Rossi Puts his Team-mate in his Place

Valentino Rossi reasserted himself at the top of the leader board by convincingly beating his younger team-mate, Jorge Lorenzo, by 2.4 seconds during the San Marino MotoGP at Misano after besting him in every practice and qualifying session. Lorenzo finished second to trail Rossi by 30 points in the championship whilst Dani Pedrosa took the final spot on the podium. It was a mixed day for Ducati fans with newly re-signed Nicky Hayden knocked off on the first corner of the first lap whilst Mika Kallio finished a creditable 7th.

At his home circuit the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) sported a ‘The Donkey’ helmet making fun of his rare mistake last weekend at Indianapolis. Pedrosa bolted from the start and took some passing but as soon as Rossi began to pull away at the front, Lorenzo was past too and the two of them quickly dropped the Repsol Honda man. Elias, racing like he needed a job, stayed up the front for the first few laps but went slowly backwards as first Andrea Dovizioso and then a fast riding Loris Capirossi on the Suzuki went by.


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After taking 2nd fastest in the rain during yesterday’s first practice session, Ducati’s Nicky Hayden dropped back in the field to log the 7th fastest time this morning during the second session and ahead of this afternoon’s qualifying. Dani Pedrosa had no such problems switching from wet to dry conditions and remains at the top, the only rider into the 1′40″ range.


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