TRS Race Report – Polini Grand Prix of Japan – Twin Ring, Mogegi | MotoGP
- From: TRS Media | Published: April 26th, 2009 - 7:58 am
So the second round of the MotoGP world Championship is in the books. A different race than one might have expected. Fortunately, the weather held. The track was dry and the event went off without a hitch. Well, unless you’re Nicky Hayden. Nicky’s luck hasn’t changed at all. On lap one in what probably counts as the bonehead move of the year so far, rookie Yuki Takahashi plowed into the back of Nicky’s bike and down he went. He took a serious blow to the back in the exact same place he was injured at Qatar; he was not transported but appeared to be in pretty serious pain, no details yet.
In case you’re wondering, Jorge Lorenzo won this race – and in fine style. Rossi got the hole shot and at the beginning and it looked as though he may run away with it but Lorenzo had some different ideas. After the initial shuffle the running order was Rossi from Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Dovizioso, Melandri, Vermeulen and Stoner. Rossi had pulled out a lead of almost a second and a half but the pack behind him was still a slug fest. Melandri made a mistake and Stoner went by but then the deck got shuffled again. Vermeulen and Melandri got back around Stoner and the 2007 champ was in obvious trouble. Stoner’s bike did not look stable at all and it was visibly unable to get through mid corner. After the race he would tell his mechanics that he had no breaking power at the beginning and couldn’t get the bike slowed down at all.
With nineteen laps to go Stoner regained some composure and passed Vermeulen again and Melandri came through with him. Meanwhile back at the front, Rossi was still leading, followed by Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Dovi, but not for long. On lap six Elias low-sided in corner ten, the slowest corner on the track. A lap later it was on for the lead. Lorenzo put a wheel in on Rossi only to get it chopped off. Two corners later he would try it again but this time he would get by Rossi just to have Rossi drive back under him on the exit. Four corners later Lorenzo came inside Rossi, the teammates so close even Rossi would have been focused by. This time Lorenzo made it stick, and for the next couple of laps it became apparent that Rossi had been holding him up a bit.
Vermeulen had apparently pulled the parachute because he’d gone from fourth at one time to eighth and is now in twelfth. There are thirteen laps to go. On the other hand Stoner has started to come to terms with the Ducati and turns the fastest lap of the race so far. He is still in fifth at this point, and the two Yamahas and the two Hondas are quite a ways ahead. Pedrosa, who would have been a long shot at the beginning of the race (as it’s well-known he’s not yet fully healed), is flying. Pedrosa is likely the only rider who may have benefited by the rain-shortened schedule.
Somewhere at this point in the race Rossi had a moment somewhere on the track. All of a sudden the gap to Lorenzo had become almost two seconds and Pedrosa was all over Rossi. The Hondas again this weekend showed their legs. There is no doubt that the bikes are fast – Pedrosa is defiantly closing on Rossi.
I hate to sound cynical, but sometimes I wonder if Sete Gibernau is destined to battle Rossi for the spotlight (or maybe bang his head on Rossi’s spotlight) because just as the battle for second was heating up, Gibernau threw it away in corner eleven after having climbed up into twelfth. Stoner is still setting fast times, as fast as Lorenzo, but the gap to Dovi has barely closed. The difference is not enough to make much of a difference.
With eight to go now Pedrosa is all over Rossi and put it under Rossi not once but twice. You can’t say enough about the fight in Rossi. Even though he’s been fading, and Pedrosa seems to have found another gear, he’s just unwilling to concede. One lap later going into turn eleven Pedrosa does make it stick and he is able to pull away from Rossi just a bit. Not a large enough bit though because half a lap later Rossi drove under Pedrosa in five and that was that. All of a sudden Rossi, like Stoner, seemed to have come to terms with his motorcycle. In Rossi’s case though I’d bet it was just the idea of finishing behind Pedrosa.
Don’t forget about Lorenzo. He’s still out front by a far piece, about two seconds. Kallio passes Toseland for eighth and the running order is now Lorenzo, Rossi, Pedrosa, Dovizioso and Stoner to round out the top five. Stoner finally catches Dovi and in a less-than-polite pass. There’s four laps to go. Vermeulen is on the mend as well and has now moved into tenth and is staring down Toseland for ninth.
As much as I would like to report that all hell broke loose from there, it didn’t. Lorenzo claimed his second win and the gap from him to Rossi was about a second and a half at the end. Pedrosa held on for third to round out the box. Lorenzo’s win actually gives him the championship lead by a point over Rossi. Stoner goes from first to third…it’s only the second race.
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