MotoGP – The MotoGP Italian Grand Prix turn-based –

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The MotoGP Italian Grand Prix turn by turn

MotoGP - The MotoGP Italian Grand Prix turn-based -

Jewel of the Tuscan valley, Mugello is above all the stronghold of an undefeated man on his land since 2002: the Doctor arrives home in good shape, determined to impose his Bridgestones ahead of the Michelin riders and the Ducati swiftness…. Round by round.

Zoom on…

Marco Melandri, last of the test session in front of his audience and on a route which has always been successful: the n ° 33 won his first victory there in 125, has already won in 250 and had finished 4th in the historic 2005 edition (read). The years go by but are not alike for "Super Marco", who has had one of his worst seasons since his arrival in the premier class in 2003, when he is riding the reigning world champion motorcycle….

Friday: second free practice session
Always at ease in delicate conditions, Chris Vermeulen pulled out of the game and climbed to first place in a disputed session in the rain. Behind the Australian pilot are the friendly American Nicky Hayden, Casey Stoner, Valentino Rossi, James Toseland, Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Dovizioso, Randy de Puniet, Colin Edwards, Dani Pedrosa, Alex de Angelis, John Hopkins, Loris Capirossi, Anthony West and Shinya Nakano. Sylvain Guintoli is 17th.

Saturday: qualifying session
He had demanded more efficient qualifying tires from Bridgestone, so as not to fail in his garden and in front of "his" public: the Doctor signs his 50th pole position in GP (including 40 in the premier class) and poses a serious option for a seventh victory on his land !

Relaxed, smiling and wearing a funny helmet representing him looking stunned, Vale signs a bewildering 1’48.130 and sticks 0.167 seconds to his direct pursuer, Dani Pedrosa! Behind them, the old briscard Capirossi took advantage of the fast lap of n ° 46 to take his aspi and achieve a brilliant time (to the great amusement of Rossi), preceding Stoner, Edwards, Hayden, Lorenzo, Toseland, Nakano, de Angelis, Vermeulen, From Puniet, Dovizioso, Hopkins and Okada. Sylvain Guintoli is 17th ahead of Melandri and West.

Zoom on…

The diagram of the 2009 set which is already emerging. Edwards is notoriously in contact with Kawasaki for next season – the Greens have just announced that there will ultimately be no third bike this year in the United States "to focus on the two official drivers"- and the HRC maintains its commitment to Nicky Hayden, who is therefore unlikely to be replaced by Dovizioso as many believed. Valentino Rossi, for his part, confirmed"at 90%"that his (re-) signing at Yamaha would be effective before the summer break.

Sunday: race !
Departure : As usual since the start of the season, Dani Pedrosa is the quickest to release the clutch and enters the first corner in the lead. He is followed by Casey Stoner, Loris Capirossi (yet author of a wheelie on the line!), Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi who fight furiously in front of Lorenzo, Edwards and Dovizioso. Randy de Puniet is ninth and Sylvain Guintoli 15th.

Rossi puts the brakes on the 2006 world champion, immediately sets off to hunt for the Capi-T-Rex and passes it right away from the outside with an incredible speed of passage! No.46 literally hits the leaders with disconcerting ease !

2nd and 3rd rounds : Stoner takes the lead thanks to the power of his Ducati, while Valentino Rossi is already glued to Dani Pedrosa’s exhausts. Capirossi, Hayden, Lorenzo, Dovizioso, Edwards, De Puniet, Nakano, Toseland and Marco Melandri follow, who has managed to keep a good pace so far. Sylvain Guintoli is 16th.

Capirossi follows the three leading men and remembers to everyone’s fond memories: the Suzuki – which must radically change after the Brno GP – seems both lively and well-equipped with engines to keep contact in the long straight. Valentino Rossi tries to brake on Pedrosa at the end of the same straight line, but the Spaniard resists and keeps his position: the n ° 2 saw the excellent lap times of the Italian during practice and certainly has no desire to let him go! This will however be the case at the start of the 180 ° which conditions the long straight line of more than 1100 m: the Doctor "heals" the Asimo from an unstoppable interior. !

