Rossi pips Lorenzo for German win
Report - Rossi extends lead at Sachsenring news.bbc.co.uk
Valentino Rossi extended his lead over Jorge Lorenzo in the championship standings to 14 points after edging out his team-mate to win the German MotoGP.
The Yamaha duo were involved in a cat-and-mouse duel but Rossi pounced with two laps left to win at Sachsenring by nine-hundredths of a second.
Lorenzo had to settle for second, with Dani Pedrosa third ahead of Casey Stoner, who had tyre problems.
Britain's James Toseland came home in 10th place.
Rossi, who claimed his 101st victory, was thrilled to have held on for such an important victory over his closest rival, which also saw him equal Giacomo Agostini's record of 159 podium finishes.
"It was a great race. I made a good start and had to fight at the beginning with Casey which was funny," he told BBC Sport.
"But our two Yamahas worked very well and it was another great battle with Jorge. It was fantastic, we enjoyed it, and it was perfect for me.
"I braked so deep on that corner [to overtake Lorenzo]. I didn't make a mistake at a crucial point and it was an important victory for the championship."
Rossi led from pole position on an eventful first lap which saw Randy de Puniet crash out of third position following a fine start.
Stoner had worked his way past Pedrosa before taking over the lead from Rossi on lap six as the four main riders in the championship pulled clear of the field.
Rossi delighted after German win
Stoner, who has been suffering recently with anaemia and gastritis, seemed a rider rejuvenated but it soon became clear he was holding up the Yamaha duo, allowing Pedrosa to keep in touch.
Rossi and Lorenzo both got past the Australian and that left the team-mates with a third of the 30 laps remaining to battle it out.
With five laps to go, Lorenzo took over the lead into turn one but Rossi managed to return the compliment with two laps remaining, and held off the Spaniard's attempts at a late challenge.
German MotoGP result:
1 V Rossi (It) Fiat Yamaha 41:21.769
"I think this was a great race for everyone because there were all four leading riders of the championship, fighting very closely and all in strong form. We knew that they would all be tough to beat today so I am very pleased about this win, I rode very well and my team worked brilliantly all weekend to find the right setting. I had a very good start today, a great battle with Stoner early on and then after half race distance I was a little faster and really able to push at the maximum, which was great fun. At the end it came down to another incredible battle with Lorenzo and I really had to be on top form, especially because he passed me when I wasn't expecting it. Luckily I was able to take him back and then I rode a perfect final lap with no mistakes. Everything worked well today, my M1 and my Bridgestone tyres, so thanks and well done to everyone. This is my fourth win of the year and I really think that our Yamaha is a fantastic bike this season. I think races like this are great for the sport. Now we have a small advantage in the championship and we're going straight to Donington, one of my favourite tracks where I really hope I can win after a few bad years without a victory!" yamaha-racing.com
2 J Lorenzo (Sp) Fiat Yamaha 41:21.868
"Today was a very hard race because this track is slow and twisty and you have to use all the strength in your body to ride at the maximum. Keeping pace with Valentino today was a big challenge for me, especially since I'm not at full fitness after Laguna, so I am happy that I was able to push him until the end. Passing him was very difficult because he braked hard and late every time, and in fact I made a bit of a mistake because I thought there were a few more laps left when I passed him! I hoped to overtake him and then try to pull away but it didn't work out today. Of course I'm disappointed to lose another very close race, it is always sad but I know that we are capable of fighting with him and considering his experience this is something I must be proud of. Second is important today and we still have a long way to go in this championship." yamaha-racing.com
3 D Pedrosa (Sp) Honda 41:24.668
“A podium is good, but I think that we could have won. We were strong enough to win, but I had a front tyre problem when I was going fast,” said the Spaniard on the same difficulty that forced Andrea Dovizioso out of the race.
“My teammate seemed to have a big problem with it, so I’m happy to have got on the podium, but anyway I thought that today we could have been faster.”
Pedrosa raced with a new Honda engine this weekend as the Japanese factory look to beef up their 2009 machine, and Sunday saw his most extensive run yet with the new motor. Reviewing his feeling with the latest novelty, he added that “we have some experience now for the next round with the new spec.” motogp.com
4 C Stoner (Aus) Ducati 41:31.995
"I wasn't too confident at the start of the race because we were losing ground and my feeling with the bike wasn't great but it quickly improved so we decided to hit the front as soon as possible – if nothing else just to hold everybody up and stay in there with a shout,” said the Ducati star.
