Britain is know known for many things but perhaps its most famous feature is it’s weather. Think of Jolly Olde England and you probably think cold and wet. Last weekend’s race at the historic Donington circuit in Derbyshire was unusual, even when judged by the normal English weather standards. It rained…it poured…it dumped…it was so bad that only 75,000 fans showed up to watch the race. (Wait! 75,000 shivering fans showed up in chilly torrential rains to watch a MotoGP race?!?! Damn, add England to the list of countries I should be living in!). A drenched track combined with 250hp motorcycles is a recipe for disaster but more on that later.

When the green flag flew and the field sloshed its way into turn one it was Sete Gibernau that came out the other side with the lead. Just like in Portugal earlier this year, Gibernau pulled a significant gap on the first lap despite the harsh conditions. In my pre-race blog entry I commented on how Honda riders Melandri, Hayden and Biaggi were the ones to watch this weekend. Well, if you took my advice you could have turned your TV off at half race distance. It only took that long for all three, along with Gibernau, Bayliss, Xaus, Bryne, Ellison, Battaini and Nakano to park their bikes in the Donington gravel traps. In fact, only eleven bikes finished the race and one of those was two laps down after a crash. When only ten bikes out of a field of twenty one finish a race without crashing, you know it was a brutal day at the races. Perhaps even a disasterous day.

As the Hondas threw themselves down the track (five of the seven Hondas were out within the first six laps) it was Alex Barros who emerged as the best hope for a V5 victory. He was joined up at the front by the two factory Yamahas of Rossi and Edwards and the two factory Suzukis of Roberts and Hopkins. Yes, you read that right, the two Suzukis were running at the front. I told you it was a bizarre day.

As is to be expected, “home boy” Rossi, now living in London, was the favorite no matter what the weather conditions. While Gibernau was watching his chances of this year’s championship evaporate like the steam off his mud covered Honda, Rossi inherited the lead despite a frantic battle with Edwards, Roberts, Hopkins and Barros. Hopkins took a turn at the front, surely shocking even the die hard Suzuki faithful with the idea that there was a chance a Suzuki could win this thing. That hope was somewhat diminished when Hopkins ran off the track eventually returning to the race two laps down after some hasty repairs in the pits. Rossi seemed able to comfortably retake the front position whenever he wanted. He also seemed comfortably able to recover from near-crashes and displayed that comfort nearly every lap. His luck nearly ran out in the middle of the race when he ran wide at the Esses but a miracle save allowed him to pull it back onto the track after only losing a couple of seconds. Barros and Roberts traded the lead, while Rossi put in some fast laps to catch back up and retake the point. Edwards eventually faded back from the lead trip after a few exciting moments of his own and with seven laps to go Rossi put the hammer down to record three consecutive fastest laps. Everyone, including Barros and Roberts, had to be impressed by that. Those laps, with seven still to go, sealed the fate of anyone beating the Italian maestro on this day. Rossi cruised to the win while Roberts snuck under Barros in the last few corners for second. Barros closed out the podium and Edwards trailed them home in forth.

The final damage? Rossi now holds a 104 point lead over Melandri in the championship. Edwards vaults from fifth to third, only one point down on second. Roberts’ second place finish should have all of Hamamatsu going crazy as it was the first time a Suzuki as been on the rostrum since 2002. Barros’ podium shows there are still tricks left in the old dog, especially when the track is damp, which should be helpful now that silly season is in full swing. It was also another harsh bath of salt water for the wounded Repsol factory Honda team. Expect more heads to be rolling in that garage if things aren’t dramatically different at the Sachsenring this coming weekend.

[image from the Tiscali Europe web site.]