You guys might not have thought it was too hot, but I loved every minute of that race! We were sitting on what the locals call the Z curve, which is the 90 degree right hand downhill elbow at the end of the back straight. Awsome corner, got to see so much action up close and personal. Capirossi had it in the bag, apart from Marco sticking to him like stains on a matress for the first few laps, then the Bridgestones really came out to shine. As usual, Rossi was flying, but by the time he got past Melandri, Capirossi was dissapearing, his 'stones and his bike were really working for him, nearly as good as Brno. Nakano was strong, but a bit too agressive on the last lap, and that cost him dearly. We saw it all happen at the Z curve, poor Nakars really looked like a broken man, like Gibernau after his engine died at Valencia last year. Speaking of Gibernau, another good effort for him. Not dazzling but I`m thinking he`s on the road to recovery. Stoner was strong at the start, but even before the crash he was starting to fade away. He braked too late and ran off the edge of the track slightly after the back straight which cost him a top five position. Nicky and Elias were tight at one stage, Hayden bashed into Elias coming out of the Z curve, and it wasn`t a gentle scrape either, lucky no one went down. But Nicky needs better results than that if he wants to keep Rossi at bay. Pedrosa was really struggling. I don`t know what it was, but it looked like a tyre problem, he was exiting the corner with the rear wheel all over the place. i guess that`s racing though, sometimes things just don`t go your way. Still a great climb from 15th or wherever he started, evenwith a far from perfect setup.
The Suzuki train was awsome, Akiyoshi did a great job, he got close to challenging Vermulen for a minute there. Hopper was absolutely wild, I think he must have made a mistake early on that put him at the back, but he was on a misson, swooping down on D`antin and Tech 3 bikes like an eagle on some poor defenseless mouse. He also braked way too late for two laps in a row on our corner and came within centimeters of a gravel trap makeover,but like I said there was no stopping the guy, seeing how much ground he made up in so little time was great, even though it was the back of the pack. But that`s the sorta stuff you don`t see on TV. Checa wasn`t too hot, but he put up a valiant fight against Bridgestone-shod Zooks, and still finished miles ahead of Ellison, who was working hard to keep a bit of a gap between himself and Hoffman, who clearly didn`t like the idea of being last across the line, but JE kept the gap there and Hoffman didn`t get a chance. I gotta admit, watching a race live gives you so much more insight into what`s happening while the cameras focus on the guys at the ront.
The Suzuki train was awsome, Akiyoshi did a great job, he got close to challenging Vermulen for a minute there. Hopper was absolutely wild, I think he must have made a mistake early on that put him at the back, but he was on a misson, swooping down on D`antin and Tech 3 bikes like an eagle on some poor defenseless mouse. He also braked way too late for two laps in a row on our corner and came within centimeters of a gravel trap makeover,but like I said there was no stopping the guy, seeing how much ground he made up in so little time was great, even though it was the back of the pack. But that`s the sorta stuff you don`t see on TV. Checa wasn`t too hot, but he put up a valiant fight against Bridgestone-shod Zooks, and still finished miles ahead of Ellison, who was working hard to keep a bit of a gap between himself and Hoffman, who clearly didn`t like the idea of being last across the line, but JE kept the gap there and Hoffman didn`t get a chance. I gotta admit, watching a race live gives you so much more insight into what`s happening while the cameras focus on the guys at the ront.
