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MotoGP 2009 - Round Six - Catalunya - Race |
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MotoGP 2009 - Round Six - Catalunya - Race |
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MotoGP Rnd 6 By, Trevor Hedge Jorge Lorenzo led teammate Valentino Rossi to a Yamaha 1-2 in qualifying at Catalunya in preparation for round six of the 2009 MotoGP Championship. Rossi managed to turn the tables on his young challenger during the morning warm-up session and Colin Edwards made it a Yamaha 1-2-3 for the session. Series leader Casey Stoner qualified third quickest, almost half a second slower than the Yamaha duo and could manage only the fifth quickest time in the morning warm-up session. Andrea Dovizioso was fourth quickest in the warm-up session and Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa was sixth quickest despite his troubling injuries. The morning warm-up was held in temperatures nearly 20 degrees cooler than Saturday’s qualifying session which registered a track temperature of 56 degrees. Temperatures had hotted up once again on race day and management of tyre life would be the deciding factor on who would come out on top out of the fast boys in combination with which rider could prove quickest on shagged tyres in the closing stages of the race. When the race got underway the top three qualifiers all got away well to follow each other line astern into turn one. Lorenzo had the hammer down from the off and immediately started to pull away from his pursuers while Stoner was all over Rossi. The early battle for fourth place was an all Honda affair with Pedrosa, De Puniet and Dovizioso dusting each other up while Capirossi looked on with intentions to join the affray given half a chance. By the end of lap one Lorenzo had half a dozen bike lengths on Rossi but by the end of lap two the top three were nose to tail. The sweltering temperature in the mind of all riders and how fast that heat will be smearing their Bridgestones all over the scorching Catalunya tarmac. Valentino Rossi hit the lead with 22 laps to run while Lorenzo and Stoner held station a little astern of #46. The two Repsol Honda men had got the better of their combatants and were battling themselves for fourth position just over two seconds behind the leading trio. Eventually Dovizioso shook Pedrosa off and the injured Spaniard then became to come under attack from Capirossi before the Suzuki man got a little too eager and ran off the circuit in his quest to get on terms with Pedrosa. He regained the track in quick order without losing position. Eight laps into the race Stoner started to lose touch with the two Fiat Yamaha men, the Ducati proving not as kind to the tyres as the Yamaha and the Australian entering conservation mode as a result with two-thirds of the race still to run... Jorge Lorenzo squeezed past Rossi with 13 laps to run much to delight of the massive Spanish crowd. Loris Capirossi got the better of Dani Pedrosa with nine laps to go in what was a two-way battle for fifth place. Dovizioso had closed to within less than a second of Stoner before the Ducati man responded by upping his pace enough to stretch that gap back out to more than 1.5 seconds only for Dovizioso to again close to within striking distance with six laps to run. At the front of the field Rossi continued to circulate while right up the tailpipe of Lorenzo, lap after lap, after lap... The Yamaha pair more than seven seconds ahead of Stoner and Dovizioso. Rossi pulled alongside Lorenzo onto the main straight and passed his young foe as they crossed the line with three laps to run. Rossi on the gas hard out of the turns to try and immediately break Lorenzo, some serious sideways attitude from Rossi’s Yamaha. Lorenzo went past Rossi down the straight on the next lap, Rossi got him back before the entry to the corner, the pair nearly touching. Rossi again held sway at the front as the battle continued throughout the penultimate lap. Lorenzo was so close on the back straight that he nearly hit the rear of Rossi and actually had to get out of the throttle which cost him some time, but he still had enough to again get Rossi down the straight. Rossi retaliated between turns one and two and momentarily nosed ahead, Lorenzo back in front, the pair then swap again, the young charge again getting the better of the master... Rossi up Lorenzo’s tailpipe through the penultimate turn, but Rossi had him covered with a masterful tactic which gave him the right line onto the main straight for the win. Stoner just managed to keep Dovizioso at bay by less than a bike length to claim the final step on the rostrum, but nobody was watching and nobody cared. The battle for the win will go down in the history books as one of the truly epic battles of the modern era. What a race! What a championship! Six rounds down. Rossi, Lorenzo and Stoner all with two wins apiece and all with 106 points in the series... Next stop Assen, Saturday, June 27. |
| MotoGP Rnd 6 - Race Result |
MotoGP Rnd 6 - Championship Standings |
