Le Mans

:00:26. > :00:31.. That was the greatest race I've ever done to be honest. Good stuff

:00:31. > :00:41.from Stoner. He never won here before, but Casey Stoner takes the

:00:41. > :01:06.

:01:06. > :01:10.Hello, we are at sunny Le lance for round four of the MotoGP World

:01:10. > :01:14.Championship. But over the past three days, the French Grand Prix

:01:14. > :01:18.has been a mere back story to the absolute bombshell that was dropped

:01:18. > :01:24.in the pre-event press conference on Thursday afternoon by the

:01:24. > :01:29.world's number one rider. This has come after a long time of

:01:29. > :01:36.thinking, a lot of time talking with my family and my wife and this

:01:36. > :01:40.has been coming for a couple of years now. But at the end of this

:01:40. > :01:45.2012 season I will not be racing in the 2013 Championship. I will be

:01:45. > :01:49.finishing my career at the end of this season in MotoGP and go

:01:49. > :01:54.forward in different things in my life. After so many years of doing

:01:54. > :01:59.the sport which I love, myself and my family made so many sacrifices

:01:59. > :02:03.for this, after so many years of trying to get to where we have

:02:03. > :02:08.gotten to at this point, this sport has changed a lot and it's changed

:02:08. > :02:14.to the point where I'm not enjoying it. I don't have the passion for it.

:02:14. > :02:18.So at this time, it's better if I retire now.

:02:18. > :02:22.Wow. I still can't quite believe it now, to be honest. At 26 years of

:02:22. > :02:28.age, with two world titles under his belt and a third potentially on

:02:28. > :02:31.the way at the end of the season, Casey Stoner will be walking away

:02:31. > :02:35.from racing. Quite an incredible moment really in any sport that he

:02:35. > :02:38.would do that. Obviously, he's unhappy with the way the sport is

:02:38. > :02:42.going, moving towards CRT racing, which is less of the prototype

:02:42. > :02:46.racing that he loves, but even so, there has to be much more to it

:02:46. > :02:50.than that. With the benefit of a little bit of hindsight at least,

:02:50. > :02:55.he sat down with us on Friday to give us a little bit more behind

:02:55. > :02:59.his reasons. 24 hours on from that shock press

:02:59. > :03:02.conference, it was a shock to us anyway, I'm presuming you haven't

:03:02. > :03:06.changed your mind. I guess the question on everybody's mind is

:03:06. > :03:10.still why? Yeah, that's the question everybody

:03:10. > :03:16.wants one answer to, and to be honest, there's not one thing I can

:03:16. > :03:21.say that gave me this reason to retire. You know, the accumulation

:03:21. > :03:26.of a lot of different things and a lot of thins over the years, a lot

:03:26. > :03:30.of decisions that have been made. I just don't see myself being here in

:03:30. > :03:34.the future and enjoying it. I'm struggling to enjoy it as it is now.

:03:34. > :03:39.I feel like I've only got this year left in me and after that it

:03:39. > :03:42.wouldn't be right to take a ride away from someone else, to take

:03:42. > :03:48.money out when I haven't got the real heart in it.

:03:48. > :03:51.Takes a lot of courage to walk away from something like this at the age

:03:51. > :03:55.of 26 when you are at the peak of your powers as well, probably in

:03:55. > :03:59.the best form of your life. I guess that's something that people

:03:59. > :04:02.struggle to understand too? I think the best form of my life would

:04:02. > :04:07.never really stop. You can always keep growing and keep going. Same

:04:07. > :04:12.thing, where does it stop, where do you stop and I think that's where

:04:12. > :04:18.most people, many times they get it wrong, as they say that they want

:04:18. > :04:22.to retire when they stop enjoying it. But they keep going further and

:04:22. > :04:25.further then to the point where they're really not enjoying

:04:25. > :04:30.themselves, they dislike the sport and leave in bad terms with it. I

:04:30. > :04:33.want to try and leave on as good a terms as I can with what I'm doing

:04:33. > :04:37.and try and enjoy it and still being able to get results is a

:04:37. > :04:40.great way to leave. As I said, you are still only 26.

:04:40. > :04:45.But another thing perhaps people don't realise is just how long you

:04:45. > :04:49.have been at this game? Yes, well, you know, we came over to the UK

:04:49. > :04:55.when I was 14 so we've been doing this for quite a long time and by

:04:55. > :04:59.the time I retire I'll be 27. We have been at it a long, long time

:04:59. > :05:03.and putting lot of effort towards it. With all the effort that we put

:05:03. > :05:07.in, in the past especially, we got burnt so many times.

