:MotoGP LiveBlog: Round 7, Catalunya

 

  MotoGP arrives at Catalunya today, for the seventh round of MotoGP, and the second of fourth in Spain.  Jorge Lorenzo qualified on pole yet again, with Casey Stoner and Randy De Puniet sharing the front row.  The second row is Dani Pedrossa, Ben Spies, and Dovizioso.  Suzuki managed to get both bikes into the top ten, in 6th and 9th!  Nicky Hayden struggled into 11th.  Wataru Yoshikawa, Rossi’s replacement, qualfied dead last, even behind the other test/replacement riders!  So Fiat Yamaha got the first and last spot, a trend they’ve seen throughout the weekend. 

  It looks like it will be another Lorenzo domination, but Stoner is in second, if he gets off to a good start, it might be more interesting.  Of course, despite the domination, the races have been pretty good between 2nd and 5th, so there should be something good to look forward to.  Ben Spies continues to be impressive, as is De Puniet.  De Puniet needs to finish the races better, he seems to use up his tires and struggles to finish.  Still, of the “privateer/satellite” teams, De Puniet and Spies are by far the best, and if a non factory team is going to get a win, it will be from these two.

  During today’s warmup, Pedrossa and Stoner beat Lorenzo, which has to bring some hope.  Yoshikawa still brings up the rear in his Fiat Yamaha, and Spies struggled for speed.

Lap 1: And We’re Green!!!

Lap 1:  Pedrossa drove very wide and fell back.

Lap 1: Lorenzo in the lead, followed by Stoner.

Lap 2: Stoner and Dovizioso putting up a lot better fight than they have in recent weeks to Lorenzo, they’re not letting him pull ahead.

Lap 2: Dovizioso passes Stoner, because Dovzioso isn’t considered an “alien” the announcers feel this behnifits Lorenzo.  I’d say if he can pass Stoner, he can pass Lorenzo.

Lap 3: Pedrossa up to 5th, trying to get around De Puniet.

Lap 4: Dovizioso makse the pass on Lorenzo!!!!!

Lap 5:   Top 3 very close, with Pedrossa desparately to catch up.  

Lap 5: Lorenzo makes a very aggressive pass on Dovizioso to regain teh lead.

Lap 6:  Stoner runs wide, falls to fifth.

Lap???: We’ve just gone to comercial.  Today’s race is so far shaping up to have the best battle up front since Le Mans.  Not a good day for Hayden.  Dani Pedrossa really messed up the start, and is having a hard time getting past De Puniet.  It’s especially interesting as his teammate is challenging for the lead.

Lap 8:  Stoner 5th, hasn’t made up any spots.

Lap 8:  According to the broadcast booth, the two test riders are battling for last.  Kinda sad to see a Fiat Yamaha that far back…

Lap 9:  Stoner drafts passed De Puniet.  Dovizioso is keeping up with Lorenzo.

Lap 9:  Dovizioso isn’t considered a great rider by most MotoGP analysts, but he’s been pretty good this year.  More consistant than Pedrossa.

Lap 10:  Booth seems to think Lorenzo has this thing won, Dovizioso is right behind Lorenzo still, not qutie able to make a pass.

Lap???:  On comerical.  One thing I’ve noticed, booth guys seem really hard on Dovizioso.  It seems like they don’t expect a lot out of him because he doesn’t have “alien” status, like Stoner, Lorenzo, and Pedrossa.  But really, Pedrossa’s messes up and falls back in the pack all the time.

Lap 12:  Back to coverage, Dovizioso is still able to stay up with Lorenzo.

Lap 13:  Not a great race by Spies or Hayden.

Lap 13:  Stoner and Pedrossa batteling for 3rd.

Lap 14:  Stoner’s not been able to get around Pedrossa.  He get’s right up to him, but can’t get around.

Lap 15:  Marco Simonchelli is out, crashed.  It IS our bussiness, suprisingly.

Lap 16: That’s a referance to Pressdog, by the way.

Lap ???: Comerical break.

Lap???:  I can’t say I like  the Catalunya track much.  It’s not a good track at all for F1.  The MotoGP is definitly more exciting, but the tracks just not that interesting.  Kinda like a prototype Tilke track, alhtough it’s older than the Tilke tracks, I think.

Lap 17:  Dovizioso wrecks, Lorenzo wins bring airstrike.

Lap 18:  Suzuki’s both battling for 5th!  They’ve been pretty good this round.

Lap 19:  Lorenzo’s tires are very warn, but no one can do anything about it because A. their tires are warn, and B. they’re too far back.

Lap 20:  Pedrossa and Stoner having a good battle for second, Stoner’s still unable to pass.

Lap 20:  Dovizioso’s wreck really ruined what could have been a great race.

Lap???: Final comercial break.

Lap 22:  Ben Spies rebounding, passes Caparossi for 6th, going to try and get into 5th, after a very poor start.  No, I don’t want Suzuki to get a big boost, I want Spies to rebound back to the top 5.

Lap 23: The only thing Lorenzo has to worry about is crashing.  Ask Stoner about that.

Lap 23:  Stoner’s so close to Pedrossa, but he’s not able to get by him.

Final Lap:  This would have been a lot better of race if Dovizioso, Stoner, and Pedrossa hadn’t all made errors that caused them to lost posistions.

Final Lap:  Stoner will not be making the pass

Final Lap:  Lorenzo wins.

Final Lap:  What could have been a great race was ruined because Dovizioso wrecked, Pedrossa slid wide, and so did Stoner.  Kind of sad to see all THREE of them make an error, it shows how hard they were pushing to keep up with Lorenzo.  Spies rebounded nicely into 6th, after a poor start, and the Suzuki’s managed a 5th and 7th.  Hayden got 8th with a last straight pass.

Finishing Order:  Lorenzo, Pedrossa, Stoner, De Puniet, Bautista, Spies, Capirossi, Hayden, Melandri, Barbera, Edwards, Kallio, Akiyoshi, Dovizioso, missed the last few spots on TV, and can’t find the rest… 

  A good race, potentially great, ruined by the three riders who were challanging Lorenzo making rider errors.  It’s good to know that other riders CAN stay with Lorenzo, but they’re pushing very hard to keep up, hence the errors.  Rossi’s replacement, not so good.  Sad to see a Yamaha that far off.  Next up for today is the Indycar Watkins Glen race, for me.  Thanks for reading, that’s all.

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