I think any MotoGP fan must watch this race, this race is going down in the history books.
After waiting since 2006 for a last lap victory pass in MotoGP, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo exchanged positions four times during a heart-stopping final lap in Catalunya, which ended with Rossi diving inside Lorenzo for victory at the very final turn.
It was a massive win for Rossi over his young rival and means that Rossi, Lorenzo and Casey Stoner have all won two races each this season - and are now all tied on 106 points at the top of 2009 MotoGP World Championship.
The Fiat Yamaha team-mates fought from the first turn to the last turn, Lorenzo converting his pole position into an early lead, while Rossi slotted his M1 into second.
Stoner was the only rider capable of sticking with the pair on Sunday, but the Ducati star began to drop away from lap 9 of 25.
Rossi took the lead from Lorenzo for the first time on lap 4, but was unable to escape and Lorenzo burst back past on the brakes into turn one at the midway point. Lorenzo had the better race pace on paper, but Rossi clung to the #99 before attempting to settle the race early by overtaking Lorenzo into turn one with three laps to go.
Both factory M1s were using the same hard front, extra hard rear tyres, but Lorenzo seemed to have a little more rubber left and - with Rossi's rear wheel beginning to step-out under power - was certain to retaliate.
Lorenzo sliced across the front of Rossi along the home straight, but Rossi released the brakes, pulled his inside leg in and rode across the outside kerb to stay ahead.
With Spanish pride on the line, Lorenzo made an even firmer pass into turn one at the start of the final lap, gently trapping Rossi on the outside to ensure he couldn't slip back past.
Rossi responded by throwing his M1 inside Lorenzo at Turn Four, only for Lorenzo to cut back underneath on the exit, and when the Spaniard took a defensive line into the left hander at the end of the back straight Rossi looked to have run out of options.
But the Italian's body language made clear he wasn't giving up and, after closing up to Lorenzo's rear wheel, made a seemingly impossible pass by diving inside Lorenzo on the entry to the fast final turn.
It was thought to be the only pass at that turn in any of the three classes on Sunday, but worked perfectly. Lorenzo couldn't use his superior corner speed and almost ran into the back of Rossi's machine at the apex, before crossing the finish line just 0.095sec behind the Italian legend.
“It was to the last breath” said an elated Rossi after his 99th grand prix victory, which he dedicated to his crew chief Jerry Burgess, who mother passed away yesterday.
Meanwhile Lorenzo masked his disappointment and confessed that Rossi “had been braver than him” at the final turn.
Both riders left the pit lane to soak up the applause of the fans before climbing the podium. They deserved it, after providing easily the best race of the 800cc era.
Joining them on the rostrum was an exhausted Stoner, who later revealed he had been getting steadily sicker all weekend. The Ducati star finished 8.8sec behind Rossi but held off Repsol Honda's Andrea Dovizioso by just 0.052sec for his fourth podium of the year.
Dovizioso had been trapped behind fast starting team-mate Dani Pedrosa for the first six laps, then struggled to gain ground of Stoner once released and has now finish fourth in the last three races.
Honda's last MotoGP victory came at the hands of Pedrosa at Catalunya last year, but the Repsol Honda rider needed pain killing injections just to ride this weekend after cracking a thigh bone at Mugello.
After losing out to Dovizioso, the home hero battled Suzuki's Loris Capirossi before eventually finishing 2.3sec behind the GSV-R rider.
Colin Edwards had to recover from another bad start on his way to seventh for Monster Yamaha Tech 3, whilst Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), Mika Kallio (Pramac Ducati) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro) completed the top ten. It was Hayden's best race result of the season, but far lower than he would have hoped for after sixth on Friday.
Sixth on the grid Toni Elias still hasn't finished a MotoGP race at Catalunya after crashing from eleventh place on lap ten, while countryman Sete Gibernau, whose last Catalunya MotoGP race ended with a fractured collarbone in 2006, finished 15th on his comeback from another collarbone break.
Gabor Talmacsi's surprise promotion meant the former 125cc world champion became the first Hungarian rider to race in a premier-class grand prix since Janos Drapal at the Czech GP in 1976.
Talmacsi, riding alongside Yuki Takahashi at Scot Honda, began the race 19th and last and finished 17th thanks to the retirements of Elias and Takahashi, who crashed on the first lap.
