Great Britain 2009
THIS WAS THE LAST MOTOGP EVENT AT DONINGTON PARK. AFTER MANY YEARS, THE SERIES WILL BE AT SILVERSTONE IN 2010, WHILST IN WHAT APPEARS TO BE A RECIPROCAL MOVE FOLLOWING THE F1 REBUILDING WORK HERE, FORMULA ONE LEAVES SILVERSTONE TO RETURN TO DONINGTON PARK NEXT YEAR.
THE RACE LIVED UP TO ITS USUAL UNPREDICTABILITY AIDED BY A THREAT FROM THE RAIN GODS. FRIDAY PRACTICE - WET, SATURDAY QUALIFYING = SUNNY AND DRY, SUNDAY'S RACE - ENOUGH DRIZZLE TO MAKE THE TRACK SLIPPERY.
DUCATI TRIED TO PULL A MASTER-STROKE AT THE START. THE RACE WAS DECLARED TO BE OFFICIALLY A WET RACE BEFORE THE START, BUT WHILST EVERY OTHER TEAM DECIDED TO START ON SOFT, SLICK TYRES, DUCATI CHOSE TO USE WET TYRES! THIS IS THE SORT OF GAMBLE THAT IS O.K. FOR A SATELLITE OR A NO-HOPER TEAM, BUT IT SEEMED EXCEPTIONALLY FOOL HARDY FOR A FACTORY SQUAD. THEY FINISHED LAST AND NEXT TO LAST IN 14TH & 15TH.
THE RUMOUR WAS THAT THEY HAD SOMEONE POSITIONED UP-WIND WITH A MOBILE 'PHONE TO REPORT ON THE LIKELY WEATHER IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE. WHATEVER THE TRUTH, THEY RECKONED WITHOUT THE UNPREDICTABLE NATURE OF BRITISH WEATHER BECAUSE IT NEVER DID MORE THAN DEPOSIT ENOUGH DROPS TO DAMPEN THE SURFACE.
THAT WAS ENOUGH TO DISPOSE OF JORGE LORENZO, WHO LOST CONTROL ON THE PAINTED KERB AT GODDARDS WHILST IN THE LEAD, AND VALENTINO ROSSI, WHO WAS BEING PRESSURED BY ANDREA DOVIZIOSO. HOWEVER, ROSSI BEING ROSSI HE WAS ABLE TO PICK THE BIKE UP, REJOIN IN 11TH AND FINALLY FINISHED 5TH AFTER A NUMBER OF RIDERS AHEAD DECIDED TO CHANGE TO WET TYRES BY CHANGING BIKES. DANI PEDROSA STARTED WELL BUT GRADUALLY DROPPED DOWN THE ORDER.
A SURPRISE PACKAGE CAME IN THE SHAPE OF RANDY DE PUNIET ON A PRIVATEER HONDA. HE SEEMED TO SHRUG OFF ANY THOUGHTS OF CRASHING AND IF HE WAS OCCASIONALLY OVERTAKEN BY A FACTORY BIKE WOULD SOON RETAKE THE POSITION. JAMES TOSELAND DELIGHTED THE HOME CROWD WITH SOME SPIRITED RIDING TO EVENTUALLY TAKE A CAREER-EQUALLING 6TH PLACE.
AS THE RACE NEARED THE CONCLUSION, DOVIZIOSO SEEMED TO BACK OFF A LITTLE, NATURAL ENOUGH IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT THAT ONLY SERVED TO ENCOURAGE RANDY AND COLIN EDWARDS WHO HAD IMPROVED TO 3RD.
NONE OF THEM HAD EVER WON A MOTOGP RACE AND EVEN THOUGH THERE COULD ONLY BE ONE WINNER, ANDREA WAS NEVER ACTUALLY CHALLENGED DESPITE THE OTHER TWO ALMOST GETTING CLOSE. FINALLY, HE RAN OUT THE WINNER WITH COLIN 2ND AND RANDY 3RD. THEY WERE BOTH AS OVERJOYED WITH THEIR PLACES AS WAS THE WINNER SO IT MADE FOR A VERY HAPPY PODIUM AND A FITTING CONCLUSION TO MOTOGP'S TIME AT DONINGTON PARK.
STARTING GRID
| | | | | |
| 1.
|
Valentino Rossi
|
| 2.
|
Dani Pedrosa
|
| 3.
|
Jorge Lorenzo
|
| 4.
|
Casey Stoner
|
| 5.
|
Andrea Dovizioso
|
| 6.
|
Colin Edwards
|
| 7.
|
Marco Melandri
|
| 8.
|
Tony Elias
|
| 9.
|
James Toseland
|
| 10.
|
Randy de Puniet
|
| 11.
|
Mika Kallio
|
| 12.
|
Alex de Angelis
|
| 13.
|
Chris Vermeulen
|
| 14.
|
Loris Capirossi
|
| 15.
|
Nicky Hayden
|
| 16.
|
Niccolo Canepa
|
| 17.
|
Gabor Talmasci
|
RESULT
| |
| 1.
|
Andrea Dovizioso
|
| 2.
|
Colin Edwards
|
| 3.
|
Randy de Puniet
|
| 4.
|
Alex de Angelis
|
| 5.
|
Valentino Rossi
|
| 6.
|
James Toseland
|
| 7.
|
Marco Melandri
|
| 8.
|
Niccolo Canepa
|
| 9.
|
Dani Pedrosa
|
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Riders :
| |
| Valentino Rossi
|
187
|
| Jorge Lorenzo
|
162
|
| Casey Stoner
|
150
|
| Dani Pedrosa
|
115
|
| Colin Edwards
|
103
|
| Andrea Dovizioso
|
94
|
| Marco Melandri
|
79
|
| Randy de Puniet
|
74
|
| Chris Vermeulen
|
67
|
Constructors :
|
| Yamaha
|
230
|
| Honda
|
164
|
| Ducati
|
156
|
| Suzuki
|
89
|
| Kawasaki
|
79
|
Race Results posted by
David Little
27th July 2009
The HTML code for this page has been validated by the World Wide Web Consortium.