En el año 2001, Dani Pedrosa competía en la categoría de 125cc y disputó dieciseis carreras. No obtuvo ninguna victoria pero estuvo en el podium en dos ocasiones. Consiguió 100 puntos y se clasificó octavo.

En 2002, Pedrosa continuó compitiendo para la categoría de 125cc, disputó también dieciseis carreras y consiguió nueve podiums y tres victorias. Con 243 puntos quedó tercero en la clasificación.

En 2003, Pedrosa en su tercer año en la categoría de 125cc disputó catorce carreras de las cuales cinco fueron victoria, y seis podiums. Con 223 puntos ganó su primer mundial de motociclismo correspondiente a esa categoría.

 En el año 2004, Pedrosa se cambió de categoría. En su primer año con 250cc disputó dieciseis carreras. De esas dieciseis, consiguió la victoria en siete ocasiones, y estuvo en trece podiums. Con 317 puntos se posicionó primero ganando así el mundial de motociclismo de 250cc.

En el año 2005, prosiguiendo en la misma categoría (250cc) el motociclista ganó la mitad de las dieciseis carreras disputadas. Además, estuvo en el podium en once ocasiones más. Consiguió 309 puntos. A pesar de tener menos puntos que el año anterior se proclamó por segundo año consecutivo campeón mundial de motociclismo en la categoría de 250cc.

En 2006, Dani Pedrosa se pasó a la categoría reina, MotoGP. Disputó diecisiete carreras de las cuales obtuvo sólo dos victorias, ocho podiums. En total, sumó 215 puntos clasificándose quinto.

En 2007, en MotoGP disputó quince carreras y obtuvo dos victorias y ocho podiums al igual que el año anterior. Sin embargo, consiguió 27 puntos más y quedó en segundo lugar.

En 2008, en la misma categoría, tan sólo disputó once carreras. Aun así obtuvo al igual que los dos años anteriores dos victorias y ocho podiums. Apenas consiguió 171 puntos y se clasificó tercero.

En 2009, disputó catorce carreras y consiguió la victoria de dos de ellas junto con otros ocho podiums.  Este año, con 234 puntos, Dani Pedrosa se clasificó tercero.

A sus 24 años de edad y con tan sólo 1,58cm de altura, Daniel Pedrosa ha sido ya campeón mundial de motociclismo  en la categoría de 125cc (2003), y dos veces campeón mundial en la categoría de 250cc (2004 y 2005).

Este motociclista, al que muchos yamamos Dani, nació en Sabadell (Barcelona) en 1985. Podríamos definirle como un luchador empedernido. Desde pequeño, su juguete favorito siempre fue una moto y su primera moto de verdad fue una de motocross con la que se pasaba horas y horas en el campo. Por las noches se levantaba con su padre para ver el Gran Premio de Suzuka. Siempre le gustó Doohan hacia quien sentía una gran inclinación. Quizás por cosas del destino, Doohan se cayó en el Campeonato de 1995 dando paso a la victoria de Alberto Puig…

Dani comenzó a hacer las primeras carreras con minibike, fue cuando él realmente aprendió las bases: cómo hacer las salidas, cómo trazar las curvas, el orden, etc. En 1996, se presentó al Campeonato de España  de minimotos y quedó segundo. Poco después, cuando ya tenía decidido dejar el mundo de las motos le llegó su gran oportunidad: la Movistar Activa Cup. Era la última convocatoria. Alberto Puig (actual manager de Dani Pedrosa) era el director deportivo del evento y el que seguía la preparación de los chicos. Dani tenía recién cumplidos trece años y exigían como mínimo catorce. Sin embargo, fue el único de las seis mil solicitudes que enviaron que mandó adjunto un dossier personal de prensa con fotos. Esto llamó inmediatamente la atención de Alberto Puig y lo cogieron igualmente.

Dani no llegaba a tocar el suelo con los pies al subirse a la moto, no sabía meter las marchas ni entendía de velocidad, sin embargo, sabía perfectamente cómo tenía que dibujar las curvas. Estuvo todo el año en el quinto y sexto puesto. Finalmente, en la última y más importante carrera quedó octavo. A los tres primeros, se les haría un equipo para el Campeonato de España 2000 pero Alberto Puig decidió meter a Dani Pedrosa también.

Cosas del destino… Actualmente, Dani Pedrosa compite en la categoría de MotoGP. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ygr21hl9m4

Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix, Sepang
23, 24 & 25 October 2009

Following post will be in english due to the fact that moto gp is an international sport. If you dont care for it then highly recommend that you stop reading right now.                …Well u have continued, so i presume you have some love for the sport. Allthough i must WARN you. This is abit of a read! So we will see how big a fan you really are.

