Shake-up At LeMans

Lorenzo certainly stayed on his bike this time, in damp and windy conditions. The 800's had it better than the 250's who started earlier in a dark, depressing downpour, with track marshalls bundled up like North Sea fishermen. In addition to posting fastest time for this morning's warm-up, after passing Stoner and Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo led from first lap to finish, including a wet start and a bike swap for slicks and dry setup, not to mention a nearly 18 second lead at the line. The breeze quickly dried the track under clearing skies, shredding the leaders' Bridgestone wets. An unnatural disaster for Rossi who crashed on fresh tyres after his first swap, changed bikes a total of three times and suffered a drive-through penalty for speeding in pit lane. He stubbornly finished the race two laps down in last place. Showing Ducati how it's done, Marco Melandri rode a brilliant race and finished an incredible second on the all-black Hayate Kawasaki, laying down some of the fastest laps of the race in the process. Ducatisti Stoner and Hayden finished 5th and 12th. The bikes were spread out all over the track with multi-seconds between most bikes. Rounding out the podium was Pedrosa, who ran with the front group for most of the race, just behind Repsol Honda teammate Dovizioso, finally passing for third on the last lap. Colin Edwards had a disasterous start but worked his way from near the back of the pack to finish 7th behind Vermuelen. What does this do to the points ... well it's almost like starting from scratch for the leaders. Lorenzo takes the lead by a single point, followed by Rossi and Stoner tied at 65, with Pedrosa a mere 8 points behind and Melandri and Dozioso tied at 43 for 5th. Gibernau crashed during yesterday's practice, breaking his collarbone and did not make the start. Next race is in two weeks on Rossi's home turf at the beautiful Tuscan track at Mugello, in the hills just north of Florence. I'm looking forward to seeing how Lorenzo does on this awesome circuit. Rossi's going to be seriously up for this race and keep your eye on Melandri as well. Wish I could see it in person.