MotoGP: Ben Spies wins the Iveco TT Assen

The MotoGP of the Netherlands marked Yamaha’s 50th anniversary in the series. The burden was obvious for the factory riders, defending champion Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies. They took to the task by securing good starting positions for the race, 4th and 2nd respectively (Casey Stoner qualified 3rd ).

The missile at the Assen circuit however, was Marco Simoncelli. He was lightning fast. He took pole. There is no question that Simoncelli is a star, but his light is currently on low beam. He is simply waiting for the right situation to flick the switch to high beam and brighten his world championship status.

A blistering start was expected. What we got was both insane and frightening. When the red lights disappeared, Lorenzo left the line like a slave from captivity – he was in a hurry. He led Spies into the first corner. Spies responded by the second corner, took the lead and Simoncelli desperately trying to stay close, passed Lorenzo for second. Simoncelli’s moment was short-lived. As he edged ahead of Lorenzo, his front wheel rejected his bid and his machine smacked the tarmac. Unfortunately, it collected Lorenzo in the process. The ‘checkup’ it produced for the other riders, led to Spies escaping unchallenged at the front. By the end of lap 1, Spies had a 2 seconds gap on the chasing Repsol Honda pair of Stoner and Dovizioso.

Simoncelli

Simoncelli’s miscue, murdered any hopes there were for a classic Netherlands GP. Spies was flawless, he rode brilliantly and the gap he got on a trophy, thanks to Simoncelli, was always too much for Stoner to minimize. The interest that remained in the race was confined to battles further behind. First and second were sealed containers.

Casey Stoner is without a doubt, a real threat to Lorenzo’s title defense. He held 2nd while his teammate Dovizioso grabbed 3rd . Stoner, is now 28 valuable points ahead of Lorenzo in the championship race. Valentino Rossi, still in research and development mode at Ducati, stole 4th with his teammate, Hayden, in tow, 5th .

The Netherlands GP was always the Ben Spies show and on their 50th anniversary in the premiere motorcycle series, Yamaha got the only present that would suffice – victory!

Cecil Munroe Gleaner On-Line Writer