We all know that the season is over, and the testing has begun. I would like to take a “little” moment to recap what I belive to be some of the happenings that have been throughout the season.

Jorge Lorenzo

Last seasons “Rookie of the Year” has improved. Alltho he has the same DNF (did not finish) statistic as last season (4). But this season he didnt have nearly as many practice/qualify/warmup wrecks as the previous one. Last year he could almost see Jorge doing a spectacular High Side at every event.           So good on you Jorge, you have improved, and you have a Runner up title to prove it with.

This year we saw Jorge putting some serious pressure on his opponents. Especially his team”mate” Valentino Rossi. On a personal view I find this a good thing. Even tho I am a Rossi fan, i also cheer for good racing. And Lorenzo has contributed to some(i usually stay away from this word due to the fact that it has been ruined by underage teenagers) awesome racing this year. I probably dont need to remind you about Catalunya??? Jesus Christ man.. That was the highest point of the season in my opinion. Was it the best one in MotoGP history? Yes and No. Yes, it was the best fight ive seen between to so called teammates. No, not the best fight ive seen. I still think the Laguna Seca race last year between Rossi and Stoner was the biggest thriller. But dont get me started. ( I have to add that there was some good fights between Rossi and Biaggi in the 500cc class aswell).          But yes, Lorenzo… You have evolved pretty fenomenal since you started minicross at the age of 3. And I cant wait to see you battle for next years title, which i know you will. Spaniards has one of the best motorcycle sports interest in the world in my opinion. And i envy you!

Another snag was the re-signing of Lorenzos contract. I personally think he handled it really bad, and openly doubted the Fiat Yamaha Team. Rumor has it that Lorenzos ego had trouble racing in the same team with his biggest competator.

Valentino Rossi

Im not gonna go on and on how brilliant Valentino is. I know it, you know it. And ANYONE who says his not is a stupid fool. Just look at his statistics and re-think your stupid comment about him being lucky, or him having a technical advantage all the time or whatever.

You won us the championship once again Valentino. I admit im beginning to become a little spoiled but who cares. I still get tears everytime you celebrate in one of your  fan-including ways.  Some memorable moments for me is when you walked up Cork screw at Laguna Seca and kissed it. Or the 100th victory banner, but the best one i can remember was when you had a fan dress up like an oldschool doctor and took him for a ride on the track. If i remember correctly that cost you 25000 GBP? Anyway, i cant wait for next season, and the next battle you’re going to have. You always deliver. Rumor has it that he is looking to finish his career on an Italian motogp bike. Gee, I wonder which bike that is… But, he didnt say anything about when, and he is contracted throughout the 2010 season.

Fiat Yamaha Team

Without any doubt the best competative bike this season. They won the constructor championship without any trouble. It can be discussed to why. Some say that when you have Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo in your team then its a slam dunk. But the thing is you dumb sh**s, they wouldnt have won if the bike wasent up for it… So without any doubt, the best competative bike. But there is some trouble stirring up. Jorge didnt want to sign at first, and now Valentino has stated that he does NOT want to see Lorenzo on a M1 for the 2011 season. My guess is that he doesnt want one of his main rivals to ride and win on a bike which he, along with the Fiat Yamaha Team has developed. Because, lets face it… The M1 wasnt superior before Rossi changed from Honda to Yamaha. Infact it wasnt superior for after 2007 season. But thanks to Rossi and Jeremy Burgess the M1 is now the elite.

Casey Stoner and a little Nicky

Casey was his regular psycho self by riding that Ducati like only he can. He gave us quite a scare with that…. illness? Ofcourse American doctors diagnosed him with un-curable diseases and deficinsies. Gave him loads of pills to take, but not giving him the best advice anyone with a brain could. REST! No doubt riding a Moto GP bike is hard, add to that the pressure from employers, sponsors and who i think was the biggest pressuring part, himself. Will sometime cause your body to just say no. No, i wont preform. At the beginning I was happy and excited that Stoner was out sick. I dislike the ducati, its power, its sound… okay, i dont, i love it, but i hate the electronics they have based the bike on. That thing is impossible to ride without that traction control. Its stiff, hard to handle, unstable. The only thing keeping people on is that traction control. Imagine Lorenzo on a Ducati… He would have broken every bone in his body. Ofcourse he still would have ridden it, but it would have destroyed him. Like it almost did Marco Melandri… He was lucky that he could ride this season, and the Hayate Racing team has done a great job up to the point where there was no more developing on the bike. (Which was just after the last testing??)     But ye, back to the case(y). After the second absent race i started missing him. He makes magic with that bike, and its a dream to watch. Rumor has it that the 2010 prototype of the Desmosedici is working absolutly great, which means the new traction control is awesome. So we are in for a treat next season aswell.

