Highside

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.

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.