First you had, of note, Jorge Lorenzo who upon managing to high-side his bike, bent the plate that had been screwed into his shoulder to help with the healing of his collarbone. Now if that plate's made of titanium like they're supposed to be, that's some force, isn't it?!
Then there was the second casualty of the weekend, for with the reigning World Champion at bay, it should have been advantage Dani Pedrosa...
Not so!!!
For the bro' not only managed to lose control of his Repsol Honda, but he too managed to fracture his collarbone at turn one forcing him to be ruled out on doctor's orders, of the race around the 2.281 mile circuit in Chemnitz.
With 10 left-handers and only 3 right-handers this was sure to play havoc on the tyres, which was an understatement given that many riders, from the likes of Michael Laverty & others said that unfortunately, so much time spent on the left side of their tyre actually compromised the run into those corners that utilised the now cold right side.
Qualifying
The star of the show, with the two main contenders out for the race, was Marc Marquez, the pocket rocket from Spain, who was left to contend with Cal Crutchlow and 'The Doctor' Valentino Rossi, in a bid to see who would come away laughing with pole position come Sunday.
It turned out that this was a time when it was good to be a Spaniard because Marquez managed to pip Crutchlow by 0.123 of a second (could you have predicted that specific time?!) who in turn was 0.059 ahead of Rossi.
Crutchlow it was who was a very lucky guy after a 130mph crash at the last right hander of the circuit, turn 11, saw him skid across the ground. He then attempted to make as much contact as he could with the tarmac in a bid to slow himself down resulting in a very severe skinning that had him bandaged up all down his right arm from shoulder to fingers to name just one area.
The Race
With the extinguish of the lights, away went the bikes and it was a sublimely quick Stefan Bradl, coming from fourth position, who made it to the first corner first. He edged out Marquez and the Doctor whilst Cal slid back towards sixth position.
Afterwards, it would be an exhausted looking Cal who would say that he did not think there was anything wrong with his start, in fact he pointed a finger at Marquez who, he claimed, actually made a poor start resulting in Bradl's jump on him.
Talk about switching your gaze, huh? Cal the media spin doctor, lol, making the most of a bad situation!
The first of only two non-finishers was Yonny Hernandez (remarkable given the number of Free Practice & Qualifying crashes, even warm up wasn't crash free!), who was desperately unlucky to crash out of this race having made a reasonable start as well.
It was then left to Marquez to make the first move on Bradl, who got rapturous cheers the moment he overtook Rossi for the race lead and though he would lead for a few laps, it wouldn't last resulting in a seventh placed position.
So now with Marquez leading the pack, it was up to the likes of Rossi and Crutchlow, who by this time had clawed his way back to third, having passed Bradl in a brave move that was hopefully not too little too late for him to catch Rossi & eventual race winner, Marquez.
He was pressing, pressing was Cal and all the time it looked as if he was trying to eke out a position whereby he could pass The Doctor, but he was not making it easy either nailing the corners to perfection, or on one instant, kicking up some dust briefly clouding the vision of the number 35 Tech III Yamaha rider.
Then, just after the half-distance mark, it happened...
Mugging the Doctor was not something that was expected to happen given his professionalism at all times when riding around the circuits across the MotoGP calendar. But Cal would not take 'no' for an answer and eventually made the move stick to claim his second highest finishing position, having already taken a second place earlier this year.
The next, and final casualty to be a non-finisher was the Australian rider Bryan Staring, who did not have the best of luck this race weekend, so would look to do better next time out at Leguna Seca.
So, before I go on to give out my Rider of the Day trophy, let's take a look at the championship after eight rounds: -
1
|
Marc
MARQUEZ
|
Honda
|
SPA
|
138
|
2
|
Dani
PEDROSA
|
Honda
|
SPA
|
136
|
3
|
Jorge
LORENZO
|
Yamaha
|
SPA
|
127
|
4
|
Cal
CRUTCHLOW
|
Yamaha
|
GBR
|
107
|
5
|
Valentino
ROSSI
|
Yamaha
|
ITA
|
101
|
It's truly awesome to see Cal's run of form continue and now keep him within a reasonable shout of the title itself and if... well, let's not go there shall we??
^
Now, onto the moment that really counts; the Rider of the Day
I would want to give it to the bro' who really knows how to live it hardcore having skinned his arms and hands badly on the surface of turn 11, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to pick the race winner: -
Marc Marquez
The way he took full advantage of a missing Pedrosa and Lorenzo, along with Crutchlow avid and accurate comment that if they had been been racing, then it was likely the result still would have been the same, such was their pace on the day, means he gets it.
His style was as commanding as always and the pace he was getting out of that Honda made me wonder if the HRC were even missing one Casey Stoner (naw, I jest, but only partially as Marc is that damn good!)...
* * *
Special mention has to go out to one Bradley Smith, Cal's team-mate at this time who clocked a second time 6th placed position for his team, proving that it was not a mistake to give the ride to him for this year.
Will we be seeing more of him? You betcha!!!
Looking ahead now, I think that it will all depend on whether Lorenzo classes himself as fit for Laguna Seca, as he's another hardcore bro' who would rather race than rest and only seems to do the latter when ordered to by the doc's!
Pedrosa on the other hand, he will probably be out for that, but we'll see.
Until next time, bro's...
Peace out,
The Lanky Penguin
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