Im sorry Nicky, you dont get any bold name or a picture. This due to the fact that you havent delivered at all this season. Driving good on a track is one thing, but only driving good on your favourite tracks isnt good enough. (which are 3? 2 of them in the states? Americans…) It just proves to show that it isnt just the bikes fault.

It should be mentioned that the way a contract signing used to be is that you signed for 3 or 4 seasons. Season 1 is used to show that you have promise on the bike, maybe a podium or pole or first row, but thats only a bonus. Its expected to start grabing some podiums in season 2, you have had a season to get comfy with the bike, now its time to perfect it. In season 3 you have to win the championship. Ofcourse this doesnt apply to the sattelite teams, but the factory ones used this template.  But if you show NO promise, which i belive you havent, then you are sacked…

Repsol Honda Team + riders

The Honda has underpreformed ever since Nickys championship year. I think they used the 2009 chassie for 3(?) races. Bad execution, bad planing bad season. Well, you got a third, but thats with Casey out sick and a cold tire at Valencia. Dani didnt exactly get any advantages by falling off and weighing 3 and a half kilo sustaining injuires on his existing injuries. Andrea has kind off preformed as expected.

Say goodbye to:

James Toseland; Sorry mate, you were very promising, but after the nasty fall at Jerez testing, I think you got of to a bad start which kept with you throughout the season. Good luck in Superbike man!

Tony Elias; Finally!! Get out! You underpreform every season, and only show promise at the end. Usually you do dumb mistakes. Crashes, drive ons, cutting the course. Its finally over and i wish you luck in Moto2…

Alex De Angelis; Sorry dude, you have been underpreforming every year except the last half this year. I personally want you to stay and give you 1 more season to see if you could keep up your recent pace. But when you got to go, you got to go.

Gabor Tamaci; As far as i know Scot Racing is not going to compete in the premiere class next year, but rather have a go in Moto2. Bye Gabor, you didnt show us much.

Chris Vermeulen; Bye chris. Im not gonna miss your stupid grid hat. Im sorry mate but you cant win a championship as a “rain-specialist”… Alltho i think you have 1 victory in wet which was ages ago? You can put some blame on Suzuki, theyve delivered crappy Motogp bikes for a while now. But Loris have gotten a few decent standings, and hasent had a heart-attack due to age yet so, you gotta’ goooooooo (not refering to yamaha by writing goooooo)

Canepa; Didnt see you much, so not gonna miss you.

Im not too sad about their exit, because i feel they are replaced with MUCH HOTTER PROSPECTS!!

Say Hello to:

Hiroshi Aoyama; 250cc World Champion, asian, has a name simular to Hiro in Heroes YATTA! Whats not to like???  Gonna ride for Emmi Caffé Latte Team. Which is a sattelite team using the Honda RC212V bike. Ive missed a real asian contender in Motogp for ages. The last japanese prospect was Daijiro, may he rest in peace!! Hiro YATTA will be followed closely next season.

Alvaro Bautista; Another hot prospect, please understand me right. They are all good, but are prospects for motogp entry. He is going to ride for Rizla Suzuki. Good choice, bad choice, I hope for his sake that Suzuki can deliver something that is competative the whole season.

Héctor Barberá; Has always been fast, and i wanted him up to motogp last year. He is going to ride for his current team. Team Aspar are moving up to the premiere class, and are racing customer ducati bikes with modifications ofcourse. Had he been moved up last season like i wanted he wouldnt have sustained that insane crash with Simoncelli.

Marco Simoncelli; Former champion, fast, italian and great hair. He is joining with the San Carlo Gresini Honda Team. Which is a semi factory team with potential for podiums. I think replacing Tony Elias with Marco was a great move for Gresini Honda.

Ben Spies; American… well, he seems extremely smart, and humble. Qualities you dont really find much in most americans. Had a go in Valencia which was over all expectations. He is joining the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha Team, which is the most promising team for success after the big boys in my oppinion.

Next season predictions:

I think we will have an even tighter title fight next year. Casey is on point and hopefully unstressed, Valentino is a God, Lorenzo is insane and Dani is… lightweight? No doubt its gonna be a season depending on good bikes. Bad setup equals bad top 4. Im looking forward to next season, the drama, the overtakes, highsides, tire damage and crashes. But im also hoping and looking forward to the “new bloods” All of the new comers are champions and are Motogp championship material. HOPEFULLY they all will have competative bikes. What a race we would have seen then. 8 people really gunning for it?! My heart cant take it. Not to mention that we also have Mika Kalio AND Ben Spies who are able and ready to give it their all in 2010.

