MotoGP: The Rivalry Continues
Tyler Hopper
AllAboutBikes Staff-Writer
Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi will continue their battle for the trophy in Assen. The relationship between team-mates Rossi and Lorenzo is like that of best friends from school fighting over the head cheerleader. Rossi is the guy who has his game plan all laid out, he lets his buddy flirt with the cheerleader until that perfect moment, when Rossi soars in and sweeps her off her feet.
Rossi stole the girl from Barcelona right from the hands of Lorenzo with a .095 second margin of victory. Lorenzo will definitely try to hold onto the prize in the Netherlands, but the suave Casey Stoner, third in the standings, might just steal the show and win the hearts of the crowd on Saturday, leaving Rossi and Lorenzo both in disappointment.
Rossi’s 0.095s victory over Lorenzo in Barcelona was the 99th of his career, and he will be gunning for number 100 in Assen. If Rossi wins on Saturday he will become only the second rider in Grand Prix history to reach 100 wins. Rossi has six victories to his name in Assen, but he has not had the best of luck in previous visits. After two MotoGP wins in his first two years with Yamaha he injured himself in practice in 2006 but rode through the pain to finish eighth, before winning in style from 11th on the grid in 2007. Last year, Rossi crashed on the first lap, but made up a gap of more than 20 seconds with a damaged bike to finish 11th.
Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, and Casey Stoner were answering questions at a press conference to help set the scene for the Alice TT Assen. Also present at the press conference were Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi and Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso. Rossi looked ahead to the action packed weekend, saying, “It is a great track here, it is always difficult because some of the corners have high banks, whereas others are very flat so it is difficult understand the braking points. I made my only mistake in a race last season here (referring to an early collision with Randy de Puniet), so we have to make sure it is better this year.”
Will Rossi have the moves to steal the trophy in Assen? We shall see.
June 26, 2009
