autofreak
12-25-2008, 05:35 AM
It was an ugly way to finish the season. The early laps were hardly thrilling but from lap six to the final 30th lap there wasn't a single change of position in any of the top six places. And from half distance onward there was a gap of more than two seconds between each of the first eight riders. It was a veritable procession, enlivened only by a few battles further down the field. As former 500 world champ Kevin Schwantz said: "That wasn't a barn burner.
There were a few reasons for this. Valencia isn't the kind of racetrack that makes for close racing - it's all interlinked corners and tight turns which leave riders little room to get up close and personal. It is the opposite of Phillip Island. The weather probably didn't help either. Two days of mostly wet practice meant little time for evaluating race tyres, so riders and teams had to guesstimate their race choice; inevitably some got it right but probably more got it wrong.
But if Dorna think that the single tyre rule will instantly create close, exciting MotoGP racing in 2009, they should consider the fact that the first three home Stoner, Pedrosa and Rossi - were some way apart throughout. Same tyres, doesn't mean same lap times.
Pedrosa got the holeshot but it took Stoner all of a few hundred yards to get ahead, the Aussie stealing past the Spaniard into the second turn. And that was that as far as the battle for the lead went. Behind those two, Edwards got a great start from the second row to drag past Hayden into the first turn. Hayden passed Edwards for the first time on lap two but ran wide, allowing his compatriot back ahead, next time round he made it stick. Three laps gone and Stoner already had a half second lead, chased by Pedrosa, Hayden, Edwards, Dovizioso and Rossi, the world champ coming through fast from ninth on the first lap.
Rossi took Dovi on lap four, then he took Edwards and Hayden two laps later to move into third. How long would it take him to hunt down Pedrosa? And would he then be able to go for the win? Pretty soon it was obvious that he didn't have the pace of the two men out front. For once, there was going to be no thrilling charge to the front. All he could manage was third.
168
Of course, there was a question mark over Stoner's fitness. He had come close to withdrawing from the Malaysian GP because he was struggling to hold onto his bucking Desmosedici. Would he fade mid-race here and maybe cede victory to Pedrosa? No, he wouldn't. Valencia is so tight and twisting that there's much less heavy braking than at Sepang. His heavily strapped left wrist held up just fine. By half-distance he was I.8sec ahead and although Pedrosa occasionally nibbled away by a tenth or two, the gap grew more than it shrunk. Finally, Stoner took the flag 3-4sec ahead. Pedrosa meanwhile ended the race almost nine seconds ahead of Rossi.
Dovizioso never looked like repeating his Sepang podium, even though he got the better of Hayden just mom.ents after Rossi had swept past the 2006 champ. He never had the pace to go after Rossi and ended the race I2sec back and two ahead of Hayden. Hayden might have had a better swan song with Repsol Honda but for a r60km/h crash during morning warm-up. The accident caused by a too hard front for the cool conditions damaged his number one bike badly enough to force him to use his second machine.
Like Hayden, Edwards held position throughout, a couple of second clear in front of him, a couple of seconds behind him. Nakano was next, having despatched Capirossi to take seventh place just before half distance. It was the Japanese rider's final MotoGP race before hooking up with Aprilia's WSB team. Capirossi was struggling with a too soft front tyre and succumbed to Lorenzo with just two laps to go, the Spaniard having fought back from lIth and ridden his best lap on the last lap. The result was good enough to give him the coveted Rookie of the Year prize, just ahead of Dovizioso.
The best fun was to be had behind Capirossi, with a bunch of riders battling for the final point-scoring position'S, Amazingly, Melandri was the star of this lower-order sort-out, the lacklustre Ducati rider coming through from 17th on lap one to tenth. But then the Italian hit a false neutral with three laps-to go, ran wide and dropped back to 16th. lOth went to de Angelis who got the better of Toseland in the final laps, the Briton finishing 12th at the head of a freight train just 1.3sec separating Toseland in 12th from de Puniet in 15th with Guintoli, Vermeulen and Hopkins in between.