Going to end this one with a Poll, if i can get it to work.

Thanks for reading this according to a dodgy word count 2040+ words long post. And i will continue to post updates of preseason stuff and try to have predicitons and updates before each race day. Hope to see you back.

Marius Dang.

Se acabó lo que se daba: el Mundial de Motociclismo 2009 ha terminado. La verdad es que parece que fue ayer cuando comenzó (y este blog con él), pero ya no veremos más carreras hasta la primavera del año que viene, y eso es mucho tiempo. Afortunadamente, el Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana nos ha dejado un magnífico sabor de boca: triplete de ganadores españoles.

Además, se decidió el último título que aún no tenía dueño: el de 250 c.c., que fue a parar a manos del japonés Hiroshi Aoyama, quien tendría que sufrir de lo lindo para conseguirlo a pesar de tenerlo a priori muy fácil.

Pero hagamos un repaso a las tres carreras:

125 C.C:

Julián Simón, que ya se adjudicó matemáticamente el título de campeón hace dos grandes premios, no ha dejado títere con cabeza, pues después de aquello, ganó también en Malasia y ha vuelto a vencer en su casa, en Valencia.

El piloto de Villacañas (creo que se escribe así), se marcó una gran persecución tras su compañero de equipo Bradley Smith, escapándose ambos del resto de corredores. Sin embargo, lejos de adelantarle, estuvo casi toda la carrera a 1 segundo de distancia, hasta que el inglés cometió un error y Simón aprovechó la ocasión. Después se sucedieron algunos adelantamientos muy entretenidos, pero el español se hizo finalmente con la victoria.

Tras la carrera, Julián Simón aseguró que, de no haber cometido su rival aquel error, era muy probable que no le hubiese podido ganar; un detalle de humildad que le honra. Lo cierto es que Julito ha cerrado una excelente temporada (pese a cometer alguna estupidez), siendo el líder más sólido de las tres categorías.

Julián Simón venía de correr la temporada pasada en la categoría de 250 c.c. con poco éxito, y este año tomó la difícil decisión de volver a 125 c.c. a luchar por el título. Y ahora es suyo. Esto demuestra que dar un paso atrás en la vida no tiene por qué significar una derrota.

Finalmente, la clasificación de 125 c.c. ha quedado así:

1     SIMÓN, Julián: 289 puntos

2     SMITH, Bradley: 223,5 puntos

3     TEROL, Nicolás: 179,5 puntos

4     ESPARGARÓ, Pol: 174,5 puntos

5     GADEA, Sergio: 141 puntos

6     CORTESE, Sandro: 130 puntos

7     IANNONE, Andrea: 125,5 puntos

8     MÁRQUEZ, Marc: 94 puntos

9     OLIVÉ, Joan: 91 puntos

10   BRADL, Stefan: 85 puntos

11    CORSI, Simone: 81 puntos

12   FOLGER, Jonas: 73 puntos

13   AEGERTER, Dominique: 70,5 puntos

14   VÁZQUEZ, Efrén: 54 puntos

15   REDDING, Scott: 50,5 puntos

16   NAKAGAMI, Takaaki: 43 puntos

17   WEBB, Danny: 38,5 puntos

18   RABAT, Esteve: 37 puntos

19   ZANETTI, Lorenzo: 37 puntos

20   ZARCO, Johann: 32,5 puntos

21   KRUMMENACHER, Randy: 32 puntos

22   SALOM, Luis: 21 puntos

23   SCHROTTER, Marcel: 18 puntos

24   KOYAMA, Tomoyoshi: 17 puntos

25   RANSEDER, Michel: 9 puntos

26   SAVADORI, Lorenzo: 7 puntos

27   MORETTI, Riccardo: 3 puntos

28   IWEMA, Jasper: 3 puntos

29   BEAUBIER, Cameron: 3 puntos

30   GLOSSOP, Martin: 2 puntos

31    FRITZ, Marvin: 2 puntos

32   DI CARLO, Gregory: 2 puntos

33   KARTHEININGER, Daniel: 1 punto

—

250 C.C:

En Honda ayer sudaron tinta. Su piloto, Hiroshi Aoyama, sólo necesitaba acabar la última carrera de la temporada siendo undécimo para hacerse con el título. Sin embargo, la situación, a priori tan fácil de resolver, bordeó por momentos el desastre absoluto.

