Highside

In a race where the only scraps seemed to happen farther down the order, the final laps brought a charge on from Jorge Lorenzo that no man could hold off. A disappointing start saw the Mallorcan slide from 2nd on the grid all the way down to 5th, and for the first thee quarters of the race, he seemed to be out of the picture.

Indeed, up until the penultimate lap it seemed that poleman and fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa would walk away with another win after taking the holeshot into the first corner and never looking back. Valentino Rossi rocketed up from 4th on the grid to 2nd, and despite his injured shoulder, put out a superb ride. Superb was still not enough, however, as the Italian found himself overtaken by his teammate with just five laps to go.

Nothing’s impossible for these Untouchables, however. Just as was the case in Qatar, Lorenzo found magical speed in his M1 during the final laps, launching a drive that carried him from over two seconds down on Rossi, all the way to the win. In the final two laps, Lorenzo and Pedrosa launched into a vicious scrap, almost colliding at one point, as the two rivals fought bitterly into every corner. With half a lap remaining, Lorenzo forced Pedrosa wide, sealing the win.

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Yesterday’s 125cc race had all the drama we’ve come to expect and love from a 125cc race, with Pol Espargaro making a brilliant push to the front of the pack.  Espargaro the younger, who won his first race in Indianapolis last week, had a rough history of races being “stolen” away from him in the past.  Yet, the lost opportunity has never hurt as much as it did yesterday, when Andrea Iannone took Espargaro out on the final corner.

The crash came as Iannone made a desperate last-chance push to steal the lead from Espargaro on the final corner, and ended up losing the front end of his bike.  As he slid out into the gravel, his bike collided with Espargaro’s Derbi, and the rest is history.

Or it was, until Pol went to confront Ianonne in the gravel trap. A second altercation between the two riders occurred, though the events of this one are much muddier.  As the race officials ran out to secure the bike and ensure neither rider was injured, Espargaro was right in Iannone’s face.  It then appears that Iannone pushes, Espargaro away, who is immediately back in the Italian’s face, still shouting.  A second push from Iannone, and then what might have been a punch thrown from Espargaro, and finally the two are separated by race officials and led off the track.

There have been no press releases from either team, and no comments on either incident from FIM officials.  Yet, the effects of this confrontation are visible.  Espargaro the elder was visibly upset after the crash, while Iannone’s page on Wikipedia is now under a constant barrage of vandalism.

Few facts remain certain: Iannone made a rash and immature decision in taking that corner as fast as he did, guaranteeing he would lose his bike, and Pol—who was catapulted head-over-heels through the gravel trap—certainly had every right to be upset.  With the race over and done with, however, it remains doubtful that there will be any resolution to the issue—until the two meet on the track again, that is.

With Saturday’s events at Misano in the books, it’s time to take a look at the starting grid for tomorrow’s race.

Home favorite Valentino Rossi will start from pole position, after leading every session this weekend.  Rossi has dominated every practice session this weekend, and posted a pole-setting lap of 1′34′338, over two tenths of a second faster than Dani Pedrosa, who starts at #2 on the grid.  Pedrosa set his fastest lap on his final run across the line, edging out Jorge Lorenzo, who clocked in another two tenths of a second down on his Spanish rival.

Nicky Hayden was the fastest Ducati on the grid, clocking in at 1′35:223, nearly nine tenths of a second behind Rossi, but just .039 seconds behind fellow American Colin Edwards.  Edwards continues his string of second row starts, behind Gresini Honda rider Toni Elias, who posted the fastest time on a satellite bike.  Elias will start in 4th position.

The other home favorite, Alex de Angelis, will start up the third row, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso, Mika Kallio, and both the factory Suzuki rides.  Substitute rider Aleix Espargaro finished in 15th, ahead of Niccolo Canepa and Gabor Talmasci.  Espargaro is looking to continue his remarkable debut, and will no doubtedly have his sights set on the rider placed just in front of him: James Toseland.  The British former Superbike star qualified 14th, and will have a long, tough battle ahead of him to earn a good chunk of points here in Misano.

Yamaha, Yamaha, Yamaha.  With the first session done in San Marino, it’s Yamaha who lead the way, and by a very sizeable margin.  Home favorite Valentino Rossi sits at the top of the order, having snuck past teammate Jorge Lorenzo in the final minutes of the session, while Lorenzo himself sits at #2, a full six tenths of a second ahead of the last remaining Immortal on the track, Dani Pedrosa.

Pedrosa suffered a bike mishap during the later parts of the session and had to retire early on.  Behind him is San Marino native Alex de Angelis, who’s riding hot off his debut MotoGP podium in Indianapolis.  de Angelis is just .016 behind the tiny Spaniard, and a good two tenths of a second ahead of Andrea Dovizioso.  de Angelis, who is undoubtedly riding for his future in MotoGP, is seemingly riding for his life, as his performance in Indy, and now in Misano, have been shockingly good.  de Angelis, on his satellite Honda, leads both the factory Ducati squad as well as both the Rizla Suzuki bikes, and if he continues this pace, we could see him strongly contend for a second podium this weekend.

Disappointing performances came from Nicky Hayden and Marco Meladri.  Hayden, who scored his first podium of the season last race, clocked in at 10th during the first free practice, while Marco Melandri finished 16th in the order, ahead of only Gabor Talmasci.  Melandri’s time is highly unusual for the veteran, and you should fully expect him to lift his times considerably during the next two sessions.

Extra praise goes to Aleix Espargaro, who finished 13th in his second time out on a MotoGP bike ever.  Espargaro, who finished in 13th in Indianapolis, is quickly taking to the MotoGP bike, outperforming current teammate Niccolo Canepa at every opportunity.  However, Espargaro’s performance is not quite at the caliber you’d expect for teams to consider signing him on for next season, and it’ll take a very surprising finish here in Misano for teams to start considering him as a candidate.

After qualifying, it was assumed that the man to beat on the track today would be Dani Pedrosa.  As it turns out, only one man could beat the tiny Spaniard: Pedrosa.  The Repsol Honda star went down in the final corner of lap 4 out in the brickyard, but miraculously, managed to merely scrape the fairing and his leathers.  Perdosa went on to remount his bike and finish the lap down thirty seconds from Gabor Talmasci, yet Dani’s skill quickly returned as he began rising up the standings and challenging for points.  He finished in an astounding 10th place despite his early fall.

Valentino Rossi was less lucky, losing the front end of his bike as he drove through a dirtier portion of the track while chasing teammate and championship challenger Jorge Lorenzo.  Rossi’s rare crash was made even more rare by the fact that his crash damaged his bike and left him unable to finish the race.  Rossi’s fall was atypical and very costly—his large lead he had built up in the championships has been halved, and with 5 races left in the season, Lorenzo has had his championship aspirations restored for 2009.

Two riders joined Lorenzo on the podium: Alex de Angelis took his first MotoGP podium, and Nicky Hayden managed to hold off pressure from Andrea Dovizioso to claim his first podium on board the Ducati—and his first podium since Indianapolis last year.  Hayden’s finish is important for the American, but hardly surprising given how new the track is for most of the riders and how much time The Kentucky Kid has spent in The Brickyard during his life.  The true hero of the podium is de Angelis, who is fighting for his right to continue in MotoGP right now.  de Angelis has the lesser of the two Gresini Honda bikes, and took that satellite bike well beyond its perceived limits.  de Angelis started the weekend in his usual position, back in the middle of the pack, but during qualifying and the morning warmup found some magic to pour into the engine of that Honda, and the man from San Marino rode it beautifully.  As the MotoGP circus heads to the tiny nation that de Angelis calls home, look for him to capitalize on his Indy success with a top 5 finish.

Race MVP: Alex de Angelis

Highside is coming to you from Indianapolis this weekend, and with Qualifying in the books, let’s digest our notes and look at the three biggest players from Saturday’s Practice and Qualifying sessions.

The man to beat this weekend has been Dani Pedrosa, and that isn’t going to change when the red lights go out on Sunday.  Pedrosa led the first Free Practice in the rain, then today he led the second free practice by a full second.  And to top that, he qualified on pole, trouncing the #2 qualifying Jorge Lorenzo.  Pedrosa’s constantly-improving Honda seems to be finding its pace, which is great news for Pedrosa—and lousier news for Lorenzo.

