Monster victory for Rossi in Barcelona epic
Italian exclaims “Mamma Mia!” as he takes his 99th career win; Bradley Smith picks up valuable points in 125cc title chase
LONDON (June 15th, 2009) Monster Energy’s Valentino Rossi produced the 99th and possibly the best win yet of a stellar career after a sensational battle in the backyard of his Spanish teammate Jorge Lorenzo in Barcelona on Sunday. In searing temperatures touching 40ºC (104ºF), the Yamaha pair set an even hotter pace that left the rest of the field trailing and set up the first true head-to-head between the Italian sorcerer and his Spanish apprentice.
The battle went all the way to the final corner of the final lap of Sunday’s final race, but it began Saturday in the single qualifying session when Lorenzo snatched pole position from Rossi by just 0.013 seconds. “If I’d have gone to the toilet before the session I would have been on pole!” quipped Rossi afterwards.
Lorenzo and Rossi held their 1-2 positions into the first corner and the double 250cc World Champion (Lorenzo) led the way for the opening three laps before the 125cc, 250cc and six-time MotoGP champ Rossi flexed his muscles with a strong pass on the brakes into turn one. The Monster Energy rider then showed plenty of fizz with a string of fast laps, but Lorenzo also had power to burn and he refused to lie down.
Seeing that he couldn’t escape his stubborn teammate, on lap 13 Rossi allowed the youngster to take a turn at the front, studying his strengths and weaknesses in an examination befitting of his nickname The Doctor. It proved to be a crucial strategy because on the final lap he needed every inch of track as the pair swapped positions in breathtaking style. Holding the advantage through the final series of fast right-handers, Lorenzo kept a defensive line and was sure the victory was his. However, one last lunge from Rossi at impossible speed across the apex of the final bend gave the youngster no option but to concede defeat.
With Lorenzo wearing the colours of recently crowned European soccer champions FC Barcelona and a crowd of 88,000 that would regularly fill the team’s famous Nou Camp stadium in the centre of the city, it was testament to Rossi’s global popularity that it was his name they sang on a memorable podium.
“As we say in Italy, ‘Mamma Mia!’” laughed Rossi after the race. “I think I can honestly say that this was one of the best and hardest wins of my career. Maybe Laguna last year was more important but this was a great, great victory because it went to the very last corner and it’s a long time since that has happened. I have dreamed about that move for the last two weeks and today it worked and I am so happy to have this 99th win. Now I am going to go to sleep for quite a long time because I need to recover from this excitement!”
Unfortunately there was less excitement in the Monster Energy Yamaha Tech 3 team garage today, where Colin Edwards (#5) struggled to seventh place after suffering front-end grip problems in the scorching heat. His teammate James Toseland (#52) was even more disappointed, having qualified in his best grid position of the season so far in ninth place only to wheelie on the line and be passed by virtually the whole field. The British rider showed his trademark determination to fight back to 13th, but it was a frustrating end to an otherwise encouraging weekend.
“I'm really disappointed because I went into the race with high expectations after my best qualifying of the year but I made a bad mistake off the line and gave myself a mountain to climb,” reflected Toseland. “The engine just bogged and I lost a load of time and had no chance of getting it back because everybody was doing similar times ahead of me. But I'll pick myself up and be ready to give it my all again for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team in Assen.”
Monster Energy’s 125cc riders also found the going tough in the early Spanish summer heat, in particular Danny Webb (DeGraaf Aprilia #99), who broke his finger in practice on Friday and was forced to pull out of the race at the midway stage despite lapping as high as fifth in the early laps. Fellow Briton and Monster Energy rider Bradley Smith (Bancaja Aspar Aprilia #38) went into the race as the championship leader, a position he surrendered to teammate Julian Simon after finishing eighth today as the Spaniard secured fourth.
“We have worked a lot over the weekend and improved with every session in terms of times and feeling, but we didn’t have the pace to run with the front group,” said Smith. “In the middle of the race I made a mistake and lost the chasing group, which were after the podium. Now I can look forward to Assen, where we have another chance to fight for the win.” Smith’s title hopes were boosted by the fact that Simon had looked set to win the race until the final lap, when he mistakenly crossed the line with his arms aloft thinking the race was over, when another lap remained!
MotoGP’s Monster Army now head to the ‘Cathedral’ of motorcycle racing in Europe – the famous TT circuit at Assen, Holland – on its traditional date of the last Saturday in June with Valentino Rossi in a three-way tie for the championship lead with Lorenzo and Casey Stoner, all of them on 106 points and with two wins apiece.
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