MotoGP welcomes back Valentino Rossi: Dani Pedrosa wins German GP 2010
Valentino Rossi almost made a fairytale comeback to MotoGP racing as he just missed out on a remarkable podium finish on Sunday in Germany while his compatriot Dani Pedrosa claimed victory in the German GP 2010. A fourth-placed finish for Rossi concluded an amazing comeback weekend for the biker who started his comeback with a fifth position in the qualifying round. Exactly six weeks ago, the Italian maestro had suffered a compound fracture on his right shin in a horrific high side accident at the Italian Grand Prix practice at the Mugello circuit.
Earlier in the race, Danni Pedrosa secured pole position for the MotoGP World Championship at Sachsenring, Germany without any difficulties. However, all eyes were glued on Valentino Rossi, who made his return to the circuit after miraculously recovering within six weeks. Rossi, who broke his leg in practice during the Italian Grand Prix, ended the German GP at fifth spot after the hour-long session on his Fiat Yamaha M1.
Despite his inability to walk without the paddock, the 31-year-old produced one of most inspiring performances in recent years. However, he could not match the pace of title contenders Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo, but the Fiat Yamaha rider was more than a match for the rest of the field. The highlight of his race was a gruelling battle with his old foe Casey Stoner during the closing laps of the race. On the other hand, Repsol Honda rider Pedrosa finally ended the winning streak of his arch-rival Jorge Lorenzo. Pedrosa’s win ends Lorenzo's run of three straight victories and also brings him closer to his Spanish compatriot's overall lead. Lorenzo is leading the charts with a lead of 47 points over the Italian.
Pedrosa started the race confidently as he got the lead in turn one. Rossi dropped from fifth to seventh in the beginning whereas Lorenzo was quickly on his case who made his move at the end of lap two to overtake the rider. There was no change in the top slots except for Rossi who improved his position to the fifth spot before the race was red flagged after a huge accident involving the Honda of Randy de Puniet took place.
Frenchman Randy de Puniet fell during the race which started a cataclysmic series of accidents. His bike was hit by Aleix Espargaro and Alvaro Bautista of Suzuki. With pieces of the three bikes scattered across the track, officials had no option but to stop the race.
Nevertheless, no one was seriously injured. De Puniet was taken to the medical centre for scans which confirmed that the driver had a broken tibia and fibula in his left leg. After the race was resumed, Pedrosa was able to retain the initiative as he took the lead from pole man Lorenzo at the restart. Lorenzo fought back as his Yamaha quickly reclaimed the advantage at the end of the opening tour. Meanwhile, Rossi dropped to sixth place but he showed his typical class to pass Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso to move to the fourth position. There was an interesting battle at the front as Lorenzo was wildly chased by Italian star Dani Pedrosa. The Honda rider finally made his move as he took an ambitious lunge at turn one on lap eight, but failed to make it stick. But, his persistence finally paid off as just after one lap he completed the pass to gain the top spot. Pedrosa retained his lead till the end as he sealed the German GP with Lorenzo forced to settle in for a second place finish. Rossi and Stoner fought it out in the race as well. Rossi had worked his way onto the back wheel of 2007 world champion Casey Stoner. The former rivals enjoyed a brilliant battle during the last nine laps as the Yamaha and Ducati swapped places on several occasions.
Casey Stoner came out to as the winner of the battle as he forced Rossi wide at the final corner to give himself an easy run to the finish line. Hayden and Dovizioso finished the race on fifth and sixth positions respectively while Simoncelli, Ben Spies, Hector Barbera and Marco Melandri completed the top 10. Loris Capirossi and Alex De Angelis were the biggest losers of the day as they finished at the 11th and 12th place respectively.
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