Lorenzo Signs With Yamaha

After Ducati prematurely announced that Lorenzo had "signed" with them for next year, Jorge has now signed back on with Yamaha for 2010. That also means that speculation that Ben Spies would be Rossi's new partner next year in MotoGP is also moot. Since Ducati can't seem to setup their bike for anyone except Casey Stoner, if Lorenzo had moved to Ducati, his chances for a championship would have been slim to none. Another year at Yamaha will give him a real opportunity to come out ahead of Rossi in 2010

Brno MotoGP Result

Well, Pedrosa got a pretty good start, but Rossi fired out of the hole like he was shot out of a cannon. While the grid started in second gear it looked like Vale selected first, and pinned it, hoping traction control would keep everything shiney side up. It didn't last long as Pedrosa's motor spooled up and Dani took the lead in the first corner. In a very un-Rossi like manner, Vale retook the lead in the third corner, with the obvious intent of pulling away early. Pedrosa hung on for awhile with Lorenzo hot on his tail, until overtaken on lap four. The two Yamahas left the Honda fading behind them, upping the pace every lap. With six laps to go, Lorenzo made a clean inside pass on Rossi, setting the fastest lap in the process. A lap later, Lorenzo went a little wide in a left-hander opening a gap for Rossi. Rossi slipped to the inside, and Lorenzo, trying too hard to close the gap, pushed his bike too hard, losing the front and low-siding to the outside ... terminating his bike in the gravel, with prejudice. Rossi backed off and cruised the rest of the way to the finish. Pedrosa motored across the line 11 seconds later. Elias battled with Dovizioso, emerging victorious to grab third. With little more than a lap to go, Stoner's replacement Mika Kallio was hot on the tail of Melandri, who over-braked for a right-hander, causing Kallio to torpedo him from behind. When the gravel settled, both riders pushed and shoved each other around, disagreeing on who was to blame. In this case Melandri was reacting to a rider in front and Kallio wasn't paying enough attention. If it was up to my insurance company, they'd say it was Kallio's fault for following too close and not paying due care and attention. I say "that's racing". With Lorenzo down and Stoner, out, the season is a done deal for Valention Rossi. And de Puiniet of the broken ankle? Well, he hobbled to the grid on crutches, his ankle bolted together only a few days ago and from 13th managed to finish tenth, a full second ahead of Chris Vermeulen.

Rossi Crashes in Qualifying ...

... but nabs pole position anyway :-) In a rather strange lowside wipeout, Vale lost the front end in a righthand sweeper. He wasn't leaned over very far, the corner radius wasn't tight and the front end didn't hop, skip or snap over bumps or debris. Luckily it happened late in the session and he'd already posted the winning time, so no worries. In fact, he set another record: this is the first time under the single tyre manufacturer rule that the previous pre-single tyre qualifying record has been broken. Even so, close behind were Lorenzo and Pedrosa. Second row of qualifiers were Elias, Edwards and Dovizioso. If Pedrosa gets his trademark holeshot, Rossi and Lorenzo will probably spend the first half of the race keeping up. The last half should be a close three-way race across the rolling hills of Brno. Either of these guys is capable of winning, but I`m going with Rossi, probably followed in qualifying order by Lorenzo and Pedrosa. How about Edwards for fourth? I think he can do it.

Stoner's Out

Casey Stoner has been suffering physically since Catalunya, apparently the result of a virus that has his doctors concerned. He will be sitting out the next three races while they try and figure out, and hopefully resolve, what's going on. Casey will be replaced by Mika Kallio. So, the only rider with any hope of catching Rossi is teammate Lorenzo. On Saturday, August 1st, Randy de Puniet broke his left ankle during motocross cross-training, had it screwed back together and apparently will be racing this coming weekend in Brno. Ouch.

Mladin Retiring

Mat Mladin has announced his retirement at the end of this season. His protest sit-out of the new AMA venue in Topeka Kansas, had no effect on his championship lead ... well duh. Mat and Jamie Hacking refused to ride the newly adopted circuit on safety issues. Mat could take another vacation next round and still win the season with a wide margin. With Mladin gone next year, it'll be interesting to see which cream rises to the top in 2010. Might be worth watching AMA again.

Meanwhile WSB Does Brno

Last week saw WSB's turn at Brno. Looks like a beautiful track ... sort of like Mugello with pine trees. Pirelli did report that surface traction was down from the previous year, making tyre choice and setup difficult. Race 1 saw Spies crash and Biaggi take the flag followed by Checa, Rea and Byrne. Good finish by Corser on the BMW in fifth. Spies made up in race 2, taking the win, followed by Biaggi, Fabrizio and Rea. Haga managed 8th and 6th. Biaggi has always done well here (8 wins) and it showed. Even though he finished behind Spies in race 2, he set the fastest lap and new race record. Spies seems to adhere to the win-or-crash school of racing and it's slowing his climb up the Championship leader board. If he'd finished every race this year, he'd probably have a very big points lead by now. As it is, he's still 7 points behind Nori, however, with Haga still not 100% fit, Ben will overtake the leader at the next round at Nurburgring on September 6th. It's likely that rookie Spies will be declared champ at the second-last round at Magny-Cours on October 4th.

Bye Bye Donington

Well, last week's MotoGP race at Donington was the last race for MotoGP at that venue. It never looked like much of a track from the circuit map, but all the rider's seemed to like it. I think they just loved the big swoopy downhill sweepers through Craner's Curves, with a clear view of the hard right and uphill curves to follow. The circuit will undergo massive redevelopment in preparation for a 10 year deal with the F1 four-wheelers starting in 2010. The MotoGP-Donington contract was up for bids, and with F1 moving to Donington, Silverstone (now F1-less) simply dumped all they had into it and outbid Donington by a wide margin. So, Silverstone it is. Silverstone will have to make its own major safety modifications to be able to host a premier motorcycle event.

So what happened back on the 26th? Well, you must already know by now, but weather played a major role again. The race was declared wet, with light rain falling just as the race started. Ducati made a big booboo ... Stoner and Hayden were the only riders to start on full wets but the light rain never turned heavy enough to make it worthwhile. Ducati thought it would. Big gamble and very bad decision. How bad? Um well ... how about ... they were lapped by the leaders at mid-race! While the track surface remained damp it provided reasonable traction ... except on the painted lines. One of several painted-line casualties was Lorenzo. Rossi also had a fall but remounted quickly and continued to finish 5th, just ahead of Toseland. The riders able to deal with the conditions were Dovizioso first, Edwards second, dePuniet third and deAngelis fourth. With Lorenzo down and Stoner trailing way behind. Rossi now has a good grip on the championship with a 25 point lead. I'd say it's time to call it: if Rossi stays on his bike and finishes all remaining races, he'll take it for 2009. Lorenzo and Stoner will finish in their current order: second and third.