MotoGP Round 12: San Marino GP

[frostie]

The twelfth round of the MotoGP season takes place this weekend with the Misano circuit playing host to the San Marino Grand Prix.

Coming hot on the heels from last weekend’s Indianapolis Grand Prix Jorge Lorenzo will be keen to bounce back from a somewhat disappointing race at Indy. The Spaniard may have finished in third but his performance left him somewhat deflated such has been his dominance of the premier class this season.

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa is Lorenzo’s closest title contender and will look to continue to close the gap to his dominant countryman, Pedrosa trails Lorenzo by 68 points so it is clear that for the title battle to have any chance of drama it will require a poor run of form for Lorenzo. If his rivals are looking for weakness Misano may be a poor place to race Lorenzo. In the three years that this circuit on the Adriatic coast has hosted MotoGP Lorenzo has won the 2007 250cc race and finished runner up to Valentino Rossi for the last two years in MotoGP.

Lorenzo has been in imperious form this season and has capitalised on every opportunity that has presented itself to him. The FIAT Yamaha rider has finished on the podium at every race this season and has also started on the front row on each occasion. The dominance that the 23 year old has displayed this season has been of historic proportions and has placed him in the elite company of Michael Doohan’s 1997 records.

Lorenzo is well placed to smash the single season point’s record and he will look to use this weekend to once more stamp his authority over teammate Rossi. Rossi has understandably struggled since returning from his broken leg but even so the Italian will have been disappointed with some of his races since returning at the Sachsenring, Brno particularly. Last time out at Indy Rossi though rode a steady and consistent race and ended the day in fourth, just behind Lorenzo on the podium. Rossi always rides and races well in front of a home crowd and with the Misano circuit just eight miles from his hometown of Tavullia.

Rossi has been victorious at Misano for the last two years with comfortable victories over his teammate. This weekend will once more be a struggle for the nine times world champion as he continues to return to full fitness. It has been clear of late that while Rossi is more than capable of riding at a high level, he is still ill at ease on the limit. It seems that he is struggling to place his weight where he feels he needs it. This could well have been a contributory factor in his three crashes at Indy and crashes during the Brno weekend.

Speaking after the race at Indianapolis it was clear that Rossi is struggling to train at the level he expects of himself and the affect that it is having on his performances. The Italian spoke after the race and said, “But now I need more strength, I need more preparation because I don't have the fitness for 28 laps. I suffer a lot in the heat, I don't expect to be like this in trouble, but is quite normal because I cannot work a lot on the breath [aerobic fitness], you know? So, I need time. I need to stay quiet, I need time to come back at the maximum, because when I was around 1.2 - 1.4 seconds behind Jorge, I was not so far, I have one moment where I push a lot, but from that moment, my strength is finished, become very difficult to change direction, so I had to give up.”

While Rossi knows that his physical condition will not improve for Misano he is confident that his bike will once more be the pacesetter and inspired by a home crowd another podium is far from out of the question this weekend.
This weekend’s race could feature more challengers at the front than any race thus far. Ben Spies will come to Italy with his confidence sky high following his second place finish and pole position at Indy. Pedrosa will be in much the same boat following his return to winning ways. Andrea Dovizioso will be racing in front of a home crowd and the Italian has been riding well this season thus far, Casey Stoner will be racing in Italy for the last time aboard a Ducati and the 2007 world champion will be keen to put his Indy crash behind him. With Rossi and Lorenzo both motivated, this weekend should feature some close and exciting racing.

In the Moto2 class title leader Toni Elias will once more start as the favourite to win this weekend. Elias finished on the podium at Misano in the 2008 MotoGP race and has had strong showings at his two other races at the track. The Gresini rider comes to Italy on the back of three consecutive race wins and having tested at the circuit in the run up to the Czech Grand Prix, Elias and his team should be aware of the required setting for the race.

Who will be his most likely challenger? Andrea Iannone is likely to be that man, Last year the Italian made the headlines for all the wrong reasons as he squared up to Pol Espargaro after the pair crashed at the last corner battling for the race win in the 125cc class. That crash left Julian Simon free to take the win. The reigning 125cc world champion has returned to form of late in the Moto2 class and the Aspar rider will look to add to his runner up finish at Indy this weekend.

Silverstone winner, Jules Cluzel, has struggled since breaking his duck in Britain but the Frenchman has decent form at Misano and will be keen for another top five finish this weekend. Every race weekend the Moto2 class continues to astound, and once more it is unlikely to disappoint this weekend.
Marc Marquez continues to lead the 125cc class but the diminutive Spaniard has seen his title lead slashed from 26 points before the summer break to just four points now. Nico Terol missed the German round following his crash at the Catalan Grand Prix but the Spaniard has moved past those two non scores to dominate the last two races and amazingly become the closest challenger to Marquez.