:05:07. > :05:12.There's just been so many things over the years. Even up to the

:05:12. > :05:15.point where I thought I was, I thought I had a family in the

:05:15. > :05:19.manufacturer, then they go behind your back, and you know, really

:05:19. > :05:24.burn you hard. Considering all the effort and everything that we've

:05:24. > :05:27.put in, it was just time after time it kept happening again and I've

:05:27. > :05:31.really found somewhere that I'm happy in Honda but unfortunately, I

:05:31. > :05:34.just haven't got it any more, I haven't got that feeling for when

:05:34. > :05:38.I'm out there riding. I haven't got the excitement that I used to have.

:05:38. > :05:43.The only thing that gets my heart racing now is the actual race and

:05:43. > :05:46.that's the smallest part of the job. Has your decision perhaps been

:05:46. > :05:49.affected or your mindset by seeing perhaps other people gone too long

:05:49. > :05:55.in their profession? I think it was always something

:05:55. > :06:02.when I was younger as well. I never wanted to race until I was in my

:06:02. > :06:06.mid 30s. I could still be very competitive. I was married young,

:06:06. > :06:10.I've had a child young and I want to settle down with my family and

:06:10. > :06:12.watch my little girl grow up without the stress and hustle and

:06:12. > :06:16.bustle. I know it's difficult, if not

:06:16. > :06:20.impossible for you to say right now, but would you definitively rule out

:06:20. > :06:25.a return in the future? Yes, I won't, you know, I said to somebody

:06:25. > :06:29.before maybe if it came back to two strokes and maybe 7 52 strokes,

:06:29. > :06:33.something like that, it would be a heck of a lot of fun, but still I

:06:33. > :06:36.don't think it would be permanently. It might be for the odd little ride

:06:36. > :06:39.here and there to enjoy myself but I can't see myself coming back.

:06:39. > :06:44.Casey, whatever you do in the future, we wish you the best of

:06:44. > :06:49.luck and it's been a great career to watch. Thank you very much.

:06:49. > :06:53.Really it has. There's pretty much no chance we'll go back to two

:06:53. > :06:56.strokes, certainly not 7 52 strokes. It seems that's it. Having listened

:06:56. > :07:02.to that interview and had a few days to get over the shock news,

:07:02. > :07:06.what are your thoughts? He's definitely not coming back, it's

:07:06. > :07:11.what he told you. It's shocking. My great disappointment is we are

:07:11. > :07:16.never going to see how far he got. I think we both agree, he's read

:07:16. > :07:21.hot for this year, could have strung three in a row target.

:07:21. > :07:26.the feeling it's like a cry for help, he's upset by people in

:07:26. > :07:31.Ducati not keeping him in the family. If he'd have been dumped by

:07:31. > :07:35.girlfriends and things as many times as I had, he's been upset but

:07:35. > :07:38.he wants people to take note of what's happened in the past. Do you

:07:38. > :07:43.think he'll come back then? he'll get bored, no question about

:07:43. > :07:47.it, you are a long time retired. He'll do something else. When he

:07:47. > :07:52.was with Ducati, he's never really forgiven them over the mystery

:07:52. > :07:55.illness which turned out to be lactose intolerance. He made his

:07:55. > :07:59.decision and exacted his revenge by quitting them. I think if you cut

:07:59. > :08:03.him, he bleeds, he gets upset. One guy who certainly knows him

:08:03. > :08:08.waepbld knows all about the pressures of performing

:08:08. > :08:13.consistently over several years at top level here is the five time

:08:13. > :08:16.world champion Mick Doonan who joins us from the Gold Coast in

:08:16. > :08:20.Australia where I'm sure the weather's a bit better. But I guess

:08:20. > :08:27.you woke up to the news on Friday morning? What was your first

:08:27. > :08:31.reaction to it Yes, look, I didn't know how to

:08:31. > :08:38.take it, whether it was just part of some negotiations for next

:08:38. > :08:43.year's contract, to be honest. But it seems like he's wanting to

:08:43. > :08:47.really retire at the end of the year. I was going to say, Mick, you

:08:47. > :08:53.retired at a later age, but you are a long time retire and get a buzz

:08:53. > :08:57.from other things. But at 26, it's kind of early, it seems, to me?

