It may have taken 11 races to happen, and we had started to think that it never would, but thankfully this weekend in Brno ‘the run’ finally came to an end. I had speculated that he would be a title contender at the start of the year, but things just didn’t seem to be happening for him… so I was delighted when Danny Kent could celebrate his first podium finish of the year.
On a serious note though, I’m chuffed that Danny showed some of the perseverance and tenacity that stood out a couple of years ago in Moto3, hopefully he can now kick on from here and challenge for wins once more.
Of course in MotoGP, it was his namesake Dani Pedrosa who broke the most talked about record since Mr. Blobby made it to number one. I don’t think many around the paddock would have expected Pedrosa to be the man to do it, but after a particularly disappointing race in Indianapolis, he put together a magnificent weekend and showed just why he has been re-signed by Repsol Honda for the next two years.
As Marc Marquez limped home in fourth, off the podium for the first time since Australia last year, one Yamaha employee who shall remain nameless smiled as he muttered to me with relief, “So he IS human after all!” Seeing how they had the original ‘alien’ I’d have thought they’d be aware of riders’ terrestrial status.
This is a crucial point to make though because after ten races being brow beaten by Marquez his lead trio of rivals know he is beatable yet again and psychologically that is a massive hurdle to overcome.
As well as Pedrosa’s resurgence, I was also hugely impressed with Ducati’s steady progress and in particular Andrea Iannone. As the flamboyant Italian has said on a number of occasions in terms of MotoGP bikes he knows no different, quite unlike Cal Crutchlow who is finding it devastatingly hard to switch his style from the Yamaha. (The last man to tame the red bike, Casey Stoner had just a year on the 990cc Honda with Michelin tyres before his successful switch to the Ducati 800 with Bridgestones – also knew no different and just expressed himself on the new bike.)
I would add that Andrea Dovizioso is performing admirably as ever having switched from Yamaha, but Iannone’s aggression on Marquez in the early laps showed he fears nothing, and finishing fifth ahead of Dovizioso and the likes of Bradl and Aleix Espargaro is a big plus. My pitlane pal Neil Hodgson turned to me after his fierce early exchanges with the #93 and remarked, quite astutely, “I think some of them forget they’re in a race sometimes. Even though someone may be quicker than you, you’ve still got to race them for it!”
Iannone has raced Marquez a number of times in the lower classes, and beaten him on occasions, and like Pol Espargaro and Scott Redding is part of that new breed of riders who will always believe they have what it takes to beat the world champion given the right machinery. Thankfully for the remainder of the season Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Rossi also believe it too.
