MotoGP: 2009 Assen Results

A Disastrous Round for Honda

As a manufacturer, you know you’re in trouble when a Suzuki beats your top finisher to the line. Yamaha, living large these days, placed all four bikes in the top six, joined by Stoner’s Ducati in third and Vermeulen’s Suzuki in fifth. Meanwhile, Randy de Puniet and Toni Elias were the top finishers for Honda in seventh and eighth places. With both Repsol boys crashing out, Takahashi finishing 15th and Talmacsi almost a lap down in 16th, there is little joy in Hondaville tonight.

Granted, all three riders did crash out. But Pedrosa and Dovizioso are unlikely to do so very frequently. Rookie Kallio, who appeared to have injured his left hand, is on a steep learning curve on the Desmosedici. My point here is that guys like Toseland, de Puniet, Elias and Hayden are far from brilliant. They earned more points this week than usual, and Edwards has now put himself solidly in the top six. But brilliant – no.

Speaking of Nicky Hayden and Loris Capirossi…

Capirossi, on the other hand, doesn’t appear to have enough machine under him to make up for any bad luck or a single bad decision. He must run a perfect race to have any hope of a top five finish. At Assen, he got off to a terrible start coming out of the six hole, was forced off the track on lap eight, and was unable to come back on the field, finishing tenth (which would have been 13th on a normal day.) The latest Suzuki power plant reminds me of the lyrics from my favorite song by The Who:

“Meet the new boss.
The same as the old boss.”

Just in Case I Haven’t Offended Everyone Yet

Sure, fans know the podium ceremony at the end of MotoGP races is awkward and embarrassing. Three riders stand there next to their helmets (?), while a couple of random guys loiter at the edges of the stage, and the obligatory scantily-clad, long legged beauties stride across the stage to present each rider with his respective Goldilocks trophy – big, bigger, and biggest. At some of these rituals, the riders are presented with magnums of warm champagne, which they immediately shake up and spray on the aforementioned scantily clad beauties, in an effort to make their t-shirts translucent. All in good fun, if somewhat sexist, clumsy and predictable. (Speaking of which, don’t forget to check out the girls in the gallery!)

The overall effect, though, is magnified when Rossi wins, because the antics take place against the backdrop of the Italian national anthem, which sounds to me like a drinking song.I can hear the fans, wasted on a combination of national pride, ethanol fumes and red wine, singing. I don’t speak a word of Italian, but according to Wikipedia, this was the original final verse of the Italian anthem:

Weave o maidens
flags and cockades
make souls gallant
the invitation of love.

Somehow it seems to fit Rossi’s podium shenanigans pretty well.