:08:57. > :09:02.There is a good 50 or 60 years left in him really isn't it, so it's a

:09:02. > :09:07.long time to be retired. I was listening in on your interview with

:09:07. > :09:12.him before and he has been at it for a long time, but still, I would

:09:12. > :09:17.have thought he's really riding unbelievably at the moment. I would

:09:17. > :09:20.have thought to at least have another year or two left in him. I

:09:20. > :09:24.have spoken to him earlier, that was at Christmas time, he was at

:09:24. > :09:29.home here and he had mentioned that he wasn't enjoying it and was

:09:29. > :09:32.thinking of getting out sooner rather than later. But I didn't

:09:32. > :09:36.think at the start of the fourth round of this year's Championship

:09:36. > :09:40.he'd make that announcement. Do you share our view that there's still

:09:40. > :09:47.the best to come from him? There was still much more to get out of

:09:47. > :09:52.him this year and next as well? He's really just getting into his

:09:52. > :09:59.stride and the things he's doing with that bike, you know, they were

:09:59. > :10:02.amazing. I'm sure the bike's good but what he's doing with it is just

:10:02. > :10:06.amazing stuff. I think that's probably the other thing. I think

:10:06. > :10:15.people, when you are winning and doing it the way he's doing it,

:10:15. > :10:22.people always say he's doing this or that, I think he takes things

:10:22. > :10:27.too much to heart. Instead of getting on and understanding

:10:27. > :10:34.there's nothing in it and people are not trying to break him down.

:10:34. > :10:38.Are you watching the race tonight? I will be watching from the

:10:38. > :10:42.comforts of my dry couch. Thanks, mate. You guys enjoy the rain over

:10:42. > :10:45.there. You won't be missing it today, I can tell you, it's

:10:45. > :10:50.horrible out there. These are the reasons why you probably do retire.

:10:50. > :10:55.Thank you very much, Mick. EnYour Evening. Worth pointing out

:10:55. > :11:00.that Mick was 29 when he won his first title, went on to win another

:11:00. > :11:06.five. Casey still 26. The boys are on the grid behind us. They are the

:11:06. > :11:11.thoughts of the three wise men. What about the guys that Casey's

:11:11. > :11:16.literally leaving behind, not for the first time? Yes, it's a

:11:16. > :11:21.surprise because he's very young, same age as me, and very talented.

:11:21. > :11:26.It's a big pressure here, it's a long time. Even when you are young,

:11:26. > :11:31.it's a long time racing. But you have to put the things on a balance

:11:31. > :11:38.and take what's best for you, you know. Maybe for him now, the

:11:38. > :11:45.balance is not right. I understand him, I respect his position and I

:11:45. > :11:52.respect him because he's been great all the time. Casey is one of the

:11:52. > :11:58.strongest. We lose one of the most talented rider in history. Next

:11:58. > :12:03.year he will not be there, so it's going to be strange for the riders

:12:03. > :12:08.this year for sure. Yes, it was a big surprise, because personally I

:12:08. > :12:11.think that he continue minimum another season. Yes, it's a pity,

:12:11. > :12:18.especially for MotoGP because we lose a great rider.

:12:18. > :12:22.You know, I kind of saw it coming, I figured he might be having

:12:22. > :12:28.another year left in him and if he retired this year I didn't think

:12:28. > :12:32.he'd announce it. But he's got a family and a kid now and the MotoGP

:12:32. > :12:36.Championships are off, even if you are single, family-wise. He wants

:12:36. > :12:40.to have another life, just not racing and fair play to him. That's

:12:40. > :12:43.what he wants and that's what he said he wanted even years ago so he

:12:43. > :12:48.doesn't really surprise me but it's a shake-up for the Championships

:12:48. > :12:51.for sure. I try to convince him to stay here,

:12:51. > :12:55.but I couldn't. Maybe this is my fault.

:12:55. > :12:59.If the rumours are true that Honda have offered to double his money,

:12:59. > :13:09.I'm not sure that there's that much more that can be done. We want to

:13:09. > :13:10.

:13:10. > :13:18.try and get a word with this man who's in another interview. Still

:13:18. > :13:22.going strong at 43. Great to see you. Your thoughts on Casey Stoner,

:13:22. > :13:26.a different scenario to yourself leaving the sport at 26. Can you

:13:26. > :13:29.sympathise with his reasons why? mean he will have his reasons,

:13:29. > :13:32.otherwise he wouldn't have decided to do that. You have to respect

:13:32. > :13:37.that. You give so much to your sport and there's a moment when you

:13:37. > :13:42.think that's it. I know when it was for me at the time, but for him

:13:42. > :13:50.being so young, he has the option obviously to not quit for the rest

:13:50. > :13:53.of his life. He can take a break and a spwatical and may come back.

