Old Rival finds New Form!

Our iSport MotoGP expert Kunal Ghate praises Dani Pedrosa's effort to get back to winning ways on his Repsol Honda.

pedrosa Yes, Rossi was beaten at the US GP of Laguna Seca and I`m not talking about Stoner or Nicky Hayden, but Dani Pedrosa!

Ignoring all previous injuries and crashes, Dani was the rider to watch and beat at the most natural circuit on the Motogp calendar. Natural - because it’s not a track that’s designed by engineers on a computer but laid down along the natural contours of the ground. Thus giving it blind corners and unbelievably steep slopes.

Any story about the Laguna Seca race is incomplete without mention of the track characteristics. It is a track that does not give a rider even a few seconds to rest, by rest I don’t mean chill out, but rest the body and mind along the long straight while hiding behind the wind screen to maximize the aerodynamic efficiency.

That said, the long straight here lasts for a maximum of 3 seconds, thats about the time these bikes require to shift through just one gear. Add to that the California sun shine and we have a perfect test of physical fitness.

After Assen TT, Rossi was the most confident man of the pack and Dani was the most criticised by the media for not producing good enough results. No doubt he was the 4th man on the table, but he had not won a race since 13 months!

There have been talks about Dani's sacking by Repsol Honda for Jorge Lorenzo for nearly 3 million Euros. Time will tell if they are just rumors or actual news.

lorenzocrash The qualifying session at Laguna Seca was quiet eventful. After setting the fastest lap of the day, Lorenzo crashed on his slowing lap. One of the most scary crashes of the season after Hayden`s at Qatar. A high side crash it’s called, when exiting a corner at apex speed the tyres loose traction for the most miniscule of a second and then suddenly find traction. It makes the bike suddenly switch banking sides and the rider is literally thrown off the bike.

Lorenzo was taken away on a stretcher, suffering a partially dislocated shoulder and collar bone; leave aside the pain in the limbs and ribs.

Stoner crashed too, but a tank slap which is less painful for the rider, if there is such a thing. Stoner was suffering form a unique disease that drains the energy from ones body after a particular point.

Lorenzo starts the race at pole position, high on pain killers and followed by Rossi. Initially Rossi gets a better start than Lorenzo, but only momentarily before we saw Dani just fly by past everyone from the outside and so did Stoner. As always 'the Launch Master' Dani had the best start. Every GP this far in 2009, Dani has leapt forward at the start as if on a rocket, literally, such is the combination of the Spaniard and the Honda RCV212.

But unlike the previous races, Dani didn`t allow anyone to go past himself. He kept his position of race leader which where Dani is the most lethal on his Honda. Increasing his lead lap by lap up to 3.3 seconds over Rossi for most of the race easing it only at the end.

Dani Pedrosa got Repsol Honda and himself a win after 13 months, the last one was at Barcelona in mid June 2008. A very special day for the man, after suffering from wrist and knee injures and recovering from surgery. Crashing in Dutch GP, almost breaking his left thigh bone and further damaging his left hip muscle pull.

A well deserved win for the rider and the team.

But the bravery award surely goes to Jorge Lorenzo, as I mentioned riding with a partially dislocated shoulder and collar bone, desperate for the win to reach for that championship leading position.

Thats what champions do, they will push their bodies to the limits risking their life every weekend, just for that podium position, made to win. And not just one, we have four such riders this season.

The weekend was not a usual one for Rossi as he was just not able to push hard enough to even get close to Pedrosa, admitting after the race that Dani was just too fast from the start and Rossi`s setting were not favoring him that much, while Lorenzo constantly pushing him from behind in-spite of his injuries.

Lorenzo had one chance in the entire to pass Rossi, he took it and messed it up. Went wide, with just four laps to go, Rossi realised he had to pull himself together and push harder. This is when Rossi started to close the gap a bit, lap by lap, giving the commentators something to jump in their seat and shout for Rossi. Rossi was a bikes length behind Dani at the finish line.

Unfortunately, for the commentators, it was Dani who was slowing down, just to take it easy in the end and save some fuel maybe. Dani admitted after the race, that he didn't even think Rossi was close enough for a overtaking maneuver! thats whats confidence and form that the Spaniard was looking for since june 2008. It should be an interesting season ahead.