Pedrosa Takes Sweet Spanish MotoGP Victory
Stoner Stumbles As Rossi And Lorenzo Complete Podium
Nov 6, 2009
Former World Champion Casey Stoner came into the race on the back of a triumphant return from illness, a mysterious virus that tore the middle out of his season. Australian Stoner had recovered to head into the season finale in fine form with a second and two wins from his previous three outings and, after qualifying on pole positions for Sunday's race, it seemed like the 2007 World Champion was all set to end the season on a high. But as the riders completed their final warm up lap before the race started, one rider was conspicuously absent when the grid reformed - Stoner was stomping dejectedly back to the paddock, his factory Ducati lying somewhat battered in the gravel after it got away from him on cold tyres, highsiding him into a premature end to the season.
Spanish Joy At Early 1-2-3
In Stoner's absence it was Dani Pedrosa's factory Repsol Honda which led the pack as they howled into turn one, ahead of fellow Spaniard Toni Ellias who made a truly spectacular start from the middle of the third row to follow Pedrosa away as factory Fiat Yamaha riders Jorge Lorenzo and newly-crowned World Champion Valentino Rossi squabbled for third, and it seemed like Pedrosa and Elias might escape in the meantime as all four of them pulled slowly away from Colin Edwards in fifth. Both Lorenzo and Rossi despatched Elias's Gresini Honda on lap four and it looked like the two title rivals might indulge in an end-of-season showcase battle until Lorenzo - yet another high-flying Spaniard for the home fans to crow over - got completely out of shape, his Fiat Yamaha M1 breaking away at the back end and threatening to throw him off. The ever-opportunistic Rossi needed no second chance and darted by for second, while Lorenzo struggled to maintain his composure - so violent had been the near-accident that it had set off the airbag in his leathers, and it took a lap for them to deflate!
Pedrosa Peerless As Team Yamaha Dogfights For Second
With Pedrosa jealously guarding a lead of around two seconds, it seemed like Rossi, having won his ninth world crown only weeks before, might put on a charge for the win, but although the gap began to creep down, after a couple of laps it slowly started to edge up again - Pedrosa, who's largely lacked the outright pace to challenge the Yamahas at the sharp end of the grid this season, found the chilly conditions suited his Repsol Honda perfectly and he began to edge away as the race wore on, not putting a single wheel wrong as he raced to his second victory of the season to steal third place in the final standings from the absent Stoner. Behind him, Rossi began to fall back into the clutches of his determined young team mate, but although Rossi was unable to match Pedrosa on this day, he had enough in hand to maintain second place, although he cut it a bit fine - a slow last lap for Rossi as Lorenzo gave it everything he had meant they crossed the line barely three tenths of a second apart after almost 47 minutes of flat-out racing.
Team America Looking Strong For 2010
Texan Edwards came home a fine fourth aboard his Monster Tech 3 Yamaha, a couple of seconds ahead of compatriot Nicky Hayden on the second factory Ducati - Hayden had engaged in close combat with Elias for two thirds of the race, and the pair were just two tenths of a second apart crossing the finish line, with a third American, Ben Spies, making a spectacular return to the series just another handful of seconds further back. Spies had one of the rides of the day - having won the World Superbike Championship in his debut season, the former AMA champion switched to a Yamaha M1 MotoGP bike for the last round in 2009 in preparation for a season-long campaign in the class in 2010. Having had little time to get to grips with the new bike, the American put in an excellent race, dropping as low as twelfth as he eased himself in before working his way forward for an excellent seventh. His last victim, incidentally, was Pedrosa's Repsol Honda team mate Andrea Dovizioso - Spies's pass with five laps to go handed fifth place in the World Standings to Edwards by just one point. With Spies joining the Texan on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha squad next year, a gift-wrapped world number five plate seems an ideal way for the new guy to introduce himself to the team....
