Well, that has certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons!
With discussions over who was to blame for the disaster that hit Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa at this race, it is likely that the ramifications and repercussions will be felt long into the future.
Why?!
Simples; it all boils down to the fact that so far, Pedrosa is the only man never to win a championship yet show form that suggests he could and maybe rightly should do so!
Onto Qualifying...
QUALIFYING
Q1. For this one (again to cut down on space that these reviews are taking up on the blog), it was all about Bradley Smith and Andrea Iannone in Q1 as the pair of them set themselves apart from the rest of the field to book a place in the second part of qualifying.
Q2. From early on in the key part of qualifying this one looked as though the seamless gearbox of Jorge Lorenzo would indeed be a major step forward as it was last time out at Misano. So far, so good.
But again Marc Marquez, the Rookie of the Year by my reckoning (and soon to be world champ at this rate too! - ED) stole the show setting a time of 1'47.804 a full hundredth ahead of compatriot Lorenzo, followed over the line by Pedrosa.
The rest of the top ten came over the line led by Lorenzo's team-mate; Valentino Rossi and it would certainly be a day to remember for all Rossi fans everywhere!
One final note to mention is that in replacing Ben Spies at the Pramac Ducati team for the remainder of the season, Yonny Hernandez was looking to see his time at Paul Bird Motorsport not count for nothing. He is the first Columbian to ride a MotoGP prototype machine and the first South American to do so since Alex Barros in 2007. He is to be replaced at Paul Bird Motorsport by Aussie Damien Cudlin.
THE RACE
Before the action had even got under way saw the first drama as Hector Barbera was wheeled off the grid and into the pit lane, giving his team anxious times over whether his race was over before it had even begun, or whether he'd have to start from the back of the grid or the pit lane exit.
The moment the lights went out it was revealed that he was rejoining the race so had to make his way round the course from the back of the grid (though I'm not sure which of the two penalties were applied).
First into corner one was Lorenzo as he proved that that new gear box was bloody effective again, with Marquez and Pedrosa having to do the chasing once more.
What happened next was rather chaotic and it took a few laps to sort through the details as Michael Laverty and Danilo Petrucci both crashed out, though it came out through Laverty's own words that newcomer to the MotoGP grid; Luca Scasa was involved and from what I saw of replays he went straight on after Laverty and Petrucci had come together so was he involved? :S
It did not cost Scasa his entry into this race and he was able to continue from the back of the grid...
Meanwhile, Pedrosa had been closing the gap to Marquez and the hope in the Yamaha garage was clearly that the two Repsol Hondas would be too busy arguing over themselves to allow race leader Lorenzo to pull away for a commanding win. Not before a shocking twist yet!
As he moved into the left hander, he seemed to have a moment causing the commentators (and me!) to think that Marquez behind had actually clipped him. Afterwards, it was revealed that Marquez had indeed gotten a little too close for comfort on his team-mate as he'd broken the cable distributing the traction control system to the rear of the bike!
Naughty, naughty, Marc! ;)
A message soon came up that Pedrosa was being taken to the medical centre with damage to his hip and right knee the cause for alarm at this time...
Behind these was Crutchlow down in seventh only to get the jump on Alvaro Bautista as hope was there for the taking whether he'd be able to get jump on Pedrosa's misfortune and hone in on third spot, ahead of him and the potential fly in the ointment were both Bradl & Rossi.
That 'moment' for Pedrosa had upset Marquez's rhythm for long enough to allow Lorenzo to keep ahead of the pack, but not for long as over the next few laps he was gradually reeled in. Then, when released by Lorenzo it was up to Marquez to see if: -
- His nerve had either been rattled over the earlier incident involving Pedrosa; or
- Lorenzo had lured him into a very clever trap and intended on getting the jump on him.
By now it was looking like a familiar tussle between Rossi, Bautista & Crutchlow over who would take that final podium step now that Pedrosa was unfortunately out of the picture. As the chequered flag loomed, it was Bautista who took advantage of a mistake by Rossi to take the position from him and put space between himself and Crutchlow who had so far been fairly innocuous in his riding style.
It was at this point that we were advised that Ken Roberts was the last rookie to win the top prize in MotoGP (of course back then it was a championship of a different name), but that's bound to change now that Marquez is on a charge, right?! ;)
As we closed in on the end of the final third it was a chaotic few moments as Bautista passed Bautista, only to be overtaken, overtake him, lose the place and get it back again... a move that ultimately would see Bautista take fourth leaving him wondering, with Rossi's current form, what he has to do to get a podium!
This move clearly shook him as now even Bradl was pushing him for position, leaving Cal effectively out in the cold as far as podiums were concerned and the Tech III Yamaha rider effectively said that they weren't at the races this weekend, but it was certainly a step up from the crash-fests that have plagued recent weeks' racing for him.
The conclusion & 'Rider of the Day' take place after the jump ===>>
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