MotoGP Blog

It was not a thriller, this Dutch TT, but it was a landmark race for a certain Valentino Rossi. His hundredth win, ridden from the front was uncharacteristic of many of his other victories where he seemed to play cat and mouse with the opposition. Such is the close battle this year that there were no games. It was head down, arse up and ride at 100% for the duration of the race.

A poor start did for Lorenzo. He kept his composure to minimise the damage by fighting his way past determined Hondas and a Ducati, but he was never able to match Rossi for pace. An ill Stoner and disappointed Edwards followed in 3rd and 4th, with a season-best for Vermeulen in 5th.

The Hondas both fell at the same corner, in the same way: a front-end wash-out. The revised chassis available to the Repsol riders seems not to be working with the Bridgestones as yet. It is now 12 months since Honda last won a race, and this is not something that HRC will be happy to tolerate, made worse by the double DNF.

Beyond this, the race was for 6th, with Toseland, Capirossi, de Puniet, Kallio, Hayden and Elias in a race-long joust for the points. Toseland would lead the scrap for most of the race, with Mika gaining a brief advantage occasionally. On the final lap, Kallio would fall, and Capirossi and Elias would make their play for 6th. The final chicane would see Elias run hot into it, forcing his bike and Capirex onto the gravel, allowing JT and de Puniet to pounce and gain the spoils. It was a race-long battle as intriguing as most, with that final chicane again throwing up surprises for the race finish. Happiest of all of these riders will be Nicky Hayden, for once controlling a bike which allowed him to express some portion of his talent.

MotoGPBlog Man of the Weekend: Valentino Rossi, of course. The Centenary Man.