By Mike Nicks
Rossi Sharpens the Blade.
Well, that was a Rossi performance that rocked us all - except perhaps those few in his inner sanctum who believed that he had the setup and the desire to achieve victory in the Italian GP.
When Alex Barros twice breezed past Valentino on Mugello’s vast front straight on his d’Antin Ducati in the morning warm-up, it looked like the story of the race was already written. Rossi’s deep well of trackcraft would never be able to make up for the superior top speed of the Italian bike. And there would be three other Desmosedici GP7s besides Barros’ rocketship to get under Rossi’s wheels.
It looked even worse for Valentino when he fumbled the clutch on his Fiat Yamaha, pulled a wheelie - why does the man with so much searing speed in the corners so often boggle the start? - and slumped to eighth on lap two. Out front, Stoner and
Loris Capirossi were making it a red, red show. Rossi was going to struggle to get in the top six, and this could be the race that ended his championship hopes for the season.
But on lap six he was third, and three laps later he had put aside Stoner and
Dani Pedrosa. From there it was just a question of holding precision and concentration until the finish - no problem for a veteran of long campaigns like Rossi.
The result totally reshaped the championship, even though Rossi is still nine points behind Stoner. There are more sinuous tracks, which could play to the Yamaha, in the weeks ahead. Stoner is now in his seventh season of grand prix racing, including his apprenticeship in the 125 and 250cc classes, but has never known what it’s like to sustain the pressure of leading the
MotoGP division over a long 18-round grind.
Rossi’s last words as he concluded his post-race press conference after finishing sixth in the previous round at Le Mans were: "Now we go to Mugello and fight with the knife between the teeth!" He was serious.
Kawasaki Talk to Hopkins, Melandri - Elias to Suzuki.
Confident that they have now produced a bike capable of winning races, Kawasaki are now seeking riders who can deliver results and have already opened talks with Rizla Suzuki’s
John Hopkins and Gresini Honda’s
Marco Melandri for 2008. Normally this kind of discussion only surfaces later in the season, but such is the frenzied state of almost everything in MotoGP these days that several teams have already started planning for next year.