Terol is just one point ahead of Pol Espargaro in the title chase and the three Spaniards are all racing at a high level at present. Espargaro is arguably the fastest man amongst the group over a single lap but the Derbi rider showed that he still has moments where he is racing to win and not thinking of the title. His crash at the Sachsenring was a prime example of this mentality. This weekend’s race will once more prove to be a battle between the title contending Spaniards but Bradley Smith, former pole man at Misano, will look to spoil their party. With the run of consecutive Spanish wins now at a record twenty races Smith will know that he faces an uphill task this weekend.

[jhansen]

Dang, Pedrosa is on a roll.

[GORDON STREETER]

It "looks" like it will be a bit more interesting than the last one !
But as usual I shall record it and scan through it later.
Moto 2 on the other hand is another kettle of fish, go Scott !

[chunder]

Just seen an appalling bit of footage of Redding being manhandled onto a stretcher and Tomizawa who looked unconscious the same

If Iw as one of their team bosses I would be considering sueing the bloody track for the way their riders were treated, utterly atrocious in my view. Redding was obviously in a lot of pain when he fell and was just bundled on a metal thing as they used to do in Spain and Rijeka years ago. Cretinous marshalling.

[Dani Filth]

I believe a red flag was necessary .

[chunder]

if I hear Cox say shuffle one more time I am going to hire a plane, fly to Misano and stab the cretinous idiot!

Tomizawa sounds quite serious and Redding appears to be at the Clinica, which is a good thing as its not serious to be sent to hospital

[Dani Filth]

the news i'm hearing are not good

[chunder]

Let's wait and hear from offical lines instead of speculating guys.

[Stuart Hill]

RIP Shoya Tomizawa.....

[skells22]

Eurosport will have to change its normal repeat plans when MOTO2 is due to be shown again!

[ghinzani]

The way he rode was win or bin, sadly he paid the ultimate price today. So sad for his family and his team, who were very close to him and recognised his massive talent. A shining light has gone out... Thankyou Shoya for the way you rode, and the thrills you provided in the short time you were with us.

[EGG]

It's a shame, I was a fan of his and thought that if he was ever able to even out his riding style and results he might do well.

[marcus]

very sad news and just a tragedy.

RIP Shoya

[skells22]

will lessons be learnt from this sad weekend on two wheels

[mig]

Such a shame a true talent. RIP Shoya Tomizawa

[chunder]

No lessons need to be learned at all, Shoya simply ran wide in a turn, hit the astro-turf and lost the rear end. He slid and was flicked off the bike. There was no impact and nothing the track could have done.

Very, very sad and awful for fans in Japan who have to endure the loss of another huge star.

[Jamesy-18]

R.I.P. Terrible to hear of such a tragedy.

[Taprobane]

I was watching this morning and was sad to hear this evening that he had died. I thought the response from the marshalls and the race director was awful, after what was clearly a dreadful crash the race should have been stopped, seeing someone (was it him?) dropped on the stretcher was disgraceful to see.

[dyewat808]

Motor-sport of any kind is always dangerous, and today has reminded us of just that. What is particularly saddening is the location, and the appalling reports of how the accident was handled.


Another dark day for all motor-sports fans, and for the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

R.I.P

[ghinzani]

Agree totally with the comments regarding the lack of red flag - there was probably nothing to be done for poor Shoya but a red flag was obvious as soon as Scott was zoomed in on and was in obvious pain and couldnt move. It would also have allowed the marshalls and medical staff to extricate the riders without risking their own safety, and under proper medical supervision. Its like the lessons of Katohs crash have been ignored. Lets not let the loss of a talented and personable young man be in vain.

[ghinzani]

Ok maybe they had it under control... Moto GP explain why no red flag:

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2010/P...Shoya+Tomizawa

[chunder]

Please be a little careful, Katoh's crash was very different here.

[rich07]

I missed the race and after seeing the accident I'm kinda glad I did

RIP Tomizawa

Rumours he was dropped after they put him on the stretcher-any truth to this at all?

[Taprobane]

I was watching it on Eurosport live and it certainly seemed that he was dropped. Though my memory isn't perfect so I can't be 100% sure.

[BootsOntheSide]

A truly tragic crash, robbing the sport of one of its most promising and seemingly likeable riders. However, the response of the organisers was a shambles. It certainly looked like he was dropped - we can only assume this didn't aggravate his injuries further. The explanation given as to why he was moved so hastily seems hollow and false - it looked as if they'd given up on him immedaitely. Under those circumstances, the racing should have been stopped to allow proper respects to be paid.