En vez de tomarse la carrera con cierto relax, Aoyama quiso llevarse el campeonato celebrándolo desde el podio -lo cual le honra- pero en el camino, luchando contra pilotos que no tenían nada que perder, estuvo a punto de irse al suelo en una preciosa y larga excursión por la gravilla, que salvó de milagro. Por suerte para él, pudo volver al asfalto ¡el 11º!, a un pelo de regalar el mundial.

La situación fue muy tensa durante algunas vueltas porque su único rival real, Marco Simoncelli, iba en cabeza, y si alguien adelantaba al japonés, el mundial se iba para Italia. Sin embargo, el ritmo de Aoyama era suficientemente fuerte como para que ningún otro piloto pudiera ni soñar adelantarle en esas posiciones, y además, Simoncelli terminó cayéndose, con lo que automáticamente se decidió el campeonato. Al final, el japonés pasó en séptima posición por meta.

Total, que con mucho sufrimiento, pero Honda ha ganado el último Camponato del Mundo de 250 c.c., aunque realmente deberíamos decir que lo ha ganado Hiroshi Aoyama, porque lo ha hecho sin ningún apoyo desde fábrica y con una moto claramente inferior a las Aprilia, y que no evoluciona desde hace siglos, con lo que su título tiene aún más mérito.

Mención especial también para Héctor Barberá, que ha firmado una gran final de temporada, consiguiendo la victoria en Valencia, lo que le ha valido para acabar subcampeón de 250 c.c.

La clasificación final ha terminado de la siguiente manera:

1    AOYAMA, Hiroshi: 261 puntos

2    BARBERÁ, Héctor: 239 puntos

3    SIMONCELLI, Marco: 231 puntos

4    BAUTISTA, Álvaro: 218 puntos

5    PASINI, Mattia: 128 puntos

6    DE ROSA, Raffaele: 122 puntos

7    LUTHI, Thomas: 120 puntos

8    DI MEGLIO, Mike: 107 puntos

9    FAUBEL, Héctor: 105 puntos

10  DEBÓN, Álex: 101 puntos

11   LOCATELLI, Roberto: 85 puntos

12   CLUZEL, Jules: 82 puntos

13   WILAIROT, Ratthapark: 81 puntos

14   ABRAHAM, Karel: 74 puntos

15   PESEK, Lukas: 74 puntos

16   BALDOLINI, Alex: 41 puntos

17   TOMIZAWA, Shoya: 26 puntos

18   TALMACSI, Gabor: 28 puntos

19   AOYAMA, Shuhei: 27 puntos

20  ESPARGARÓ, Aleix: 22 puntos

21   DEBISE, Valentin: 18 puntos

22  TOTH, Imre: 12 puntos

23  NEMETH, Balazs: 11 puntos

24  LEONOV, Vladimir: 9 puntos

25  CHESAUX, Bastien: 3 puntos

26  PONS, Axel: 3 puntos

27  MARKHAM, Toby: 2 puntos

28  WATANABE, Kazuki: 2 puntos

29  BONSEY, Stevie: 1 punto

—

MotoGP:

Y en la categoría reina se vieron mucho detalles interesantes y mucho pilotos intentando demostrar cosas.

En primer lugar tenemos a Pedrosa, que ganó la carrera y de paso, el tercer puesto en la clasificación general, lo cual le dará ánimos para la siguiente temporada. Ha hecho un buen final de año, pero que no se alegre demasiado, que aún tienen que mejorar bastante para llegar al nivel de Yamaha.

En segundo lugar, tenemos a Rossi y Lorenzo, que entraron por este orden por meta. Lorenzo intentó acercarse lo suficiente como para adelantar a Valentino hacia el final de carrera, pero no fue posible. Il dottore sigue estando un paso por delante de todos. Ya veremos el año que viene.

Casey Stoner también intentaba reafirmarse con otra victoria, después de hacer segundo y primero en los dos últimos grandes premios. El australiano pretendía demostrar que, de no haberse perdido tres carreras por enfermedad en esta temporada, otro gallo les hubiera cantado a Rossi, Lorenzo y Pedrosa. Y es verdad. Sin embargo, cometió un error estúpido el domingo, y tras conseguir la pole, se cayó de la moto en la vuelta de calentamiento, lo que le impidió tomar la salida. Finalmente ha quedado cuarto en la clasificación.

Más atrás hemos visto cómo Toni Elías se despedía de Moto GP con un sexto puesto, que le coloca a la postre en séptima posición en el mundial, que no está nada mal. Lástima que no obtuviera mejores resultados un poco antes. Le echaremos de menos en la categoría reina, aunque le seguiremos viendo en Moto2.

