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This past weekend demonstrated that it takes a team effort to win races.  Rossi is clearly the best rider, yet only managed to finish sixth.  Hayden is struggling this year, and he was doing well in the wet…well…until he wadded it up.  And finally, what’s up with the Frenchmen and Vermeulen?  Nice work fellas!

This race was all about strategy, not speed.  If I remember correctly, Vermeulen came in a lap before the current leaders.  It paid off.  Edwards came in about three laps before the current leaders.  Obviously, that did not pay off.

Don’t get me wrong…the lack of speed made it a little dull at times, but the in-turn antics made up for it.  For me, it was pretty fun to watch.  I especially liked seeing some of the new-comers up front (even if they’re frogs).

NOTE:  I noticed the race was way behind schedule.  It had eleven laps to go with 15 minutes left of viewing time.  How will this be resolved, I wondered.  The magic of tape delayed viewings, to the best of my memory, went from lap eleven to lap three in one commercial break!  A lot got clipped there.

As of today, the good ‘ol USA has John Hopkins as it ray of sunshine for this season.  With a DNF, Hayden’s season is officially toast (as if he had a chance at this point anyway).  And Edwards was consistently ’sucky’ when it mattered.  My guess is this will be his last season.  I like him as a person, role model, and racer.  His time has came and gone.

I have to wonder if Hayden kicks himself in the ass every morning for not jumping ship to Ducati.  I love the loyalty, I really do.  That take a lot of sportsmanship these days where the almighty dollar talks.  But you just gotta wonder.