Randy lost three places and went 12th: would the Frenchman still have traction problems as he encountered during the first dry trials? Dovizioso takes the advantage over Nicky Hayden who already seems to have to lower his pace and who will even let the phenomenon Jorge Lorenzo pass two corners later !

4th and 5th rounds : Casey Stoner continues his rider alone in the lead, but sees the prodigy of Tavullia come back to him, whose face we only see painted on his helmet when he is in the position of maximum speed search! Loris Capirossi hangs in this good wagon, preceding Andrea Dovizioso, Jorge Lorenzo, Nicky Hayden, James Toseland and Colin Edwards.

Randy continues to lose places and now appears at a modest 13th position. For his part, Alex de Angelis achieved a very good performance, since he signed the lap record and climbed from the depths of the standings to be in 10th position. And the San Marinese pilot doesn’t seem to want to stop there !

In front, King Rossi takes the advantage over Stoner in front of a "court" all won over to his cause: in the second part of the circuit, the n ° 46 is placed outside the Australian at the exit of a right and dive inside in the left which emerges immediately! Needless to say, the public is on their feet, already close to forgiving the few setbacks the native boy has encountered over the past two seasons. !

Alex de Angelis continues his crazy recovery with lap records and passes in stride Toseland and Edwards! The American of the Tech 3 team explains with Nakano and Hayden who closes this small group.

6th round : Valentino Rossi is still leading the race and even seems to have gained a slight advantage over Casey Stoner who can no longer pick up the Italian by the sheer power of his GP8. Dani Pedrosa is just behind, preceding the valiant Capirossi, Dovizioso and Lorenzo. James Toseland and De Angelis continue to explain themselves with all the tenacity that characterizes the two drivers !

It is at this moment of the race that we discover with amazement the Ducati of Marco Melandri and the Honda of Randy de Puniet intermingled in the edge of the track: the two pilots do not seem injured, but the disappointment, it , makes itself felt: "it got more and more confusing and the feeling with the machine got worse. The tires don’t heat up enough and I don’t feel anything with the rear. We will see on Sunday what can happen", confided moreover, vaguely disillusioned, the Hedgehog of Ravenna after the tests…

As for the Parisian pilot LCR, he does not hide his disappointment at this setback: "I managed to overtake Vermeulen, but he probably hit my front brake lever and I couldn’t do anything to control the bike. I fell and slightly injured my little finger on my left hand. It’s quite painful, but it does not call into question my participation in the Barcelona GP"…

Casey Stoner, who continues to attack so as not to be left behind, breaks the lap record held since 2005 by a certain … Max Biaggi on his 990 cc Honda! A time that augurs well for the competitiveness of the 800 on a circuit with such a straight line, but also that of its pilot who seems to have regained his old feeling with his motorcycle..

7th and 8th laps : Chris Vermeulen overtakes John Hopkins and steals twelfth place, a position far removed from the Australian’s pretensions before the race: "our race package is really good and I think we can be in the top 5"… Chris will however be able to console himself a few turns further by noting that John Hopkins has even less luck than him: after having given up at Le Mans due to a chain break, the n ° 21 is at fault in Italy !

Fortunately, the talented "Hopper" gets up unscathed and could almost admire the fall of Lorenzo a few turns: the hot Spanish, whose first mistake since the start of his fantastic season, loses the front in a overtaking on Dovizioso on a left downhill and head off into the gravel. Mad with rage towards himself, the Mallorcan will even have a gesture of annoyance towards a marshal rushed to help him…

For his part, Alex de Angelis finally manages to find the flaw in the Yamaha of "JT" and sneaks inside with an ease that we did not know him! The Italian finds himself behind Andrea Dovizioso in sixth place and turns 0.853 seconds faster than his compatriot in front of him! Sylvain Guintoli continues to struggle and emerges in an honorable 12th place (admittedly, there are only 15 pilots left): "in the afternoon, we tried various solutions but we did not take "the" big step forward necessary to progress", however explained the sympathetic French at the end of the qualifying session. Obviously, things are going better in the race for" Syl ", but who would complain ?

