We said this morning after the MotoGP warm-up, that in today’s race anything could happen, especially if it was wet on the already slippery Jerez track and we were prophetic.
This race was the most chaotic we’ve seen in years and will be talked about for weeks; with Valentino Rossi taking out Casey Stoner on lap 8 while trying to overtake the Repsol Honda rider for second place, Marco Simoncelli highsiding while leading the race with a 2 second gap, the controversy and complaints surrounding the marshals who helped Rossi get back on track and not Stoner or Simoncelli, the excessive tire wear after a few laps and the number of crashes.
The race saw Jorge Lorenzo triumph in his true style and on the long distance and take another celebration dip in the Jerez pond, but this time without his helmet.
The podium was set to see Ben Spies take second, but he lowsided out with three laps to go and a struggling Dani Pedrosa inherited his spot.
Nicky Hayden managed to take third and keep it from a hard charging Aoyama across the finish line, after Colin Edwards also crashed out from third.
Fifth went to a recovering Rossi who after taking out Stoner charged back through the field from last place.
Rossi went to excuse himself with the Aussie rider after the race, who very ironically accepted his handshake, asking him if he still had shoulder problems and saying that the Italian has more ambition than talent.
Ouch! Aspar Ducati’s Hector Barbera took sixth while Karel Abraham on another Ducati took seventh despite his own crash in the gravel.
Cal Crutchlow ran fifth for much of the race, until he too suffered a fall and finished in eighth.
Toni Elias and John Hopkins completed the top 10.
Loris Capirossi took the 11th spot while Andrea Dovizioso was the last rider to finish the race after running wide with steering problems, worn down tires and had to pitstop to change bikes.
MotoGP Jerez Race Results:01- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – 27 laps in 50’49.
04602- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 19.
33903- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 29.
08504- Hiroshi Aoyama – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 29.
55105- Valentino Rossi – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1’02.
22706- Hector Barbera – Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1’08.
44007- Karel Abraham – Cardion AB Motoracing – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1’14.
12008- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1’19.
11009- Toni Elias – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – + 1’42.
90610- John Hopkins – Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – Suzuki GSV-R – + 1’48.
39511- Loris Capirossi – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1’51.
87612- Andrea Dovizioso – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – 1 lap