Dressed in special patriotic livery for his home GP, celebrated his 24th birthday on Thursday grabbed pole position on Saturday and won the race on Sunday. Things couldn't get any better than this for Casey Stoner!
Unfortunately, things were bad for the Ducati rider Nickey Hayden who continues to be taken out by others on the first lap. This was the third time when Nicky felt another bike ram into his this season. It started with Yuki in Japan , Alex at San Marino and now Lorenzo at Phillip Island. Though Lorenzo himself crashed and ended his title hopes, Nicky was unhurt and continued to race but rejoined so far behind that he finished the race a complete lap slower than the leader.
Possibly Nicky Hayden's best 'start' to a race in 2009, ended with a Ducati on either ends of the race result, unfortunately his at the bottom end.
More bad results for the ever under-performing Suzuki bikes. Chris Vermeulen was the first rider to have used more engines this season than the permitted quantity, and as per the amended rule Chris had to start the race from back of the grid and Suzuki lost 10 points for it, not that it made a difference.
Changing the engine was a smart move as he had qualified to be on the 4th row and now had to start from the 5th row, instead of changing the engine in the next race where he might qualify higher up the grid, may be.
Even the new engine could not give Chris the much wanted if not performance advantage but at least a chance to challenge the middle order satellite teams. He managed to finish 12th but his teammate finished 9th.
May be its time Suzuki setup their own satellite team to acquire more data and testing miles to come up with a better bike, to ensure their competitiveness. Or else we may one more Japanese manufacturer leave the highest level of motorbike racing.
Coming to the doctor now, this is Valentino Rossi’s ninth season in premier class. Has won 6 championships out of the previous 8. Has a lead of 52 points on his closest competitor and the toughest one till now, statistically. Just needs a win at Malaysia to seal the championship in style just as Jenson Button exhibited at a very eventful Brazilian GP just after the Oz GP.
There is little doubt in anyone’s mind that Rossi will not win this, yet again and continue to write in the history books of records and praises. But this has been the most exciting season of MotoGP in many many years and there is no reason why it cant continue to be till the season finale at Valencia.
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... Go Rossi! Unfortunate that Lorenzo crashed from the race. The title fight could've been the best since a while now! Next year should be more fun! |
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