MotoGP: Victory for one, Heart-break for some

Tyler Hopper
AllAboutBikes Staff-Writer

A difficult day, on a wet/dry track that required riders to change bikes mid-way, ended in victory for Jorge Lorenzo and a podium finish for Marco Melandri and Dani Pedrosa.  Disappointment loomed for Lorenzo’s Fiat Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi, as he finished last after a crash, a ride through penalty, and changing bikes three times.  Everyone has their off day.

Pedrosa, aboard his Repsol Honda motorcycle, started off in pole position with Lorenzo beside him in second.  Lorenzo dropped a place on the start, but overtook Casey Stoner and Pedrosa for the lead by the end of the first lap.  Lorenzo took advantage of his early lead and rode marvelously on the wet track, giving himself a slight cushion ahead of the pack.

The track started to dry out on the fifth lap, with the high traffic areas drying first.  Some riders chose to switch to their dry bikes, but Valentino Rossi paid the price for this misjudgment.  In an attempt to warm his tires after changing bikes, Rossi took a turn a little too hot and hit a wet spot on the track.  Pedrosa was another rider to change early, but after watching Rossi hit the dust he drove even more cautiously.  Pedrosa said, “I came in very early to change bikes, but when I got back out the track was not completely dry. Then I saw Rossi crash in front of me, and that made me take a lot of care –even too much- and I lost many seconds at that midway point.”

Hayate Racing rider, Marco Melandri made his way from a start in ninth place to the top three in the sixth lap.  Pitting to change tires in the seventh lap, Melandri dropped back to 11th place. 

Melandri moved into second place behind Lorenzo as most of the riders went to the pits.  Eventually, Lorenzo realized that he had to change bikes; with a 34 second lead he knew he couldn’t waste time in his first ever mid-race bike change.  Lorenzo successfully changed bikes and entered the track in the lead on lap 13 ahead of Melandri. 

Riding cautiously at first, Lorenzo warmed his tires.  Melandri narrowed the gap to within 5 second, but Lorenzo put his head down and increased the pace.  Melandri couldn’t keep pace with Lorenzo, and Pedrosa managed to pass Dovisioso for third place as the final laps of the race ensued.

Valentino Rossi had a hectic race day.  After crashing, Rossi faced more challenges, he explained, “Luckily I was able to make it back to the pits and then later I changed again, but the rule says that if you change the bike again then you have to use one wet tire, and so this is what we did. When I started that time, the pit-limiter on my bike was not on and so I was given a ride-through for speeding, but by that time it was too late for our race anyway.”

The Fiat Yamaha Team rider, Jorge Lorenzo finished first, 17 seconds ahead of Marco Melandri on his Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki.  Dani Pedrosa, aboard his Repsol Honda, finished in third. 

Lorenzo sits atop the points standings with 66 points.  Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner share second for the time being, each with 65 points, and Dani Pedrosa sits in third with 57.