9th and 10th laps : Valentino Rossi continues to increase his lead over Casey Stoner (especially in the winding parts of the circuit), bringing it to almost a second! Dani Pedrosa tries to keep pace, but we feel that the Spanish jockey is not in a position, at this moment of the race, to worry the two drivers in front of him..

The incredible Alex de Angelis passes Andrea Dovizioso and Loris Capirossi in quick succession: the prospect of racing at home seems to have given wings to the San Marino rider, unless it is the exasperated remarks of his team manager on his mixed results of this start of the season … Anyway, here he is 4th behind the three strong men of the world championship !

However, the Honda rider may have a chance to seize despite his delay of 4.6 seconds, since Casey Stoner deviates widely under braking from the first right of the track and is immediately overtaken by a Pedrosa who did not ask for so much. !

11th round : The leading order has not changed, although Alex de Angelis has slightly reversed Stoner and Pedrosa: "it’s my best place this season, although we know there is still work to be done on the qualifying tires. But running in 1’50.6 with racing tires without suction is interesting for the race !", however modestly warned the San Marinese after qualifying !

Loris Capirossi still precedes Andrea Dovizioso, caught by the two Tech 3 riders: a hell of a performance for James Toseland, who was once again discovering the track: "I only did thirty minutes of testing during qualifying. I also made some mistakes which did not allow me to position myself well. I have often widened my trajectories and that is detrimental to me. I especially lack knowledge on this circuit", reported the pilot – pianist and singer – English after his seventh place in qualifying. A lack of knowledge that will not prevent him from braking the talented Dovizioso at the end of the straight line !

11th, 12th and 13th laps : Valentino Rossi still prances in the lead, two seconds ahead of Pedrosa and Stoner. Alex de Angelis is yo-yoing with his times and doesn’t seem able to grab the few seconds that separate him from the leaders. Behind the Italian appears the yellow and blue fairing (very typical Michelin!) Of the Yamaha of James Toseland, who has just overtaken Loris Capirossi yet on his land! A snub that is repeated with the teammate of n ° 52 who passes in two sequences Dovizioso and Capirossi! "The machine works amazingly well, like in a dream", cowardly, admiringly, the Texan driver: indeed, here are the Tech 3 drivers fifth and sixth of the race !

14th round : Casey Stoner seems to have taken the measure of the official HRC and should soon try to pass it: "the aussie" pushes back his braking at the very last moment at the end of the straight line, but so does Pedrosa! The two men are neck and neck and the Ducati, very heavily stressed on the front by its interior trajectory, moves a lot … but turns in the lead when exiting the right !

15th round : Rossi is still leading and seems to be flying towards new records: if the Italian wins, it would be his 65th victory in the premier class (only Giacomo Agostini did better with 68!), His seventh in a row on this track (i.e. the absolute track record) and his first hat-trick since 2005! Not to mention Bridgestone’s first victory at Mugello! For his part, Sylvain Guintoli still contains his teammate and dearly retains his 12th position.

Impossible to achieve the same for Anthony West, forced to cede his penultimate position to Tadayuki Okada, the 41-year-old HRC wild card, in charge of "life-size" testing of the RCV212’s pneumatic valve engine (read) : certainly a setback hard to swallow for the Australian … and for the Greens in general !

Colin Edwards rings the charge and passes his teammate: the Texan Tornado, who is looking for a handlebar to continue riding next year, seems truly regenerated since his time at Tech 3 !

