Rossi Takes Another

Pedrosa got one of his cannon-shot starts to jump into second behind Rossi by the first corner, with Stoner by his elbow. He's definately the best holeshot artist on the grid. Hayden got off the line well, but ended up with the worst possible position on the outside of the righthand first corner, and couldn't get back into line until the first block of riders passed on the inside, leaving him somewhere around 10th where he stayed all race, finishing 8th. About four laps in, Stoner passed Pedrosa and a couple of laps later he took the lead from Rossi. Not much later Lorenzo passed Pedrosa as well, taking third and closing the gap on Rossi. After the race, Pedrosa sounded like Max Biaggi, saying he could of won ... it was his front tyre's fault that he didn't. At mid-race, Rossi, now in his stride, passed Stoner and a lap later Lorenzo followed suit. With five laps to go, Lorenzo out-braked Rossi on the straight and stayed in front of Rossi for the next three laps. With two laps to go, Rossi out-Lorenzo'd Lorenzo, retaking the lead by out-braking Lorenzo at the end of the straight. They raced, at times side-by-side, to the finish with Rossi holding on by 99/1000ths of a second. Pedrosa cruised to third, three seconds later, with Stoner arriving seven seconds later. The championship leader points continue to spread as they finish in board order. It's now Rossi, Lorenzo and Stoner with 176, 162 and 148. I think it will take a DNF to change this order by the end of the season. Valentino ... please stay on your bike and on the track ... per favore.

Big Three On Row One in Deutschland

After Free Practice on Monday at the Sachsenring near Dresden, it looked like Dani Pedrosa would be a contender for another first place. He recorded the fastest race lap here two years ago. Stoner also looked strong ... he holds the fastest lap record during qualifying last year. Lorenzo also looked like his injuries were giving him trouble enough that he might not make the podium. As always, practice sessions can be misleading. In actual qualifying, the rain-soaked track that normally brings wet weather specialists to the front, Rossi smoked (sprayed?) the field, finishing more than 6/10ths of a second ahead of Lorenzo, who also pulled out 6/10ths of a second over Stoner in third. Pedrosa gridded a disappointing 8th behind Colin Edwards. Looks like 7th is the new 6th for Edwards. The surprise qualifier was Hayden who grabbed fourth ... inspite of a spectacular highside in slippery downhill turn eight. Spat off and flying through the air, he torpedoed Ducati rider Niccolò Canepa right off his bike. Both riders walked away. Turn eight saw lots of other big highsides, including 5th place de Angelis, 6th place Randy de Puniet, Melandri (serious butt-landing) and Elias. This makes things a little confusing. On this track, with mild temperatures and overnight rain, I was going to suggest a podium of Pedrosa, Stoner and Rossi ... but now it's looking like another Rossi-Lorenzo fight for first with Stoner in the mix. I think Casey will be a little more competitive in this race. Lorenzo may not be able to go the full distance because of his injuries. This could go Rossi-Stoner-Lorenzo. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Pedrosa seriously motivated to get a blazing fast start to jump up with the front runners ... something he's quite capable of. Hayden's the wildcard in this mix and he may be fast enough in the beginning to seriously get in someone's way. The big three all need to get a clean start and get some clear air between themselves and the "peleton". If Rossi gets a bad start ... which happens more often than it should ... he'll have his work cut out for him climbing to the front.

And Pedrosa It Is.

Dani Pedrosa has just won the Laguna Seca MotoGP, leading from the holeshot. Rossi, running second, closed the fairly large gap in the last laps but left his last-lap charge too late. Running 2 seconds behind Dani, he made up ground coming out of the Corkscrew, gained a little more in turn 10 and braked way late into turn 11, almost catching Pedrosa ... but not quite. Pedrosa crossed a few bike lengths ahead of Vale, with Lorenzo finishing third, 1 and a half seconds back. Stoner, another ten seconds adrift finished fourth, with Hayden crossing 9 seconds later for his best finish this season ... but then again Capirossi and Dovizioso, who would've finished ahead, both DNF'd. Elias was 6th, Edwards 7th ... I was expecting more from him on this track. Toseland and Gibernau also DNF'd. Good job by Pedrosa, but since he's so far back in the points, the benefit goes to Rossi ... the three championship leaders, Rossi, Lorenzo and Stoner, finished in order, so the small point spread got a little wider ... it's now 151, 142 and 135 respectively.

Who's It Gonna Be?

Although Lorenzo managed to secure pole position for this afternoon's MotoGP at Laguna Seca, he crashed twice in turn ten, dislocating his right collar bone and tweaking his ankle in the last crash. Rossi sits second, having difficulties with setup and traction in the cooler temperatures. Stoner crashed without injury and also managed to hang on to a front row spot in third. Good efforts by second row finishers Pedroda, Dovizioso and Elias. Home advantage riders Edwards and Hayden finished 7th and 8th. Not much of a threat there. Today's forecast is cloudy, with clearing skies, high of 18C/65F. So ... Lorenzo is slightly injured and may not have the stamina to go the distance at full pace, Stoner is shaken, not stirred and may be off his game and Rossi is less than happy in the mild temperatures. So who's it gonna be? I'm thinking Rossi, with another crash possible for Lorenzo. Pedrosa might manage a podium this time if he can go the distance. Stoner? Who knows ... I don't see him battling for the lead at the end of the race. Still, if he stays on his bike and Lorenzo has problems, he could do as well as second with a slim chance of winning if Rossi hasn't got his setup sorted. We'll know in a few hours.