Colin Edwards, el tejano en el que nadie se fija, pero que siempre está ahí, acabó cuarto en Valencia y ha conseguido una meritoria quinta posición en la clasificación final del campeonato; un premio a la constancia. Y Nicky Hayden, que parece que ha conseguido llevarse mejor con la Ducati a final de temporada, acabó quinto en Valencia.

Otro hombre que captó la atención del público fue Ben Spies, flamante campeón del Mundial de Superbikes, que vino a probar sobre una Yamaha satélite lo que era correr en Moto GP, pues el año que viene estará en la parrilla. Y no lo hizo mal: 7º, por delante de la otra Honda oficial de Dovizioso y muy por encima del poco afortunado James Toseland (12º), que también fue campeón de Superbikes. Eso sí, Spies estuvo lejos de igualar la humillación a la que sometió hace dos años Troy Bayliss a todos los pilotos de MotoGP, ganado la última carrera de la temporada de un modo aplastante (aunque iba sobre una Ducati oficial, todo hay que decirlo…).

En fin, qué penita, esto se ha acabado. Así ha quedado la tabla de puntos para la reflexión:

1    ROSSI, Valentino: 306 puntos

2    LORENZO, Jorge: 261 puntos

3    PEDROSA, Dani: 234 puntos

4    STONER, Casey: 220 puntos

5    EDWARDS, Colin: 161 puntos

6    DOVIZIOSO, Andrea: 160 puntos

7    ELÍAS, Toni: 115 puntos

8    DE ANGELIS, Alex: 111 puntos

9    CAPIROSSI, Loris: 110 puntos

10  MELANDRI, Marco: 108 puntos

11   DE PUNIET, Randy: 106 puntos

12   VERMEULEN, Chris: 106 puntos

13   HAYDEN, Nicky: 104 puntos

14   TOSELAND, James: 92 puntos

15   KALLIO, Mika: 71 puntos

16   CANEPA, Niccolo: 38 puntos

17   TALMACSI, Gabor: 19 puntos

18   ESPARGARÓ, Aleix: 16 puntos

19   GIBERNAU, Sete: 12 puntos

20   SPIES, Ben: 9 puntos

21   TAKAHASHI, Yuki: 9 puntos

—

Y colorín, colorado… el campeonato ha terminado. Pronto colgaré un post repasando lo que ha sido esta temporada 2009 bajo mi perspectiva personal, y hablaré de Moto2, y de todo lo que podemos esperar de esta nueva categoría el año que viene.

Hasta entonces, os dejo un par de imágenes que a mí me parecen muy interesantes. Son de una gala de entrega de premios de la FIM (Federación Internacional de Motociclismo) que hubo ayer por la tarde, donde se galardonó a los pilotos más destacados de la temporada. A mí me parecen muy bonitas.

Al fin y al cabo, ellos nos han entretenido (a los que seguimos apasionadamente este deporte) durante muchas horas en este año, y es curioso verles vestidos “de calle”, sin decenas de logotipos rodeando sus cuerpos.

Hasta pronto.

Cursa desfasurata astazi la Sepang in Malaezia a fost dominata in intregime de Casey Stoner, a doua victorie succesiva pentru australian de la revenirea sa in campionat, insa locul trei obtinut de Valentino Rossi i-a adus starului italian cel de-al noualea titlu mondial din impresionanta sa cariera.

Pilotii au luat startul cu o intarziere de jumatate de ora din cauza ploii torentiale ce a facut pista impracticabila, Stoner plecand cel mai bine si distantandu-se la patru secunde de urmaritorul sau Dani Pedrosa dupa numai doua tururi de circuit.

Desi a beneficiat de un pole position pe deplin meritat, Rossi a ratat complet startul trezindu-se al zecelea dupa primul viraj al competitiei, italianul trebuind sa forteze pana la final pentru a ajunge plutonul fruntas.

Stoner a terminat cursa la peste 14 secunde in fata lui Pedrosa, cazatura ghinionista a celui ce parea sa obtina locul trei (Andrea Dovizioso) permitand lui Valentino Rossi sa-si adjudece cel de-al saptelea titlu mondial la clasa regina.

Dupa ce a fost nevoit sa plece de pe ultima pozitie a grilei de start, Jorge Lorenzo a recuperat spectaculos pentru a termina al patrulea, urmat fiind de Nicky Hayden care nu a reusit in actualul sezon competitonal sa se claseze mai sus de locul cinci.

Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki), Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing), Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) si Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) au completat topul primilor zece piloti de la Sepang.

Randy de Puniet a cazut destul de tare in prima parte a cursei insa nu s-a accidentat, in timp ce Colin Edwards si James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) au dezamagit prin locurile 13 si 15 obtinute.

