Who’s the Donkey Now?

When Valentino Rossi retires from competitive racing I think he should start a promotion agency as the Donkey on his helmet idea, to say yep I was an idiot last weekend, was inspired, and means he can laugh at himself whilst still getting down to the serious business of winning races and ultimately the championship – maybe.

Rossi aside, there was a new Donkey this weekend – Alex De Angelis – fuelled by his second place last weekend, home circuit and nothing to lose because he is out of job so far next year, meant common sense apparently went out of the window.

Imagine all the preparation and costs that go into a weekends racing. The rider’s preparation and training, the practice all weekend to get the bike set up and the qualifying in fifth or sixth position. You can feel it in your bones that this is going to be a great race cementing the great result from last weekend.

Then, what happens?

You haven’t even got round the second turn and an out of control Italian (aka The – new – Donkey)goes in too hot and punts you and another rider off the track and ends your race there and then.

Welcome to the worlds of Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards – bummer!

Is it any wonder that the normally placid Hayden was furious with de Angelis?

I know… that’s racing…..

Anyway back to the race.

There was no doubting that the Yamahas of Rossi and Lorenzo were on it all weekend and another dual was anticipated by Moto GP fans after they qualified first and third, respectively.

Pedrosa got a good start with Toni Elias, who qualified fourth, hot on his wheels. Rossi and Lorenzo were not far behind and Lorenzo luckily managed to narrowly avoid the de Angelis, Hayden and Edwards crash when it appeared that Hayden’s bike touched the rear end of his machine.

Lorenzo led Rossi in the first few laps as they both chased down Pedrosa. Elias proved to be tough to pass and in the end it was down to Rossi to pass Lorenzo and then Elias and chase down Pedrosa, which he seemed to do with ease.

This left Lorenzo behind Elias with Rossi disappearing into the distance.

Lorenzo did eventually manage to pass Elias but by that time Rossi had several seconds advantage.
He did manage to get past Pedrosa, however, to eventually finish 2.4 seconds behind Rossi, leaving Pedrosa 10 seconds in his wake.

There was some exciting action further back between Andrea Dovizioso and Loris Capirossi, with Dovizioso eventually coming out on top by two-tenths of a second for his third fourth place finish in a row.

There’s no doubting that Rossi was on the pace all weekend and geared up for a win which he managed in his own style, donkey helmet and all, to the delight of his home fans.

Results:
Pos. Rider Nation Team Total time
1 V. ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 44’32.882
2 J. LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team + 2.416
3 D. PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team + 12.400
4 A. DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team + 26.330
5 L. CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 26.539
6 T. ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini + 28.286
7 M. KALLIO FIN Ducati Marlboro Team + 30.184
8 M. MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team + 31.757
9 C. VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 31.909
10 J. TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 + 38.347
11 A. ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing + 46.673
12 R. DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP + 52.041
13 N. CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing + 1’03.198
14 G. TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP + 1’22.347

Championship Standings:

Pos. Rider Nation Team Points
1 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 237
2 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 207
3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 157
4 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 150
5 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team 133
6 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 123
7 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 97
8 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 88
9 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 88
10 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team 87
11 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 84
12 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 80
13 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 78
14 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team 73
15 Mika KALLIO FIN Ducati Marlboro Team 51
16 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing 35
17 Sete GIBERNAU SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando 12
18 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 12
19 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 9
20 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing 8