MotoGP Breaking News: ‘Practice’ makes perfect, Jorge Lorenzo?
The MotoGP World Champion, Jorge Lorenzo, is scheduled to start the second-last race of the season, The Portuguese Grand Prix, at the front of the grid as rain dampened proceedings during the qualifying period.
While it rained at the first-ever Formula One Korean Grand Prix, it seemed that MotoGP didn’t want to be left out. Mother Nature dictated proceedings as heavy rain delayed the event from the start of practice on Saturday.
The amount of standing water on track made it a safety hazard to go around the circuit at full pace. This forced the race organizers to allot grid positions based on ‘practice’ times. This greatly played into the hands of the Fiat
Yamaha rider, Lorenzo, who was adjudged to lead the pack on the grid at the start of the race that followed. It was rather ironic as the ‘biker’ had a moment the same morning when he crashed due to the limited amount of grip and visibility on the offerings.
Nicky Hayden is set to start the race in 2nd place. The Ducati is, importantly, ahead of the Yamaha of Valentino Rossi who occupies the 2nd row.
The second Ducati featuring Casey Stoner shall be 4th on the grid whereas the Tech 3 Yamaha of Ben Spies will be seen 5th.
Marco Melandri will start sixth for Honda Gresini, while the Repsol Honda pair of Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa will line up seventh and 12th respectively.
Randy de Puniet will effectively begin his quest for a win from the eighth position, while Colin Edwards and Marco Simoncelli round off the top 10.
Some might argue that the MotoGP this year is a done deal. However, bearing in mind the fact that fans from all over will be incurring the ticket costs to see their heroes in action, it’s hard to see any of the riders on the grid
give it any less than their hundred percent.
Lorenzo leads the standings comfortably with 165 points. Valentino Rossi has been rather disappointing this term as he finds himself 7th
with 61 points. Few might argue that the Italian’s dip in performance might be down to the fact that he has one eye for a potential racing spot in Formula One. On a realistic note, Valentino, if Michael Schumacher can be given a starting spot for Mercedes
then it won’t be a long shot to give it a go; MotoGP is far less ‘money’ minded than Bernie Ecclestone’s brand of motorsport either way!
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