Speaking of Jorge Lorenzo, The Janitor’s performance today has been hit-or-miss, but still surprisingly strong.  Lorenzo has been the only one who could challenge his Spanish rival, and every time Pedrosa upped the pace, Lorenzo would be the first to follow suit.  Lorenzo is out on the track sporting a Captain America helmet, which has earned him some good support from the local crowd.  Then again, Lorenzo had massive support in Jerez, and we all remember how that ended.

There’s one local name that’s been on everyone’s lips today, and it’s not The Kentucky Kid.  Colin Edwards has been a rising star in the last few races, and he’s continuing to shine here in Indianapolis.  Edwards has been pushing his Tech 3 Yamaha to the limits, and of late, he’s been the most consistant—and best—of all the satellite riders.  Keep an eye out for him to make a strong push tomorrow, and we might even see a second podium from Edwards if one of the Untouchables crashes out during the race.

The MotoGP circus has shown up Stateside once again, and Friday’s rainy practice session brought out a couple surprises.

Dani Pedrosa came out on top, posting a brilliant 1′51.507 on his sixth of 16 laps out in the wet.  Pedrosa has voiced his desire to repeat his surprise success at Laguna Seca earlier this year, and while his early performance might have won him a race in the wet, the weather forecasts here in Indianapolis show drier—albeit cooler—weather for qualifying and race day.  Still, Pedrosa has come out swinging here in Indianapolis, and tops the list of riders as we go into Saturday.

Nicky Hayden clocked in with the second fastest time of the session, showing once again that nobody knows Indianapolis quite like The Kentucky Kid.  Finishing higher than Rossi and Lorenzo, Hayden is poised to reach out and touch the Untouchables.  Hayden has remained cautiously optimistic of his chances this weekend, but a strong push performance on Sunday is well within his realm of skill.  If Hayden can continue this pace on the drier conditions, he could land his first podium of 2009—and a much-needed first podium on the Ducati.

After all the good performances, it’s only natural that some riders should disappoint.  Toni Elias is riding low off of his podium finish in Brno, ranking 14th during the first session.  But it was Niccolo Canepa whose performance came at the end of the list.  Canepa’s fastest lap clocked in at a slow 1′58.244, nearly 7 seconds down on pace-setter Pedrosa—and almost two seconds slower than the next fastest rider.  If that wasn’t enough hurt for the struggling Italian, Canepa’s temporary teammate, Aleix Espargaro finished two places above him on his first MotoGP ride *ever*.

Another race, another win, and another record broken by The Doctor.  Valentino Rossi has sealed his place in history as the world’s greatest rider through his victory today, surpassing Giacomo Agostini’s record of a career-long 159 podiums. Rossi’s easy ride across the finish line, and the fall from Jorge Lorenzo that precipitated it, has given the Italian a 50 point lead in the Championship, bringing his 9th title well into view.

The race was not without it’s own highlights and lowlights, so lets take a look at a few of the key moments and key results of today’s race in Brno.

Smashes

There were two big smashes during the race today; the first one came from Rossi as he smashed through Ago’s record of career podiums.  However, the big smash came on the penultimate lap as Mika Kallio smashed into the rear of Marco Melandri.  Both of the riders were having amazing races: Kallio riding superbly all weekend on his first factory Ducati ride, and Melandri proving his worth as he rose from 15th position on the grid all the way up into 9th with 2 laps to go. The riders had a few choice words for each other as they walked out of the gravel trap over whose fault it was, and it’s hard to say.  Melandri certainly was in front of Kallio, and was taking a clear line through the corner, but the line Melandri took was a bit more exotic, throwing Kallio for a loop and catching him by surprise.  Both riders seem to have emerged uninjured, but the damage to Kallio’s psyche might be a bit more extensive.  We wait for Indianapolis in two weeks to see if Kallio can complete a race on board the factory Ducati, and to see how he shapes up when the chequered flag is waved.

