The Biker Place

The stage had already been set, following Valentino Rossi’s win in Shanghai which moved him to 89 career GP victories, Angel Nieto (winner of 90 GP victories and widely considered as one of the all time greats) arranged to get some special leathers made and to meet Rossi in Le Mans, scene of his own final victory. No pressure then! Win the race, equal my record and i’ll be waiting for you afterwards……

As it was, the only thing that looked capable of stopping Valentino Rossi moving alongside Nieto was the French weather. He got off to a good start and slotted in behind leader Casey Stoner for a few laps. You got the feeling that Casey Stoner had done the others a huge favour by leap-frogging Dani Pedrosa into turn one and stopping the Spaniard charging into an early lead, as it seemed both Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi were being held up by Stoner.

The defining moment of the race came on lap 5 as Rossi made a move and passed Casey Stoner, leaving Dani Pedrosa to try and fight his way past, Rossi then began putting in fast lap after fast lap pulling a huge time advantage from his rivals.

James Toseland had settled into sixth position after the first lap and he set his mind to taking on Hayden, whose woes were to continue with a final placing of ninth. However he collided with Andrea Dovizioso and took a trip into the gravel and out of the race, the first non point scoring race of his fledgling MotoGP career.

Rossi’s Fiat Yamaha team mate however was the real story of this GP, unable to walk unaided after some terrible crashes left him with damaged ankles, the Spanish rookie cut through the field in the second half of this race and powered his way into second place. A truly remarkable display of grit, determination and rider ability. James Toseland’s team mate, and formerly team mate to Rossi, Colin Edwards came home in 3rd place to complete an all Yamaha podium.

The day belonged to Valentino Rossi though, pulling to a stop on his parade lap a dimunitive figure in black leathers got onto his bike and proceeded to take Rossi around the Le Mans circuit. The dimunitive figure was Angel Nieto, and that Fiat Yamaha had 180 Grand Prix victories sitting on it, illustrated by the flag Rossi brandished on the way round which simply read 90 + 90.

The MotoGP championship is now wide open with Rossi, Pedrosa and Lorenzo seperated by a handful of points, on this form you would not bet against the great man winning title number 8.

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