I don’t think that anyone was expecting to see what happened this weekend in Holland. It was crazy from the first lap to the last. Out of the grid, Pedrosa was able to get ahead of Stoner. I think that if Rossi could have teamed up on Stoner, with Pedrosa, it would have been a little more of a battle. Rossi, however, low-sided in one of the first corners, taking Randy Depuniet out with him. Rossi got back on and finished 10th. Depuniet called it a day. Almost immediately after Rossi’s incident, Stoner overtook Pedrosa and had already opened up a bit of a gap by the first time through the start/finish straight. So there was a bit of a battle for the second and third place, between Pedrosa (who is still racing the RC211v with the spring valves) and his teammate, Hayden on the pneumatic valved version of the RC211v for the 2nd week in a row. I have to say that Nicky Hayden did look impressive with the new engine. Until the last lap, that is. As Hayden and Pedrosa rounded the last corner in toward the checkered flag. Hayden’s bike died on him causing him to coast most of the way, and allowing Collin Edwards to pass him for the final spot on the podium. What a punch in the nuts! Apparently Hayden took it pretty hard. He was fighting back the tears in the post-race interview. Rossi’s tumble blew the world championship wide open. Pedrosa moved into first position in the points, with Stoner and Rossi following in suit. It will be really interesting to see how the season plays out from this point. If Stoner can keep performing like he did on Sunday, he will have this year’s championship in the bag. I think that Rossi is pretty bent on making sure that doesn’t happen.
