Once again, qualifying saw Cal Crutchlow end up on pole position, clocking in at 1'41.501 only to be mugged as this time Dani Pedrosa put in a simply electrifying time of 1'40.893 to go ahead of him and Jorge Lorenzo who managed to pip then third placed man, Alvaro Bautista, by 0.148 of a second.
The race itself didn't just do qualifying justice, it outshone it in terms of the action as once again riders were going off left, right and centre...
The first to go down was the aforementioned unlucky man of qualifying, Bautista who almost took out Valentino Rossi for a second time this season!
Next to go out was an unfortunate Michael Laverty who, whilst looking impressive so far in this his debut season with MotoGP.
I could scarcely believe what happened next because when the track started getting greased up as the temperatures soared, drivers were dropping all over the place. First there was Andrea Iannone, another debutante to the MotoGP class who was in 9th at the time, then the one I disliked most of all (though it can never be fun for any of them, just that I'm supporting my fellow Brit all the way this year, bro's!), Cal Crutchlow who so far had only been mugged by Marc Marquez (yeah, and I say that like that's a bad thing when the guy's on a scorcher at the moment!) dropping down to fourth before dropping out altogether at turn 7.
This was followed by Nicky Hayden, a rider who I always like to hear his interviews because he's one of the most down-to-earth guys I've seen on that grid. Nicky was riding high in 6th (and should be getting more finishes like that position as he's defo got the talent!) at the time.
It was only lap 5 for goodness sake's!
With action like this, it did not bode well for the rest of the riders and sure enough two laps later, lap 7, saw the departure of Lukas Pesek with Karel Abraham going out three laps later on lap 10 having been running around in 16th position at the time.
At this point things seemed to settle down somewhat and it wasn't until Hector Barbera lost his bike at lap 16 having been in 12th position at the time.
Without a doubt there could have been more had the final third not pretty much seen the remaining riders end up coming home safely enough. The only exception to this could very well have been either Pedrosa or Marquez when the latter made one of a number of moves in the closing stages of the race.
He then sensibly (if that's even possible to say that at a turn, turn 10, where most of the other riders that had gone and dropped their bikes earlier this race!) stabbed the brakes causing a front-end wobble that saved not only his bacon, but also that of his team-mate, giving relief to the Repsol Honda Team.
Therefore it was up to Lorenzo who, having stolen first position at the first corner of the first lap, to get the hammer down having seen "+0" repeatedly on the preceding laps. This was cause for concern for a while because we weren't sure whether Dani had a problem or whether Jorge had simply done as I've said. It was the latter...
Therefore it comes as no surprise that today the 'Rider of the Day' goes to: -
Jorge Lorenzo
Had he won today (well Sunday as I watched this coverage today due to busy scheduling of my own, for once!), then I would have tipped Pedrosa, having been electric at the end of qualifying. As it was, Lorenzo takes the award bringing the total now up to two for him. Let's see how it looks for the rest of them: -
Rider
Name
|
R.o.t.D.
Award
|
Jorge Lorenzo
|
2
|
Marc Marquez
|
2
|
Dani Pedrosa
|
2
|
Now let's see how that compares with the championship table itself: -
Rider
Name
|
Total
Points
|
Dani Pedrosa
|
123
|
Jorge Lorenzo
|
116
|
Marc Marquez
|
93
|
Hmm... notice anything?
THEY'RE FRICKIN' IDENTICAL!!!
Those pernickety types would dispute that because the order is different, but that's missing the fundamental point (as I alphabeticised my R.o.t.D. table on a surname basis!) that I know what I'm talking about when I'm reviewing things, isn't that obvious, bro's?!
Now that the season's one third over, it's still anyone's guess who'll be champion come year end, but one thing I will say before the guys head off to Assen in Holland next, watch out for Cal Crutchlow, he's still only 22 points behind Marquez so one D.N.F. for Marquez (no, I'm not trying to hex him!) and a race win for Crutchlow and WHAMMO, position swapp-o!
Until next time, where the race is on a Saturday, for a change!
Peace out, bro's!
The Lanky Penguin
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