MotoGP News - Surprises in Shanghai

The world's premier motorcycle roadracing series held its third round for the first time ever at the new track in Shanghai, China, and there were many surprises, to be sure. Yes, defending multi-time, multi-class champion, Valentino Rossi of Italy scored another victory aboard the Team Gauloises factory Yamaha in a very wet race, but that was not really a surprise. The surprise was who came in second.

After being away from MotoGP for seven months, driving in the French Touring Car series, former Yamaha rider Olivier Jacques, substituting for injured rider Alex Hoffman, rode the newly reinvigorated Kawasaki to a second place finish. After catching and dogging mercilessly Rossi's main nemesis, Spaniard Sete Gibernau on a Honda, for several laps, Jacques passed him for second spot and checked-out, never looking back. At one point "OJ" was over a full second per lap faster than Rossi who had over a six second lead, and Jacques looked to make a serious challenge for the lead toward the end of the race, finishing just 1.7 seconds behind Rossi. This was really exciting stuff. But the surprises didn't end there, either.

Gibernau was then relegated back to fourth place after his team mate, former 250cc world champion, Marco Melandri, passed him to fill the third and final spot on the podium on the Team Movistar Honda. But the surprises didn't end there, either.

Dutch rider, Jurgen van der Goorbergh, finished sixth on a satellite team Honda, after a three year hiatus from the series, not having raced since 2002. Veteran MotoGP rider, Max Biaggi, finished ahead of him in fifth place on a factory Honda.

Americans John Hopkins, Colin Edwards, and Nicky Hayden finished 7th, 8th, and 9th, respectively. Hopkins actually jumped to an early lead before being passed by his Suzuki team mate and former world champion, Kenny Roberts, Jr., son of the legendary former world champion, Kenny Roberts, who revolutionized motorcycle roadracing back in the 1970's by introducing the "hang-off the bike and drag the knee through the corners" style that is now the standard technique. Roberts, Jr. retired from the race after 17 laps when his motorcycle ingested water from the rain into the intake tract of the engine. For a complete recap and race results go here. This season is shaping-up to be quite interesting and exciting as Rossi, having already acheived legendary status, yet not infallible, rides towards another possible world title.