Tuesday 21 July 2008Sorry for late posting guys, I had problems here with my works, I promise it won't happen again next time... :)
OK let's talk about race in Laguna Seca... It was amazing, WHAT A RACE!!! it has been a while I don't see such kind of race and it was a thriller to see the dog fight between two best riders nowadays. It was proved in the end that only a smart, patience, and has an endless ammos will win the battle. Stoner was great, he was absolutely fast and you can't deny that, he was even faster t! han the leader, Rossi, for 0.02 second, and he was always faster 1 second than Chris Vermeulen who was fighting very hard to reach Parc Ferme in the 3rd place.
But Stoner couldn't pass Rossi, he tried very hard several times and you can see that his bike was going wider (side by side with Rossi) when he reached the turn but couldn't fast enough to overtake Rossi because Rossi closed the door tight. Rossi could do that because the circuit is tight and short one, if it were like Shanghai, the story would be much different. Stoner was frustrated and he pushed so hard early out of the turn and brake later than Rossi, but Rossi even brake longer than he expected. He did pass Rossi several times but Rossi fought back at all cost. His frustration really burnt out his head until he went wide but still on the track and finally in turn 11 with 8 laps to go, he went into the gravel and crashing at low speed because he lost his front (FYI, the sand was quite deep in that s! ection) and crashed at low speed. He is done and Rossi won the! fierce battle and the race.
How could Rossi do that? it is a simple thing to do, according to Mat Mladin (AMA Superbike rider) Rossi knew his bike slower than Stoner and he knew Stoner gained advantage of more power owns by his Ducati, so he put his bike always in front of Stoner and held him tight behind, in such short circuit, more power and speed is not really an advantage. He stayed right on the racing line and made Stoner over-ride the Ducati to get by him, and Stoner will find no way to get through.
Stoner was furious of his defeat, he moaned, but in the end maybe he will regret of what he has said to the media and Rossi himself. It was a race and only the one who has the smartest strategy to win.
Another point in Laguna Seca were Hayden was slower than Dovizioso :( Bad for him and the fans and the poor performance of Michelin's riders, Michelin admitted the mistake and promised to bounce back in Brno. But Let's see what will happen.
Congratulation to Rossi and his fans... I know you are full of smile now... :D
