2013/6/29

Bravo Rossi, congratulations Lorenzo!

Valentino Rossi has won the Iveco TT Assen, picking up his 80th victory in the MotoGP™ premier class and his first since the Malaysian Grand Prix of 2010. The nine-time World Champion shared the podium with Marc Marquez and pole-sitter Cal Crutchlow, with Jorge Lorenzo finishing fifth despite a broken collarbone. 

Lorenzo generated many of the headlines before the race, having been cleared to race less than four hours before the start and having travelled back from an operation in Barcelona. Rossi’s afternoon started from fourth on the grid. A decisive pass on LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl saw the Yamaha rise to third in a very strong move at the chicane as the first lap came to a close. The Italian then proceeded to hunt down the Hondas, dispatching of Marquez on Lap 4 and Pedrosa on Lap 6 in what was a similar move to that of 2007. He would go on to take an emotional victory by 2.1 seconds. 

Marquez’s second place boosts his championship situation, finishing ahead of both Pedrosa and Lorenzo. Having sealed his first front row starting position since Le Mans, the 20-year-old rookie ran third but caught Pedrosa on the 18th lap; his first attempt to overtake failed, but the reigning Moto2™ champion made the most of his next opportunity and seized second spot on the drag to the first corner. Pedrosa would fall back one more place before the chequered flag, losing out to Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Crutchlow who was fortunate to avoid a crash when he touched Marquez’s rear wheel on the final lap. Although fourth is Pedrosa’s worst result since Round 1 in Qatar, he still extends his championship lead by two points. 

Lorenzo was mightily relieved to have scored 11 points, having suffered a heavy crash on Thursday before being operated on in the early hours of Friday morning. He arrived back at Assen on Friday afternoon and was given the green light to race after 11 o’clock this morning. Having risen to the top five from 12th on the grid by only the second lap, he ran as high as fourth but fell back as pain began to kick in. Sixth place went to Bradl, who, from his first ever MotoGP front row, had briefly snatched second at the start, whereas GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista overhauled leading CRT rider, Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro, for seventh with six laps to go. On the final lap Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden lost two places and fell to 11th, dropping behind Tech 3’s Bradley Smith and his own teammate Andrea Dovizioso.

Valentino Rossi’s success is his first since returning to Yamaha and, as well as being his 80th win in the top tier, is his 106th career victory and eighth at Assen.

From another point of view, Lorenzo’s risky decision to race just after a collarbone operation was completely justified. His 5th position to the finish today, preserved totally his chances to winning the 2014 Championship. Of course Pedrosa’s poor performance helped him a lot. However Lorenzo brings the power of will of a motoGP athlete and his commitment for the best result to a new level. After all, this is the meaning of that Spartan figure on his helmet. 

IVECO TT ASSEN MotoGP Race Classification 2013 

Assen, Saturday, June 29, 2013 

Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time/Gap 

1 25 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 171.0 41'25.202 

2 20 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 170.9 +2.170 

3 16 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 170.7 +4.073 

4 13 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 170.5 +7.832 

5 11 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 170.0 +15.510 

6 10 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 169.1 +27.519 

7 9 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 168.9 +31.598 

8 8 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 168.8 +32.405 

9 7 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 168.7 +33.751 

10 6 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 168.7 +33.801 ` 

MotoGP World Standing 2013 

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Dani PEDROSA	Honda	SPA	136
2	Jorge LORENZO	Yamaha	SPA	127
3	Marc MARQUEZ	Honda	SPA	113
4	Cal CRUTCHLOW	Yamaha	GBR	87
5	Valentino ROSSI	Yamaha	ITA	85
6	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati	ITA	65
7	Stefan BRADL	Honda	GER	51
8	Nicky HAYDEN	Ducati	USA	50
9	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Honda	SPA	47
10	Aleix ESPARGARO	ART	SPA	44

2013/6/28
Fastest lap and broken collarbone for Lorenzo in Assen
Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo was both the fastest and unluckiest man on the first day of practice at the Iveco TT Assen, as he set the pace in the early dry session, before breaking his collarbone in the wet afternoon practice. Lorenzo will be operated today, missing this round of the Championship.