16th, 17th and 18th laps : Valentino Rossi is now cementing his race with more than 3 seconds ahead of Stoner and Pedrosa. Follow De Angelis, Edwards, Toseland, Dovizioso (who passed Capirossi inside in the 180 °) Nakano, Vermeulen, Hayden and Guintoli. If the pace of the leaders has slowed down somewhat, Colin Edwards, him, continues his recital to return to De Angelis: the American is the only driver on the track to turn in the 1’50 !

19th, 20th and 21st laps : With four laps to go, the dice seem to have been cast for the only official Yamaha rider still on the track: perfectly managing his lead over Stoner, "Vale" heads straight for a well-deserved victory! According to the boss of Yamaha, it is even towards his eighth title that the star is heading: it is certainly too early to praise the No. 46 (the last two seasons have clearly shown), but we have to admit that confidence and serenity reign in the clan with three tuning forks !

Loris Capirossi passed in front of Andrea Dovizioso, while Sylvain Guintoli took half a second from 2006 world champion Nicky Hayden! Will the Drôme pilot be able to pass the American? He tries his luck at the end of the straight line, but the Kentucky Kid resists! Renewing his attempt in the next round, the French exiled in England managed to pass and offered himself 11th place in front of a No. 69 visibly in difficulty..

Pedrosa for his part is 2.4 seconds behind Casey Stoner: just like in China, the No. 2 seems to have resigned himself to his position and no longer seems to seek to fight to the end, hoping for a mistake from the starts with the pilot that precedes it. However, the obstinate De Angelis, feeling this relaxation, increases his pace one last time and manages to come back within 2.2 seconds of the HRC official !

Last round : Valentino Rossi begins his last loop as a boss, followed (by far) by Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa.

The stands glow yellow for their idol who crosses the line with a raised fist, before shaking hands with Stoner and Pedrosa: Rossi can rejoice, this is his ninth victory – all categories combined – on this circuit !

MotoGP Ranking
1- ROSSI V. 6- TOSELAND J. 11- GUINTOLI S.
2- STONER C. 7- CAPIROSSI L. 12- ELIAS T.
3- PEDROSA D. 8- DOVIZIOSO A. 13- HAYDEN N.
4- FROM ANGELIS TO. 9- NAKANO S. 14- OKADA T.
5- EDWARDS C. 10- VERMEULEN C. 15- WEST A.

The Doctor thus retains the head of the championship, just before the Catalan meeting next weekend. Dani Pedrosa is 12 points behind while the third, Jorge Lorenzo, big loser of this Italian round, is 28 points behind his "teammate".

A handsome player, the reigning world champion Casey Stoner congratulates Rossi and his team and does the same with Dani Pedrosa’s team. It was then the turn of Hollywood star Brad Pitt, a luxury guest on the circuit, very happy to see Rossi win and Stoner back on the podium. A podium which, as usual in Italy, sees itself invaded by a large crowd and where the three pilots share their impression of the race: "Vale" does not hide his emotion during the national anthem by extending his hands shaken by tremors to a cheering public !

They explain themselves :

Valentino Rossi (1st) : It’s an incredible feeling with all these people who were there, especially my family and my friends. Everything worked out very well, it was fantastic! The Bridgestones were very good and we found the right set-up for this race. I saw that on part of the route, I was faster than the others. So I accelerated each time at this location. But the pace of the race was very high !

Casey Stoner (2nd) : We were very competitive. I got off to a good start but then I had difficulty keeping up with Valentino’s pace. He was way too fast and it was impossible to follow him! Despite everything, this result gives me confidence for the rest of the season. I think we did a good job and it’s gonna pay off.

Dani Pedrosa (3rd) : It was a very difficult race. I tried to attack as best I could, but it was difficult to keep up with Casey and Valentino. Besides, I made some mistakes. At the end, I preferred to be assured because Alex de Angelis came back to me more and more. It’s a good result and I hope it goes much better next week in Barcelona.

Alexandre BARDIN – Photos DR

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