Now lets hear from the boys
2009 MotoGP - Catalunya 14/06/2009
1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 43'11.897
"As we say in Italy, "Mamma Mia!" 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. We did a perfect job all weekend and my M1 and Bridgestone tyres were brilliant, but we knew that Lorenzo was in the same situation and for sure he was very strong today. I had to be very brave and take it right to the limit in order to beat him. This victory today is more important than the 25 points and anyway now we all have the same, what a championship this is! As well as thanking my team, I especially want to dedicate this win to my Crew Chief Jeremy Burgess because his mother sadly died yesterday. I have to say thank you to her and to him because without him, for sure, I would never have arrived at 99 wins. Now I am going to go to sleep for quite a long time because I need to recover from this excitement!" (yamaha-racing.com)
2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 0'00.095
"This was an incredible battle today and a brilliant show for everyone, I am happy to have been a part of it. Of course I am sad to have lost because I put my heart on my bike and in my career I am more used to winning these last-lap fights, but today Valentino was maybe a little bit cleverer or a little bit braver than me at the very end and he was able to beat me. In fact during that last lap, after I passed him, I expected him to pass me back on the brakes much earlier but he didn't come, and then I just didn't close the line enough on the final corner and that was it. I am proud however because I am young and I still have a lot to learn in this class. My team have worked so well all weekend so thanks to them, if we can continue as strongly as this all season then who knows what can happen?" (yamaha-racing.com)
3 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 0'08.884
“I’m not sure how I did it because half way through the race I nearly gave up. I was very close to pulling into the pits and nothing felt right,” Stoner stated. “The bike was working really well but I just wasn’t able to keep the pace, I just couldn’t brake properly as I was nearly falling onto the front of the bike.”
He continued, “My legs and my stomach were cramping and so I decided to just relax for a few laps to see if we could finish in the top ten or something similar. The bike was so good that I was able to just keep doing consistent lap times to hold Andrea behind me, and I ended up on the podium which is really important for the championship.” (motogp.com)
4 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 0'09.936
“We had a great race today and we finished only nine seconds behind the winner - this is a very important point because we are getting closer every time,” said Dovi. “We only missed the podium by 52 thousandths of a second, which is a pity because I really like this racetrack and we were fast for the whole weekend, so the podium was the target and it was within the reach.
“I didn't have a good start and it took me some time to overtake Randy and then Dani which meant I had a gap to close before I could reach Stoner. Maybe I should have tried to attack Casey with six laps to go, when he slowed down, because later I didn't have any other chance,” he confessed.
“Andrea fought very hard to close the gap to third place and was very close to taking the position,” said team manager Kazuhiko Yamano. “His pace was very impressive today and with this kind of form he should get the podium finish he deserves soon.”(crash.net)
5 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 0'19.831
"This was the same position as Mugello, but this is a different one because we have worked so hard to get this and it is a great result. All the team - especially Stuart - have worked so hard to get us where we are today”, he said. “After qualifying I didn't feel that the bike was quite right and Stuart worked with the guys until late to find a solution. He told me that he was going to make big changes for the race and we tried it during this morning's warm-up and the bike felt really good. During the race I kept my rhythm after a good start and when I got close to Pedrosa I lost some time off the front guys because his bike was so fast in some places I couldn't get past, and he held me up a bit. If I hadn't got stuck for a few laps I think I could have stayed with the next group and got a better result. I want to say a big thank-you to Suzuki because they have brought a new engine here and it was an improvement on the old one - I think if I'd had that engine in Mugello I'd have been on the podium! Most of all I want to thank all my guys individually Stuart, Ian, Gary, Jeff, George, Tex and Jez all did a great job and without them I wouldn't have got that result today!" (moto-live.com)
6 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'22.182
"It’s been a very hard weekend and I finished the race exhausted and in a lot of pain, but I don’t regret being here this weekend trying to do my best. I didn’t want to miss my home race and even though sixth position is not the best result in front of my fans, I’m happy with it. I could feel their enormous support during the whole weekend and it helped me a lot to race. It also wouldn’t have been possible without the doctors’ help: they kept me in the best possible condition to bear the pain. The injections I’ve had on each day worked, but obviously to do 25 laps it’s been very hard. The doctors told me that this fracture needs time to heal so I’m going to rest as much as possible and see what the progress is for Assen. The Team asked me not test tomorrow to give me the best chance to recover and it’s a sensible decision. I didn’t have a great start today, but I could manage to stay in the second group in the race. I tried to stay with Capirossi, but I couldn’t, so I choose to maintain the sixth position. I’m really tired now, but it was a worthwhile race."(motogp.com)
7 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'23.547
"It was a hard race physically because it was so hot out there but I felt I couldn't ride how I want because of the front-end issue again. But I lost a few places off the line and I'm struggling to get this year's bike to start. I'm good on the clutch but with the wheelbase shorter on the Yamaha this year I struggle to keep the front-end down as I'm accelerating. I felt good this morning in the warm-up when I was third. It was a bit cooler and I could get the bike to turn, but as soon as it gets hot and slippy I can't get the bike to turn at all. If I tried to push it would just push the front wide and lose time. I want to push and I could see (Loris) Capirossi and (Dani) Pedrosa in front of me, but the more I push the more mistakes I'd make. As many problems as I've had this weekend with the crash yesterday and the lack of feel with the front, I can't really be upset with seventh. I'm not happy with it, but it was a bit of damage limitation this weekend. My guys at Mon ster Yamaha Tech 3 have worked really hard and we're going to sort this out and be back fighting closer to the front in Assen, which is a circuit I love." (yamaha-racing.com)
8 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 0'25.265
“I am very happy because I think we had a great weekend. It has been a hard race for everybody but I took a perfect start from the third row ending the first lap in 4th place. After that I set my rhythm but some guys (Pedrosa, Dovizioso and Capirossi) overtook me on the straight in the following laps. I am not surprised about that and we have to accept it. Edwards was a bit faster than me but I push to keep his slipstream for the last 10 laps. I could not do better than this and we deserve this 8th place behind the factory bikes. We are 9th in the provisional world standing and we need to continue in this way for the future races. I want to thank my squad for their efforts.”(motogp.com)
9 Mika Kallio Ducati FIN 0'31.797
10 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 0'33.593
“I was hoping for a little more than this but realistically at the moment it was the best I could manage. I started from near the back but kept passing people and made progress throughout the race. I got close to Kallio and tried my best to pass him but made a couple of mistakes and he beat me. All in all it’s not a spectacular result but it is definitely a step forward. I’ve been close to the front guys all weekend, we’ve worked well and we’ve learnt a lot about the bike. I’m already looking forward to getting back on the bike for the test tomorrow and continuing to work down this path, which we think is the right one.”(motogp.com)
11 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 0'36.683
"It was a difficult race and although I got a good start I got a bit boxed in and found myself at the wrong end of the field”, he said. “We made a change to the front-end of the bike for the race and that was a bit better and it gave me the confidence to push a bit harder. We did score some points today, but it is not where we want to be. We now to some tracks that have been good for us in recent seasons so I hope we get a bit of luck there and put together some good results."