Campionatul Mondial MotoGP 2009 mai are o singura etapa ramasa de disputat, luna viitoare in Spania la Valencia.

SURSA: motoflash

The penultimate race of the season brought the Italian Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 3rd in the Sepang race after Casey Stoner (Ducati) and Dani Pedrosa (Honda). A  good enough position for the living legend of motorcycling to win a world title again.

At Sepang, Rossi was a sensation. The 30-year-old Italian has won his ninth title, holding the record with seven world titles at the queen class, captured in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009, one in 250 cc in 1999 and another at 125 cc in 1997.

Valentino’s debut at the World Championship Racing Speed was in 1996 and managed to get 103 wins, 77 of them obtained the highest grade, 162 podiums and 58 departures from pole position. An impressive business card.

Valentino Rossi wrapped up the 2009 MotoGP world championship – his seventh MotoGP and ninth world title – on schedule at Sepang, but it was about the only thing that did go to plan on Sunday afternoon.

After hot, humid but dry conditions up to race day, a sudden tropical downpour 20 minutes before the planned start of the race, just after the 125cc and 250cc support races had concluded, completely flooded the circuit and forced a forty minute delay to proceedings as everyone took shelter. The race would be a very wet one, but at least the torrential downpours had stopped by the time the riders had to make it out of their pit stalls.

Then, as the drivers emerged on the formation lap to take up their grid positions, there was more drama – Jorge Lorenzo was having some sort of technical problem that had the mechanics feaverishly working on the machine. But they failed to get the situation resolved before the pit lane was closed, and he had to switch to the back-up bike: Lorenzo had lost his opportunity to take up his second place slot. He would have to start from the pit lane, and surely that was the end of his title bid for the year.

All Rossi had to do was not make any mistakes, and he leapt away at the start of the race leaving the rest of the field dead, save for Loris Capirossi. Loris was starting from the second row of the grid but benefitted from the empty grid spot in front of him where Lorenzo should have been, although that advantage was quickly played out and he soon started falling back through the running order as the race wore on.

But being first into the first corner of the first run in wet conditions has its disadvantages, as Rossi found out: the traction he’d anticipated simply wasn’t there and he was forced to tiptoe through a very wide line to make it round, and while he did that the rest of the field were streaming past on the inside. He emerged from turn 2 in eighth place; and to his shock, Jorge Lorenzo was right behind him despite starting from the pit lane in last place.

The pressure was still on Lorenzo, of course, who had to go all-out for the win while Rossi had a comfortable margin and didn’t need to gamble. So when Lorenzo passed him, Rossi didn’t put up much of a fight, but instead opted to slot in behind him and shadow him for much of the race: simply finishing right behind Lorenzo would give him the points advantage needed to wrap up the title here rather than at Valencia in a fortnight. So when Lorenzo eventually overtook Marco Melandri for 7th after several attempts, Rossi followed him through a few corners later. Again when the Yamaha duo saw off Loris Capirossi, Nicky Hayden (a particularly hard target) and Tony Elias: Rossi was right behind him, just sitting back and watching. And waiting.

FInally, the racing computer that is Rossi’s brain had absorbed all the data on the race conditions, processed, analysed and programmed them into memory, and suddenly Rossi switched levels and sailed past Lorenzo for 4th place on lap 8, although he had a scary bobble a few corners later than must have had his heart in his mouth and Lorenzo momentarily believing that perhaps not all was lost after all. But Rossi controlled the bike and eventually he dropped Lorenzo completely as he set about hunting down the leaders. Lorenzo appeared spent, the tyres maybe cooked by all the work he’d asked of them in the opening laps, and he had nothing left. Through the clear visor, the TV cameras picked up a disappointed but resigned face.

Up front, Casey Stoner had once again been absolutely peerless and in a different world for much of the race, the wet conditions not so much affecting him as energising him to new heights. He was between one and two seconds a lap faster than second-placed Dani Pedrosa, who never likes the rain all that much and who was 17s behind Stoner at one point in the race – an astonishing and almost unprecedented lead in MotoGP.

Dani’s discomfort was underlined by his Honda team mate Andrea Dovizioso who was cutting the distance between 2nd and 3rd place runners with every lap – until lap 14, when suddenly Dovizioso’s bike simply folded under him into turn 5 leaving both man and machine to slide into the grass. The only other retiree of the day had been Randy de Puniet on the second lap, the LCR Honda snapping into a vicious high side that launched de Puniet into the air and returning him to earth with crunching force that fortunately left no lasting injuries.