:13:53. > :13:58.-- sabbatical. Valentino Rossi has announced he's going to stay in

:13:58. > :14:02.MotoGP for another two years, we don't know which bike it will be on

:14:02. > :14:05.yet. Do you think he's still got it and can win races at this level?

:14:05. > :14:08.great champion like him, you don't lose that. Obviously he's going

:14:08. > :14:16.through a difficult period right now, do you compare it a little to

:14:16. > :14:21.your own situation? No. I think everybody has his own situation and

:14:21. > :14:25.circumstance. I don't think they are comparable. There might be some

:14:25. > :14:29.similarities at the end of the day, but let's see. If he decides to

:14:29. > :14:33.leave another three years it's because he's motivated and wants to

:14:34. > :14:36.do it. Good luck with the rest of your season, Michael. Valentino

:14:37. > :14:41.Rossi announced at the same press conference as Casey that he will be

:14:41. > :14:44.staying in MotoGP for the next two years. As Michael said, there is

:14:44. > :14:47.always the possibility that Casey could go home for a couple of years

:14:47. > :14:50.and decide to come back just like he did. But there's no doubt that

:14:50. > :14:55.he is leaving at the end of the season and he does so in the form

:14:55. > :14:59.of his life. He's taken back-to- back wins in the last two races,

:14:59. > :15:09.two circuits he had never won at before, and he managed to expend

:15:09. > :15:12.

:15:12. > :15:18.his podium run to an entire season. He had the pace. He had the poll

:15:18. > :15:26.position. He is always at the top of the time sheet.

:15:26. > :15:36.Steener has done -- Stoner has done it. Stoner has done it!

:15:36. > :15:37.

:15:37. > :15:40.This will be his 30th win. A good flight this.

:15:40. > :15:50.Casey Stoner has finished on the podium at every single race this

:15:50. > :15:53.

:15:53. > :16:03.year. Casey Stoner is the world champion!

:16:03. > :16:04.

:16:04. > :16:08.And Stoner wins. Twelve months without stepping off

:16:08. > :16:13.the box, that's some achievement, but more importantly than that for

:16:13. > :16:23.Casey, it moved him to the top of the current standings by a point

:16:23. > :16:24.

:16:24. > :16:30.ahead of Jorge Lorenzo. Cal Crutchlow lying fourth in the

:16:30. > :16:34.championship. Just a sign of how well Cal has done in the opening

:16:34. > :16:38.three rounds of this season. The weather conditions out here are not

:16:38. > :16:42.good at all. Cal Crutchlow will be starting from the second row.

:16:42. > :16:47.Really anything could happen here today. No Colin Edwards on the grid.

:16:47. > :16:53.You may remember a couple of weeks ago, he had that crash in practise

:16:53. > :16:56.when he was hit by Randy de Puniet. He broke his collarbone. He went to

:16:56. > :17:01.Barcelona for an operation. He had the collarbone plated up. He has

:17:01. > :17:06.been sent out to Texas to make a slow reroverry. We have a

:17:06. > :17:16.replacement for him. He will be bat the back of the grid. No surprises

:17:16. > :17:23.

:17:23. > :17:30.there. A surprise is that we have Dani Pedrosa on poll position. His

:17:30. > :17:33.His first pole of the season. Malaysia 2011 was Last Bid pole

:17:33. > :17:38.position appearance and after mixed conditions in qualifying yesterday,

:17:38. > :17:45.he managed to stick that Honda back at the front of the grid. He has

:17:45. > :17:53.done it here four times before in motto GP, but never hanged to win a

:17:53. > :17:58.race -- managed to win a race here. Not the case for Casey Stoner. He

:17:59. > :18:07.was on pole last year and he won the race. He will be looking to do

:18:08. > :18:11.that from second on the grid. He is a wet specialist. So that's your

:18:11. > :18:15.front two on the grid. Charlie, it is chaotic down here. We are

:18:15. > :18:24.getting water in the works so why don't you run us through the rest

:18:24. > :18:28.OK, what a bit of work. Stoner got held up, Jorge Lorenzo reckons he

:18:28. > :18:33.did, but Dani Pedrosa really got the whole shot. This is his first

:18:33. > :18:37.pole position since Malaysia last year. He says, "I am not a pole man,

:18:37. > :18:44.year. He says, "I am not a pole man, but it is quite handy." On pole

:18:44. > :18:53.position, it is Honda and Honda, alongside Dani Pedrosa is Stoner.

