MotoGP: 100th Grand Prix Victory for Rossi

Tyler Hopper
AllAboutBikes.com Staff Writer

Valentino Rossi achieved his 100th Grand Prix win at the Alice TT Assen this weekend. Casanova Rossi delicately danced to victory with the power of the Fiat Yamaha machine at his fingertips, there was no contest from Jorge Lorenzo or Casey Stoner. Team-mates Rossi and Lorenzo finished with another one-two punch and rounding out the podium was Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner in third. 

Starting from pole position, on a bright and beautiful day in the Netherlands, Rossi fell to second on the start with Dani Pedrosa up front and Stoner in third. Rossi’s team-mate Lorenzo dropped from third back to sixth. Shortly after the start, Stoner passed Rossi and Pedrosa instantaneously for the lead. With Stoner at the lead Lorenzo began his charge toward the front, taking fifth at the start of lap two. Going into turn one, the group was eight riders wide, making progress toward the front very difficult.  Stoner went wide off line and Rossi stepped through the open door with Pedrosa following, but Stoner slammed it in his face at the last moment.

In the lead, Rossi pulled slightly away from Stoner. Marcus Melandri rode the rear tire of De Puniet as they battled for eighth and Lorenzo struggled to move up the pack. Running off the track, De Puniet kept everything intact and returned 4 places back in 13th. Lorenzo got on the back of Pedrosa, and with 23 laps left moved into third.

Stoner continued to struggle to keep up with Rossi, but the gap unremorsefully widened. With 22 laps to go Pedrosa’s front end tucked under going into turn one too hot and he went off. Lorenzo took the inside of Stoner and the Fiat Yamaha riders uniformly pulled away from the Ducati. Rossi cranked on the throttle a little more and Lorenzo was left to fight off Stoner on his own.

With 16 laps to go, Dovizioso crashed out at turn one and both Repsol Honda team-mates fell ill-fated to the same turn. Only half-way through the race and Stoner was slowing. Lorenzo began to close in on Rossi in turns three and four, but going through the fast right-handers at the end, Rossi was untouchable.

Kallio tried to take the inside of Toseland on lap 15, but Toseland wouldn’t allow it. Going through the next two corners Kallio’s efforts paid off as he moved up one step closer to the podium. Not to be content with 7th place, Toseland took advantage of his speed on the straight, almost going off track, but he managed to take 6th back from Kallio.

With three laps to go 30-year-old Rossi looked like he wouldn’t have any challengers for the final laps of the race. For the entire last lap Rossi was on a track totally by himself, finishing in first for his 100th Grand Prix victory. Lorenzo crossed the finish line safely in second place, and Stoner finished a clear third. Just before the final stretch Kaila hit the gravel and went down, giving up 6th place to Toseland.
Colin Edwards equaled his best result of the year with fourth place, at the head of an enthralling battle between the “best of the rest”. Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen and Edwards’ Monster Yamaha Tech 3 teammate James Toseland were also in the top six with their best finishes of the season to date.

Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso had been in with a shout at the rostrum, but both took tumbles before the race took its full shape. There was also a late fall for Pramac Racing’s Mika Kallio when the Finn was challenging for sixth on the final lap. Toni Elías was penalized twenty seconds for using the run-off area illegally on the final lap.

June 28, 2009