Disappointment for Ducati as Valentino Rossi strikes again
Can anyone beat the legend that is Valentino Rossi? The 36 year old former champion is well and truly back on form with a return to Yamaha, proving that he won’t be swapping his racing suit for a flat cap and slippers any time soon! His comeback came yesterday as he won a heart-thumping battle with Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso to come out on top of the podium in Qatar. The two riders battled it out on the last laps and were constantly slipping past each other, the race win changing hands several times as the powerful Ducati GP15 showed its full force. In the end, it was Rossi’s Yamaha YZR-M1 that stormed to a nail-biting victory in what Rossi described as “my best battle ever!” Ducati didn’t go away empty-handed, however: Dovizioso stole a tight second and his team mate Andrea Iannone came third. This leaves Ducati in a strong position for the next race in the U.S. on April 12th, where they’ll be hoping to close the gap and deny Rossi an 84th MotoGP win.
Despite the all-Italian podium, our British riders made it to the top ten in Qatar with Cal Crutchlow coming in a decent 7th for CWM LCR Honda. After overcoming braking problems in practice, Crutchlow came out as the top satellite rider, which he described as “a good start to the season…I don’t think we’ve done a bad job at all, and we come away happy.” He’ll be hoping to get more comfortable on the Honda in the U.S. and he’s got a lot to hope for, coming just over a second behind Dani Pedrosa. Pedrosa has his own drama to face, with an arm pump injury that might cost him his place in the Repsol Honda team. Cal Crutchlow could make the perfect replacement for the upcoming races- he’s certainly one to watch out for!
Bradley Smith achieved 8th place for Monster Yamaha Tech 3, and admitted that he was “slightly disappointed” not to be the top satellite rider. No-one was more disappointed than Repsol Honda, though, as golden boy Marc Marquez lost his way in the first lap, trying to avoid a collision. He just managed to claw his way back up to fifth place and held on to eleven important points. This may have been a stroke of bad luck, and the 22 year old reigning champion will be looking to defend his throne in the U.S. from the older and more experienced Rossi. It looks like we’re in for a battle of champions: Will Valentino Rossi wrestle back his old title or will the young Marquez hold on to his crown? We’ll be holding our breath until April 12th…
Photo courtesy of www.motogp.com
