Highside

Round three of the 2010 MotoGP season is about to begin, and all eyes are turned to the Fiat Yamaha duo of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. For the seventh time since the two first rode on the same team, Fiat Yamaha has qualified 1-2, and when the lights go out on Sunday, the vicious battle for the World Championship title resumes in earnest at the legendary home of French racing, Le Mans.

Rossi, who has been slowly recovering from a bad shoulder after an incident in training, has shown himself to be in good health and stamina going into the race. He currently sits four points behind his teammate Lorenzo in the standings, and will be looking to finish better than the disappointing 16th he posted in last year’s wet French Grand Prix. Lorenzo, on the other hand, will be looking to put in a repeat performance of last year’s chaotic race at Le Mans, and continue to build his lead in the standings.

Looking to challenge the Fiat Yamaha duo is the remainder of the Fantastic Four, Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa. Stoner comes to Le Mans with a serious gap between himself and Lorenzo in the standings, thanks in no small part to his crash at the season opener in Qatar. Being beaten by his Marlboro Ducati teammate Nicky Hayden for the first time at the previous race in Jerez, Stoner will come off the line focused, and having qualified in 4th, he stands poised to make a strong start and take the hole shot into turn one. Pedrosa also comes to Le Mans with a bit of a grudge to settle, having led the previous race for nearly the entirety, only to have his victory snatched from his grasp in a last-lap pass by his bitter rival, Jorge Lorenzo. Pedrosa is notoriously quick off the line, and if the cards fall his way, he could very well end up doing what he does best–a lightning start that rockets him into first, where he can ride a lonely and unchallenged race to win.

Farther back in the grid, a number of riders are hoping to mess up the projected orders. Nicky Hayden has had an unbelievable start to his season, performing on a level that has been absent since he won the championship in 2006. Fellow American Ben Spies has yet to crack into the top four as many had predicted, but hopes are still high for the Texan to demonstrate the raw, furious talent that propelled him to the World Superbike title last year. A number of other rookies are hoping to start moving up the order as well, most notably Marco Simoncelli and Hiroshi Aoyama. The two former 250cc champions have performed well so far, but have failed to crack into the ranks of the rest of the veterans.

Of course, there’s one other thing that’s on all the other rider’s minds now. Last week’s rumor that Casey Stoner signed a contract with Honda for 2011 has marked the start to what will undoubtedly be a long and exciting Silly Season. As the riders take to the tracks at Le Mans, they will not only be riding for championship points, but also for seats on the best bikes, and the best teams, in the coming seasons.

The lights go out at Le Mans in less than 12 hours. Round three is upon us. Stay with us for more coverage of the MotoGP season as it unfolds!

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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A number of fairly reliable sources are reporting that World Superbike sensation Ben Spies has made up his mind for 2010: Elbows will be joining fellow Texan Colin Edwards in the Yamaha Tech 3 paddock for 2010.

The decision is set to be formally announced at the Imola World Superbike round, which should solidify yet another piece of the Silly Season puzzle. Spies’ decision to enter MotoGP means that the 2010 lineup will feature at least 4 rookies (Alvaro Bautista, Hector Barbera, Marco Simoncelli, and now Elbows), and the paddock is filling up really fast now. For the current riders who have yet to sign a contract for next year, things are looking scarier with the day, with the number of available bikes shrinking rapidly and no news yet from Honda if they’re going to provide Scot Honda and LCR one extra bike apiece.

Strangely, Spies decision has caused more speculation and excitement than any other 2010 rookie, and this might come from his 2008 wildcard success. Riding at Laguna Seca, Indianapolis and Donington, Spies captured 14th at the Great Britain circuit, and two top 10 finishes in the States. Spies has a lot of pressure on him to perform, but if his rookie year in WSBK has shown the world anything, it’s that Ben Spies is fully capable of standing up agains the toughest of competitions. 2010 will be a fascinating season, to be sure.

A new video surfaced yesterday of World Superbike sensation Ben Spies and the “Ben Spies method” of winning races. The video is much in the same vein of the “Day at the Office” skit Yamaha did with Rossi, Lorenzo, Edwards and Toseland shortly after Rossi’s 100th victory.

The new video from Yamaha improves even more off of the earlier one, losing the corny music and god-awful faux-acting from the Yamaha office employees in favor for Spies simply being Spies—something that makes the lanky, shy Texan adorable and lovable.  But more importantly, the video shows that Yamaha is still years ahead of the competition in PR, just as they are with their MotoGP bike.

(Video and more after the break) Read the rest of this entry »

A post-race interview from Misano reveals what we all suspected: Tech 3 Yamaha is on the verge of renewing Colin Edwards‘ contract for the 2010 season.  Edwards, who has been dominant on board his satellite Yamaha for much of the season, said that the Texas Tornado still has to come to a final agreement with team boss Herve Poncharal, but that the two are “pretty much there.”

Edwards also admitted that his teammates bike, currently piloted by James Toseland, is up for grabs, saying, “As regards for a team-mate, I don’t know yet, we’ll see what the scenario is there.”

Edwards’ position at Tech 3 is rumored to be a  place-holder for World Superbike star and fellow American Ben Spies, whose recently renewed contract with Yamaha has the younger Texan riding in WSB for 2010 before a probable move to Tech 3 in 2011.

Edwards also weighed in on the renewed battle between Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, saying that “They look like they are both pretty focused on beating each other, which is great for the sport.  Not just for the end of this year, but next year too.”

Edwards finished 6th during Free Practice 1 in Misano.