wfooshee
O, Woe is me!!
British weather. . . whatcha gonna do, right? Well, if you're Ducati you're gonna assume the rain is coming. They started on wets, the rest of the field on slicks. By the time anybody came in to change bikes, the Ducatis had been lapped and then some, and the ones that changed didn't really get any faster. It rained, but not hard. Everybody learned about white lines, though. Coupla front runners down as they tipped in with the front wheel on the painted line. Rossi slid off but resumed to finish 5th, Pedrosa was going backwards after a good start, Divizioso followed Rossi closely, taking lessons on the lines but never tried to attack, and their battle became 1st and second after Lorenzo crashed out of the lead right in front of them, one of those painted line victims. After Rossi crashed, Divizioso went on for the win, but said it was harder without the leader up there as a guide. On the podium with him was Colin Edwards and Randy de Puniet.
The 250s had similar drama with the weather but the other direction, starting on wet tires as the rain stopped and the track dried out. It became an exercise in keeping the tires alive. Some came in and changed, but 250s don't swap bikes, they actually change tires, which can take up to a full minute plus in and out time, so those riders did not make up their positions. Hiroshi Aoyama went into the lead early, and built up his lead, most of which evaporated as his tires went off, although he stayed ahead of Bautista. Third was Pasini.
WSKB saw some action at Brno, with Fabrizio making a banzai move under Spies and crashing them both out. He went deep from too far back, lost the front and punted Spies, who was not receptive to the offered apologies. Injured Haga went on to finish 8th and score a few points, something Spies and Fabrizio were obviously unable to do. Biaggi, with the way clear in front, took the checker for Aprilia's first win on the new bike.
Race 2 saw Spies and Fabrizio up front again, but somehow Fabrizio kept his place and never pushed. He lost second to Biaggi, and the podium was Spies, Biaggi (pushing Spies hard) and Fabrizio 3rd. Biaggi made up the gap on Spies after passing Fabrizio, and might have been able to get by with a couple more laps to run. Haga finished 6th, and kept his points lead, which nobody expected him to be able to do. It's almost as if someone asked Fabrizio to handle that for him. . . . Nah.
The 250s had similar drama with the weather but the other direction, starting on wet tires as the rain stopped and the track dried out. It became an exercise in keeping the tires alive. Some came in and changed, but 250s don't swap bikes, they actually change tires, which can take up to a full minute plus in and out time, so those riders did not make up their positions. Hiroshi Aoyama went into the lead early, and built up his lead, most of which evaporated as his tires went off, although he stayed ahead of Bautista. Third was Pasini.
WSKB saw some action at Brno, with Fabrizio making a banzai move under Spies and crashing them both out. He went deep from too far back, lost the front and punted Spies, who was not receptive to the offered apologies. Injured Haga went on to finish 8th and score a few points, something Spies and Fabrizio were obviously unable to do. Biaggi, with the way clear in front, took the checker for Aprilia's first win on the new bike.
Race 2 saw Spies and Fabrizio up front again, but somehow Fabrizio kept his place and never pushed. He lost second to Biaggi, and the podium was Spies, Biaggi (pushing Spies hard) and Fabrizio 3rd. Biaggi made up the gap on Spies after passing Fabrizio, and might have been able to get by with a couple more laps to run. Haga finished 6th, and kept his points lead, which nobody expected him to be able to do. It's almost as if someone asked Fabrizio to handle that for him. . . . Nah.
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