Moto GP 2008 Round 5 Race Preview.

Well we are late in posting our race review from Sundays action but we though we’d make a few post-race comments. It was an amazing race full of action, drama and some absolutely sensational riding. The French weather loomed and caused all sorts of tension and uncertainty. Would it rain would it hold off. The race was declared a ‘dry race’ however, it did drizzle slightly.

Casey Stoner got a blinding start and led for the first section of the race. He was hauled in by a hard charging Rossi and was later overtaken by Pedrosa. Meanwhile Rossi was creating a gap at the front while Jorge Lorenzo was making his way up the field after a bad start.

Casey Stoner seemed to regain some composure after looking uncomfortable for a spell but that was to come to nothing as his machine seemed to expire at the end of the main straight. Stoner had to push his Ducati to get back to the pits where a spare bike with ‘wets’ had been prepared for him. Hoping for a miracle (rain), he rejoined the race two laps down. Meanwhile Rossi was in vintage form at the front while Lorenzo had amazingly moved up to second with Colin Edwards third and Pedrosa dropping off to fourth. And that would be how they crossed the finish line with Chris Vermeulin in fifth.

It was a welcome victory for ‘The Doctor’ who equalled Angel Nieto’s total of 90 Grand Prix wins. Rossi collected Nieto on the warm down lap and let the legend ride his M1 Yamaha with Valentino as passenger holding a flag that read ‘90+90′. Only Giacomo Agostini has more wins than Rossi but with 32 more to get the record it remains to be seen if even the great Vale will be able to reach the milestone.

Special mention goes to “Iron Man”, Jorge Lorenzo! What an amazing ride to come from 10th place at the start of the race to second and was actually pulling time on Rossi. Simply amazing considering the guy can hardly walk! We here at Gadget Freaks firmly believe that if he can keep himself out of trouble he will be in line for a real upset this year. We’ll have to check the record books to see when the last time a rookie won the premier class.

So a great weekend for Yamaha getting a clean sweep of the podium. Ducati, however had a weekend to forget. With Casey Stoner’s (16th) machine failure and Marco Melandri (15th) at odds again with his machinery there will be some serious searching as the Italian Grand Prix in Mugello is next and they will be certainly be hoping for a taste of the Moet on home soil.

Championship Postions After 5 Rounds.

1- Valentino Rossi Yamaha  97

2- Jorge Lorenzo    Yamaha  94

3- Dani Pedrosa     Honda    94

4- Casey Stoner     Ducati    56

5- Colin Edwards   Yamaha  47

Next Race; Italian Grand Prix Mugello Italy June 1, 2008