MotoGP 2016

Rossi put in a flawless weekend in Jerez; He out Lorenzoed Lorenzo.

I was surprised to see Marquez have nothing really for Jorge, although his initial pursuit probably forced Lorenzo to ride defensively enough to help Rossi get away at the front.

The results were like F1 though with the two Yamahas 1 & 2 followed by the two Hondas 3 & 4.

eso

Well, the Old Man certainly was on a mission to prove something this weekend in Jerez. From the start of the weekend he was more than a match for the younger contenders, and in Saturday’s qualifying he clinched the pole position. Certainly Rossi has never been one to consistently get pole, and throughout his career he has more had a habit of being particularly strong come race day. That still tends to happen, and even if he is down in 7th place or something on the grid, you can’t rule him out.

Sunday morning warm-up showed that the qualifying was no fluke as he got second just behind a Marquez who was really pushing it. However, as the start of the race drew near, the conditions had warmed up considerably making for slightly different track conditions. That, if anything, is something that Rossi’s long racing experience has taught him to deal with.

As the lights went green, he didn’t let the clutch slip, and got the hole-shot. It was instantly clear that he was a man with a mission, and that mission was to annihilate the competition from the get-go. No late race come-back that may be fabulous to watch for spectators like us, but rather Rossi doing a Lorenzo (yeah, it hurts me to say it, but it is Lorenzo’s style to basically fuck-off from the beginning and not let anybody get close again). Sure, there was one attempt from Lorenzo to get ahead, but the way Rossi responded to that attack there could be no doubt as to what he was up to.

He kept banging the laps out, always increasing his gap to Lorenzo and Marquez. Opening up a gap on Lorenzo is something that often tends to mess with his head, and it is rare we see him come back from something like that. Marquez on the other hand has shown to be capable of it in the past, but not so yesterday. In fact, Marquez never even managed to pass Lorenzo, and there was only a couple of laps where Lorenzo began reducing the gap, only to see Rossi respond in a most dominating way. The race was run, and I for one was happy to see the Old Man dominate yet again. That said, it was far from the most entertaining race I have ever seen, and from a spectator point of view I certainly preferred Phillip Island last year.

After the race, Lorenzo really gave us a good show as to why people like me hate him these days. He is stupidly arrogant, in spite of being an incredible rider. To see him there being interviewed, with his sour face, saying that the pace today was really slow, and had he not struggled with his tires he would have won the race by a big margin was just pathetic. Ah well, I don’t think that will help his cause, and it clearly showed that Rossi had yet again rattled his cage.

Looking forward to the next one now!

With Lorenzo confirmed at Ducati for next season, do we think Rossi might start getting some preferential treatment in the Yamaha garage?

I didn't watch any of the post race interviews. Jorge saying he the pace was slow is silly; I guess he can't compete at a pace slower than he would like to race... What a load.

eso

I honestly don't think there will be any preferential treatment, although I don't doubt Jorge will be complaining about it!

Read a great article about Rossi yesterday, where he was saying that age doesn't really matter, only motivation which he has loads of. The writer was suggesting he might ride in MotoGP until he is 46!

Much carnage at LeMans. How about that synchronized shunt with Dovi and Marquez? I guess they were both pushing at their limits to keep Rossi from getting away.

And a great ride from Viñales for Suzuki.

Do you think Roy Orbison might have had a Spanish bastard son?



eso

I'm surprised Rossi didn't say something like he could have easily won the race way ahead of Lorenzo if he didn't have some problems with his tires...

The races on Moto3 and Moto2 were pretty good. Looks like now that Binder has finally won a race the flood-gates are open. I do wish Fenati would have been able to pull it off, but Binder does look like he is set to take the 2016 crown in the Moto3. As for Moto2, Luthi disappointed me a bit as he should have won that.

Rossi did what he had to do, and clearly he would never be able to catch Lorenzo. Dovi and Marquez just made it a bit easier by their synchronized front-end wash out...

Well, that was disappointing... after a great qualifying performance for Rossi to have a spectacular engine grenade was unexpected. That will put a hurt on his Championship effort that season.

Still, nice come back from Dovisioso, and a good rides from from Pedrosa and Marquez.

On to Spain.

eso

That was highly frustrating! I was so looking forward to the three of them fighting it out through the last lap, and knowing Rossi's commitment... Ah well.

Still some good racing to watch.

Where's the section for "Three-Wheels Only - real madhatter racing!"...?
This is my 'partner' (god, how I now hate that description) Sue's work colleague as the passenger in the 'F1' of sidecars...
http://www.rkb-f1-sidecars.com/index.html

Dutch TT, what a crazy race! I was so annoyed that the trio of Italians through it into the bushes in part 2 of the race, especially Rossi. That's now his second fall this season, highly unusual.

Wow, has Lorenzo just fallen into the abyss mid season? He really seems to be struggling right now.

Rossi needs to make no mistakes if he going to get back into the hunt this season.

Let's see a good race.

eso

How about that Pedrosa? It seems like he puts together 1 or 2 stellar rides each season. Misano was one of them.

And even though Lorenzo showed great qualifying form his racing is still hurting. He had nothing for Rossi, at all.

But big props for Redrosa.

eso

Pedrosa has been one of the aliens for ten years now, but sometimes we forget! He has won races every year for the past ten years in MotoGP, and would have deserved at least one title. It just never happened for him. Still, on a good day, he is simply awesome!

Rossi looked a bit pissed about being beaten by him today, but I'm sure he is ecstatic about showing Lorenzo and Marquez how it is done!