Rossi’s rivals pushed him all the way

Future motor-sport historians will note that Valentino Rossi won 2009’s Moto GP title, by a comfortable-looking margin. But those that dig a little deeper will discover that this was one of the most tricky to win of all the great Italian’s six (so far!) World Championships. Indeed, he was pushed harder by his own team-mate than ever before. And had Ducati’s ace rider Casey Stoner been fully fit for the entire year, then 2009 might easily have been a very different story, altogether…

Indeed, in Qatar, back in April, where the ’09 season began, there were only two topics of conversation on the lips of those in the Paddock; of how and why it could ever rain in the desert…and who on Earth might ever be able to measure up to the speed of the Italian manufacturer’s super-fast Aussie? Casey Stoner was irresistible that day…and equally so at his home circuit of Phillip Island, in October. In between times, though, he suffered a mysterious but severe illness, which at first depleted his strength, then forced him to quit motor-cycle racing altogether, for a spell.

Along with Ducati, the ultimate losers during Stoner’s enforced absence were the Moto GP series’ millions of television viewers; deprived of seeing the charismatic red machine – two-wheeled racing’s answer to Ferrari, in the eyes of many – carving up the Hondas and Yamahas. However, Stoner’s period of convalescence did witness the rise back to form of his Ducati team-mate; American ex-World Champion, Nicky Hayden. Psychologically scarred by a series of unfortunate experiences at Honda during 2008, ‘The Kentucky Kid’ was back to his best by mid-season; battling through the field at his home Grand Prix in Laguna Seca like the devil-may-care character of old. His rate of progress throughout the ’09 Moto GP year suggests a further front-runner at Ducati for 2010.

As it was – sadly without Stoner – mid-season’s focus was drawn to the inter-team rivalry at Yamaha, instead; between established ace Valentino Rossi and his young, rapid team-mate, Jorge Lorenzo. Their battles were sometimes of a quite frightening intensity; but made great viewing for Moto GP’s world-wide TV audience. Rossi’s last-gasp pass of his rival, at Barcelona, for instance, was one of motorcycle racing’s all-time-classic moments; the subject of a million ‘YouTube’ hits. Lorenzo was pictured shaking his head, afterwards; seemingly unable to believe what he’d just seen. He wasn’t the only one.

As www.pumamotorsport.com‘s Moto GP expert – German rider Alex Hofmann – has sometimes said, the ultimate prize for all of Rossi’s rivals is to beat (and be publicly seen to have done so) the great man at his best, not when the Italian icon might be embarked into a slow cycle of decline. The curly-haired speed demon showed several times during 2009 that he remains at his absolute peak, and that not even younger, fitter men are – yet! – able to beat him for points and consistency, over the course of a complete season.

Lorenzo arguably came closest, but was also often to be seen diving head-first into a sand-pit at regular intervals, having pitched his Yamaha into a corner just a touch too fast. However, Rossi also showed that he was fallible, turning in a display during the wet/dry French Grand Prix at Le Mans which was arguably the single worst of his entire Moto GP career. The quality of his rides both before and after that afternoon of aberration, though, showed that this was a one-off blip, rather than an indication of a career in decline.

The determined Spaniard pushed Rossi hard all year, though; to such an extent, indeed, that the Italian two-wheeled genius made plain at the season’s end that he wouldn’t be partnering Lorenzo again in 2011. That led Britain’s ‘Motor Cycle News’ to imagine the Italian legend seeing out the final years of his career aboard a Ducati. A lip-smacking prospect, indeed…

…as is a final year of inter-team rivalry between Rossi and Lorenzo at Yamaha next year. Spain’s young matador of a rider now heads off into a five-month period of non-stop physical training, but it was rarely a lack of fitness which cost him the 2009 crown; more often a lack of concentration, at crucial moments. If he can iron out those occasional errors, then Rossi may well face his most difficult challenge yet, in 2010.

Honda’s line-up stays the same for next year, too, although Japan will surely be expecting greater things from both Dani Pedrosa and Antonio Dovizioso. The Repsol-sponsored machines are said to be the very fastest on the Moto GP grid; with an ultimate top speed greater than any of their rivals. But there was precious little evidence of this during 2009, with Pedrosa rarely looking the same force as he had been in ’08, whilst his new Italian team-mate won his first Grand Prix, but achieved precious little else.

It’s telling that the young Italian’s name is still missing from the list of Moto GP’s now-established ‘Fantastic Four’; of Rossi, Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Stoner. And, considering the way that he both started and finished the 2009 season, it’s Ducati and Casey Stoner who are now many pundits’ tips to re-claim their crowns in 2010. Only one outcome is guaranteed; that the season to come is going to provide fascinating viewing.