MotoGPBlog was lucky enough to catch up with Rick Broadbent, Times journalist and author of Ring of Fire. You can also read our review of his book, and while you’re there, pick up your copy though our Amazon store - see links at the end of the articles.
It was a freakish race - one which I am still trying to get my head around, let alone write up!
Because of the unusual podium, points were scarce this week with many people striking out. Only one person scored podium points: @leighberwick with his 3rd place for de Puniet. How you picked him out Leigh, I have no idea.
Only five other people scored points on their Minellas:
@bonadjalins
@jearle
@jjx (a cool 9-pointer)
@raydoell (another cool 9 pointer)
@tailzer
Winner this week are therefore everyone listed above, apart from @bonadjalins as you were a winner previously Bona.
Congrats to all the winners! I’ll be in touch with how to claim your prizes.
The overall standings are looking closer than ever, with the chasing pack closing in on series leader @daveminella.
Great news! Enter the Donington round of the Tipping Contest to have a chance of winning a copy of Ring of Fire, The Inside Story of MotoGP by Rick Broadbent.
Prizes will be awarded as follows:
Top three scorers for the round (not overall) will win a copy of Ring of Fire.
The top two scoring Minellas will also receive a copy of the book.
Unfortunately if you’ve already won a copy in the Laguna Seca round, you are not eligible to win this time around. Your score will still be counted to the overall total, however.
In the event of a tie in scoring for the round, position in the overall championship standings will be used to determine the winners - the higher placed entrant getting the prize.
Good luck!
This quote comes from the Spanish language website elmundodeportivo.es. The message and the sentiment are clear: “You aren’t worth what I get paid Jorge”.
From elmundodeportive.es, translation by Fans.Moto.GP (Thanks!):
What Jorge is looking for seems presumptuous to me: Arrive at Yamaha, and in his second year ask that he be given the same treatment as me. Jorge should remember, because he’s not too young to know this, that when I signed on to Yamaha in 2004, they’d gone 12 years without winning; since Rainey. They have me a motorbike that was shit, I worked like I had never done in my life and I gave them championships. I don’t understand how he thinks he can arrive, ride the bike that I developed and demand the same treatment as me. He has no idea what my relationship is with the factory. We’ve been through a lot to find a working system that makes us champions.
Can Jorge seriously give up the best bike in the paddock? Is his motivation that he needs an equipment advantage to beat Rossi and he knows he will never get that at Yamaha? Or is he just trying to up his wages?
While the weather had produced torrential downpours thoughout the preamble to this GP, it stayed dry for the action in Germany. As the riders lined up on the grid, there was a real feeling of anticipation as Rossi and Lorenzo, so close through practice until that awesome final qualifying lap from Valentino, pulled up next to each other. Stoner drew up next to Lorenzo, recovering from his mystery ailment and in a position to challenge at the front again. Back on the third row, Pedrosa was in position early, but with his lightening starts, this was the equivalent of a front row grid position for the diminutive Spaniard.
Sachsenring is a tight, twisting track compressing its 14 corners and 3.6km length into a tiny area. As a result, the start and short run into the first gear Coca-cola curve was a ballet on a knife-edge. Cold tyres and eager racers do not a friendship make. While Rossi held his line from the pole slot, de Angelis moved up on the inside of Stoner, but having arrive slightly faster to the turn than the Aussie, failed to get within a country mile of the apex and took Stoner and Lorenzo outside him way off line. Pedrosa’s start brought him up to the rejuvenated Hayden. Flying around the outside of the de Angelis scuffle, Dani contorted the Honda, trusting his cold Bridgetones tremendously to swing right around the outside and into second. Hayden, meanwhile, lacked this confidence in his bike and rubber and instead took a trip around the edge of the track, hung out to dry by the rest of the field. It was a mistake that would cost the American any hope of a top 5 finish which he had looked capable of, even after his crash with Canepa in qualifying.
That first corner would shape the first few laps, as Stoner and Pedrosa gave chase to Rossi. de Puniet, having muscled his way through to third, tried a little too hard and high-sided off his LCR Honda on the cold left side of his rear tyre. Lorenzo meanwhile, on the harder compound rear available, noticeably did not. Nursing his tyre up to temperature, he played the long game and closed on the leading trio slowly, consistently. Was this a strategic move by Lorenzo to defeat Rossi? Does he know he can’t beat him on the same equipment, so tried something different to see if that makes the difference?
