2009 MotoGP Championship - Round 6 - Catalunya, Spain

Lorenzo and Rossi. Photos and text courtesy Yamaha Racing, Ducati Corse, BMW Motorrad. 
Edited by webBikeWorld.com.

Rossi and Lorenzo in Epic Battle

Yamaha superstars Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo dominated an incredible Catalan Grand Prix today, delivering a show-stopping performance from start to finish at Montmeló in front of a packed house.

It was the reigning World Champion Rossi who finally emerged the winner, taking a memorable 99th career victory after a stunning last-corner pass on his 22-year-old team-mate, but the Fiat Yamaha pair were separated by under one hundredth of a second after 25 thrilling laps.

After running at a near identical pace all weekend it always looked like being a head-to-head between them and they set off in grid order with Lorenzo leading from Rossi and Casey Stoner.

The Italian made his first move at the end of the straight on lap four and passed the Mallorcan into turn one, but all three remained within half a second of each other until four laps later, when the Yamaha duo on their YZR-M1s began to pull away from Stoner, quickly opening out a second's gap and leaving the rest of the field trailing in their wake.

With just a couple of tenths between them there was no margin for error but at the end of the back straight on lap thirteen Lorenzo saw a way through and passed his team-mate to take the lead.

They continued wheel to wheel until Rossi made another move ten laps later, but the race still wasn't over and there were several more nail biting changes of lead between them before Lorenzo looked to have it sewn-up half way round the final lap.

The nine-time champion had one more card to play on the youngster however and edged his machine through in an inch-perfect last corner challenge to take his ninth win in all classes at this track.

With Stoner finishing third, the three incredibly now have 106 points apiece after six races, meaning something of a championship restart for them at the Dutch TT in Assen in two week's time, a favorite track for both Rossi and Lorenzo.

Valentino Rossi, 1st:  "As we say in Italy, "Mamma Mia!" I think I can honestly say that this was one of the best and hardest wins of my career.

Maybe Laguna last year was more important but this was a great, great victory because it went to the very last corner and it's a long time since that has happened.

I have dreamed about that move for the last two weeks and today it worked and I am so happy to have this 99th win.  We did a perfect job all weekend and my M1 and Bridgestone tires were brilliant, but we knew that Lorenzo was in the same situation and for sure he was very strong today.

I had to be very brave and take it right to the limit in order to beat him.  This victory today is more important than the 25 points and anyway now we all have the same, what a championship this is!

As well as thanking my team, I especially want to dedicate this win to my Crew Chief Jeremy Burgess because his mother sadly died yesterday.  I have to say thank you to her and to him because without him, for sure, I would never have arrived at 99 wins.  Now I am going to go to sleep for quite a long time because I need to recover from this excitement!"

Jorge Lorenzo, 2nd:  "This was an incredible battle today and a brilliant show for everyone, I am happy to have been a part of it.

Of course I am sad to have lost because I put my heart on my bike and in my career I am more used to winning these last-lap fights, but today Valentino was maybe a little bit cleverer or a little bit braver than me at the very end and he was able to beat me.

In fact during that last lap, after I passed him, I expected him to pass me back on the brakes much earlier but he didn't come, and then I just didn't close the line enough on the final corner and that was it.

I am proud however because I am young and I still have a lot to learn in this class. My team have worked so well all weekend so thanks to them, if we can continue as strongly as this all season then who knows what can happen?"

Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team) 3rd:  “I haven’t felt in great shape all weekend – I wasn’t ill but I wasn’t quite myself.  Then last night I couldn’t sleep, I probably got a couple of hours at the most, and after just a couple of laps this morning I was destroyed.

I decided to race myself, basically, and bring home as many points as I could manage but my bike was fantastic and that is why I was able to ride it to a really valuable podium.

The team did a perfect job after the warm-up and if I wasn’t so ill, I think I could have stayed with Valentino and Jorge until the end, although I’m not saying I could have beaten them.  I started to suffer from really strong cramps and I could barely ride – I was falling over the front of the bike in the hard-braking areas and I was struggling to keep my concentration.

I thought about stopping but decided to just back off for a while and try to hang on for a top ten.  The bike was so good that I was able to keep up a decent pace and hold off Dovizioso.

Tonight I’ll try to get plenty of rest and recover my strength for the test tomorrow because this is an important period in the championship and we need to test.  After that it’s Assen and I’m already looking forward to it.”

More:  2009 MotoGP Racing Schedule  |  2009 World Superbike Racing Schedule  |  wBW Motorcycle Racing Page (News and More Schedules)

2009 MotoGP Round 6 - Catalunya - June 14, 2009

Circuit Length: 4727

Weather: Very Hot

Lap Record: 1'43.195 (Valentino Rossi, 01/01/2005)

Fastest Lap Ever: 1'41.186 (Casey Stoner, 08/06/2008)

Last Year's Winner: Daniel Pedrosa

Race Results

1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 43'11.897

2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 0'00.095

3 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 0'08.884

4 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 0'09.936

5 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 0'19.831

6 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'22.182

7 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'23.547

8 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 0'25.265

9 Mika Kallio Ducati FIN 0'31.797

10 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 0'33.593

11 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 0'36.683

12 Alex De Angelis Honda SMR 0'36.874

13 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 0'39.433

14 Marco Melandri Kawasaki ITA 0'44.788

15 Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 0'46.754

Rider Standings as of June 14, 2009

1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 106

2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 106

3. Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 106

4. Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 69

5. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 67

6. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 54

7. Marco Melandri Kawasaki ITA 50

8. Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 49

9. Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 42

10. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 42

11. James Toseland Yamaha GBR 29

12. Mika Kallio Ducati FIN 26

13. Alex De Angelis Honda SMR 25

14. Toni Elias Honda ESP 23

15. Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 19

Manufacturer Standings as of June 14, 2009

1. Yamaha 140

2. Ducati 106

3. Honda 89

4. Suzuki 60

5. Kawasaki 50

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