Okay, so I predicted that this race would be a classic -- a battle of epic proportions between Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. Turned out I was not only wrong, but entirely disappointed in the way the race turned out.
Some back story: Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa were teammates on the Repsol Honda team for a decent bit of time. Nicky was a good, successful rider and he had been putting a pretty good amount of pressure on the invincible Rossi for some years, finally culminating in a superb championship of the top class of motorcycle racing in 2006. During that season, though, the first signs of unrest began to appear: in the penultimate round, Pedrosa had a massive brain fade under braking and took out Hayden, resulting in Hayden needing a miracle mistake by Rossi in the last race to clinch the title. Pedrosa, being a young Spanish star, was embraced by the Honda bosses after he outpaced Hayden in 2007. In 2008, the Honda was obviously better-suited to Pedrosa and, mid-season without giving Hayden a similar choice, Pedrosa was switched to the dominant Bridgestone tires. Hayden also pointed out that, if a newer, better part were developed, Pedrosa got it on his bike and Nicky, former World Champion, wasn't even given the option -- Honda was obviously trying to drive Hayden out by showing Pedrosa preferential treatment.
Fast forward to July 5, 2009, and Hayden is holding down the bottom of the top ten with a Ducati that he still hasn't entirely gotten used to. In the meantime, Pedrosa immediately shot to the lead from the second row on the start with a pretty impressive move around the outside. From there on, he only had to look back once: when Rossi managed to catch him up and nearly pass him on the final turn of the final lap. In the meantime, Rossi had to deal with teammate Lorenzo, who was quite racy in spite of separating his shoulder on a wicked high-side wreck Saturday.
The home team brought in the fifth (Hayden) and seventh (Edwards) finishing spots -- neither really had a shot at the win, but a solid run for each rider.
Given the situation regarding Hayden's divorce from Honda, a manufacturer he had represented successfully and with dignity for a decade in AMA and MotoGP, I was not too thrilled to see Pedrosa cross the line in first. I don't really know much about his personality or what he's like away from the track, but it was a disgrace that took place between he and Honda, and Nicky. He's really the only rider I never want to see win a race.
MotoGP will putz around Germany, Britain, and the Czech Republic before returning across the pond to take on the greatest race course in the world: the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I hope to make it there and support my local speedway by putting one ticket's-worth of money into their bank.
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