MotoGP: Jorge Wins Indy as Rivals Tumble

Cocky Spanish superstar Jorge Lornezo must have been baffled as he dominated the MotoGP race at Indianapolis, as his close rivals went tumbling down the track, leaving him all on his own at the front.

Miniature matador Dani Pedrosa had been on blistering form, taking pole position and leading off the line. It was a three way scrap, as the teeny Catalan tried to pull away from Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. Then on lap 5 there was astonishment as Dani hopped off the low side. It was exactly the sort of crash that we've seen Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards save in the past by sticking their knees down, but as Dani's knee only sticks out about 12cm from the bike, he was unable to stop it toppling over in an embarrassing low speed crash. It took a long time for the downbeat dwarf to pick up his Repsol Honda machine, which was unsurprising as it weighs literally 3 times what he does!

Full marks to him for getting back into the race, as despite being dead last he put in a succession of fastest laps and outdragged Chris Vermeulen on the run to the flag, finishing a gutsy 10th.

That turned it into a 2-way battle at the front between Rossi and Lorenzo. We've seen this before, and the wily old Doctor always wins through. Not this time. Horhay pulled off an excellent pass into the fast first corner to take the lead. Valentino Rossi had to try extra hard to stay with his young FIAT Yamaha team-mate.

Rossi ran wide in a left hander, which put him way off line on the dirty part of the track for the following right hander. The Italian genius grabbed the brakes and the front end folded, violently throwing him onto the road. It was exactly the sort of crash you see when somebody brakes too sharply in the wet, as there was hardly any grip that far off line. Rossi tried to continue but had to pull in with a sticking throttle. He studied the data logging long and hard before conceding that he had fallen due to being on a filthy part of the little-used Indy infield.

That left Lorenzo all alone, around ten seconds in front of anyone else and presumably somewhat surprised that his rivals had self-destructed. He pulled an enormous, half-kilometre wheelie across the line, and stopped to pick up a plastic Captain America shield to go with his matching one-off crash helmet. He also followed the Indy 500 tradition of the race winner climbing the debris fence that separates the crowd from flying Indy cars (but didn't drink the traditional pint of milk, as far as I know) leaving a baffled marshal blipping the throttle of his Yamaha to keep it running.

In second place was the ludicrously inconsistent San Marino rider Alex de Angelis, who was "doing a Toni Elias" on his Gresini Honda, i.e. pulling out a brilliant performance at contract time. The hugely emotional third place finisher was local yokel (by Yank standards) Nicky Hayden, who lives a mere several hundred miles from the track. Given the trouble he's had adapting to the career-killing Bologna bullet, a podium place was a brilliant result, making it extremely likely that he'll sign another Ducati contract before too long. The likeable Kentuckian was over the moon, and so were his family in the Ducati garage.

Andrea Dovizioso finished a decent 4th on his Repsol Honda, with Tech 3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards very frustrated with 5th, having struggled with rear grip. It shows how well Colin is riding this year when he's gutted with a 5th place position. The surprise 6th place was the Texas Tornado's team-mate James Toseland, who had battled hard to stay ahead of Marco Melandri's Hayate Kawasaki for most of the race until the Italian crashed with a couple of laps to go. It was a great performance from the Yorkshire pianist, but will it be enough to stay in MotoGP? If he pulls off another result like that next week, the Japanese factory might just loan him a fountain pen to sign next year's MotoGP deal.

The record books will show that Jorge Lorenzo won this race at a canter, but the race was more interesting than that. It's not often that Pedrosa and Rossi both crash all on their own, while Lorenzo stays on his bike. It was great to see a proper, non-hurricane-lashed race from the oldest bike racing venue in the world, the Indianapolis brickyard.

BSB: Team Boss Colin Wright Hits Century

Leon Camier's victory in the second British Superbike race of the day at Brands Hatch on Sunday racked up a few new facts for the history books. He became the first rider to win a treble, as it was the BSB's first 3-race weekend, with a race on Saturday after qualifying. He took his 14th win of the season, beating the existing record set by Niall Mackenzie on Rob Mac's Boost Yamaha in 1997.