Soon these four were pulling away from the rest of the field, confirming their status as the championship contenders. Pedrosa was making the new engine work for him, while his team-mate would fade rapidly from a top-5 placing, eventually retiring as his front tyre (the same compound as Pedrosa) chunked up and turned to mush. There were signs of this as early as lap 3 as Lorenzo moved smoothly into 4th place. On a track where the 250’s are as fast as the 800’s, the front is vital - Dovi never had a hope.
Four laps in and Stoner passes Pedrosa for second at the achingly slow turn 12 which follows the massive drop out of turn 11. Stoner continued to close the gap to Rossi in lap 5, exploring the possibility of another pass at turn 12. Lap 6 would see him pass Rossi for the lead. This move slowed the Italian and as a result Pedrosa and Lorenzo closed up to the leaders.
Lorenzo’s confidence in his harder tyres increased sufficiently for his to force his way past Pedrosa at what was fast becoming the favourite passing place - turn 12. He immediately gapped Pedrosa and closed again on Rossi in second. Stoner, still leading was coming under more pressure from Rossi in lap 10, the pressure further increased by a fastest lap from Lorenzo.
Stoner was late on the brakes everywhere, keeping both Rossi and Lorenzo in abayance for lap after lap. He covered all the common places to pass - turn 1, turn 6, turn 11 and turn 12, Stoner was the latest of the late brakers.
16 laps in and Rossi finally barges past Stoner at, guess where…turn 12. Stoner, knocked off line for the final corner didn’t get the drive down the start/finish straight as normal and by the end of turn 1 on lap 17 he found himself in thrid place as Lorenzo swept past him.
The final punch-up had now been set up. Lorenzo vs Rossi for the win. Rossi was pushing at the front to open a gap, but Lorenzo showed he was more than able to match him. Here, perhaps, was where Lorenzo thought his harder rear tyre might make a difference - the last ten laps. If Rossi’s tyre was not fading, Stoner certainly was, back into the welcoming arms of Pedrosa. With just 5 laps left, there was a shuffle in the order. Pedrosa passes Stoner while Lorenzo passes Rossi for the lead in turn 1.
Stoner in his efforts to stay with Pedrosa would have a massive slide on the left side of this tyre, and would settle for 4th. Pedrosa never looked likely to catch the front battle, so it was left to the two Yamahas to duke it out.
This would be no last lap high-risk move from Rossi. Spending two laps lining up Lorenzo and exploring his lines around the Sachsenring circuit, with a couple of rehersals at turn 12, Valentino set his sights. The move would come, however, at turn 1; Lorenzo’s strongest corner all weekend.
Rossi would later claim the last lap was perfect - speed and line judged with finesse to not allow Jorge hope or chance to pass. It was a lesson for Lorenzo from the master - had he ridden like this on the last lap in Barcelona, Rossi could not have passed him.
MotoGPBlog Man of the Weekend: Nicky Hayden, for qualifying in the highest position of any team-mate of Stoner on the Ducati, and for not letting a couple of monster crashes put him off, and for not giving up on the red machine.
A quiet week at the top of the standings, with @daveminella just inching away from the pack by a single point. Shouts out to @Brian_GP, @danzero and @ducatinewstoday for pulling off their Minellas. Had you guys been around earlier you would be pushing the top spots. The good news is, there is plenty of time yet for you to get up there!
MotoGPBlog has been following Dan Lo of CornerSpeedPhoto, (Twitter: @cspeedphoto) for a while now. He’s a talented photographer based in the States, and we’re honoured to feature some of his shots from this year’s Laguna Seca MotoGP round. In particular, the shot of Canepa at turn 2 is awesome. Thanks Dan!
Dan used the following kit to get these shots:
Clicking on the images will display a higher resolution version.
Rossi can’t help himself: Karting, Laguna Seca 2009.
Canepa, Turn 2, Laguna Seca 2009.
Nicky Hayden, Laguna Seca 2009.
The leaders, Laguna Seca 2009.
Jorge Lorenzo, Laguna Seca 2009.
Dani Pedrosa, Laguna Seca 2009.
Thanks to all our competitors last week - it was a week that was particularly scare on points with Dani Pedrosa hardly featuring in the picks - only four of you had him on the podium at all, and only @rumblestrip as high as second. Elsewhere, he was mentioned but generally only as a crash statistic for a Minella. The full results are now published.
As a result, the top score last week was a meagre 4 points. All of the top three punters were Hayden stalwarts and picked up three points for their Nicky Minella (remember that name if you ever have kids @daveminella!) and a single point for their podium predictions. Congratulations to @bonadjalins, @harleymac1, and @danzero: you all win a copy of Ring of Fire. Details of how to claim your prize at the end of this post.
