Valentino finishes the Italian Job

Valentino Rossi has not had the most impressive of seasons since his arrival at the Ducati camp last year, . He hit an all time low in the 2011 season, which he finished without winning even a single Grand-Prix . Prior to this year’s San Marino GP , the legendary racer had set foot on the podium only once in the 2012 season. His stint with Ducati was perceived to be his worst ever run in his otherwise illustrious career. This caused a lot of heart-ache to all his fans, the Italian fans especially. Rossi would’ve desperately wanted to give back something to team- Ducati considering the long drought they had endured for so long.What better stage could he have asked for, than the San Marino GP , to bring some cheer and hope into the Ducati Camp. The desire to rekindle the passion of the Italian fans at their home was too strong for him to resist and boy, did he do it in style ! Although he did not win the race, the “doctor” made sure that he hung on to his second position for the entire stretch of the 27 lap race and fly-past the chequered flag to finish at the second place on the Podium. He did not waste much time in hopping off his bike after crossing the finish line and heading to the Italian fans- section of the crowd, gesturing to them, as if to say that he was dedicating this win to them. An emotional moment it was indeed for everybody involved, the fans, the technicians,the rider and the MotoGP fans world-over.It was no easy task for Rossi, mind you, as Bradyl gave him a real good ‘run for his money’ being just a sniff away from his rear -tyre for most part of the race. Finally there was a some respite for Rossi when Bradyl the hunter became the hunted when he was overtaken by a highly detrmined- Bautista who got into 3rd position. However, it was Yamaha’s Dovizioso who made the best moves of the day.He surpassed Bradyl to take the 4th position during the last few laps, thanks to some skilful maneuvers and perfect timing.

To steal the show from Rossi at San Marino during the last lap while pursuing his quest for a podium finish, spoke volumes about Dovizioso’s performance, which gave Bautista a real scare, till the very last second of the race.The Monster-Yamaha racer fell frustratingly’ a fraction of a second’ short of winning the podium place, which the Spaniard Bautista held on to with his dear life. It was heartening to see a ‘ faint smile’ on the face of Dovisioso, who seemed to have resigned to his fate despite the herculean effort towards the end. The commentators empathized with Dovisioso, but felt it was too little coming too late. Dani Pedrosa was unlucky to crash out in the fist lap, pushing the Championship chances further away from him, while immediate competitor Lorenzo sealed the GP with a hands-down win.Overall, it was a great day for MotoGP. A day which had all the action , a day which will go down in the history books, as the day when the legend called Rossi rose from the dead and lived up to the expectations of his fans and got their moneys worth.