Rossi edges Lorenzo for win

From motogp.com

Valentino Rossi was never under any illusions that he would have it easy in his defense of the MotoGP world title, and once again the Italian was made to fight for glory at the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland.

The Fiat Yamaha rider took the win at Sachsenring on Sunday by the smallest of margins from persistent rival Jorge Lorenzo in a breathtaking race to extend his lead in the World Championship.

After starting from pole for the first time at the German track, Rossi took the lead of the race after 13 laps. Both the Italian and teammate Lorenzo eked out an advantage to make it a two-way battle to the chequered flag, with a last lap battle reminiscent of the Barcelona round of the series one month ago.

Rossi’s definitive pass had come at the end of the home straight with two laps to go, and he brushed off the young pretender’s overtures for his fourth win of the 2009 season.

“It was fun, but very tough,” admitted the reigning World Champion after the race. “The top riders made different tire choices, all the bikes were behaving differently.”

Starting from pole position from the first time at Sachsenring, Rossi was unable to take the holeshot and spent the early stages exchanging blows with Stoner. Passing the gutsy Australian was only the beginning of his problems, however.

“Halfway through the race I was able to overtake Casey, but then I saw that Jorge passed him straight away and I thought ‘oh no, another time,’" Rossi explained. "It’s always more difficult to fight with Jorge. I tried to push a lot, but he was able to overtake. I made my attack and knew that here it is very difficult to overtake, so I tried to stay in front. On the last lap I was fastest in the crucial points.”

Rossi’s victory gives him a 14-point advantage over Lorenzo in the standings, and also draws him level on career podiums with record holder Giacomo Agostini.

Another second place for Lorenzo kept the Spaniard in the title hunt in his second premier class season, although he had to stay positive having missed out by just 0.099 secs. to Rossi.

Afterwards Lorenzo stated, “Like at Montmeló we lost the battle, but it’s not a problem. I think we have to be happy because we are always towards the top and we are improving. It was a very hard race because this track is quite slow and you have to push your body to the maximum, so to keep with the pace of Valentino was difficult. It was hard to get past him because he was braking so hard and so late.

“Of course I’m disappointed to lose another very close race, it is always sad but I know that we are capable of fighting with Valentino and considering his experience this is something I must be proud of. Second is important today and we still have a long way to go in this championship.”

Starting from eighth on the grid, Dani Pedrosa had established his credentials in the dry with the best lap in the morning warmup. He had another storming start at Sachsenring to move up to the lead group, and put up a bold fight both amongst and behind the Yamaha duo. The Repsol Honda rider completed the podium with a race time under three seconds down on the top two.

The Spaniard made one of the flying starts that have become his trademark with the Repsol Honda RC212V. He was unable to take off out in front as he had done before crashing in 2008, but says that a race win was still a possibility.

“A podium is good, but I think that we could have won. We were strong enough to win, but I had a front tire problem when I was going fast,” said the Spaniard on the same difficulty that forced Andrea Dovizioso out of the race.

“My teammate seemed to have a big problem with it, so I’m happy to have got on the podium, but anyway I thought that today we could have been faster.”

Pedrosa raced with a new Honda engine this weekend as the Japanese factory look to beef up their 2009 machine, and Sunday saw his most extensive run yet with the new motor. Reviewing his feeling with the latest novelty, he added that “we have some experience now for the next round with the new spec.”

Early leader Casey Stoner’s condition lasted longer than he had expected in the dry race, and he was able to mount a serious challenge for the win. With five laps to go, however, he was passed by Pedrosa going into the first turn, and one lap later a sit-up meant that he lost touch with the Spaniard.

Alex de Angelis and Toni Elías had a successful salvage operation for the San Carlo Honda Gresini team, placing fifth and sixth, respectively. Elías was particularly impressive, having started from last place.

The only retirees from the race were Randy de Puniet, who crashed on the opening lap, and Andrea Dovizioso. The latter fell victim to excessive front tire wear and was forced to call it a day before the end of the 30-lap Grand Prix.

Marco Simoncelli kept his title challenge alive with a win in the 250cc Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, his second victory of his World Championship defense.

As in 2008, the Metis Gilera rider broke free from the pack in the early going. This time, however, he had Álex Debón along for the ride. Simoncelli couldn’t shake the Spanish veteran despite his best attempts, although he had enough breathing space to prevent any overtaking moves.

Debón held on to second place, his first rostrum of the 2009 season, while behind him a fierce battle developed for the final podium spot. Álvaro Bautista took the trailing group up to his countryman on the final lap, but was unsuccessful in making a move on Debón despite putting in a circuit record lap. He did, however, get past title rival and series leader Hiroshi Aoyama to cut the gap in the standings to 10 points.

Julián Simón extended his lead at the head of the 125cc World Championship classification with a runaway win in the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland. The Bancaja Aspar rider had been the standout rider in every wet practice session for the German date, but proved equally adept in the dry on race day for a second triumph of 2009.

MotoGP Race Results
1. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 41:21.769 (159.752 km/h)
2. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha +0.099
3. Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda Team Honda +2.899
4. Casey STONER (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati +10.226
5. Alex DE ANGELIS (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +21.522
6. Toni ELIAS (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +30.852
7. Marco MELANDRI (ITA) Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki +31.301
8. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati +31.726
9. Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +32.865
10. James TOSELAND (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +43.926
11. Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +57.375
12. Niccolo CANEPA (ITA) Pramac Racing Ducati +1:00.539
13. Chris VERMEULEN (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +1:03.645
14. Mika KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Racing Ducati +1:04.155
15. Gabor TALMACSI (HUN) Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda +1 Lap
Not classified
Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda Team Honda
Not finished 1st lap
Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP Honda

MotoGP Point Standings
1. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha) 176
2. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha) 162
3. Casey STONER (Ducati) 148
4. Dani PEDROSA (Honda) 108
5. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha) 83
6. Marco MELANDRI (Kawasaki) 70
7. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda) 69
8. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki) 64
9. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki) 61
10. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda) 58
11. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda) 47
12. Toni ELIAS (Honda) 47
13. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati) 46
14. James TOSELAND (Yamaha) 45
15. Mika KALLIO (Ducati) 28
16. Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati) 20
17. Sete GIBERNAU (Ducati) 12
18. Yuki TAKAHASHI (Honda) 9
19. Gabor TALMACSI (Honda) 1