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| -- MotoGP Quotes Valentino Rossi, 1st - "As we say in Italy, "Mamma Mia!" I think I can honestly say that this was one of the best and hardest wins of my career. Maybe Laguna last year was more important but this was a great, great victory because it went to the very last corner and it's a long time since that has happened. I have dreamed about that move for the last two weeks and today it worked and I am so happy to have this 99th win. We did a perfect job all weekend and my M1 and Bridgestone tyres were brilliant, but we knew that Lorenzo was in the same situation and for sure he was very strong today. I had to be very brave and take it right to the limit in order to beat him. This victory today is more important than the 25 points and anyway now we all have the same, what a championship this is! As well as thanking my team, I especially want to dedicate this win to my Crew Chief Jeremy Burgess because his mother sadly died yesterday. I have to say thank you to her and to him because without him, for sure, I would never have arrived at 99 wins. Now I am going to go to sleep for quite a long time because I need to recover from this excitement!" Jorge Lorenzo, 2nd - "This was an incredible battle today and a brilliant show for everyone, I am happy to have been a part of it. Of course I am sad to have lost because I put my heart on my bike and in my career I am more used to winning these last-lap fights, but today Valentino was maybe a little bit cleverer or a little bit braver than me at the very end and he was able to beat me. In fact during that last lap, after I passed him, I expected him to pass me back on the brakes much earlier but he didn't come, and then I just didn't close the line enough on the final corner and that was it. I am proud however because I am young and I still have a lot to learn in this class. My team have worked so well all weekend so thanks to them, if we can continue as strongly as this all season then who knows what can happen?" Casey Stoner, 3rd - “I haven’t felt in great shape all weekend – I wasn’t ill but I wasn’t quite myself. Then last night I couldn’t sleep, I probably got a couple of hours at the most, and after just a couple of laps this morning I was destroyed. I decided to race myself, basically, and bring home as many points as I could manage but my bike was fantastic and that is why I was able to ride it to a really valuable podium. The team did a perfect job after the warm-up and if I wasn’t so ill, I think I could have stayed with Valentino and Jorge until the end, although I’m not saying I could have beaten them. I started to suffer from really strong cramps and I could barely ride – I was falling over the front of the bike in the hard-braking areas and I was struggling to keep my concentration. I thought about stopping but decided to just back off for a while and try to hang on for a top ten. The bike was so good that I was able to keep up a decent pace and hold off Dovizioso. Tonight I’ll try to get plenty of rest and recover my strength for the test tomorrow because this is an important period in the championship and we need to test. After that it’s Assen and I’m already looking forward to it.” Andrea Dovizioso, 4th - “We had a great race today and we finished only nine seconds behind the winner - this is a very important point because we are getting closer every time. We only missed the podium by 52 thousandths of a second, which is a pity because I really like this racetrack and we were fast for the whole weekend, so the podium was the target and it was within the reach. I didn’t have a good start and it took me some time to overtake Randy and then Dani which meant I had a gap to close before I could reach Stoner. Maybe I should have tried to attack Casey with six laps to go, when he slowed down, because later I didn’t have any other chance. The race conditions were really demanding because it was really hot today, but the result was promising and we can move on from here.” Loris Capirossi, 5th - "This was the same position as Mugello, but this is a different one because we have worked so hard to get this and it is a great result. All the team - especially Stuart - have worked so hard to get us where we are today. After qualifying I didn't feel that the bike was quite right and Stuart worked with the guys until late to find a solution. He told me that he was going to make big changes for the race and we tried it during this morning's warm-up and the bike felt really good. During the race I kept my rhythm after a good start and when I got close to Pedrosa I lost some time off the front guys because his bike was so fast in some places I couldn't get past, and he held me up a bit. If I hadn't got stuck for a few laps I think I could have stayed with the next group and got a better result. I want to say a big thank-you to Suzuki because they have brought a new engine here and it was an improvement on the old one - I think if I'd had that engine in Mugello I'd have been on the podium! Most of all I want to thank all my guys individually Stuart, Ian, Gary, Jeff, George, Tex and Jez all did a great job and without them I wouldn't have got that result today!" Dani Pedrosa, 6th - "It’s been a very hard weekend and I finished the race exhausted and in a lot of pain, but I don’t regret being here this weekend trying