“I started to lose the front end a few times so I decided to back off a bit. That allowed Valentino, Jorge and Dani to come past but then, as the fuel load lightened, the front fell more secure and I was able to pick up the pace again,” he revealed. “Dani came up with an unbelievable lap that was about half a second quicker than any of his others.
“After he passed me I tried to push and stay with him but I actually lost the rear at the bottom of the hill and had to let off the brakes, which almost forced me to run into the gravel.
“All in all with the way things have been going lately I'm happy with today's race because it's the first time in a while I feel I've been really involved and I think if it wasn't for that problem with the rear I may have been able to dig deep and given Valentino Jorge and Dani something to think about at the end.
“I'm excited about going to Donington now and I want to thank the team for sticking by me over the last few weeks because it hasn't been fun for any of them,” he concluded. crash.net
5 A de Angelis (SMR) Honda 41:43.291
“We definitely did the maximum we could in this race and in general because the top four are difficult to beat for a lot of reasons. So this is a fantastic team result”, commented Team Manager Fausto Gresini. “I'm happy for Alex, who had an excellent race, and also for Toni who could not possibly have done more from last place on the grid. The whole team is working so hard and we needed a result like this to give everybody a boost.”
“After showing my pace in the wet during qualifying yesterday I knew I could go fast in the dry as well and that proved to be the case”, he said. “Obviously this is a circuit I like a lot but I was also fast in practice at Laguna Seca - unfortunately we had a technical problem there and I wasn't able to back it up with a good result. This time it was nice to carry my form through to Sunday and to stay close to the guys at the front for the first time this season. I really enjoyed attacking and passing (Andrea) Dovizioso, it was a great feeling. This is the result we have been looking for – we have made some important technical progress and I think that at Donington, a circuit I like with its fast corners, I can produce a similar result.” moto-live.com
6 T Elias (Spn) San Carlo Honda 41:52.621
“To be honest I was expecting a battle just to finish in the top ten today but it ended up being much better than I could have imagined! It was a tough race and physically I still wasn't feeling very strong but I managed to get into my rhythm and start passing riders. Once I caught up with Marco I found it difficult to get past him and my stomach pains started. I thought, ‘please no, not now!'”, he explained. “I fought through the pain and over the last few laps we had a great battle, which I was able to win. I want to thank the team because they've been doing a great job and we are starting to see the fruit of our hard work. If we hadn't started from the back of the grid the result today could have been much better so that is something for us to think about for Donington, where we can go in high spirits.” moto-live.com
7 M Melandri (It) Kawasaki 41:53.070
8 N Hayden (US) Ducati 41:53.495
Hayden told motogp.com, “Things were not as good as we had hoped after such a strong weekend and unfortunately we ended up in eighth place. Turn one was not good to me, I got in hot and then everyone was just there. I probably didn’t do the right thing in certain places and I blew all the hard work from qualifying.”
“I am disappointed in the result for sure, but the weekend as a whole we can take some positives from. I had another crash this morning because I got too excited having seen I could go a lot faster, after being towards the back all year. I apologised to the team for making some mistakes but I don’t apologise for trying so hard.”
