Another stunning comeback from injury, transfer speculation… oh, and a terrific race in prospect with the MotoGP championship title race on a knife-edge at Brno at the midway point of the season.
Dani Pedrosa (SPA), Repsol Honda – 2nd, 138pts
Dani rarely falls off his Honda in races – in fact, he hadn’t retired at all since the Dutch GP last year, until he crashed out of the lead in Laguna Seca last time out. Disappointing though this was for his fans, who wanted to see back-to-back wins for the first time in his senior career, the fact he was out in front again does bode well, and a best season since 2007 could be on the cards, even if Jorge Lorenzo is starting to look like a speck in the distance. Dani came second at Brno last year, while Lorenzo retired…
Andrea Dovizioso (ITA), Repsol Honda – 3rd, 115pts
In his two years as a MotoGP rider before this season, Dovi had only climbed onto the podium twice, yet this season he did it five times in the first six races – and let’s not forget that the RC212V wasn’t exactly a dream to handle when we started the year. In Catalunya, he fell after leading Lorenzo at one stage and finished 14th, his lowest finish this season by a mile, but with two more fifth places, and a fourth last time out at Laguna, even at this halfway stage of the season it seems certain that the Italian is going to improve significantly on last year’s sixth overall in the championship. He just needs that second MotoGP victory to add a little icing to the cake…
Randy de Puniet (FRA), LCR Honda – 8th, 69pts
Anything Rossi can do… Neutrals everywhere will rejoice that, after missing just one grand prix after his horror crash with Álvaro Bautista and Aleix Espargaró at Sachsenring that broke his leg, Frenchman de Puniet is back at Brno. One thing for certain is that motorcycle racing is never dull when the Playboy LCR Honda rider is around, but the difference this season is that there have been more thrills than spills, and de Puniet was the leading privateer rider before the crash, holding fifth place overall in the standings, starting on the front row in Great Britain and the Netherlands, and not having finished lower than ninth in any race. Now with titanium in his leg, will we see more de Puniet steel in Brno?
Valentino Rossi (ITA), Fiat Yamaha – 5th, 90pts
Rossi is still recovering from his own broken leg, of course, not that fourth and third in his last two GPs would suggest it if you didn’t already know. And besides, the six-time MotoGP champ’s 2011 destination has now taken over the back pages in Italy and elsewhere. Feverish speculation will end on Sunday about whether he’ll remain at the Yamaha team he helped to achieve greatness, or switch, as expected, to ‘home’ manufacturer Ducati, as Vale has promised he’ll reveal his plans for next year after the race at Brno. Oh, and he won here last year, the year before, in 2005 and ’03, so don’t discount a 45th victory for Yamaha and a 78th in his long and illustrious top-level career.
Alex de Angelis (SMR), Interwetten Honda – 18th, 8pts
The Sammarinese retains the Interwetten ride while Hiro Aoyama’s recovery continues – the Japanese rider is scheduled to get back on the bike at the post-race test session at Brno, but it looks as if de Angelis will have at least two more grands prix in the sun before having to return the RC212V to its original owner. In the meantime, with two 12th places in his two races as stand-in – yielding eight championship points – in Germany and the USA, de Angelis is doing his long-term career prospects no harm whatsoever.
For more on MotoGP, visit our Brno event page
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