British Grand Prix
This weekend, Donington Park hosted a gripping and exciting MotoGP race, at the end of which we witnessed a completely new-look rostrum. And more importantly, most of the ‘big four’ of the season had a poor result. Andrea Dovizioso took his first ever premier class victory, in a semi flag-to-flag race. The top two in the driver’s championship – Valentino Rossi and fellow-Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo – both lowsided their bikes. It was a race-ending incident for Lorenzo. However, Rossi was more lucky, as he could pick-up his bike and then rode home to grab some crucial points, finishing 5th after he had crashed at the Fogarty Esses with 11 laps remaining, while in the race-lead. Dovizioso was fighting with the more experienced Rossi for the lead until then, but in hindsight Rossi pushed over the limit and paid the price. But, to see the riders fighting with the slippery surface in the rain with slick tyres made for spectacular viewing for the fans. The Ducati pair of Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden were the only ones to race with rain tyres, however the gamble didn’t pay-off since it didn’t rain soon enough for their liking. Stoner, however, stood by his team’s strategy saying that it wasn’t a mistake but a gamble. Just that the gamble didn’t work-out. The decision made sense, as the Aussie had topped the morning’s wet practice session.
Colin Edwards and Randy de Puniet were the other podium finishers, and they
were engaged in an intriguing batle en route to it. Monster Tech 3 Yamaha and LCR Honda thus had good results this weekend. On Saturday qualifying, which was a dry session, Valentino Rossi was under a tenth of a second quicker than Dani Pedrosa. Jorge Lorenzo was 3rd, and Casey Stoner 4th, as the grid had an all-familiar 2009 look to it. However, the weather gods had other plans. Lorenzo, like Rossi, went down while he was in the race-lead, as he overcooked a corner, touched a white line, and then slid out of the track. Dani Pedrosa had a forgettable race, as his tyre choice also didn’t work-out. The Spaniard had run a medium front tyre; definitely the rubber problems that plagued him in Sachsenring playing on his mind. However, as the rain came, he couldn’t maintain the temperature in the tyres and struggled thereafter to finish 9th.
In the 125cc, Bradley Smith delighted his home crowd by clinching pole on Saturday. However, it was series leader Julián Simón, who took the honours on Sunday. The race was stopped eleven laps from the scheduled end, as it started raining, and a number of riders went down. The race was then cut-short and restarted, and this is what brought Julián Simón back into contention. Simone Corsi was second, and Scott Redding 3rd. This victory also meant that the Aspar team now has a century of World Championship victories, as the team prepares to move into MotoGP next season.
Hiroshi Aoyama came out on top in the 250cc race. Title rival Álvaro Bautista was 2nd, and Matia Pasini was 3rd. Aoyama and most of the front-runners had started on wet weather tyres, but managed to hold-on on a drying track to complete his victory. A number of backmarkers had gambled by going for dry tyres, after the halfway point of the race. However, they couldn’t gain too much of an advantage. In qualifying, it was Héctor Barberá who took pole, but he could only finish 8th.
The next round is at the Automotodrom Brno, Czech Republic, although after
a 3 week long break. In between all the mayhem that characterised the British Grand Prix, Valentino Rossi had rode home to P5, and silently picked up crucial points. Rossi now leads the World Championship by 25 points from Lorenzo. Casey Stoner is a further 12 points behind, and the Italian looks well on course for yet another world championship. Let’s wait and watch. It would sure be fun!
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