MotoGP: Second is for losers (Valencia GP)

My schedule, my time and everything else have been hacked! That is my explanation for my inability to keep pace with MotoGP happenings.

Simoncelli

Team San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Simoncelli rode a brilliant race in the Australian GP. He finished second behind Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner. Motivated by the ride (in Australia), according to reports, Simoncelli indicated that he was happy and with the Malaysian GP next on the check-list, he suggested that he would be in the hunt, fighting for another podium spot. Fate at times ignores our designs. The Malaysian GP, for reasons which the Master will retain, was unkind to Simoncelli. I am still distraught due to the manner in which he exited the MotoGP stage. The grid has lost a star!

Marco Simoncelli’s accident

Casey Stoner

During an interview, earlier in the 2011 season, a reporter asked Colin Edwards a question. I cannot recall the question, but I am hearing his response as if it was said yesterday. He indicated that they (riders) all knew that Casey Stoner is possibly the best rider on the grid and the only reason he wasn’t winning as expected before (the 2011 season) could be found in the machine he was riding at the time.

I will admit that the comment made by Colin Edwards opened my eyes even more to who Casey Stoner really was and based on the research I have done thus far he was ‘on the money’ with his assessment!

Casey Stoner was taking no prisoners in 2011. He went on a rampage and claimed everything in sight. A total of 12 poles –the record for most poles in a season! He was off the front row only once for the entire season! He grabbed 16 podium spots – another record for a season! And as they would say, the icing on the cake and possibly his most pleasurable moment, he secured the World Championship, for the second time, with another breath-taking ride at home – the Australian GP – before 44,000 of his closest friends.

Stoner took the title home with two races remaining. One would think that with the championship in the bag the throttle would be rolled back a bit and the leathers spared the continued abuse. But then he wouldn’t be a champion.

It was Aryton Senna who suggested that, the moment you see a gap (when racing) and you refuse to go for that gap, you are no longer a race-car driver. Possibly all motorsports champions subscribe to the same philosophy.

At the Valencia GP, Casey Stoner did his usual disappearing act and went P1 hunting. Difficult conditions, thanks to leaking clouds, injected intrigue in the final quarter of the race. A confident warrior, Ben Spies, threatened Repsol Honda’s hegemony. Moving from 4th, he made light work of Pedrosa and Dovizioso and locked onto Stoner. As the conditions deteriorated, Spies grew in strength. Stoner’s human side intervened and when he made a mistake, Spies wiped the spilled milk and went to P1!

Champions never quit though, a point Stoner made abundantly clear. Spies had a slim lead on the final lap. Stoner stayed in touch and as they rounded the final corner, Stoner rode a better exit and somehow, miraculously if you ask me, blew by a bewildered Ben Spies. Second is for losers!

Valencia GP

Congratulations Casey Stoner, World Champion 2011!

Cecil Munroe Gleaner On-Line Writer