Highside

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.

MotoGP put up a free video highlighting the chaos that went down earlier today at turn eight.  For some truly terrifying footage of what went wrong, take a look at this:

A selection of the most spectacular crashes at the Alice Mottad Grand Prix MotoGP Qualifying Session

Footage, in order:

Randy de Puniet

Niccolo Canepa

Marco Melandri

Toni Elias

Alex De Angelis

Nicky Hayden and Niccolo Canepa (again!)

The first hour of riding is over for the MotoGP riders, and there are a couple of surprises coming out of Germany.

The fastest rider today was Casey Stoner, who posted his top time towards the end of the session with a 1′22.779. Stoner’s display isn’t the biggest surprise of the day, but it shows that he might have finally beaten this illness that’s plaguing him—at least mentally. Knowing at long last what’s causing his sickness could give him a strong morale boost, and the fact that his top time stood out as being over two tenths of a second faster than any other racer is something to take seriously.

After Casey Stoner, the next three racers all clocked in a best lap within one tenth of each other. Dani Pedrosa andValentino Rossi complete the top three, and then the surprise ride from Randy De Puniet stands out to complete this closely packed trio.

Nicky Hayden, while finishing with the 8th fastest time, was still putting out a solid showing, leading for almost the entire time while the circuit was still wet. Hayden has said he’s looking to improve on his 5th place finish in Laguna, and if the race on Sunday is wet instead of dry, I’d expect him to seriously challenge the top 5 again.

Towards the back end of the field, Andrea Dovizioso stands in 9th, while Jorge Lorenzo stands in 11th. The Janitor made remarks in a press conference after the practice that he’s feeling worse than he imagined, but there’s little surprise to be had in this. Lorenzo’s best ride at the Saschenring was in the amateur class, in which he only finished 3rd. While he may not be able to challenge for the podium in this race, Lorenzo is still far from out of this championship battle.

With the weather forecast showing rain for Sunday’s race, the risk for danger on this tight, quick track will be just as big as last year. Despite the mystery, this race is sure to be a tight one.