At such an iconic track, the racing was always going to be something to
behold - regardless of the number of incidents or on-track mêlée. The
Corkscrew, one of motorsport’s most fearsome challenges would have to be
tackled a daunting 32 times before the chequered flag awaited them.
Lorenzo had put his Yamaha on pole position for the third time this
season with the two Repsol Honda’s of Stoner and Pedrosa lining up beside him.
Spies headed the second row, continuing his rich form in qualifying and the two
Tech 3 Yamaha’s were closely beside with Crutchlow pipping Dovizioso. Bautista,
Hayden and Bradl continued their strong display of pace - whilst Rossi(10th)
could only manage a time three tenths faster than the quickest CRT(dePuniet).
The CRT in question was from the Aspar team who have been notably the quickest
out of the ‘secondary’ tier of the series. Edwards qualified ahead of a
recovering Abraham whilst an unusually slow Ellison rounded out the field. Attempting
a wildcard for the weekend was Steve Rapp, a legend within the AMA series of
which Spies had so successfully risen from, however unfortunately for the 41
year-old it wasn’t the swansong he was looking for and his qualifying time
failed to meet the 107% time set by Lorenzo.
Heading into the first corner Lorenzo had had the strongest of starts
and maintained the lead, whilst behind Pedrosa attempted to reclaim 2nd
after an unusually slow getaway which allowed his team-mate through. Spies was
one notable climber as the field filtered through the sharp left hander whilst
towards the back, Team Gresini’s Michele Pirro made contact with dePuniet and
ended his race in the gravel trap. A tough weekend for the team after both
Pirro and Bautista seemed unable to get to grips with the tough Californian
circuit.
At the end of lap one it was Lorenzo that led from Pedrosa and Stoner.
Spies sat fourth with the two Tech 3’s still nipping away at his heels, which
coincidentally were not 100% after a fall in qualifying; luckily for Ben
however they did not bite too hard, content with scuffling between themselves.
Hayden resumed hostilities with Bradl whilst Rossi was left to hang onto their
coat tails behind in ninth position.
It was at this point that the race lost a stand-in rider, Toni Elias who
had taken over duties with the Pramac Ducati team after Barbera suffered an
injury which has afflicted many a sportsman over the past few years, a
fractured tibia and fibula which was as a result of a training incident. Elias
was unhurt, although the state of the bike was unknown as a result of on-track
action.
Notably, the air horns were out as Stoner blasted past his team mate
heading into the second corner. It was a cheeky move, although it was an
infamous place for the Australian as he had adopted it as ‘his’ corner whilst
feeling the need to edge Pedrosa across the curb towards the sun-baked gravel.
A few laps after passing Pedrosa, Stoner managed to apply a certain amount of
pressure onto his Spanish rival and pulled a move similar to the one we saw
last year heading into the first corner. A suspected missed gear was the cause
of Lorenzo’s lack of grunt out of the final corner and thus Stoner managed to
sweep up the inside to take the lead.
Back to the incidents, Ellison had quite a hefty crash heading into the
second corner. Luckily, once again the rider was unhurt although the same could
not be said for his Aprilla which ended up in the air fence. However, perhaps
most notable of all the incidents was that of Ben Spies as he was heading down
the corkscrew. The BBC commentators “um’d” and “ah’d” over whether the crash
was due to a mechanical failure with the bike, although we now know the faulty
part was the swing arm. The 5 foot 10 American was left to skid down the track,
shortly after riding the tail of his Yamaha. After already hobbling to his bike
prior to the race, his commitment is unquestionable and with the aid of
painkillers he didn’t look too unsteady getting to his feet.
Perhaps the only other incident which rivals that of Spies was Valentino
Rossi’s crash shortly before the corkscrew. It appeared as though the front
brakes locked, completely throwing the nine-time world champion to the tarmac
and at the mercy of the track’s surface as he surfed along in his leather’s at
speeds in excess of 100 mph. He got to his feet just before the gravel trap,
shoulder pad slightly torn and airbag inflated; looking more confused than
wounded. Although his body may be intact, it is a question of how strong he is
mentally after such an event. Then again, with such a wealth of experience it’s
hard to doubt that the Doctor wouldn’t have something prescribed for himself.
In conclusion, the race kept alive the title aspirations of Stoner on
his swan song year before retirement from the series. The Australian’s pace at
such a level that Lorenzo appeared contented with a three second gap for
second. Pedrosa, as resilient as ever, rounded out the podium and the ever
energetic pairing of Dovizioso and Crutchlow came home in another strong showing
for the Tech 3 squad. Hayden grabbed a very appealing looking sixth ahead of
Bradl who had an easy cushion of 22 seconds back to Bautista in eighth. Next up
was the quickest CRT, Espagaro, who finished over a lap ahead of his team-mate,
dePuniet after that first lap collision. Rounding out the top 10 was Abraham,
with an impressive showing upon his Cardion AB Racing Ducati; the Czech looking
forward to some more recovery time before heading into the three week break
before Indianapolis. dePuniet, Hernandez,
Edwards and Silva rounded out the finishers.
Although the ‘new’ machine may not unlock all of the answers the Repsol
pair needed to reply to the dominance of Lorenzo, the pace looks to be there.
It’s all we can hope for if there is to be a rider other than Jorge holding
that trophy aloft at the end of the season in Valencia, or earlier.
