German Moto GP - Rossi marks a comeback with a 4th place finish, as Pedrosa cuts Lorenzo's lead to finish first
It was a weekend when the king of the track made a return to the circuit and raced his heart out but perhaps the 6 weeks out in the wilderness had taken its toll on the uncrowned king of Moto GP king Valentino Rossi.
Rossi finished fourth in the race at Sachsenring, where Jorge Lorenzo saw his three race winning streak end at the hands of impressive Dani Pedrosa in the German Moto GP.
It was an action packed night in Germany where the race had to be halted and curtailed to just 21 laps after three riders, Randy de Puniet, Alvaro Bautista and Alex Aspergaro crashed on the 9th lap.
The front two of Lorenzo and Pedrosa were well clear of the drama and as the events unfolded the drama was between two old adversaries Stoner and Rossi, as they battled for a third place finish.
Although ‘Rossifumi’ lost the battle but the events last night were a treat to watch and even more so when you consider that this was Rossi’s first race since over 6 weeks.
Despite the phenomenal performance by the Spanish Pedrosa, all the headlines are about ‘the Doctor’ whose fourth place finish was the icing on an amazing comeback week. Rossi was impressive in the qualifying, as he secured the fifth position on the grid, six weeks after suffering a horrendous crash at Mugello in the Italian Moto GP suffering a compound fracture on his right shin.
Rossi, who was only able to walk with the aid of crutches, was not quite the match for the pace setters in this race, Pedrosa and Lorenzo but the Fiat Yamaha rider still proved to be more than a match for the rest of the pack.
The win for Repsol Honda’s rider saw him close his compatriot’s lead at the top of championship standings to 47 points.
Pedrosa came flying off the green lights getting into the lead at the first turn while Rossi dropped to seventh place but Lorenzo got back at the front on lap 2 overtaking Pedrosa.
Things remained the same at the front as Rossi moved back to the fifth place before the race had to be stopped after a huge crash involving Randy De Punite’s Honda.
The Frenchman lost his control as he fell off his bike, and was hit by the Suzuki of Bautista and Alex Espargaro. With pieces of the bikes scattered across the crash site the race had to be stopped.
Du Puniet had to be rushed to the medical centre, where he was diagnosed with a broken fibula and tibia in his left leg and it could be months rather than weeks before he makes his comeback.
When the race restarted, Pedrosa got in front again but the Yamaha rider reclaimed the advantage near the end of the opening tour.
Rossi meanwhile had again fallen off the pace but recovered to pass Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden to move to fourth.
At the front, Lorenzo was struggling to shake off the challenge from Pedrosa and the Honda rider went for an ambitious lunge at the turn one on the 8th lap, but could not make it stick.
Just one lap later, his persistence paid off as he made the pass and held on to his position for the rest of the race.
Rossi, who was by now stepping on the tail of Stoner, was entangled in an intriguing battle for the third spot, with his old foe and the two enjoyed a scintillating battle during the final 9 laps of a crash curtailed race with the Ducati and Yamaha exchanging positions several times.
The duel was eventually settled when Rossi was forced wide at the final corner by Stoner to give himself an easy run to the finishing line.
Nicky Hayden and finished fifth and Dovizioso was sixth, while Simoncelli, Ben Spies, Hector Barbera and Marco Melandri rounded the top 10.
Loris Capirossi and Alex De Angelis were the last men across the line to finish 11th and 12th.
1. Dani Pedrosa, Honda, 28mins 50.476secs
2. Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, 28:53.831
3. Casey Stoner, Ducati, 28:55.733
4. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, 28:56.099
5. Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, 29:07.634
6. Marco Simoncelli, Honda, 29:08.233
7. Nicky Hayden, Ducati, 29:08.411
8. Ben Spie, Yamaha, 29:11.433
9.Hector Barbera, Ducati, 29:12.476
10. Marco Melandri, Honda, 29:25.693
11. Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, 29:35.518
12. Alex De Angles, Honda, 29:35.680
Tags: