Rossi wins in Catalan thriller
Added on Monday, June 15th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Rossi wins in Catalan thriller
Valentino Rossi made what was arguably the greatest overtaking move of his entire career in Barcelona to win a gripping battle with Jorge Lorenzo.
The Yamaha duo were caught in a thrilling battle during the Catalunya Grand Prix on Sunday before Rossi made in a superb pass on the final corner to take the chequered flag in front of Lorenzo’s home crowd.
Lorenzo led for much of the latter part of the race before Rossi turned the screw in the final stages, taking and then holding the lead with three laps remaining before Lorenzo stole the lead on the first bend of the final lap and held off the world champion into turns two and three.
The lead changed hands on no less than four occasions in the final lap as the pair jostled for victory and the championship lead but Rossi made the telling move, taking Lorenzo on the inside line on the final corner to win by a slender 0.095secs.
Ducati rider Casey Stoner, who suffered from an illness for much of the weekend, finished third which puts the trio all level on 106 points, with Rossi standing on top by virtue of Lorenzo’s retirement in Jerez in round three.
A visibly delighted Rossi later celebrated his 99th MotoGP victory with the Spanish crowd as he came into Parc Ferme and the eight time world champion ranked the win up there with some of his very best.
“As we say in Italy, “Mamma Mia!” I think I can honestly say that this was one of the best and hardest wins of my career,” he claimed. “Maybe Laguna last year was more important but this was a great, great victory because it went to the very last corner and it’s a long time since that has happened.
“I have dreamed about that move for the last two weeks and today it worked and I am so happy to have this 99th win. We did a perfect job all weekend and my M1 and Bridgestone tyres were brilliant, but we knew that Lorenzo was in the same situation and for sure he was very strong today.
“I had to be very brave and take it right to the limit in order to beat him. This victory today is more important than the 25 points and anyway now we all have the same, what a championship this is!”
Rossi also paid tribute to crew chief Jerry Burgess, whose mother had passed away on Saturday.
“As well as thanking my team, I especially want to dedicate this win to my Crew Chief Jeremy Burgess because his mother sadly died yesterday,” he added. “I have to say thank you to her and to him because without him, for sure, I would never have arrived at 99 wins. Now I am going to go to sleep for quite a long time because I need to recover from this excitement!”
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