9 C Edwards (US) Tech 3 Yamaha 41:54.634
"It was a weird race and I had a similar problem to the last few races. It feels like I've got a load of weight on the rear pushing me into the corners. I can't get the bike to turn and today was pretty much the same. The first few laps were a bit of nightmare because I was losing the front a lot. I was going backwards and at one point dropped out of the top ten, but when I thought it was going to be a long afternoon, a strange thing happened. As the rear grip started to drop, I actually got faster and the bike starting turning. With less grip on the rear I could turn the bike and it would help keep the front from just running straight on. So I just got my head down and recovered some positions but I ran out of laps when I getting closer to Nicky (Hayden) and Marco (Melandri). Now we go to Donington, which is a place that I love. I've had some success there in MotoGP and I'll be looking to get closer to the front for all my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3, who have worked hard again all weekend." yamaha-racing.com
10 J Toseland (GB) Tech 3 Yamaha 42:05.695
"I got a decent start and I was pleased with that after what happened at Laguna Seca and the anti-wheelie system from Yamaha has made a massive difference. But I got boxed in at the first corner. I'm not sure who it was but I had contact on my right and left knee. I didn't roll off and got through but at the start of the race I had a few issues with the front tyre. We're not sure if it was the temperature or the full fuel load but at the start I didn't have much confidence. After about half distance it really started working well and I could run a really consistent pace. With the mixed conditions all weekend, I'd not had chance to run the hard rear tyre, but I really thought it would come strong in the last ten laps and help me chase the bunch I was on the back for a while that were battling for seventh. But the hard tyre wasn't really an advantage for the last few laps and there was no difference in performance against the guys on the soft rear tyre. I'm satisfied with another top ten though and I'm now looking forward to my home race now at Donington Park. Another top ten has given me a bit of a boost. I'll be looking to make amends for the disappointment of last year at the British GP and giving it my all for my home crowd." yamaha-racing.com
11 L Capirossi (It) Suzuki 42:19.144
"We had a couple of issues during the warm-up today and when we saw that the weather was likely to be a bit better this afternoon we decided to use a harder compound tyre. Unfortunately we never had a chance to test this tyre during the practice and it was difficult to get the rubber up to temperature. This was one of the reasons that I struggled during the race, but there was also something else that wasn't quite right and we need to understand why we did so badly here. This weekend has now finished and we could do with doing some work on this track to see where we are going wrong, but that is not possible. This is not good enough for us and we don't want to be performing like this and we need as much help as we can get to improve things. The whole crew did a great job last night to rebuild the bike after I destroyed it yesterday, and my condition from that crash is not great but the biggest problem I had today was lack of feeling. I wasn't able to turn as well as I wanted and this is a problem for me. I really hope that we can find some solutions and analyse the data from today and try and do our best at Donington next week." motogp.com
12 N Canepa (Ita) Pramac Racing 42:22.308
“I had a lot of pain in my left ankle, but I had to grit my teeth until the end of the race. It has been a positive race considering the physical condition I was in. I took too much time to overtake Gabor Talmacsi and this made me lose the group of riders in front of me, but with persistence I made it to reach and overtake some other riders. For sure my objective isn't 12th position, but because of the way it went yesterday and considering that this is my first GP here I can be satisfied. I have to thank the Clinica Mobile doctors as they allowed me to race today.” motogp.com
13 C Vermeuluen (Aus) Suzuki 42:25.414
"It has been a difficult weekend, especially after I didn't get off to the best of starts by crashing in the first practice session. I gave my body a really hard time this weekend and because of the crash - and my condition - we lost some track-time and important set-up time. The team did give me a decent bike today, even with the lack of information that we had. I got a good start to the race and I had reasonable speed in the first couple of laps, but I struggled for braking performance and a lot of guys went past me. Then I ran off after I made a mistake and went wide in turn one and that cost me a lot of time. After that is was a pretty boring race and I was just trying to catch Canepa in front of me, but I just didn't quite have the speed to do that. I did get Kallio on the last lap though and managed to get some points from not a good weekend. Hopefully I can get fitter over the next few days and push hard at Donington." motogp.com
14 M Kallio (Fin) Ducati 42:25.924
“Everyone saw what our potential was at this circuit. In every session, including this morning warm up, we remained in the first ten and this was our very lowest aim this afternoon. In the race we started well, but after only five laps I felt something wasn’t working properly on the front of the bike: the tyre suddenly deteriorated. I could have easily finished in sixth or seventh position, but bad luck hit us. I tried everything possible to stay with the riders near me, but after ten laps the situation got even worse. I hope that better luck will be on our side next Sunday at Donington.” motogp.com
15 G Talmacsi (Hng) Scot Racing + 1 lap
Championship standings:
1 V Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 176 points2 J Lorenzo (Spn) Yamaha 162
3 C Stoner (Aus) Ducati 148
4 D Pedrosa (Spn) Honda 108
5 C Edwards (USA) Yamaha 83
6 M Melandri (Ita) Kawasaki 70
7 A Dovizioso (Ita) Honda 69
8 C Vermeulen (Aus)Suzuki 64
9 L Capirossi (Ita) Suzuki 61
10 R de Puniet (Ft) Honda 58
11 A de Angelis (RSM) Honda 47
12 T Elias (Spn) Honda 47
13 N Hayden (US) Ducati 46
14 J Toseland (GB) Yamaha 45
15 M Kallio (Fin) Ducati 28
16 N Canepa (Ita) Ducati 20
17 S Gibernau (Spn) Ducati 12
18 Y Takahashi (Jpn) Honda 9
19 G Talmacsi (Hng) Honda 1
And the other big drama of the last couple of way eeks- where wil Lorenzo be next year
Will he stay with Yamaha or will he move to Honda
Lorenzo: Yamaha offer not good enough
| By Michele Lostia and Pablo Elizalde | Monday, July 20th 2009, 09:23 GMT |
Jorge Lorenzo says he is ready to delay a decision on his future, claiming he is worth more than what his Yamaha team is offering him.
