Though coverage of this race was only 60 minutes long on BBC2, rather than the usual 1h30m plus 30m of MotoGP:Forum action, this by no means was a dull and uneventful race...
First there came the news that not only the Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, but also the Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo would indeed be returning to action despite their antics last time out injuring themselves in spectacular fashion.
Qualifying
With the action last time out seeing Pedrosa's team-mate Marc Marquez, the pocket rocket from Spain winning another race this season to go back to the top of the pile in the championship standings, no doubt all eyes were on him to see if he would be able to extend his lead and take full advantage of his compatriots' self-inflicted damages.
Not so... for it would be one Stefan Bradl who would turn up and do his best to spoil the party!
His time of "1'21.176" would turn out to be sufficient to wrestle pole position away from Marquez who clocked in just .017 of a second slower. Now, I didn't see qualifying as there was none on the BBC as far as I was aware, so can't say whether Marquez was mugged or not, but still, for a satellite rider, that's a damn impressive time if I do say so myself!
The Race
This was marred somewhat by the news that championship contenders Lorenzo & Pedrosa would be starting from the second and third rows of the grid due of course to their previous round antics. So whether or not it would be expectant to hope that the start would be electrifying without the two of them in the mix was anybody's guess and it turned out that a consideration like that was moot.
The way Bradl got off the line was something else, I am telling you! The LCR Honda rider proved that it was a wise move bringing him up to the MotoGP level having reigned supreme in Moto2 before even Marquez made the jump.
Marquez it was who all eyes were on going into this one to see if he would be able to capitalise on his team-mate and rival's misfortunes and he certainly looked strong as despite getting mugged by 'the Doctor', Valentino Rossi, he would ultimately go on to take him at the 'Corkscrew', my favourite part of the 2.243 mile circuit. He ran over the gravel on the inside as the Doc sensibly pulled out of protecting his position in a bid to ensure that neither he nor the number 93 were left reeling having left their bikes behind.
It was tough but fair racing like this that would go on to ensure that Marquez's performance here at Laguna Seca, would be remembered as one of his rides of the season. Steve Parrish it was that said in commentary that he expected Marquez to be making a lot more mistakes than he's ended up making and, barring the massive crash he had a few weeks ago, he's proving that he is not just Champion-elect material, but full blown Champion material (a distinct difference given that the former is a pretender to the throne)!
Marquez it is who is proving to be the rookie to beat this year, having made the step up from Moto2 look positively effortless and should therefore be watched now that the mid-season break has arrived to ensure that he comes back as fighting fit as he ever is going into Indianapolis in 24 days' time.
Cal Crutchlow, at this point, had a day to forget as despite qualifying in fifth position with a time of "1'21.420", that would be the highest position he would see all weekend, given that another bogged down start resulted in him being swallowed up by the likes of Lorenzo & Pedrosa bumping him down to seventh position and exactly where he would go on to finish the race.
So how did they get on, Pedrosa & Lorenzo?
I will tell you now.
They were by and large an unseen element in this race, keeping away from the sharp end of the grid as understandably so as their injuries proved just enough to keep them from seriously challenging. Do not get me wrong, I do not discredit their performances, either of them, because that takes some stones that, riding a bike in their conditions, I'll just say that it wasn't quite the same without them.
Despite that fact though, Bradl and Marquez put on a grand ol' show and, until he was dumped later on in the race, Rossi truly pushed them and fought for every second he was able to gain in his third placed finish.
As for the D.N.F. element of the race (something which some may say defines a race's true quality, which is BS, if you ask me!), there were five casualties with the highest profile being Aleix Espargaro, the Power Electronics Aspar rider's race was unfortunately ended after 5 laps. Other casualties were Michael Laverty, who seemingly disappeared off the grid only to be picked up by the commentators when he hadn't gone around for his next lap on lap 2, along with Randy De Puniet and Claudio Corti who was seen to pit early on only to then retire a handful of laps later.
Final mention had to be made of Brad Smith, who was unfortunate to experience a technical malfunction leaving the Tech III rider disappointed despite an otherwise impressive first half of the season.
The closing laps then, saw Marquez pull away from Bradl with a 2.2 second gap opened up by race end as he took the chequered flag causing the LCR team to celebrate, not a race win, but nevertheless their highest ever finish in a MotoGP race.
Special mention at this point is made of how Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso were battling hard as anything and at one point Dovey even slammed into Hayden as they fought tooth and nail for eighth position.
Hayden it would be who would turn out to be the victor in that battle.
Though I've not mentioned Rossi by name as much as usual, he was sublime in both his respect for Marquez when being overtaken for second position and faultless in bringing his bike home on the final podium step. This was the first time since 1975 and Paul Reid, when the eldest MotoGP rider clocked in three back-to-back podiums.
So with all that being said, let's take a quick look at the Championship now: -
1
|
Marc
MARQUEZ
|
Honda
|
SPA
|
163
|
2
|
Dani
PEDROSA
|
Honda
|
SPA
|
147
|
3
|
Jorge
LORENZO
|
Yamaha
|
SPA
|
137
|
4
|
Valentino
ROSSI
|
Yamaha
|
ITA
|
117
|
5
|
Cal
CRUTCHLOW
|
Yamaha
|
GBR
|
116
|
With this being said, it's now the mid-point of the season meaning that my Rider of the Day award will be followed by a quick tally of the season so far.
Who is it?
Marc Marquez
You should not really be surprised at this one, given the tenacity with which Marquez showed in making sure that second position was his come the 'Corkscrew' at turn 8 (and this is just one reason why I enjoy Laguna Seca so much, both to watch and to ride on NFS:Shift!), running off the track and across the gravel forcing the Doctor to take evasive action lest he collect him on the exit.
Okay, now that's over with let's see how my R.o.t.D. awards stack up over the season so far: -
Rider Name
|
R.o.t.D. Award
|
Jorge Lorenzo
|
3
|
Marc Marquez
|
3
|
Dani Pedrosa
|
2
|
I can bet you are all wondering how come that total doesn't add up to 9, given that this is the number of races we've had so far this year. Well, that's because I only came up with the R.o.t.D. idea after Doha, Qatar. Yet in spite of all of this, I will call out the first review in the event of a tie-break (so in actual fact Marquez is unofficially leading due to his performance in said race) and cash in Marquez's unofficial award if necessary.
Next time out, it's back to America in 24 days' time and another of my favourite circuits (yes I do have a lot of them, don't I! :P); Indianapolis so we'll see if the likes of Marquez et al can continue their form going into the second half of the season.
Peace out!
The Lanky Penguin
PS. Announcements will be made in due course as to what motor racing events I shall be covering going into 2014 when BBC's coverage of MotoGP ceases after Valencia at the end of the year, so stay tuned, bro's!
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