to do my best. I didn’t want to miss my home race and even though sixth position is not the best result in front of my fans, I’m happy with it. I could feel their enormous support during the whole weekend and it helped me a lot to race. It also wouldn’t have been possible without the doctors’ help: they kept me in the best possible condition to bear the pain. The injections I’ve had on each day worked, but obviously to do 25 laps it’s been very hard. The doctors told me that this fracture needs time to heal so I’m going to rest as much as possible and see what the progress is for Assen. The Team asked me not test tomorrow to give me the best chance to recover and it’s a sensible decision. I didn’t have a great start today, but I could manage to stay in the second group in the race. I tried to stay with Capirossi, but I couldn’t, so I choose to maintain the sixth position. I’m really tired now, but it was a worthwhile race." Colin Edwards 7th - "It was a hard race physically because it was so hot out there but I felt I couldn't ride how I want because of the front-end issue again. But I lost a few places off the line and I'm struggling to get this year's bike to start. I'm good on the clutch but with the wheelbase shorter on the Yamaha this year I struggle to keep the front-end down as I'm accelerating. I felt good this morning in the warm-up when I was third. It was a bit cooler and I could get the bike to turn, but as soon as it gets hot and slippy I can't get the bike to turn at all. If I tried to push it would just push the front wide and lose time. I want to push and I could see (Loris) Capirossi and (Dani) Pedrosa in front of me, but the more I push the more mistakes I'd make. As many problems as I've had this weekend with the crash yesterday and the lack of feel with the front, I can't really be upset with seventh. I'm not happy with it, but it was a bit of damage limitation this weekend. My guys at Mon ster Yamaha Tech 3 have worked really hard and we're going to sort this out and be back fighting closer to the front in Assen, which is a circuit I love." Nicky Hayden, 10th - “I was hoping for a little more than this but realistically at the moment it was the best I could manage. I started from near the back but kept passing people and made progress throughout the race. I got close to Kallio and tried my best to pass him but made a couple of mistakes and he beat me. All in all it’s not a spectacular result but it is definitely a step forward. I’ve been close to the front guys all weekend, we’ve worked well and we’ve learnt a lot about the bike. I’m already looking forward to getting back on the bike for the test tomorrow and continuing to work down this path, which we think is the right one.” Chris Vermeulen, 11th - "It was a difficult race and although I got a good start I got a bit boxed in and found myself at the wrong end of the field. We made a change to the front-end of the bike for the race and that was a bit better and it gave me the confidence to push a bit harder. We did score some points today, but it is not where we want to be. We now to some tracks that have been good for us in recent seasons so I hope we get a bit of luck there and put together some good results." James Toseland 13th - "I'm really disappointed because I went into the race with high expectations after my best qualifying of the year. But I made a bad mistake off the line and gave myself a mountain to climb. The engine just bogged and I lost a load of time and had no chance of getting it back because everybody is doing similar times ahead of me. I also had a few set-up issues in the race and I'm not happy with that. I didn't have a lot of rear grip and we've got to work on the setting to find some rear grip when the tyre is starting to wear. After about eight or ten laps I was having a few issues with rear grip, but the bad start was what really cost me and that was my fault. It's frustrating because we've been going in the right direction and it had looked like we might have had a decent weekend. But I'll pick myself up and be ready to give it my all again for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team in Assen." -- Bridgestone Report - Tyre compounds used: Front: Hard. Rear: Extra Hard (asymmetric) With the highest track temperature of the season so far, the 25 lap Catalunya Grand Prix was always going to be tough on tyres but a spectacular fight to the flag between the Fiat Yamaha duo of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo provided the most demanding test of durability and consistency of the Bridgestone slicks yet. Although all riders’ fastest laps came within the first five of the race, Rossi and Lorenzo were able to ride with such consistency that apart from lap 21, when they were slowed by one of their many battles for the lead, every one of their laps was within one second. As the track temperature soared to 52 degrees Celsius, the Fiat Yamaha riders were locked in a nail-biting flat-out battle to the finish using Bridgestone’s hard compound front and extra hard compound asymmetric rear slicks, as used by all riders today. Rossi and Lorenzo repeatedly traded the lead throughout the closing laps and it looked to be Lorenzo’s victory until Rossi used all the available grip from his Bridgestone tyres to outbrake his teammate into the final corner, crossing the line just 0.095seconds ahead of the Spaniard. Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso was also pushing incredibly hard until the chequered flag, chasing Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner for third position. A fiercely determined performance from an ailing Stoner enabled him to hold onto third and climb the final step of the podium by just 0.052seconds. The result means that the order of the championship top three is reversed with Rossi leading from Lorenzo and Stoner, but remarkably they have exactly the same number of points; 106. Hiroshi Yasukawa - Director – Bridgestone Corporation “I’d like to congratulate Valentino and the Fiat Yamaha Team for a fantastic victory today, and also to Jorge for his part in what was a very exciting finish to such a close race. I’d also like to applaud Casey for his great performance when he wasn’t feeling at his peak. It is great that the championship is so tight at the top with the top three riders on equal points after six races.” Tohru Ubukata - Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development “We saw very tough conditions during the race today with the very high ambient and track temperatures and the very close battles at the front that saw riders pushing flat-out until the finish. Twenty five laps of constant pressure in these conditions is very challenging for tyres, and this is one of the most demanding races of the year, so I am pleased with the level of durability, consistency and grip they delivered. I can say that the first grand prix using our asymmetric rear slick tyres has been successful.” -- 250cc Race Mapfre Aspar’s Álvaro Bautista extended his lead at the top of the 250cc standings to 12 points with a highly polished performance earlier in the afternoon, crossing the finish line seven seconds ahead of his nearest rival Hiroshi Aoyama. The victory was made all the more sweet by the fact that World Champion Marco Simoncelli (Metis Gilera) retired with a mechanical problem after crashing on the second lap, meaning that the Italian -who clashed with Bautista in Mugello two weeks ago- dropped to fifth in the standings and now trails the Spaniard by 47 points after six races. As Bautista took his second victory and fourth podium of the year, Barcelona resident Aoyama (Scot Racing Team) brought his Honda home in second place at his ‘second home race’, beating poleman Héctor Barberá (Pepe World Team) on the last lap – the Japanese rider fighting back after looking like he had technical issues in the middle of the race. Aoyama consolidated his second place in the championship with his third podium of the season. Mattia Pasini (Team Toth Aprilia) dropped in the final laps when looking like he would be on the rostrum again, ultimately finishing in fourth, 3.5s behind Barberá. Another fight between ‘best of enemies’ Thomas Luthi (Emmi - Caffe Latte) and Alex Debon (Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens) saw the Swiss rider make a late mistake to hand fifth place to the Spaniard. -- 125cc Race Andrea Iannone’s rollercoaster season continued on Sunday in Barcelona as he took a bizarre victory over Julián Simón in the 125cc contest. The two riders did battle for top spot throughout the race only for Simón to celebrate prematurely as he crossed the line in first place with one lap to go, allowing Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. man Iannone to fly past and take his third win of the year – following three difficult races for the Italian in recent weeks. Behind second placed finisher Nico Terol (Jack & Jones Team), Simón eventually reached the finishing line neck and neck with his Bancaja Aspar team-mate Sergio Gadea – the pair being recorded as having finished with the same time and a photo finish giving Gadea third spot to complete Simón’s heartbreak. Great performances from youngsters Marc Márquez (Red Bull KTM) and Jonas Folger (Ongetta Team I.S.P.A.) saw them also fighting for the podium, ultimately finishing fifth and sixth respectively – both within fractions of a second of reaching the rostrum. With Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) coming home in seventh place, Simón’s only consolation is that he takes over the championship lead from colleague Bradley Smith (also Bancaja Aspar) who was eighth. The next round of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship is the Alice Dutch TT at Assen on 25th-27th June. |
| 250cc Race Result | 250cc Championship Standings |
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1 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Aprilia 41'09.018 158.522
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1 Alvaro BAUTISTA 108
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| 125cc Race Result | 125cc Championship Standings |
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1 Andrea IANNONE ITA Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. Aprilia
41'10.494 151.539
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1. Julian Simon, Spain, Aprilia, 84 points
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