We came away from the Italian GP round with the feeling that anything was possible. The season had settled into a blistering pace and drama had definitely begun to unfold. Departure from Mugello left many heads spinning as we saw defending champ Valentino Rossi leave on a stretcher following a nasty get-off and the subsequent end of Yamaha’s ownership of the top spot on the podium. We have a feeling that did not sit too well with the boys in blue, as Jorge Lorenzo showed up at Silverstone to put a punctuation on his championship points lead… a 6.743 second punctuation to be exact!
The race launch gave birth to a hungry pack of racers, and although Lorenzo held the top honors, there would be no runaway (at least not at first) as Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa gave early chase with the lead swapping between riders as early as lap one. As the laps ticked off though, Jorge had found his way to a comfortable lead, leaving the real battles behind him. Andrea Dovisioso and Randy de Puniet pushed hard to round out the podium, while a pair of patient young Americans named Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies lay in wait just outside the top three.
As the rubber boiled in Great Britain and the laps wound down to just three, Dovisioso made his move pulling away from the battle with de Puniet. Just as this was happening, Spies also found his speed and was able to make another pass stick on the Frenchman, riding inside the top three for the first time this year. Nicky Hayden also managed to put his Ducati in front of de Puniet and would pass the checkers in the number four spot for the fourth time since Qatar. After suffering an extremely poor start and having to work his way up the ranks from the very last position, Casey Stoner pulled up the caboose of the train that would pass de Puniet prior to the finish line and round out the top five.
So there we have it folks, Jorge Lorenzo is taking care of business, both for Yamaha and for his championship hopes. Andrea Dovisioso is quickly becoming a solid runner up, and all the while Ben Spies finally found his groove and got a bottle of champagne in the process. We can only hope Hayden can break his fourth place curse one of these rounds. As for his teammate Casey Stoner… well, his results remain marginal at best this season, and it remains to be seen if that is going to change.
Next stop: the Netherlands. We can only imagine that it is still anyone’s game at Catalunya! Click past the break for the top ten results.
[Source: MotoGP.com | Image: Andrew Yates/AFP/Getty Images
| Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 25 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Fiat Yamaha Team | Yamaha | 170.4 | 41’34.083 |
2 | 20 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 169.9 | +6.743 |
3 | 16 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 169.9 | +7.097 |
4 | 13 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 169.9 | +7.314 |
5 | 11 | 27 | Casey STONER | AUS | Ducati Team | Ducati | 169.9 | +7.494 |
6 | 10 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 169.8 | +9.055 |
7 | 9 | 58 | Marco SIMONCELLI | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 169.4 | +14.425 |
8 | 8 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 169.3 | +15.313 |
9 | 7 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 168.5 | +27.954 |
10 | 6 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 167.5 | +42.394 |