(moto-live.com)
12 Alex De Angelis Honda SMR 0'36.874
“The position is clearly not what we want and I don't think it's a true reflection of my potential, which I showed last season is in the top six. This year we're having a few more problems and we haven't managed to resolve them as quickly as we would have liked”, he said. “The only positive thing is that in the opening race in Qatar I was fifty seconds behind the winner and now we have reduced that gap to thirty seconds so we're obviously doing something right. What we need now is to find more grip at full lean because when the bike is at a higher angle the traction is good and we get a glimpse of the potential of the bike. When I can improve my corner speed, which is one of my strengths as a rider, we can make bigger steps forward and this is the target for the test tomorrow and the next race at Assen.” (moto-live.com)
13 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 0'39.433
"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. The engine just bogged and I lost a load of time and had no chance of getting it back because everybody is doing similar times ahead of me. I also had a few set-up issues in the race and I'm not happy with that. I didn't have a lot of rear grip and we've got to work on the setting to find some rear grip when the tyre is starting to wear. After about eight or ten laps I was having a few issues with rear grip, but the bad start was what really cost me and that was my fault. It's frustrating because we've been going in the right direction and it had looked like we might have had a decent weekend. But I'll pick myself up and be ready to give it my all again for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team in Assen." (yamaha-racing.com)
14 Marco Melandri Kawasaki ITA 0'44.788
“Not bad. Less tired than after some 125 races,” he said. “After four laps, in which I tried to keep the pace of the others, I understood that that was not my rhythm, so I decided not to risk. This is learning time for me. I had a lot of fun and I understood a few things, for example, that I want a wider handlebars.”(crash.net)
15 Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 0'46.754
DNF- Toni Elias
“I was riding on the limit today to try and finish tenth and that tells you everything about our situation. I didn't make any mistakes when I crashed – I wasn't going any faster and I didn't brake any harder than I had done on the previous laps, the bike just let go and that was it”, he said. “It's disappointing but racing can be like this sometimes. We have to keep thinking positive and look ahead to the test tomorrow, when hopefully we can make some progress. We've shown we can do a fast lap but we need to improve our race pace so that is the objective for the test, even though we have no new parts to try. Tomorrow is another day!” (moto-live.com)
Gresini: Elias is giving it everything
| By Matt Beer from autosport.com | Monday, June 15th 2009, 10:03 GMT |
Fausto Gresini says his rider Toni Elias's crash in yesterday's Catalunya Grand Prix happened because the Spaniard was having to put everything on the line just to stay in touch with the top ten.
Gresini Honda has had a very difficult season so far, but Elias provided some relief with an excellent fifth on the grid for his home race.
However he soon fell back in the grand prix, and was running 11th when he fell at the end of the backstraight after ten laps.
"We're trying to help our riders as much as we can to improve and I think you can see from Toni's crash that he is giving everything he has too," said Gresini.
"We've taken a small step forward from Mugello but the situation is still difficult."
Elias said there was no obvious reason for the accident.
"I was riding on the limit today to try and finish tenth and that tells you everything about our situation," he said.
"I didn't make any mistakes when I crashed - I wasn't going any faster and I didn't brake any harder than I had done on the previous laps, the bike just let go and that was it."
The Spaniard, who races a works specification bike, had earlier voiced his frustration about a lack of updates arriving from the factory. Although there are no upgrades immediately on the horizon, Elias said he hoped he could at least improve his race settings in today's test session.
"We've shown we can do a fast lap but we need to improve our race pace so that is the objective for the test, even though we have no new parts to try."
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