WARNING: Spoilers ahead if you click play.
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After today’s amazing race in Catalunya, the MotoGP Championship standings have become a three-way tie for first place. Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, and Casey Stoner each have 106 points apiece, in what is becoming a closely fought season.
With a tenth of a second separating Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi in yesterday’s qualifying, the Catalan GP was shaping up to be a MotoGP race worth watching. Adding to the intrigue was a course that is especially demanding on tires, and a heat wave that was sure to make the rubber selection ever more critical. Bridgestone brought to the track an asymmetrical tire compound that was expected to help teams, but with so many factors going on, race day was bound to get interesting.
The fans at the Circuit de Catalunya were given a treat of a race, that saw two riders battling it out until the very last turn. The end result is a three-way tie in the MotoGP Championship standings, and a season that is really starting to brim with excitement.
It was a close qualify session in the outskirts of Barcelona today, but at the end of the day Jorge Lorenzo pulled a squeaker of a session on Valentino Rossi to take the pole in front of his home crowd.
Wearing special livery for the day, which paid homage to Barcelona FC (the local soccer team), Lorenzo lapped a 1’41.974 on the Catalan track, just .013 seconds quicker than Rossi’s best effort. This news surely pleased Team Fiat-Yamaha, as once again they’ll have a 1-2 start on the grid for tomorrow’s race.
With eight right-hand corners, most of which are long and fast, and only five left-handers, most of which are much slower, the Circuit de Catalunya provides a worthy puzzle for all the tire manufacturers, but this weekend Bridgestone has a secret weapon up its sleeve. For the Catalan GP, Bridgestone has made a special asymmetrical tire that will be composed of different compounds on each side of the tire in order to meet the demanding conditions of the Spanish track.
Dani Pedrosa announced today that he has sufficiently recovered from from Mugello, and will be racing at Barcelona for the Catalan GP.
This announcement shows truly how determined riders like Dani are, as the Spainard would easily qualify for any sport’s disabled list. Pedrosa was given the “all clear” after doctors conduct a trial of injecting the Repsol Honda rider with painkillers, and then testing him for sensitivities to pain and motion.
The Circuit de Catalunya, located in Montmelo outside Barcelona, Spain, is allowing the remains of loved ones (presumably former racing enthusiasts) to be scattered across the course.
The Circuit de Catalunya hosts both MotoGP and Formula 1 races, and is one of the largest racing stops for both tours.