Hopper had started brilliantly, completing the first lap in eighth. He lost one place after another until he was 14th, Vermeulen passing him with two laps remaining. Vermeulen blamed his below-par race on a poor tyre gamble. Toseland had been with Lorenzo early on but didn't have the pace to chase his fellow Ml rider through the pack. De Puniet came back from dead last on the first lap after running off the track. He got the final point ahead of Melandri, West and Elias.
There were a few reasons for this. Valencia isn't the kind of racetrack that makes for close racing - it's all interlinked corners and tight turns which leave riders little room to get up close and personal. It is the opposite of Phillip Island. The weather probably didn't help either. Two days of mostly wet practice meant little time for evaluating race tyres, so riders and teams had to guesstimate their race choice; inevitably some got it right but probably more got it wrong.
But if Dorna think that the single tyre rule will instantly create close, exciting MotoGP racing in 2009, they should consider the fact that the first three home Stoner, Pedrosa and Rossi - were some way apart throughout. Same tyres, doesn't mean same lap times.
Pedrosa got the holeshot but it took Stoner all of a few hundred yards to get ahead, the Aussie stealing past the Spaniard into the second turn. And that was that as far as the battle for the lead went. Behind those two, Edwards got a great start from the second row to drag past Hayden into the first turn. Hayden passed Edwards for the first time on lap two but ran wide, allowing his compatriot back ahead, next time round he made it stick. Three laps gone and Stoner already had a half second lead, chased by Pedrosa, Hayden, Edwards, Dovizioso and Rossi, the world champ coming through fast from ninth on the first lap.
Rossi took Dovi on lap four, then he took Edwards and Hayden two laps later to move into third. How long would it take him to hunt down Pedrosa? And would he then be able to go for the win? Pretty soon it was obvious that he didn't have the pace of the two men out front. For once, there was going to be no thrilling charge to the front. All he could manage was third.
168
Of course, there was a question mark over Stoner's fitness. He had come close to withdrawing from the Malaysian GP because he was struggling to hold onto his bucking Desmosedici. Would he fade mid-race here and maybe cede victory to Pedrosa? No, he wouldn't. Valencia is so tight and twisting that there's much less heavy braking than at Sepang. His heavily strapped left wrist held up just fine. By half-distance he was I.8sec ahead and although Pedrosa occasionally nibbled away by a tenth or two, the gap grew more than it shrunk. Finally, Stoner took the flag 3-4sec ahead. Pedrosa meanwhile ended the race almost nine seconds ahead of Rossi.
Dovizioso never looked like repeating his Sepang podium, even though he got the better of Hayden just mom.ents after Rossi had swept past the 2006 champ. He never had the pace to go after Rossi and ended the race I2sec back and two ahead of Hayden. Hayden might have had a better swan song with Repsol Honda but for a r60km/h crash during morning warm-up. The accident caused by a too hard front for the cool conditions damaged his number one bike badly enough to force him to use his second machine.
Like Hayden, Edwards held position throughout, a couple of second clear in front of him, a couple of seconds behind him. Nakano was next, having despatched Capirossi to take seventh place just before half distance. It was the Japanese rider's final MotoGP race before hooking up with Aprilia's WSB team. Capirossi was struggling with a too soft front tyre and succumbed to Lorenzo with just two laps to go, the Spaniard having fought back from lIth and ridden his best lap on the last lap. The result was good enough to give him the coveted Rookie of the Year prize, just ahead of Dovizioso.
The best fun was to be had behind Capirossi, with a bunch of riders battling for the final point-scoring position'S, Amazingly, Melandri was the star of this lower-order sort-out, the lacklustre Ducati rider coming through from 17th on lap one to tenth. But then the Italian hit a false neutral with three laps-to go, ran wide and dropped back to 16th. lOth went to de Angelis who got the better of Toseland in the final laps, the Briton finishing 12th at the head of a freight train just 1.3sec separating Toseland in 12th from de Puniet in 15th with Guintoli, Vermeulen and Hopkins in between.
Hopper had started brilliantly, completing the first lap in eighth. He lost one place after another until he was 14th, Vermeulen passing him with two laps remaining. Vermeulen blamed his below-par race on a poor tyre gamble. Toseland had been with Lorenzo early on but didn't have the pace to chase his fellow Ml rider through the pack. De Puniet came back from dead last on the first lap after running off the track. He got the final point ahead of Melandri, West and Elias.