Crashes

But it was Jorge Lorenzo’s crash with 5 laps to go that was the highlight of the race itself.  Lorenzo kept right on Rossi’s tail through most of the race, fighting past Pedrosa after another one of The Janitor’s mediocre starts and right back to the rear wheel of Rossi.  And it was right when the battle was about to begin that it suddenly ended, with Lorenzo falling as he attempted to overtake the reigning world champion.

What did Lorenzo’s crash really mean?  It put the championship just that much farther out of his grasp.  What was a plausible challenge when he awoke this morning is now a longshot that will entirely depend on Rossi making a big mistake–something Rossi is naught to do.  The crash was hard and fast, putting the integrity of his engine at risk.  With the new rule limiting the number of engines that can be used now coming into effect, this could potentially be disastrous for The Janitor.

Passes

It would be amiss of me to completely pass over the other racers on the track today, many of whom are fighting for their future in MotoGP as we race in the midst of Silly Season.  Nicky Hayden’s brilliant performance that ended in 6th will certainly help him in his efforts to remain onboard the Ducati next year, while Chris Vermeulen’s finish in 11th isn’t going to help him get a ride at Tech 3 Yamaha next year.  Loris Capirossi rode brilliantly to finish in 5th, ahead of Hayden, Colin Edwards, and Andrea Dovisioso while working with a bike that’s clearly less powerful than his competitors.  Randy De Puniet finished in 10 while riding injured, a testament to his determination and sheer willpower alone.  But it’s Toni Elias who really shone today, finishing with his first podium of the season right after he’s been told he won’t have a ride at Gresini next year.  His remarkable string of performances has made him a gem of a rider to add to any roster—don’t forget he was leading the race out in Donington before the treacherous weather claimed him as the first of many casualties in England.

As we head Stateside to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in two weeks, it will be very important to see how these riders continue.  All eyes will be on the wildcards: the successes and disappointments of the satellite teams as they start to battle for their future.

With the racers off the track and the pole position finalized, lets take a look at the three competitors whose performances today give something to watch for tomorrow

Jorge Lorenzo/Valentino Rossi

The Yamaha duo has become the ultimate force to be reckoned with, with two of the three Untouchables performing in such a dominant display of force that it’s hard to imagine anyone else beating them.  The battle tomorrow will undoubtedly be between these two, and picking out which of the two will will is nigh impossible.  Lorenzo dominated both of the Free Practice sessions, posting times that were nearly half a second faster than Rossi when both sessions were over.  Rossi, however, took the pole out from under Lorenzo by just .050 seconds, but then soon found his bike out from under him.  Rossi’s lowside crash during QP might shake up your average racer, but don’t think for a second that it’ll keep the Italian from pushing just as hard tomorrow.

Mika Kallio

The Finn has been making good use of his factory ride, finishing in 7th in FP1, 8th in FP2, and qualifying in 10th position.  This race is incredibly crucial for Kallio, as he will be trying to prove to all the factory teams—most importantly Ducati Corse—that he can handle a factory ride.  Indeed, Kallio has shown to be one of the remarkably few riders who, despite his erratic results, can perform well on the Ducati.  While he certainly won’t win tomorrow, expect a strong showing from Kallio, perhaps even finishing in 5th or 6th.  His lowside during QP might give him a bit of the jitters, but I expect he’ll put it behind him and strive to finish just behind the Untouchables—a feat he might be capable of, if it weren’t for…

Colin Edwards

What a remarkable change in pace and performance we’ve seen from Edwards recently.  Ever since his performance in Donington, he’s been superb onboard that Tech 3 Yamaha, finishing ahead of both factory Suzuki riders *and* every single Ducati on the field–in every outing this year in Brno.  And Edwards has repeatedly stated that this is *not* one of his better circuits–just look at his track record. Ever since his MotoGP debut in 2003, his best finish in Brno has been 7th– all the way back in 2005.  Last year, he finished in 14th, the year before that he crashed out, and the year before that he finished in 10th.  And now, Edwards will start in 5th position tomorrow, ahead of Donington race winner Andrea Dovizioso and within striking distance of Rossi.  Then again, The Texas Tornado is a patient storm, preferring to move his way up to the front than to shoot out of the gate and run at the start.