It is only two columns ago that I was talking about bizarre coincidences in MotoGP, looking back on a race being postponed in Qatar due to rain only for qualifying to be cancelled in Japan under the same circumstances two weeks later. This week I’m reflecting on back-to-back flag-to-flag wet-to-dry races and not only that; most of the riders changed bikes at pretty much the same stage of the race, around lap ten, and you don’t get much more of a coincidence than that!

I say most of the riders because there were a few notable exceptions at Mugello, in particular James Toseland, who came in on lap four. James was one of those with not a lot to lose and a lot to gain by coming in early and after seeing Valentino Rossi crash as a result of his impetuosity at Le Mans two weeks previously it was a brave move.

In keeping upright over those first couple of laps on hard slick tyres James showed his undoubted quality, even if at the moment things aren’t working out perfectly for him. JT is not having a good season compared to the standards he set last year and from the outside it looks like a desperate situation, but the reality is that he is only looking for a second, if that, per lap and he’s right back on the pace. When you divide a second by 16 corners you are talking about minimal differences in each of them and let’s not forget that with Rossi on the same machine he is comparing himself to greatest of all time. That last point also outlines the enormity of what Jorge Lorenzo is doing right now but I’ll come back to that later.

Seeing Ducati finally win their home race at Mugello was fantastic and they deserve a huge pat on the back because they have been made to work harder for it there than anywhere else. Casey Stoner also deserves huge respect for his contribution, especially when you consider that his opening lap on slick tyres was seven seconds quicker than the rest of the field. Winning at the Tuscan circuit was also a monkey off Casey’s back and now we’re heading towards his territory – a run of circuits where he has had great success in the past.

It wasn’t such a good weekend over the other side of the garage though and whilst I don’t think Nicky Hayden will ever give up he is fast running out of straws to clutch at. The fact he could not find a setting for the Desmosedici at the circuit where it was born and bred means that he clearly needs to reinvent his whole approach, as do the team, because whatever they are trying right now is not working.

It has nothing to do with being compared to Stoner because having him in the same garage is an asset. The fact is that the Ducati works with a narrower band of riding styles than other machines, like the Yamaha, and it is not only Nicky who is struggling to make it work – it is Mika Kallio, Niccolo Canepa, Sete Gibernau and Marco Melandri before them. Again, like James, we’re not talking about much of a gap and a single breakthrough could make all the difference.

The other negative side of a thrilling weekend in Italy was the injury to Dani Pedrosa. The rumour is that he did it whilst training on a bicycle sometime between Le Mans and Mugello and then aggravated it drastically in a huge moment during practice. He is fighting to be fit for Barcelona but after missing out on the points at Mugello people are rightly questioning whether his championship challenge is over. With the top three guys covered by a handful of points Dani needs all three of them to run into trouble at some stage in order to give him a glimmer of hope.

Going back to the Le Mans race it was interesting to see that it was Lorenzo, one of the riders with least experience of flag-to-flag racing, that fared the best. It was a clear sign of his growing maturity and composure, qualities he was forced to rely on to an even greater extent two weeks later at Mugello, when he crashed on the warm-up lap, made it out of pit-lane on his second bike with two seconds to spare and then produced one of the best races of his career. It was the kind of performance that establishes him as a genuine title contender and one that will have Valentino seriously worried, not to mentioned upset! There’s no doubt that finishing behind Lorenzo at Mugello will have hurt him more than losing to Ducati and Stoner!

Jokingly after qualifying on Saturday night I had said to one of Vale’s team: “Hey, Valentino’s knocking on the number 2 door! Second Italian, second Yamaha and second row for tomorrow’s race!” I guess they didn’t find it too funny because the last thing Valentino expected when he asked for a wall in that garage was to be wondering how his team-mate on the other side could be beating him. It seems to me that Lorenzo’s 250 style is really adapting well to what Yamaha have right now and Rossi is having to push hard on a machine he is not 100% comfortable on to stay with him.

At Mugello Valentino complained that it took him too long to put heat in the front tyre – the same problem as Le Mans. Meanwhile the fact Jorge and his crew have been forced to work things out for themselves seems to be benefiting them and right now they are the ones with all the answers. The situation is almost as ironic as the paint job Rossi chose for his helmet, which featured a drawing of his hands clutching his head. The idea was supposed to be ‘mamma mia’ but by Sunday evening it was ‘oh my god!’

Like at Le Mans it was exciting at Mugello to see when each rider came in to change bikes. On both occasions we saw Marco Melandri making a challenge for victory on the Hayate machine, with Suzuki and Honda also performing well. Watching the way each machine worked in different conditions on the same tyre was interesting and really good fun.

If we have to go through rain every weekend for it to be as entertaining as that then bring on the downpour in Barcelona!

Randy