The Spaniard is currently fighting for the title with team-mate Valentino Rossi, who is 14 points ahead after the first nine races of the season.
Yamaha rival Honda has expressed an interest in Lorenzo, but the former 250cc world champion said his main priority is staying with his current team.
Lorenzo, however, said after yesterday's German Grand Prix that he feels Yamaha's offer is not good enough.
"I don't know, I think that we need to wait some more," Lorenzo told Italia1 television when asked about his future.
"I feel very proud that people are interested in me. But I think I'm one of the riders who can beat Valentino in the future.
"I'm fighting with him at the moment, and I think my worth is greater than what Yamaha is offering me at the moment. We'll see what happens in the future."
Rossi, meanwhile, said he was not sure if it was better to have Lorenzo as a team-mate or not.
"I've thought a lot about it, whether it's better to have him in Yamaha or in Honda," he said. "I don't know. There are pluses and minuses each way. In any case I think he will be a tough rival to beat whether he rides either with our bike or with another team."
Rossi also denied Lorenzo did not get the same bike upgrades as him.
"That's not true, the bikes are identical," he told Gazzetta dello Sport. "In any case, it's normal that I have with Yamaha a relationship he doesn't have: when I arrived in 2004 I found a bike that hadn't won for 12 years and it was crap.
"Now we have the best bike. Lorenzo can't pretend to arrive, win, and in two years be as important as Valentino."
He added: "It's easy to be in his conditions: he fights against Valentino Rossi, one of the strongest riders ever, so he goes for it and if he loses he tries again. Meanwhile, this year we are 6-3 in my favour. Good, I like that. He's a tough nut with enormous talent."
How The Lorenzo - Honda Deal Would Work: Separate Teams Inside Repsol
Over the past few weeks, the motorcycle racing press has been set ablaze by the rumors of Jorge Lorenzo's future. The talented Mallorcan's contract with the Fiat Yamaha team runs out at the end of this year, and although Yamaha have offered Lorenzo a new contract - rumored to be around the 3.5 million euro mark - Lorenzo has been holding out for more. He has some very serious leverage to help his side of the argument: Lorenzo says that all of the current manufacturers have offered him a contract.
The only realistic prospect for Lorenzo is of course Honda - Ducati is too much of a risk, and the chances of Suzuki meeting Lorenzo's rumored 5 million euro salary demand are very slim indeed, given the somewhat parlous state of the factory's MotoGP program. The elephant - nay, the brontosaurus - in the room in any discussion of a Lorenzo move to Honda is of course the fate of Dani Pedrosa. The two Spanish title rivals have been bitter enemies since a series of incidents during the 2005 250cc Championship season, and the prospect of the two men on the same team has usually been seen as almost impossible.
Things were made a little easier between the two after Lorenzo fired his long-time manager Dani Amatriain at the end of last season, as the rivalry between Amatriain and Pedrosa's manager Alberto Puig was even more intense than that between the two riders. But now, according to GPOne.com, a solution has been found by HRC which would help remove any last obstacles to securing the services of both Lorenzo and Pedrosa.
The idea would be for Jorge Lorenzo to join the Repsol Honda team, but to split the team into two separate parts, each with its own manager. Unsurprisingly, Alberto Puig would manage the Pedrosa half of the garage, but the big surprise comes in the name of person selected to manage Lorenzo's half of the team. GPOne is saying that Aprilia boss Giampiero Sacchi, currently manager of the Aprilia World Superbike racing team, is in talks with HRC to run Lorenzo, as part of a wider cooperation between the two factories. Sacchi and Lorenzo already know each other well, as Sacchi managed the Derbi team that Lorenzo made his debut in at the tender age of 15. With a name like Giampiero Sacchi at the helm, Lorenzo would have faith in receiving equitable treatment inside the team.
Speaking after the race at the Sachsenring, Lorenzo refused to be drawn on his future, saying only, "the most important thing is to be in a good team with a good bike." When asked about Yamaha, he told reporters, "I don't know what Yamaha wants. I know what I want." This saga still has some way to run yet.
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