The Tech 3 Yamahas were struggling here – something clearly wrong with James Toseland’s machine to put him 5s a lap off the lead pace for much of the race, but his team mate Colin Edwards faring little better to struggle to finish ahead of Gabor Talmacsi in 13th. But it was a good day for Chris Vermeulen, who hates being called a “rainmeister” but who nonetheless seems to shine everytime the rain comes down and who finished in a strong 6th place.

Dovizioso’s crash meant that Rossi finished in third place and was able to celebrate his title from the podium after all. Before that, he savoured the moment by stopping out on the track to celebrate with fans, don a “Rossi world champion” T-shirt – and, bizarrely, pose with a chicken that has been wrapped up in a similar T-shirt. The fun and spontaneity of the FOM premier title contrasts with the poe-faced solemnity of the FIA F1 series where any expression of joy (such as, God forbid, donuts) is frowned upon and subject to harsh penalty.

Lorenzo was among the first to congratulate Rossi on the warm-down lap, and a helmet means you can hide the gritted teeth and forced smile rather better. There’s no doubt that Rossi deserved the title this year – he was more consistent, less accident prone, and more able to keep his head and calculate the right strategy where Lorenzo would simply charge in and take the consequences. But Lorenzo has made a quantum leap in 2009 compared with the very scrappy 2008, and certainly shows the skill and speed to win races and MotoGP titles. So at the back of Rossi’s mind must be the thought: if Lorenzo makes similar strides between this season and next, and Casey Stoner is now over his mystery illness once and for all, will this seventh title be the last that Rossi will be able to claim? Is the torch about to be handed to a new era and generation of riders? Are these victory celebrations also a requiem for the passing of the hugely successful era of the beloved “Greatest Of All Time”?

These thoughts are for another day. Today there are the celebrations and the moment of triumph. 2010 is months away – even if the build-up and planning starts tomorrow.

Race result

Pos  Rider            Bike                Time/Gap
 1.  Casey Stoner     Ducati            47m24.834s
 2.  Dani Pedrosa     Honda              + 14.666s
 3.  Valentino Rossi  Yamaha             + 19.385s
 4.  Jorge Lorenzo    Yamaha             + 25.850s
 5.  Nicky Hayden     Ducati             + 38.705s
 6.  Chris Vermeulen  Suzuki             + 41.061s
 7.  Toni Elias       Gresini Honda      + 48.555s
 8.  Marco Melandri   Hayate Kawasaki    + 55.557s
 9.  Loris Capirossi  Suzuki           + 1m00.303s
10.  Mika Kallio      Pramac Ducati    + 1m00.440s
11.  Aleix Espargaro  Pramac Ducati    + 1m01.655s
12.  Alex de Angelis  Gresini Honda    + 1m01.847s
13.  Colin Edwards    Tech 3 Yamaha    + 1m10.778s
14.  Gabor Talmacsi   Scot Honda       + 1m15.851s
15.  James Toseland   Tech 3 Yamaha    + 1m50.672s

Retirements:

     Andrea Dovizioso Honda            14 laps
     Randy de Puniet  LCR Honda        1 lap

MotoGP world championship standings after round 16

While Rossi scored only 3pts more than Lorenzo this weekend, that puts him 41pts ahead in the championship with only a maximum of 25pts left at the final remaining race at Valencia. The title is therefore decided.

Lorenzo should be safe as the runner-up from Casey Stoner, who seems to have a pretty safe lock on 3rd place from Dani Pedrosa, accicents notwithstanding. It’s sobering to see Stoner’s points tally considering this was done in three races less than anyone else; if he’d ridden in those three races and achieved nothing more than an average of third place then he would be easily ahead of Lorenzo and the championship would be coming down to the wire at Valencia instead.

Roll on the 2010 season and a three-way battle for the championship. Maybe even four-way if Dabi Pedrosa can just find someway to make that last breakthrough on pace and get himself out of the “best of the rest” leagues.

Pos Driver           Points
1   Valentino Rossi     286
2   Jorge Lorenzo       245
3   Casey Stoner        220
4   Daniel Pedrosa      209
5   Andrea Dovizioso    152
6   Colin Edwards       148
7   Marco Melandri      108
8   Loris Capirossi     108
9   Alex de Angelis     105
10  Toni Elias          105
11  Chris Vermeulen     105
12  Randy de Puniet     101
13  Nicky Hayden         93
14  James Toseland       88
15  Mika Kallio          64
16  Niccolo Canepa       38
17  Gabor Talmacsi       19
18  Aleix Espargaro      13
19  Sete Gibernau        12
20  Yuki Takahashi        9

Pos Constructor Points
1   Yamaha      366
2   Honda       272
3   Ducati      261
4   Suzuki      131
5   Kawasaki    108