Sunday’s Jerez race was a banger. Pedrosa got out to an early lead, with Stoner in second position and Lorenzo in third. It didn’t take long for Rossi to throw on the afterburners and motor past all three riders. The only one that even gave battle, was Stoner. Stoner was able to pass Rossi back, at the bottom of the start/finish straight, before ultimately being overtaken by the Doctor. By that time, Pedrosa had opened up a gap of over a second, in the lead, which took several laps for Rossi to close. After overtaking Pedrosa, Rossi was able to smoothly sail onto the podium. Full results here. Pedrosa finished second, and Stoner earned the final podium spot. Lorenzo, despite having a fantastic start, low-sided out of the race with under 10 laps to go. With Lorenzo’s wreck, the world championship order was shaken up a bit. Rossi now leads the way, followed by Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa, respectively. The riders will have a brief reprieve this weekend as the teams make their way to Le Mans course in France, for the next race on May 17.

Sunday’s race was very exciting. The first two days of practice and testing at Motegi was done in the rain. The weather finally broke for race day, leaving all of the teams scrambling to try to guess what the best dry weather setup would be for the bikes. Rossi started on pole and opened up a bit of a gap, right away. It only lasted a few laps, however, as Jorge Lorenzo worked his way up the chain. There was a brief battle of back and forth passing at the front, but ultimately Lorenzo made his pass stick and was able to open up a bit of a gap. Pedrosa had a great race, as well. After being passed by Lorenzo, Rossi had to contend with Pedrosa, late in the race. Pedroso traded passes in corners 2 or 3 times on Rossi, before the final lap. Rossi was able to maintain his position in second spot, when they came across the line on the last lap. This is Lorenzo’s second victory in the GP class, his first at Motegi. Stoner finished up barely off of the podium in 4th spot, after a less than ideal start and a hard battle. Here are the full results.

There was some drama early in the race. As you may recall, Nicky Hayden suffered a very messy high-side wreck before Qatar, which required minor surgery. He is still healing from that tumble. In fact, they haven’t even taken the stitches out yet. At fate would have it, the GP rookie, Takahashi plowed into the back of Hayden entering a turn, on the very first lap of the race, Sunday. It was a nasty spill. Takahashi walked away, Hayden was taken out on a stretcher. It is said that Hayden will be fully recovered in time to race next Sunday in Spain.

Holy crap! Waiting the couple of extra days to see the first race of the 2009 season, was worth it. Stoner won by a solid margin. Rossi finished second, and second year rookie Lorenzo, took the last podium spot. Once Rossi fought his way up through the pack, he was able to keep a consistent gap between himself and Stoner. At times, he was even able to close it, a bit. It was clear though, that Rossi’s abuse to the tires getting into second position, prevented him from closing on Stoner at the end of the race. Just judging from this race, it appears that the 2009 season will be a fierce battle between Rossi and Stoner for the championship.

It is hard to make that kind of prediction, given all of the injuries and the incoming rookies. Pedrosa was riding with an injured left knee. I’m sure that it didn’t help being slammed into by De Angelis after running wide in a left hand corner. It was amazing the Pedrosa was even able to keep his bike on 2 wheels after that one. Hayden, was riding with several injuries sustained in a very ugly high-side crash sustained during practice.

There were a couple of rookie riders that were shooting the lights out. Andrea Dovizioso, Pedrosa new teammate, rode the wheels off of is Factory Honda Monday night finishing fifth. De Angelis, crossed the line right behind Dovizioso in 6th. Both rookies had very impressive rides. Lorenzo was also looking very promising with his third place finish. He is looking strong agian, after a his first season in GP, last year was plagued with several serious injuries. Yuki Takahasi (pictured below), another rookie, earned 1 GP world championship point finishing 15th.

Other Veteran in this race had varied results. Caprirossi actually got a great start and mainted second place for several laps. His race ended early, however, after a walk-away low-side tumble. Edwards finished just off the podium in 4th. Returning veteran, and nemesis of Rossi, Sete Gibernau, had an unimpressive performance finishing 13th. Here is a link to the full results.

The next race is slated for April 26th at Motegi Japan.

I sat down Sunday night and turned on the TV, totally pumped to watch the 2009 MotoGP season opener, and noticed it was last year’s race showing on the screen. I was really confused until a banner started scrolling across the bottom of the screen, saying that race had been rained out and postponed until Today. The rain didn’t stop the 125 or 250 class from racing. The photo above is from the 125cc race. Notice how they aren’t getting low in the corners, at all. From what I understand, neither of those races went the full distance, and one of them stopped after only 4 laps. It was kind of a let down. But hopefully it will be a good race today, and I will be able to see it tomorrow.

They are all reasons that I am super pumped for the upcoming weekend. First of all, I love Easter. In addition to being a mental marker that spring is actually here, and having heavy Christian religious significance, the best candy of the year is available for purchase. Reagan and I have been warming up for weeks, with the candy eating. We went through an entire bag of Cadbury mini-eggs and a bad of Reese’s Eggs last weekend. I’m hoping that we have been able to condition our GI tracts for the sugar beat-down they are about to receive this weekend.

Second: This weekend kicks off the 2009 MotoGP season. I can’t even freaking wait for this.

Third: NYRR Scotland Run 10k in Central Park, is this Saturday. We have a lot of friends who are also running it. I’m pretty excited about it. I am still trying to put together some kilts for the event. I think they may come together tomorrow night, if the stars are in alignment. Either way, I have created a sticker bearing the McNee family crest (Scottish version), that I will be proudly wearing during the race. Although the majority of my bloodline is of scandinavian origin, I also have ancestry in the McNee Clan through my mother’s grandmother Doris Nay (Nay being an American adaptation of McNee). Let’s hope for some good weather.

[photo by motogp.com]

I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t totally freaking excited for this year’s round of MotoGP action. The season hasn’t even started yet, and there has already been drama. Pedrosa, who took a nasty tumble during pre-season testing, underwent surgery last week, but is still shooting to open the season next month in Qatar.

American, and former world champion, Nicky Hayden, will be back in the mix, after leaving Honda/Repsol. He claims to be feeling confident on his new Ducati. Stoner, also former world champion, and Hayden’s new teammate, has been putting up some impressive numbers during testing. Stoner will be coming into 2009 with a chip on his shoulder, after blowing a huge lead in last year’s world championship, letting Rossi run away with it.

Speaking of drama and chips on shoulders, Sete Gibernau is back in action this year. It would be an understatement to say that there is some bad blood between Gibernau and the Yamaha Fiat team, principally Valentino Rossi. It stems from an incident that occured at the same track hosting the 2009 opener.

Finally, the Losail circuit in Qatar is the only race currently in the GP lineup, which is held at night, under the lights. 2009 will be the second season for the night race.

I am also excited for this season, because Reagan and I are tentatively planning on travelling to see the Indianapolis race this year, in August. That is only if I can’t talk her into going to Laguna for the July 4th weekend.

Who knows, in a month we may even have a new sofa. Either way, I will be taking reservations for those who would like to join me in watching the season opener on April 12, which also happens to be Easter. Hahahah.