:18:53. > :19:03.When you have got Cal Crutchlow in the middle of the second row

:19:03. > :19:09.

:19:09. > :19:19.alongside Jorge Lorenzo. Karel Abraham and he is flying the flag

:19:19. > :19:23.

:19:23. > :19:26.bet against Dani Pedrosa going into the first corner first, would you?

:19:26. > :19:34.Well, he is usually the favourite to get into that first turn first

:19:34. > :19:39.and he does so from pole position. Alongside him and a contender for

:19:39. > :19:43.the podium today is Andrea Dovizioso.

:19:43. > :19:51.He is a wet specialist. He doesn't like talking on the grid to anybody.

:19:51. > :19:57.So as he grabbed a -- so we grabbed a quick word with him a while ago.

:19:57. > :20:04.The first first front row with the Yamaha. Maybe you prefer a fight

:20:04. > :20:09.Yamaha. Maybe you prefer a fight today? I prefer to ride in the dry.

:20:09. > :20:17.I mean this is a race, it is OK. Normally in the wet I'm fast, but

:20:17. > :20:22.in the warm up, the feeling wasn't that 100% and the grip here is

:20:22. > :20:29.really difficult, tricky and we have to do some changes for the

:20:29. > :20:33.race and we hope it will be in the good direction. It is still raining

:20:33. > :20:36.so the race will be wet. What will be the plan for the race?

:20:36. > :20:40.Sorry. What will be the plan for the race?

:20:40. > :20:48.Fortunately, I start on the first row and it is really important to

:20:48. > :20:52.start on front when it is wet, when the grip is like this. But in this

:20:52. > :20:59.race, you have to be really smooth because there is no grip and it is

:20:59. > :21:06.so easy to crash. I don't know, everybody is aggressive. At the

:21:06. > :21:10.moment, I don't have a strategy. So no strategy from Andrea

:21:10. > :21:15.Dovizioso or at least that's what he is telling us! What about his

:21:15. > :21:24.team-mate, Cal Crutchlow. He has got a strategy for keeping warm. A

:21:24. > :21:32.woolly hat. He looks like a burg burglar! There is a nice little pep

:21:32. > :21:36.talk. A quick word word with Cal. Get the boss out of the way. It is

:21:36. > :21:40.not as if it is his home Grand Prix. You set the fastest time of the

:21:40. > :21:45.session, are you comfortable with the bike in these conditions?

:21:45. > :21:49.I think it is a disaster for everyone. We all want add dry race,

:21:49. > :21:54.but you are going to have a wet race over the year at some point.

:21:54. > :21:58.Hopefully it is now and not Silver stone. I think we did a good job in

:21:58. > :22:03.warm up and we struggled in the qualifying. We could have

:22:03. > :22:08.challenged for the pole position. We went out with the wrong set and

:22:08. > :22:11.we didn't have time to change it. It is a long, long race, 28 laps in

:22:11. > :22:18.these conditions and we will have to do the best job we can and shame

:22:18. > :22:21.about the weather for your hair. The quiff is going sideways.

:22:21. > :22:27.Set-up problems, you know what it is like.

:22:27. > :22:34.I won't wear one of those hats, that's for sure.

:22:34. > :22:37.Let's hope can keep it up because he will be a contender.

:22:37. > :22:41.People getting in your way, no respect, some people.

:22:41. > :22:50.I believe you have got somebody else who is looking tor a here --

:22:50. > :22:54.We have seen one French rider win a race today. I won't give it way in

:22:54. > :22:57.case you are waiting for the highlights. I'm with Randy de

:22:57. > :23:02.Puniet. There is a few thousand French fans here and they have been

:23:02. > :23:07.loud all day. I guess you want to give them a good show? Yes, sure, I

:23:07. > :23:11.will do my best to. The conditions are very very different compared to

:23:11. > :23:14.the practise, but the bike is a little bit better than the warm up

:23:14. > :23:17.when my feeling wasn't good and I really hope to take a lot of points

:23:17. > :23:23.this afternoon. What can be the plan with

:23:23. > :23:28.conditions like this? The plan is to do my best and stay focused. I

:23:28. > :23:34.think this will be a crazy race. Is it hard to stay focused knowing

:23:34. > :23:38.there is so much support out there? It is more hard to stay focused on

:23:38. > :23:47.this track. Good luck, Randy.

