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Rossi Wins!

Posted by Kenn Stamp
Sunday, 01 July 2007
First let me say that I know that I am a slacker. I know the race was yesterday and you expected an update from me but I have a good excuse; My dog ate my computer. No wait that wasn't the excuse. Here's the real reason: Being a ridercoach sometimes means sacrificing ones own desires for the good of others. As such, I bravely put aside my desire to sit on my couch with my feet up and watch MotoGP and instead I stood out in the hot sun and coached new riders. Instead of seeing Rossi ride like only (at this point) Rossi can, I got to watch 6 newbies deftly (barely) avoid (hit) small cones placed strategically around a parking lot. Instead of watching De Puniet ask Vermeulen, in a rather abrupt way, to let him by, I got to watch one newbie grab the front brake and test whether the ground was as hard as it looked (apparently it was). Oh wait, that happened today, doesn't count. Sorry. Was interesting to watch though. Lucky for me there is email and DVR's. I actually got to watch the race last night around 6pm so it wasn't a total loss. Before I post up the reactions from Rossi and Stoner let me just say that the Assen race was, to me, one of the better races I have seen of late. Watching Stoner just run away during the first quarter of the race really had me thinking that it had to be the bike. Sorry Casey no offense, but the way your Ducati jumped off the line and left everyone behind looked like the bike was putting down more power than the rest of the field. I figured, like everyone else, that the race was going to be another Donnington, albeit drier. Come mid-race though I knew that there might actually be something more interesting happening then who is battling for 15th place. Hayden was putting on quite a show and showing some of the skill level that we know he has. Stoner was still running strong but maybe not as strong and wait, what's this? Rossi making big moves? Rossi passing people at will? Rossi actually riding like Rossi? Now we could see something. Love him or hate him (although I don't know how you could), you can't deny that when "The Doctor" is in the groove it is a thing of beauty to behold. Stoner put up a valiant defense but in the end it was not enough. So far, no one in MotoGP has found a consistent answer to the Rossi question when he brings his "A" game to the track. Last year Hayden ran superb and brought his "A" game to more races than Rossi. This year Stoner is the man to beat. But Saturday showed that when Rossi is swinging for the fences it is best just to hang on and go for a podium finish. Valentino Rossi – 1st 42’37.1497 "This was an incredible race. I think maybe one of the top five of my career! Clearly starting from 11th is quite lucky for us because I've won a few times from that position, including last year at Sachsenring. Last night I didn't sleep so well and I couldn't have imagined that the race could turn out like this, in fact I was really a little bit worried after the qualifying and didn't know what to expect today! Once I got going though I saw that I had a great pace and so I just rode as hard as I could to get past everyone because I knew then that I could come back to Casey. When I finally got there I was quite tired, as were my tyres, plus he was riding very well and it was hard to overtake him, but my M1 worked brilliantly today and in the last few laps I was able to go past and win. I have to say a big thank you to Michelin and to my team, because today our package was brilliant and I was able to ride at the maximum. I'm so happy to win here in Assen, it's a special place for me and this is a great emotion! It was nice to have a special livery here as well, in the past I haven't been so lucky with new liveries but hopefully today has turned that around! Congratulations to Yamaha for 150 wins, I am glad that we could celebrate like this!" *(from Yamaha Racing)* And just so you don't think that I am being silly about Rossi, here is Stoner's take on the race: "We got an awesome start, went out to the front and felt quite comfortable doing similar times to what we were doing in practice, though not quite as fast because the wind was worse today. I was getting pushed around in a few of the fast turns and had a couple of front-end loses, so I wasn't willing to push the bike in the braking points. I saw Valentino catching up, I saw him battling on the TV screens around the track. He was chasing me down pretty hard, he had a faster pace. I tried to up my own pace but once he came past I was at my maximum. I felt great the entire race and I can't complain about the result because we only lost five points in the championship and we've only been off the podium twice this year. I'm really happy with the result, so my thanks to the team, after a bit of a spill this morning I think it's been a good recovery. The bike ran out of fuel on the slowdown lap, just because I'd been sliding and spinning a heck of a lot more during the race than I had through practice, so I think the bike was using a lot more fuel. Overall, I'm happy with the way the season's going. I didn't start the year expecting to be leading the championship at this point, and no matter what happens for the rest of the season we're going to be very happy. I'm proud to be a Ducati man." (From Ducati World Press) So there you have it. I'm sure that I am going to get emails now asking me if I am on Rossi's payroll. I'm not (although I am open to offers), I just call it like I see it. Kenn Stamp

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