Japan is now Lorenzo's Land!

Lorenzo plants his flag at Montegi after the battle!

The Japanese Twin Ring Montegi circuit is where the last two world champions were presented their titles, this season the GP was pushed up in the calendar to host the 2nd race of circuit, but are we going to see a new champion emerge this season???

The 700th premier class was to be hosted at Montegi, obviously it was an electrifying atmosphere there. Home ground to Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki (sadly ‘Team Kawasaki’ is not in competition this time but still are a manufacturer), the Japanese factory teams were on their toes to grab this race victory. Satellite bikes apart, only Ducati is the non-Japanese team in motogp these days, hope the other Italians like Aprilia join the gang soon.

The 2006 world champion Nicky Hayden had a terrifying crash in Qatar qualifying round, the guy landed on his back but had to get stitches on his chest!!! Some how the man got fit enough to start the race from the back of grid and finishes a respectable place in Qatar. Claimed to be completely fit at Japan but still the stitches were not taken off, though not a big fan of the American, I was still hoping he would fight back and see whats he capable of the GP9. Nicky just wanted to get through this weekend and not get into any trouble, little did he know the Gods didn`t want this to happen.

The Race: The rain Gods are still following MotoGP and are just not ready to allow things to happen smoothly, the Saturdays qualifying was called off due to severe rain and the Friday results would decide the grid position putting Rossi on pole.

Over the last 2-3 seasons we have seen Honda seem to lack the pace to match the Ducatis and Yamahas, but the Repsol Honda team were definitely up there with them this sunday to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Dani Pedrosa, the 'Launch Master' as I like to call him, covered 9 places when the lights went before he entered turn 2.... 9 places!!!! How does he do that??? He made the others look like they were starting the race in 2nd gear when he started 11th on the grid and was chasing Rossi all of a sudden.

Surprisingly Stoner lacked the pace and was loosing position as fast as Pedrosa was attacking, Stoner was 7th by lap 2, the same guy on the missile like Ducati who has been setting fastest laps at winter testing and at the Qatar GP, though he admitted prior to weekend that Japan doesn’t suit his riding style much.

One more guy who wanted to make a difference and get noticed on his home ground, Yuki Takahashi and did he put up a nice show??? Just after the start at turn 1, the Japanese rider crashes his bike ‘into’ Nicky Haydens Ducati. Nicky landed on his back on the same spot as Qatar but luckily escaped any injuries but a mild headache. Bad luck continues for Nicky, the rider was certainly not happy about the crash even though Yuki apologised at their crash site itself.

This is what happened:

Game over for Nicky and Yuki, what a waste.

Back to the race leaders, by lap 8 Lorenzo was working towards taking the lead, Dani now in 3rd place was ripping that orange Honda equally well. I always felt that if you let Dani lead the race he will destroy everyones lap times and take the 1st place podium finish without even breaking a sweat, but given his recent injuries the man is ofcourse not willing to take much risk of riding close and taking inside line while out-braking the others. Thats whats keeping Dani from going on the offense, nevertheless he was doing a fantastic job keeping up with Lorenzo. Lorenzo leading the way

Its hard to tell whether Rossi started facing tyre issues or Lorenzo was much better than ‘the doctor’ this weekend. By lap 16 Rossi had to give in and Lorenzo just zoomed past as if he was riding a much faster bike, the Spaniard had a lead of over 1.6 seconds in no time.

Dani knew Rossi was loosing pace dude to tyre issues and that this was his chance to move up the ladder and get those championship points.
Pedrosa taking a look iside Rossi's line.
Unlike Qatar which is Stoners playground and who knows it better than the back of his hand, and can literally fly on it, the Japanese GP was a much closer battle. The ‘launch master‘ and ‘the doctor‘ were exchanging fire for a while towards the closing stages and believe me this was the most exciting part of the race, but thats when Rossi proved his might. About 6 and half laps to go Dani gave up and decided not to take further risks. Neither did Rossi and was just concentrating on finishing the race in his current position and thats how it ended.

Eventually Yamaha was victorious and Honda too got a podium finish and thats what the fans wanted to see, rather seeing Stoner win was something the fans didnt want to see!
Unexpected win for Lorenzo himself, but defiitely not because of pure luck.
Lorenzo has to be given credit for the flawless riding he did. Are we going to see Lorenzo become the 09 champion? well its too early to comment but not too early to consider the thought. I just love the way Lorenzo celebrates his victory but planting his flag ‘Lorenzo Land’ at each GP victory, the guy has some craziness we used to see in Rossi some time ago.

The next race at Jerez is going to crucial one as it is home ground for Lorenzo and Pedrosa too. The result will throw more light on the subjects a) Lorenzos capabilities & b) which is a better bike, Ducati or Yamaha?

Rider quotes:
Pedrosa:
"I had a very good start and in first laps I thought maybe I could stay there two or three laps, then it became four or five,"
"As it went on I couldn't believe I was still there with the Yamahas."

Rossi:
"I did a great start but after some laps I realised I didn't have enough pace to to away long,"
"After I got my rhythm, my pace was ok but too late to come back on Lorenzo - it's not a victory but it's 20 points for the championship."

Lorenzo:
"Jerez is always a party, people are always pushing the Spanish riders so I think maybe well take some risks to try and win,"
"If we can't, we'll finish as best we can."

Last 700 GP’s at a glance:
Race 1: June 1949 - Great Britain, IOM TT
The first 500cc GP is won by Harold Daniell riding a factory Norton.

Race 100: August 1962 - East Germany, Sachsenring
Mike Hailwood (MV Agusta) wins the 100th race in the premier-class.

Race 200: June 1972 - Dutch TT, Assen
Giacomo Agostini wins the 200th race riding an MV Agusta.

Race 300: August 1981 - Sweden, Anderstorp
Barry Sheene wins the 300th GP riding a Yamaha, this race remains the most recent premier-class win by a British rider.

Race 400: July 1989 - France, Le Mans
Eddie Lawson riding a Honda wins the 400th GP in the premier-class.

Race 500: September 1996 - Italy, Imola
Mick Doohan (Honda) takes victory in a race cut short due to a rain shower.

Race 600: May 2003 - France, Le Mans
Sete Gibernau wins after a great battle with fellow Honda rider Valentino Rossi in a shortened race after the race had been stopped due to rain.

Race 700: April 2009 - Motegi, Japan
Lorenzo proved that he is Rossi’s biggest competition on the track.

MotoGP race result:
1 J Lorenzo (Spa) Fiat Yamaha 43 mins 47.238 secs