:23:47. > :23:54.I want to show you Michele Pirro, the Italian rider for Honda on the

:23:54. > :23:58.CRT bike. Let's see that gum shield. Pretty cool. The weekend was going

:23:59. > :24:04.well. Warm up a little bit difficult in full wet conditions.

:24:04. > :24:13.Have you managed to find something for the race? Yes, the weekend is

:24:13. > :24:18.dry conditions and it is not so bad. In the wet conditions, it is very

:24:18. > :24:24.difficult with this bike and OK, the race will be very difficult,

:24:24. > :24:29.but I try the maximum and I don't know.

:24:29. > :24:39.What's the feeling with this bike on this track? With the dry

:24:39. > :24:49.

:24:49. > :24:59.conditions, not so bad, but in wet conditions, it is very rubbish.

:24:59. > :25:05.Michele Pirro riding the British British British chassis. I was

:25:06. > :25:12.hoping to get a word with Dani Pedrosa's crew chief who is making

:25:12. > :25:17.a few final adjustments here. Dani on pole position and how is

:25:17. > :25:21.the wet setting for him? You had a good dry setting yesterday, does

:25:21. > :25:26.that translate well? The conditions change always. It is more more

:25:26. > :25:31.better than in the morning so we will know after the race!

:25:31. > :25:35.I hope it is nice. You said it, thanks, Mike.

:25:35. > :25:39.Woolly hats are the fashion on the grid! We are getting thrown off. I

:25:39. > :25:49.was looking around for Scott Reading because he finish on the

:25:49. > :25:53.

:25:53. > :26:03.podium in the the race. We had spoke about Chris earlier on, he

:26:03. > :26:19.

:26:19. > :26:24.joins the party in place of Colin Here backstage at the fans area and

:26:24. > :26:28.I bumped into an old face, Chris. Welcome, back to the pod dock, how

:26:28. > :26:31.is it? It is good. It has been a couple of of years since I have

:26:31. > :26:35.been here. The weekend has gone great. It is hard work, but I'm

:26:35. > :26:41.having fun. I know you got married recenty?

:26:41. > :26:46.Well, yeah, that keeps you busy. Full-time husband. I had a knee

:26:46. > :26:49.injury and there was a long rehab from that, I got married and I have

:26:49. > :26:52.been working on getting fit, but I'm excited to be back on a

:26:52. > :26:58.motorbike. And that's the CRT, it was

:26:58. > :27:03.different to the last one that you were on. What's The feeling on it?

:27:03. > :27:08.It is not the easiest bike to race. It is a fun bike. It is a race bike.

:27:08. > :27:12.We are on good Fire Service and suspension and -- tyres and

:27:12. > :27:18.suspension. There is a good bunch of guys in the garage. Let's see

:27:18. > :27:27.how we get on this weekend. You have good memories of Le Mans

:27:27. > :27:31.from 2007? Yes, 2007, was, you know my only win and it was here and

:27:31. > :27:36.Suzuka is a special place and it brings back a lot of memories, but

:27:36. > :27:42.it is great to get on a bike here. We will just do what we can.

:27:43. > :27:52.It has been fun talking to you. I just heard your name out there. I

:27:53. > :28:12.

:28:12. > :28:15.think you are wanted. ready, Stoner's eyes there, he is

:28:15. > :28:17.thinking to himself, "There is weight off my mind." It is a hard

:28:17. > :28:20.thing to do, knowing it is the end of the season for you.

:28:20. > :28:24.When the lights go out, he will be ringing the neck of that bike. It

:28:24. > :28:30.will be a race of who stays on. You will see the piercing eyes of lots

:28:30. > :28:35.of the riders. They are wearing clear visors. There is double

:28:35. > :28:39.misting systems. It is a recipe for steaming up. You have a hot head

:28:39. > :28:44.and it is damp. The view from the helicopter that is struggling today

:28:44. > :28:49.in these conditions. They are vying for the wettest race of the year

:28:49. > :28:55.and it is nearly as close as Silverstone last year. Silverstone

:28:55. > :28:59.in less than a month from now, it is hot and sunny because I've

:29:00. > :29:05.ordered it. I'm camping. It is so slippy, we

:29:05. > :29:10.have just seen this the supporting races a crash fest. 18 riders

:29:10. > :29:15.didn't finish. I was watching that and riders were falling off doing

:29:15. > :29:18.the most innocent of things. It is slippery than a greasy pig out

:29:18. > :29:21.there. It is kind of horrible. The guys

:29:21. > :29:27.were tipping off. Because you have got lots of different surfaces,

:29:27. > :29:32.part of the track is used as a 24- hour race. That Museum Corner, it

:29:32. > :29:42.was catching a lot of people out. It seemed toffs catching people out,

:29:42. > :29:42.