I also have a prize for the most inventive Minella at Laguna. Honorable mentions go to @johnchapin and @leighberwick who really pushed the boat out with mentions of vomit on the racing line and the degree to which Edwards would strip if he won the race (just half-way ladies!). In the end though, I was unable to separate the top two entrants: @pintoffuc and @daveminella: you both win a copy of Ring of Fire. Here are their entries in all their glory:
@pintoffuc: Hayden above 8th, Melandri below 6th, Vermeulen above Capirossi, Gibernau last, Pedrosa overtakes 1 or + at the start, Lorenzo loses 1 or + at the start, At the end Rossi and Dovizioso wheelie on finish line, Lorenzo stand-up wheelies on finish line and then shakes left fist. Lorenzo sets his flag on Turn 5 and Rossi climbs podium left-foot first.
Chosen for the mix of finish position, start stats, celebration predictions and even which foot first on the podium.
@DaveMinella: In 2008, there were four different manufacturers in the top four spots. This will not happen in 2009.
None of the top four finishers will be from the same country.
There will be at least two crashes. None will occur on the same lap. All will be single-bike incidents.
There are five riders who’ve ridden in all four Laguna races since 05 (Hayden, Edwards, Melandri, Capirossi, Rossi). They all will finish the race.
Chosen for the depth of research done to support the Minella, the use of manufacturer positions and the idea of the delta on last year’s race.
If you are one of the lucky winners, please use Twitter to direct message @motogpblog with your email address. I’ll then contact you directly to sort out the delivery of your prize.
Special Correspondent David Mandell covers Laguna Seca for MotoGPBlog this weekend from the circuit itself. You can catch up with David on Twitter (@dgmandell) or on his blog Bluerant (like an ant, only bluer). Thanks very much for the trackside viewpoint, David. Awesome job.
UPDATE: David also took a host of pictures through the weekend.
While qualifying sessions for a MotoGP race are always exciting, they also usually provide a good glimpse into what to expect for the race itself. A statement made in qualifying can usually be backed up in the race, and riders having trouble rarely make a significant improvement prior to the race. Qualifying at this year’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca however, left everyone with more questions than answers. Eugene Laverty summed it up fairly well in his tweet on Saturday, “@eugenelaverty: 800s decided they’d had enough & acted like 500s tonight.”
While it started off fairly tame with a sole crash from Talmacsi, by the end of the session, there were MotoGP bikes flying everywhere. Lorenzo, apparently not satisfied with his first off in turn 10, took a spectacular flight through the air in the exact same spot after setting the fastest lap so far, and catapulted himself a good distance down the road landing very hard on the pavement in a very scary crash. Stoner, having been off the track at least once before in the session, managed to follow Lorenzo into the air a few minutes later in turn three. Both men were carried off in stretchers – Lorenzo in obvious agony as he tried to walk away and then failed, and Stoner simply not trying to get up.
When the checkers flew for the session, two of the top three qualifiers, including the pole man Jorge Lorenzo, were highly questionable for the race. Valentino Rossi, who was strong all weekend so far, aside from changing bikes at least four times during qualifying, held second position over Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa, who set quiet but fast laps all session, ended in fourth.
The two Americans were fairly grumpy. Colin Edwards, coming off a very strong showing in Assen, couldn’t get the front end of his bike to work and ended in seventh and Nicky Hayden who was visibly angry on Friday, managed to get up to eighth, but you could see he expected more. He still found time to work hard for the fans, however.
No one was sure whether or not Lorenzo or Stoner would be able to start the race. And, if they did, what kind of shape would they be in? Questions.
Race day showed the fortitude of both front-row starters who went down on Saturday, with Jorge being almost literally carried to his bike. Many were understandably predicting a repeat of the “Rossi Show” from Assen. Little Dani had other ideas however.
When the lights went out, Dani rocketed to the front leaving Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo and Dovizioso chasing hard. Also notable, were Elias and Hayden, who managed to get away with the leaders. Elias was right there behind Dovi and Lorenzo with a small gap back to Hayden.
Rossi and Stoner would change places a few times on the first few laps trying to hunt down Dani, as would Lorenzo and Dovizioso. Hayden stayed consistent and slowly made up the ground to the lead pack.
With 26 laps to go, the Repsol Honda front end issues that had plagued both Dani and Dovi in previous races reared it’s ugly head again when Dovi threw it away in turn six ending his race. Following the race, Dovi admitted that he had damaged his clutch lever on the cones n the front straight trying to pass Valentino early in the race which made it hard for him to manage the engine braking. Another question added to the list: “Would Dani’s front end last the race?”
