Words : Harkamal Singh
Local hero Jorge Lorenzo, engaged compariot Dani Pedrosa in a spectacular fight to overtake him in the last lap and take the winner’s position in Jerez GP. Dani Pedrosa who was leading for almost the entire race gave in to pressure and let Lorenzo go past him after offering some resistance. Lorenzo seemed like a man on a mission on his home ground, going past Casey Stoner, Nicky Hayden, team mate Valentino Rossi and finally Dani Pedrosa. The track conditions at Jerez weren;t easy for the riders to ride on the limit as in the previous Moto2 race, as many as eight riders ended up sliding on the first corner. However, after the track crew took care of the slippery state of the tar, the bikes were seen blazing through the circuit once again.
Both Dani and Lorenzo were cheered by a noisy local crowd and the duo deivered by gifting them a laudable 1-2. Dani started from the pole and kept his position for most of the race, while Lorenzo made his way up the chart in a characteristically flamboyant manner. He overtook Rossi emphatically, displaying his perseverence and unwillingness to give up even after a series of crashes that he has been facing in the previous seasons. His team mate Rossi started from the third row on the starting grid and looked good to finish in second place for most part of the race, but ended up in the third place. The Local Hero was delighted after his 1st win of 2010 season, “It has always been one of my dreams to win a MotoGP race in Spain and this was like a movie,” exclaimed Lorenzo. “Everything that could possibly happen did! It was a very hard race because I made such a bad start and then found it very difficult in the first laps – I gave myself a tough job to do.”
The high point of the race, without doubt, was Lorenzo’s blitzkrieg which overshadowed all the top riders in the MotoGP grid. The Ducatis of Hayden and Stoner for some reason didn’t look as intimidating and fast as they usually do. Hayden too for a change rode like a true former champion and made sure that Stoner was a good distance away from him for almost the entire race. With Lorenzo having shown once again that his hunger for a win is intact and Repsol Honda team looking strong, the stage is set for a yummy season ahead. The Doctor too, like always is in great nick, and once he gets the setting of his ride right, we’ll have the spectacular dogfights happening on the track once again. Ben Spies and Loris Capirossi were not able to finish the race
MotoGP Jerez Classification
Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time/Gap
1 25 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 158.2 45’17.538
2 20 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 158.2 +0.543
3 16 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 158.1 +0.890
4 13 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 157.7 +9.015
5 11 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 157.6 +10.034
6 10 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 156.9 +23.144
7 9 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Team Ducati 156.2 +34.489
8 8 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 156.2 +34.687
9 7 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 156.1 +36.160
10 6 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 156.1 +36.791
11 5 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 156.1 +37.155
12 4 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 156.0 +38.260
13 3 40 Hector BARBERA SPA Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 156.0 +38.371
14 2 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP Honda 154.7 +1’02.052
15 1 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 136.4 3 Laps
MotoGP World Championship Standings
1 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha SPA 45
2 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha ITA 41
3 Dani PEDROSA Honda SPA 29
4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Honda ITA 26
5 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati USA 26
6 Randy DE PUNIET Honda FRA 17
7 Colin EDWARDS Yamaha USA 12
8 Casey STONER Ducati AUS 11
9 Ben SPIES Yamaha USA 11
10 Marco MELANDRI Honda ITA 11
11 Marco SIMONCELLI Honda ITA 10
12 Mika KALLIO Ducati FIN 9
13 Hiroshi AOYAMA Honda JPN 8
14 Loris CAPIROSSI Suzuki ITA 7
15 Hector BARBERA Ducati SPA 7
16 Alvaro BAUTISTA Suzuki SPA 6
17 Aleix ESPARGARO Ducati SPA 1
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