Rossi Puts his Team-mate in his Place

Valentino Rossi reasserted himself at the top of the leader board by convincingly beating his younger team-mate, Jorge Lorenzo, by 2.4 seconds during the San Marino MotoGP at Misano after besting him in every practice and qualifying session. Lorenzo finished second to trail Rossi by 30 points in the championship whilst Dani Pedrosa took the final spot on the podium. It was a mixed day for Ducati fans with newly re-signed Nicky Hayden knocked off on the first corner of the first lap whilst Mika Kallio finished a creditable 7th.

At his home circuit the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) sported a ‘The Donkey’ helmet making fun of his rare mistake last weekend at Indianapolis. Pedrosa bolted from the start and took some passing but as soon as Rossi began to pull away at the front, Lorenzo was past too and the two of them quickly dropped the Repsol Honda man. Elias, racing like he needed a job, stayed up the front for the first few laps but went slowly backwards as first Andrea Dovizioso and then a fast riding Loris Capirossi on the Suzuki went by.


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Ducati has announced that they have exercised their option and extended Nicky Hayden’s contract for 2010. Nicky has finished in the top 8 for the last 6 rounds finally gracing the podium at last weekend’s Indianapolis MotoGP.

Nicky’s podium was instrumental in his achievement of a second season in the factory team despite the company actively campaigning for other tier one riders such as Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa.

«The confirmation of Nicky is the right reward to a rider who has shown to perfectly embody the frame of mind that characterises Ducati – Passion, Determination and Commitment.» said Claudio Domenicali, Ducati Motor Holding general manager. «We have always considered Nicky to be an important asset to the Ducati 2010 strategy and we are very happy that he will remain in the Ducati Marlboro Team.»

link: Crash.net