:29:42. > :29:47.but this part here, this is Turn - we are on Turn eight. Back to nine,

:29:47. > :29:52.down the bottom end, and then, of course, we get to the start and

:29:52. > :29:54.finish turn and into four, is all the Le Mans, 24-hour part of the

:29:54. > :29:58.circuit. The visibility is unbelievable. If

:29:58. > :30:01.that's what we can get out of a camera, what do you think these

:30:01. > :30:07.guys have with water over their visors. That is a place where we

:30:07. > :30:11.have seen lots of people crash. The race that Chris won, that's the

:30:12. > :30:15.same corner where Nicky Hayden through it away. That's where that

:30:15. > :30:23.took place at this meeting last year, of course, fairly early on in

:30:24. > :30:26.the race. They had a ride on pen A Dani Pedrosa will need to get that

:30:26. > :30:31.200 horsepower off the track because you don't want to be in the

:30:31. > :30:41.pack when you get to turn one. There will be pushing and shoving

:30:41. > :30:44.

:30:44. > :30:51.and bad visibility from the spray. Watch out for Valentino Rossi. He

:30:51. > :30:58.looked sharp this morning. Only on the row three of the start of the

:30:58. > :31:03.grid. Dani Pedrosa always kicks off well.

:31:03. > :31:04.One of the most difficult corners here, super fast followed by a

:31:04. > :31:12.here, super fast followed by a tight lift. Risky chance of going

:31:12. > :31:19.round the outside, but it can be done. It can start. If you can stop,

:31:19. > :31:25.we'll find out soon. Dani Pedrosa. There's a rider down. Tangle on the

:31:25. > :31:32.tee off. Back at the front, it's Dani Pedrosa leading. A great big

:31:32. > :31:35.lunge there from Stoner. He's just held on to it. Lorenzo. Can he keep

:31:35. > :31:43.it neat? He can. Told you to watch out for Rossi as well. He's in the

:31:43. > :31:50.thick of it. That is an absolute nightmare. His home Grand Prix.

:31:50. > :31:53.That is just what he does not want. He spun up and fired him off. What

:31:53. > :31:57.an ignaminious way to end your Grand Prix. Whatever you said to

:31:57. > :32:03.him, it didn't work. The French fans will all be going home now and

:32:03. > :32:08.the car park will be cleared as we watch Valentino Rossi going on. It

:32:08. > :32:15.was a very, very strong, brave start from Lorenzo. Look at this.

:32:15. > :32:25.Three abreast. That is pretty big. Hayden was right back. Lorenzo

:32:25. > :32:27.

:32:27. > :32:30.makes the lunge. I wouldn't want to send him out there with slick tyres

:32:30. > :32:34.in these conditions. Won't be any change of bikes in this generally

:32:35. > :32:40.because it's staying wet. Lorenzo's made it stick. Nicely planted in

:32:40. > :32:44.there. The number 99 machine. Jorge Lorenzo leaves the race. Stoner

:32:44. > :32:49.behind. Valentino Rossi, look at that. Cal Crutchlow having a look

:32:49. > :32:53.at his team-mate. Cal was the faster rider in the warm-up this

:32:53. > :32:57.morning. This is a long 28 lap race, it's who is going to be up right at

:32:57. > :33:00.the end. He was very, very comfortable in

:33:00. > :33:06.the slippery conditions. Obviously Steve, everybody is getting their

:33:06. > :33:09.feel for it. Don't want to chance around too much, as we saw in the

:33:09. > :33:15.supporting classes. That is a revelation. Lorenzo felt he was

:33:15. > :33:20.held up in qualifying but boy he has some red hot pace here. Stoner

:33:20. > :33:23.had a look, but couldn't quite make anything of it. It's really tricky

:33:23. > :33:28.and visibility wise, you question yourself, what am I doing this for

:33:28. > :33:37.because you can't see where you are going. 180 miles there in the

:33:37. > :33:40.pouring rain. Stefan Bradl had a good start. He's in the pack.

:33:40. > :33:46.saw Randy De Puniet went out. I don't know how that fits in with

:33:46. > :33:51.the rules, but it's probably a French interpretation of the rules.

