red Duc.

Repsol Honda had a disastrous day starting with Dani Pedrosa crashing out on the third lap and finding themselves out of the points all together as Dovizioso followed suit several laps later. Bad luck for Repsol, but no injuries reported so we will be seeing them next week at Laguna.

All-in-all, it was a race for the books - not a head-to-head battle, but a smooth, effortless, landmark victory for Valentino Rossi - a man that has landed himself amongst the ranks of the legends and proven himself the best Grand Prix racer the world has ever seen.

1	V. Rossi	Yamaha
2	J. Lorenzo	Yamaha
3	C. Stoner	Ducati
4	C. Edwards	Yamaha
5	C. Vermeulen	Suzuki
6	J. Toseland	Yamaha
7	R. De Puniet	Honda
8	T. Elias	Honda
9	N. Hayden	Ducati
10	L. Capirossi	Suzuki
11	A. de Angelis	Honda
12	M. Melandri	Kawasaki
13	S. Gibernau	Ducati
14	N. Canepa	Ducati
15	Y. Takahashi	Honda
16	G. Talmacsi	Honda

Until next time....

Rubb'er Down

Kristen

Epic shoot-out yields victory for Rossi at Catalunya

In a race that will no doubt be included in highlight reels for years to come, Valentino Rossi eeked out a win over Jorge Lorenzo at Catalunya in a last second, last corner overtaking that had over 90,000 fans on their feet and at least two announcers on the floor of the booth.

Today is what MotoGP racing is all about. Lorenzo and Rossi put on a superb show that will not soon be forgotten. Veteran Valentino swapped licks with rookie Jorge Lorenzo until the bitter end - landing Rossi in the top spot with only .095s of a margin over Lorenzo - and making his 99th premier class victory well-earned and hard fought.

Casey Stoner who had been ill over the past few days, nearly rode himself to death wrestling the big red Duc over the line for a third place finish. Visibly weak from what was reported later to be severe dehydration, Casey stepped off the bike and was immediately escorted to the garage and tended to by the circuit physician. I believe it took all the strength he could muster to make it to the podium ceremony.... where he looked like he could drop at any moment. Good on ya Casey..... once again, a lesser rider would have hung it up or not even started in his condition, and he still pulled out a third place finish. The list of adversity this kid rides through seems to grow with every race, and yet he has not fallen out of the top three in the overall standings. Impressive.

Andrea Dovizioso ran a superb race and found himself right on the heels of the big dogs again, coming in fourth. Teammate Dani Pedrosa ran a brave race on painkiller injections for his hip, in which he has seperated the muscle from the bone. He finished an extremely respectable 6th.

Loris racked up another top ten spot for Rizla Suzuki finishing 5th with teammate Chris Vermeulen rolling in just outside in 11th. Colin Edwards finished a solid 7th followed by De Puniet in a slightly-better-than-typical 8th postition. Mika Kallio smacked down some talent and found himself reaping the satisfaction of a 9th place finish, and Nicky Hayden scored his best finish so far this season for Marlboro Ducati rounding out the ten fastest riders on the track.

Yuki Takahashi had another disappointing DNF after crashing out on the first lap. There are whispers of concern over his fate with Scot Racing Honda Team - especially after the last-minute addition of Hungarian rider Gabor Talmacsi to their paddock. Gabor is apparently quite the accomplished 125cc rider (7 years if I remember correctly - and yes, I am too lazy to look it up right now) who landed in the 250 class and was subsequently sh*t canned a month ago by Balatonring. Although further chatter reveals that Honda is not likely to release it's only Japanese rider, me thinks Yuki better nail it down for a few races.

Bridgestone debuted their first line of asymmetrical, dual compound "tyres" at Catalunya. Very interesting concept and apparently quite effective as well. The circuit has 8 right hand turns, and only 5 left hand turns, which prompted Bridgestone to wow us with a crooked tire that would result in more consistant wear. Genius in it's simplicity.

Okay, this is getting out of hand, and it's nearly Beer : 30 - feast your eyes on the results. If you haven't already watched the race, watch it... then watch it again... and I bet you'll wanna see it one more time after that (consecutively of course...cause it was that good!).

The Assen TT will run on June 27th - with a THREE WAY TIE for first place in the championship standing among Rossi, Lorenzo and Stoner - we will no longer be on speaking terms if you miss it.

1	V. Rossi	Yamaha
2	J. Lorenzo	Yamaha
3	C. Stoner	Ducati
4	A. Dovizioso	Honda
5	L. Capirossi	Suzuki
6	D. Pedrosa	Honda
7	C. Edwards	Yamaha
8	R. De Puniet	Honda
9	M. Kallio	Ducati
10	N. Hayden	Ducati
11	C. Vermeulen	Suzuki
12	A. de Angelis	Honda
13	J. Toseland	Yamaha
14	M. Melandri	Kawasaki
15	S. Gibernau	Ducati
16	N. Canepa	Ducati
17	G. Talmacsi	Honda

Until next time....

Rubb'er Down

Kristen

Wet - Dry Victory for Stoner in Mugello

Mugello began as what looked like a nightmare repeat of Le Mans as the sign was held up at the flag stand declaring it a wet race. However, it seems the Kings learned their lessons two weeks ago and were much better prepared for what was to come.

Jorge Lorenzo suffered the idignity of crashing out on the sighting lap, so he began his race on his back-up bike with quite a shot to his confidence (and dirty leathers). Dani Pedrosa was riding with yet another physical compromise as he somehow managed to tear ligaments in his hip resulting in a sudden loss of feeling at one point yesterday, and a subsequent crash during the race today. He was rendered completely immobile after becoming unseated and was removed from the gravel trap on a stretcher.

The race was indeed an exciting one. The switch to dry set ups went rather smoothly (as opposed to Le Mans) however the conditions created quite an interesting mix of race leaders. We even saw Loris Capirossi lead the way after overtaking Valentino in a power-move that seemed to stop the Suzuki garage in it's tracks - it's entertaining to see a team surprise themselves. Marco Melandri was podium bound for several laps too as he made a triumphant come back from a 15th place start. Ultimately, my favorite pseudo-Saki jockey was swallowed up by the pack and remanded to 11th place by race end.

Andrea Dovizioso put on quite the show by taking the lead for several laps as well. He turned out to be quite the formidable opponent, running with the "big dogs" for enough laps to prove he meant it, and finally just missing the podium as he crossed the line a hair off Rossi's back tire - fantastic effort by the rookie!!

Jorge Lorenzo found his confidence, his pace and his way back to the podium finishing second. But it was Casey Stoner who stole the show in Italy giving Ducati their first win in the Mother Land - and making it all happen with a burned out clutch. Dammit boy!!

Feast your eyes on the results posted below and get ready for some hard core racing in Catalunya in two weeks time. Casey is back on top in the championship standings after today's win. With Rossi and Lorenzo nipping at the heels of his Alpinestars, nobody is running away with the championship so far..... which means it only gets better from here!!

1	C. Stoner	Ducati
2	J. Lorenzo	Yamaha
3	V. Rossi	Yamaha
4	A. Dovizioso	Honda
5	L. Capirossi	Suzuki
6	C. Edwards	Yamaha
7	J. Toseland	Yamaha
8	R. De Puniet	Honda
9	N. Canepa	Ducati
10	C. Vermeulen	Suzuki
11	M. Melandri	Kawasaki
12	N. Hayden	Ducati
13	M. Kallio	Ducati
14	T. Elias	Honda
15	A. de Angelis	Honda

Until next time....

Rubb'er Down

Kristen