Valentino Rossi conquered a poor qualifying performance to secure his third win of the season.
Just barely a week after struggling in Donington, it seemed that Valentino Rossi’s luck didn’t change as a drenched qualifying round saw the Italian stumble in eleventh place. Halfway into the season, it was imperative for the multiple world champion to win if he was to challenge for an eighth world title. But with the championship leader Casey Stoner securing second in qualifying, Rossi’s chances of clawing back the 26 point deficit looked even bleaker.
The race start was no consolation since Rossi was bottled up in turn one while Stoner took the lead. The Italian didn’t gain as many places as he wanted and had to settle for tenth after lap one.
The A-style TT Assen track is quite narrow and hence makes overtaking a challenge. But after a poor start, Rossi had no other alternative except fight for position or risk Stoner from running away ahead of the field. At first, Rossi seemed to be stuck in the middle of the grid. But as the race progressed, the Italian found his rhythm and his lap times became quicker and quicker. Lap after lap, Valentino steadily improved his grid position. But by the time he was up in fifth, Stoner was already five seconds ahead of him with John Hopkins, Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa in between them respectively.
Valentino Rossi however was unrelenting and raced like a man possessed as his lap times were consistently quicker than the rest of the field. It was only a matter of time before he would find himself in second obliterating the five second advantage Stoner had on him. It was a master class from Rossi as he lapped the circuit with a very distinct racing line compared to everyone else. The Italian was clearly on the limit. And true enough, Stoner and Rossi were nose to tail.
The race was already over the halfway mark, but it seemed as though it just started with the two rivals set to battle all the way to the finish. The result was an absolute classic with Rossi trying to put pressure with a blistering race pace and Stoner answering back with cunning defensive moves. The two riders on top of their game racing to the limit was a sight to behold. For the most part, Stoner seemed to have kept Rossi at bay. But with just under three laps remaining, Rossi was able to make the crucial overtaking maneuver to seize first place. From there, Valentino put the hammer down and extended his lead to 1”909 seconds by the time he crossed the finish line ahead of Stoner. Reigning champion Nicky Hayden was back in competitive form as he secured his first podium of the season by finishing third.
With nine more rounds remaining, Rossi is now behind Stoner by 21 points. With both riders driving the way they are, the championship is shaping up to be a season to remember. Barring any unfortunate incidents like injuries or mechanical problems, one could naturally expect the battle between the top two riders to go down the wire. Whoever comes out on top is anybody’s guess.
