The Italian Job, this is the title of latest movie with Rossi and Capirossi dicing in the intriguing Malaysian circuit. A movie with only two protagonists and tons of suspense. Yes, we had other actors in the play but with no chance to get into the “action scenes”. Not that we even needed them given the battle between the two Italians: I cannot even recall how many times they have passed each other. Even the commentator got confused with the replays showed while another pass was taking place. Capirossi had a faster bike and it seems more efficient on the brakes while Rossi looked better with his M1 in carrying more momentum in the part of the circuit characterized by several turns in sequence.
Both of them tried to take off but the distance separating the two riders was always filled as soon as the person in second place was riding his favorite section of the track. At the end Valentino Rossi won but it could have been Capirossi as well: both deserved to win. Probably Valentino’s acumen made the difference: the final pass was done on the brakes going into a left turn on their last lap. In the previous laps, going to that turn when Capirossi was leading, Rossi on the brakes went right to his competitor’s tail without showing the tire to take the measurements for his future attack. Also I recall him leading to the same turn and braking at the last few feet with such aggression that greatly challenged the stability of his Yamaha: even then he was probably testing another potential scenario…
The third place went to the “small but big” champion, Pedrosa : his performance was epic in consideration that on Friday he crashed and suffering a hole on his knee as big as a teaspoon and a couple of toes broken. Great mental strength for someone only 20 year old! I say mental because the physical pain must have been well in control with the magical painkillers provided by Dr. Costa’s team of specialists: I can not even imagine to bend an injured knee in a tight and oppressive leather suit without any heavy duty drug, but which one? In the past I heard that they were receiving a sort of anesthesia, but if that’s the case shouldn’t they loose their sensibility? Talking about injured people, Gibernau looked good on the red missile. I just hope for him to ride strong in the last 4 races so to improve his odds to get a good bike for next year: so far Ducati has renewed the contract only to Capirossi. On the other hand Hayden got a 4th place; no bad, but not enough from someone who is still leading the championship. Unfortunately the impression is that he is there only when the big guys are injured or suffering mechanical issues. And on this note I would like to ask a question: what is it happening to Melandri? How is it possible that the Fortuna Team so regular and competitive at the beginning of the season is not able to perform adequately at the end? Yes, I am a bit malicious but knowing what Honda has done in the past, I would not be surprised if they were “affecting” a bit the other satellite team to help the two official Team Repsol riders. Can you imagine if last Sunday Pedrosa and Hayden had made 4th and 5th because of a Melandri?
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