It was also a personal milestone for Camier's GSE Airwaves Yamaha boss, Colin Wright, who notched up his 100th victory as a team manager. The sardonic slaphead's standard smug smile slipped slightly, showing his sensitive side as he clearly had a tear in his eye. The results break down as 25 wins with Kawasaki, 60 with Ducati and 15 with Yamaha. It was a massive achievement for the plain talking GSE geezer, and the wins are still coming.

Along the way, he's nurtured some of the best up and coming British riders, and rejuvenated a few of the older ones. His boys have racked up British titles, and gone on to take World championships too. Keep it up, Mr Wright!

Stoner Sidelined? Ducati Disaster?

Rumours abound that Casey Stoner will sit out at least one and possibly 3 MotoGP races as he battles with his mystery "illness". The ex-champion underwent a battery of tests after the Laguna Seca race, with the result that some of the world's best quacks told him he felt ill and looked a tad pale. In other words, they thought he was faking it.

There is now great confusion as to whether Casey's lurgy could be physical or psychological. It's certainly possible to worry yourself sick, but why would that start now?

Has Casey grown a brain?

Most bike racers don't have a brain as such. Anyone with one would have enough imagination to realize that sitting on a two-wheeled machine at 200mph, just inches away from similarly steeded psychos, is a completely ludicrous thing to do. That's why most people aren't motorcycle racers. (Of course, not all people without brains are motorcycle racers, most of them are politicians, car park attendants or reality TV stars.)

Could he have subconsciously become as terrified as anyone in their right mind would be if they were clinging to the Bologna Bullet as it bucked and weaved in a 130mph corner? I'd certainly be throwing up if I had to ride that thing around a racetrack at speed.

If Casey has to sit out a few races, it's a bad thing for MotoGP and a terrible thing for Ducati. The little Aussie might have a tendency towards moaning, but he's one of the best riders of modern times. His ability to jump on the bike, pull out a pole position on his first flying lap then sit down for the rest of the session is unrivalled. Even Valentino Rossi never does that. People who criticized Stoner for winning a title on the bike with the fastest top speed fail to take into account the fact that the bloody thing doesn't go round corners.

There are something like 8 other riders who have raced the 800cc Ducati, and none of them have looked anything like winning a race on the thing, never mind a championship. The Italian team have created a Stonermobile, and without Stoner they are well and truly screwed.

What if Stoner is forced to retire? It wouldn't be the first time something like that has happened. Alex Criville famously won the 500GP title but had to retire due to mystery blackouts that had no known physical cause and cleared up when he stopped racing.

This would be a tragedy for Casey, and it would be a major blow to MotoGP, just when we are into the kind of golden era the sport hasn't seen for nigh on 20 years. The racing might be a bit variable, but Rossi is now under constant attack by Stoner, Pedrosa and Lorenzo.

For Ducati, the loss of Stoner would be a disaster. Who on earth would they replace him with? Mika Kallio has shown reasonably well on the satellite Pramac Ducati, but could he really win races on the factory bike?

The top option would have to be Jorge Lorenzo, but the rumours are that he will turn down a big money offer from Honda to stay on a Yamaha, the best all-round bike in MotoGP just now. It's pretty unlikely that he'd go to Ducati. Rossi won't go, he had that chance before and turned it down for Yamaha, where he'll stay. Pedrosa would probably move to Ducati if he was forced out of Honda, but that's looking very unlikely.

If you don't have one of the top 3 non-Stoner riders, you'd have to look beyond the current MotoGP crowd, but with the new rookie rule, Ducati couldn't hire anyone who hasn't already done a year of MotoGP (or at least half a year). The two likely rising stars outside MotoGP are Alvaro Bautista from 250GP and Ben Spies from World Superbikes. It would be 2011 before either one could join the factory Ducati squad. (The two other rising stars in 250GP are Marco Simoncelli and Hiroshi Aoyama. Simoncelli is already signed to Honda, while Aoyama will very probably ride either a MotoGP Honda or a Moto2 bike next year.)

Even if the Italian team wave enough money around, riders will always baulk at the prospect of riding the desmodromic career killer. Look at what it did to Marco Melandri. Still, Marco is now regaining his confidence and market value after a few great races on the Hayate Kawasaki. Maybe somebody quick would be willing to take a gamble.

Anyway, let's hope it doesn't come to that. Get well soon, Casey.