Valentino Rossi has had the worst four weeks of his career, when he had his podium place snatched by "ManiacJoe" Andrea Iannone at Phillip Island. The 36 year old Italian started the battle of words just before the following race, which ended on a not-so positive note as he was labelled as the reason for Marc Marquez's crash at Sepang, collecting three valuable points (On his license though) and starting the race at Valencia from the last place on the Grid. Michele Pirro's third wildcard entry of the season meant he had to start from P26, which was a very difficult one considering the fact that majority of the riders on the grid are highly competitive, at least in Valencia which is a very tight circuit.
There has been a lot of speculations throughout the weekend, few even stating that the 20 odd riders on the grid are ready to make way for the Veteran "Doctor". All of these claims were dumped into the trash bin the moment the lights went out at the Ricardo Tormo circuit.
Valentino Rossi got the best start of his career as he picked out eight places coming to turn one. Gaining EIGHT places on a circuit like Valencia which has an incredibly short run down to turn one is something close to unbelievable. (I might sound like a fanboy, but every follower of the sport says the same), while Jorge Lorenzo does the same thing he does every time- Get the holeshot coming down to turn one. He was closely followed by the two Repsol Honda's and the two factory Ducatis before Andrea Iannone crashed out on lap 2, spectacularly damaging his front end of the beautiful GP15 and adding another DNF to his name.
As Rossi made his progress up the order, the leading trio pulled away from Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) who was in fourth. Rossi lost a bit of time battling out with Bradley Smith on the Tech3 Yamaha and the Espargaro brothers, who ultimately got relegated by the Raging Italian whose charge reminded everyone of the Lamborghini Aventador SV (pun intended). By the time Rossi made his last overtake of the race, he was 9 seconds behind the leading Spanish trio (Lorenzo, Marquez and Pedrosa),thus finishing in fourth place.
Marc Marquez was glued to the back wheel of the ominously fast Jorge Lorenzo, yet didn't even try to make a move on his compatriot. The Spanish rider did get close on enough to take the lead and make a break away, which he didn't, and didn't even let his teammate Dani Pedrosa to pass by him to take second. We don't know what made Marquez do this, but certainly Emilio Alzamora and Livio Suppo will have an answer to his queer behavior on the track.
Dani Pedrosa too did what he can, by initiating a late charge towards the top step of the podium. The 30 year old Spaniard was 2.6 seconds behind Marc Marquez before charging his way and even taking second place from Marquez once. The reigning world champion retaliated immediately with an aggressive maneuver which made him to back off and take a safe third place ahead of Rossi.
Cal Crutchlow had a nightmare of a start as he started the warm-up lap from the pit lane. He joined Valentino Rossi at the back of the grid, initiating a late charge to finish ninth in the final race of the season. And Great news for the Tech3 team, as the championship-winning bikes will be directly parked in their garage instead of the motor-home as Yamaha will be providing them with factory bikes for the 2016 season.
The preparations for the next season begins as early as on the day after, where the teams get to test their 2016 bikes with the modified (upgraded) tires and ECUs. With Bridgestone and Nicky Hayden waving goodbye to the sport, we await the next season to commence with a heavy heart.
Did Valentino Rossi throw away his championship just with his verbal rant on Marc Marquez? Did this opportunity let the Majorcan seize his Fifth World championship? Leave your opinions in the comments down below.
By: Suraj
There has been a lot of speculations throughout the weekend, few even stating that the 20 odd riders on the grid are ready to make way for the Veteran "Doctor". All of these claims were dumped into the trash bin the moment the lights went out at the Ricardo Tormo circuit.Valentino Rossi got the best start of his career as he picked out eight places coming to turn one. Gaining EIGHT places on a circuit like Valencia which has an incredibly short run down to turn one is something close to unbelievable. (I might sound like a fanboy, but every follower of the sport says the same), while Jorge Lorenzo does the same thing he does every time- Get the holeshot coming down to turn one. He was closely followed by the two Repsol Honda's and the two factory Ducatis before Andrea Iannone crashed out on lap 2, spectacularly damaging his front end of the beautiful GP15 and adding another DNF to his name.
As Rossi made his progress up the order, the leading trio pulled away from Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) who was in fourth. Rossi lost a bit of time battling out with Bradley Smith on the Tech3 Yamaha and the Espargaro brothers, who ultimately got relegated by the Raging Italian whose charge reminded everyone of the Lamborghini Aventador SV (pun intended). By the time Rossi made his last overtake of the race, he was 9 seconds behind the leading Spanish trio (Lorenzo, Marquez and Pedrosa),thus finishing in fourth place.Marc Marquez was glued to the back wheel of the ominously fast Jorge Lorenzo, yet didn't even try to make a move on his compatriot. The Spanish rider did get close on enough to take the lead and make a break away, which he didn't, and didn't even let his teammate Dani Pedrosa to pass by him to take second. We don't know what made Marquez do this, but certainly Emilio Alzamora and Livio Suppo will have an answer to his queer behavior on the track.
*** Marc Marquez has been criticized yet again for his queer behavior on track (Source: Marc Marquez)
Dani Pedrosa too did what he can, by initiating a late charge towards the top step of the podium. The 30 year old Spaniard was 2.6 seconds behind Marc Marquez before charging his way and even taking second place from Marquez once. The reigning world champion retaliated immediately with an aggressive maneuver which made him to back off and take a safe third place ahead of Rossi.
Cal Crutchlow had a nightmare of a start as he started the warm-up lap from the pit lane. He joined Valentino Rossi at the back of the grid, initiating a late charge to finish ninth in the final race of the season. And Great news for the Tech3 team, as the championship-winning bikes will be directly parked in their garage instead of the motor-home as Yamaha will be providing them with factory bikes for the 2016 season.
The preparations for the next season begins as early as on the day after, where the teams get to test their 2016 bikes with the modified (upgraded) tires and ECUs. With Bridgestone and Nicky Hayden waving goodbye to the sport, we await the next season to commence with a heavy heart.
*** Valentino Rossi entering Pit Lane after the race
Did Valentino Rossi throw away his championship just with his verbal rant on Marc Marquez? Did this opportunity let the Majorcan seize his Fifth World championship? Leave your opinions in the comments down below.
By: Suraj
