Lorenzo conquers Indy as rivals falter
Added on Monday, August 31st, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Lorenzo conquers Indy as rivals falter
Jorge Lorenzo fought back in Indianapolis today to take another victory, also stealing back twenty-five points on teammate and title rival, Valentino Rossi.
Having started second on the grid, alongside pole sitter Dani Pedrosa, Lorenzo suffered a slow start, which saw the FIAT Yamaha rider swamped by his rivals. Elsewhere, Pedrosa, Rossi and also Colin Edwards each experienced strong starts, propelling them through and very much involving them at the hot end.
As the field progressed around the opening lap of the Indianapolis Grand Prix, Lorenzo recovered from his difficult start to drive around the outside of a number of his opponents, regaining lost ground. By the end of lap one he had secured third position, behind leader Pedrosa and Rossi, as the thundering trio soon pulled away from the pursuing pack.
Pedrosa was soon putting in the quick laps, expanding on his already proven pace throughout the Indianapolis weekend; however, Rossi, watching his every move was right on the pace of the Spaniard, matching his speed inch by inch.
Not much further into the race, Pedrosa suffered a fall, which saw the Repsol Honda rider slip off his bike, handing the lead over the Rossi. Luckily, Pedrosa was able to get going again, however he was forced the rejoin at the very back of the field, giving him an immense amount of work to do.
With the front of the race now locked in a pure FIAT Yamaha team battle, attentions turned further afield, to the intense battle that was playing out for third. Alex De Angelis was under pressure increasing pressure in third from Nicky Hayden, with the latter keen to impress and finish top American and hometown hero.
With twenty-one of the twenty-eight laps remaining, Lorenzo wrestled the lead of the race away from Rossi, eager to make up the ground he lost in the previous round. This task was made that bit easier when Rossi suddenly ran wide, losing control,and briefly sliding off of his Yamaha machine. Fortunately he was able to rejoin the race, albeit down in 16th – just one place ahead of a recovering Pedrosa, meaning his FIAT Yamaha counterpart was able to soar off into the distance. Six laps later saw Rossi pull into the pits, which transferred into a race retirement for the Italian star.
With attentions now returning to the rest of the field, Brit hopeful James Toseland, enjoyed a race long tussle with hard charger Marco Melandri; the Tech 3 Yamaha rider was given a bit of breathing space just three laps from the end, as Melandri fell off of his Hayate Racing Kawasaki.
Not much further behind, Mika Kallio had stormed through from fifteenth on the grid to eighth, where he remained to the chequered flag, impresing on his role as substitute for Casey Stoner.
Back at the front, Lorenzo had all but won the race, having roared off into the distance earlier on. Behind, De Angelis seemed to have secured second place, however the following Ducati of Hayden was not going to make it easy for the San Carlo Honda Gresini rider. Just inches further back, Edwards had his hands full with Andrea Dovizioso, which eventually resulted in a change of position not too far fro the chequered flag.
After twenty-eight action packed laps of the historic Indianapolis circuit, or the ‘Brickyard’ as it is otherwise known, Lorenzo wheelied across the finish line, sweeping past the chequered flag and collecting twenty-five points towards his championship charge. De Angelis was able to hold onto second, while a delighted Hayden completed the podium in third.
Dovizioso managed to hold fourth, ahead of Edwards, while Toseland secured a strong sixth place finish. The remainder of the top ten was occupied by Loris Capirossi, Mika Kalio, Toni Elias, while Pedrosa just managed to steal tenth at the very end. Capirossi’s Rizla Suzuki teammate, Chris Vermeulen crossed the line eleventh, while MotoGP rookie, Aleix Espargaro secured thirteenth and three World Championship points.
Commenting on his Indianapolis succes, an ecstatic Lorenzo said: “What a day! In the World Championship if you want to win you have to be on the limit. In the last two races I was on the limit, trying to win, and I crashed, so it was a big disappointment. Today the situation has changed completely and now it has happened to Valentino and Dani unfortunately for them. However, for me, the situation is good.
“It was difficult to keep my concentration for 20 laps, because it was a little bit boring. Bit you cannot relax when it is like that because if you think about something else you could crash. Anyway, I had some fun on the last lap and it is a very nice feeling!” He added.
The championship is still very much alive, as MotoGP now heads to San Marino on the 4-6 September. With just twenty-five points separating the top two it is very much an in-house battle within the FIAT Yamaha squad.
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