On the next lap, Gibernau ended his somewhat lackluster effort at Laguna losing the front end at turn eleven and Capirossi also called it a day with mechanical problems. Attrition was mounting.
With Dovi out of the way, Lorenzo started to focus on Rossi and Stoner in front of him, slowly closing the gap, and Hayden, showing his best form of the season, got around Elias for fifth. Meanwhile, Dani kept building a gap at the front.
Eight laps in, it was Pedrosa, followed by a small gap back to Stoner and Rossi, another gap of about three seconds back to Lorenzo, then another few seconds back to Hayden and Elias. Rossi would wait another two laps before making a nice move inside Stoner at turn six to take second and start to try and close the almost four second gap to Pedrosa.
Meanwhile, back in the pits, Toseland was black flagged for a jump-start followed by failing to take his ride-through penalty within three laps. Riders out so far: Talmcsi, Dovizioso, Gibernau, Capirossi and Toseland.
With twelve laps to go, Stoner’s “Phantom Menace” would start to show again while, at the same time, whatever go-fast juice Dr. Costa injected into Lorenzo started kicking in and Jorge closed the gap to Stoner and threw a nice pass on him at turn eleven taking third place. Jorge was on fire. Once past Stoner, he wasted no time closing several tenths per lap on Rossi. With five to go, Lorenzo was right on Rossi’s tail and, waiting very late on the brakes going into turn eleven, tried a misjudged pass and almost went down in the attempt. Rossi waited for Lorenzo’s bucking bike to slide by then turned under him and left him back in third place. Lorenzo had made his move and blew it. He would have to settle for third.
With three to go, Pedrosa had a two second gap on Rossi, followed by Lorenzo, a fading Stoner and then a consistent Hayden and Elias. It would seem all was done, except for the fact that somehow, Pedrosa grossly overestimated his gap and backed way off on the last lap. Rossi sensed the mistake, hit the afterburners down the hill following the corkscrew, managed to almost close the gap by turn ten and came into the last corner right on his tail, leg off and waving wildly as he tried to make it work in the last corner and do to Dani what he had done to Jorge in Catalunya. He came up about a foot short and a surprised Dani Pedrosa managed to hold on for the win just ahead of Rossi.
Following the race, it looked as if Stoner was closer to death than he had been the prior day following the crash and Lorenzo couldn’t even hold the bottle of champagne on the podium. In stark contrast however, Nicky Hayden had a smile as big as the carbon fiber swing arm on his Ducati and for once Dani Pedrosa cracked a grin.
Final Results:
1. Dani Pedrosa - Honda
2. Valentino Rossi – Yamaha
3. Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha
4. Casey Stoner – Ducati
5. Nicky Hayden – Ducati
6. Tony Elias – Honda
7. Colin Edwards – Yamaha
8. Chris Vermeulen – Suzuki
9. Randy De Puniet – Honda
10. Marco Melandri – Kawasaki
11. Alex De Angelis – Honda
12. Niccolo Canepa – Ducati
13. Andrea Dovizioso – Honda (DNF)
14. Sete Gibernau – Ducati (DNF)
15. Loris Capirossi – Suzuki (DNF)
16. Gabor Talmacsi – Honda (DNF)
17. James Toseland – Yamaha (DQ)
The MotoGPBlog Man of the Weekend is a real tough one for Laguna Seca. Local emotion would dictate Nicky Hayden for his best race of the season and first real competitive race since starting his ride with Ducati. The heart of the racer would force one to lean towards Jorge Lorenzo for getting back on his bike and putting in a seriously competitive race in the face of obviously serious and painful injuries. However, the real Man of the Weekend, as difficult as it is for me to admit, has to go to Dani Pedrosa. Not because he won the race, but because he dominated the race in the face of his recent front-end woes and after being almost completely ignored by both the media and the pundits for his chances this weekend. He even managed to ignore a very distracting manager who did his best to climb out onto the track in the middle of the race to help his little friend along (We were taking up a collection in the suite for the man who had the guts to go out there and “help” Puig onto the track before the race ended.)
So, all the questions were answered. Yes, both Jorge and Casey managed to race, but neither managed to grab one of the top two spots. Nicky managed to get a much better grip on his Ducati and put in a very respectable race. Edwards never really managed to get a grip in the front end of his Yamaha. Rossi could not repeat the go-show from Assen. And, yes boys and girls, the front end of the Honda managed to hang in there and help propel Dani Pedrosa to an impressive and well-deserved victory at Laguna Seca.
The Championship points are still very close with only 16 points separating the top three. Any one of the three top men still has a good chance of pulling it off. Next up: German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring.
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