:33:51. > :33:58.Ivan Silva is out. He was the only guy that went for the harder option

:33:58. > :34:02.front tyre, and it clearly hasn't worked. OK, note to self, use soft

:34:02. > :34:06.tyre next time. Pedrosa has to give best. So how

:34:07. > :34:11.about that. Lorenzo, Stoner, Pedrosa and Rossi, I've been

:34:11. > :34:16.waiting for a while to say that. Rossi was on the podium here last

:34:16. > :34:20.year, the only one since he joined the Ducati team. Stoner has the

:34:21. > :34:24.sights of the number 99 Yamaha right in front of him. He's got to

:34:24. > :34:29.peer through the haze of water. Rossi, this is looking good. Nice

:34:29. > :34:33.and comfortable in the warm-up this morning and often it does sort a

:34:33. > :34:39.motorcycle out if it's not working well for you, it can work well in

:34:39. > :34:49.the wet. Crutchlow trying to find a way round this team-mate. Best let

:34:49. > :34:51.

:34:51. > :34:56.things settle down, work out where and who is faster. The Tech 3 team

:34:56. > :35:06.have clearly changed something. Heading round again. A little tight

:35:06. > :35:08.

:35:08. > :35:11.there. Have a look at Cal Crutchlow.

:35:11. > :35:16.Andrea Dovizioso. Super fast. Pedrosa will have the shock of his

:35:16. > :35:20.life when he sees that Ducati come past him and I think it's only a

:35:20. > :35:27.matter of time. That's very close. Pedrosa moves out to the outside of

:35:27. > :35:31.the circuit. Rossi looking extremely comfortable. Whatever it

:35:31. > :35:35.is that ails Ducati, he's levelled off with the luberyration of the

:35:35. > :35:38.water. Comfortable mid-corner. drive off the corners, good into

:35:38. > :35:43.the corners. He's looking every which way. It's no different really

:35:43. > :35:47.to the dry. There's only properly one line around a track, wet or dry,

:35:47. > :35:51.and it's the optimum line. Often if you go off it, sometimes there's

:35:51. > :35:56.more grip, but it depends what part of the circuit it is. Looks like a

:35:56. > :35:59.big step. He might have it if he can carry it in. Pedrosa has to

:35:59. > :36:04.give his best. Can Rossi make it stick? Rossi looks as though he can

:36:04. > :36:08.put that thing exactly where he wants. How about this? Valentino

:36:08. > :36:11.Rossi, a potential podium win. The crowd would go mad, I'm Cher they

:36:11. > :36:15.are disappointed about Randy De Puniet, but this will keep them

:36:16. > :36:23.cheered up. One thing at a time. Nice pass from

:36:23. > :36:28.Rossi. A really difficult part of the circuit. We have seen

:36:28. > :36:32.everything slippy. We'll get a good look at that path. That's where

:36:32. > :36:37.there have been so many crashes. At the front, Lorenzo, Stoner.

:36:37. > :36:41.Lorenzo's put the fastest lap of the race. Look at the gap, 1.1

:36:41. > :36:45.seconds and looks like it's going out. Casey Stoner has a clear track

:36:45. > :36:51.but he's not able to do anything. We are riding with Cal Crutchlow

:36:51. > :36:58.and in front of him, Youri Djorkaeff's bike looks like a block

:36:59. > :37:04.in his drain, he just cannot shift it. Toff Dovizioso trying to get

:37:04. > :37:10.past. He's able to let it run out wide to do the block into the tight.

:37:10. > :37:16.He's made that a bit steep and sharp. Can Cal go with him? Looks

:37:16. > :37:21.like Dani Pedrosa is lacking the grip. Casey Stoner, you can see in

:37:21. > :37:27.if front of that. Valentino Rossi. Two-and-a-half seconds. It's gone

:37:27. > :37:31.out, yes, 2.6 seconds. He took a second out of everyone there. Did a

:37:31. > :37:36.483, Jorge Lorenzo, the man in the middle of the screen right now,

:37:36. > :37:39.compared to 497 for Casey Stoner. Casey Stoner is very good in the

:37:39. > :37:44.wet as a rule so it will be interesting to see if he can come

:37:44. > :37:49.to terms with this. A very long old race here and a busy, busy lap.

:37:49. > :37:53.weird thing is that the track seems to get slippier as it goes on.

:37:53. > :37:56.That's where the tyres wear out. You would think a wet tyre wouldn't

:37:56. > :38:01.wear, but they are such soft compounds that they do. The sharp

:38:01. > :38:04.edges go away. The grip diminishes like it would do with a slick tyre

:38:04. > :38:07.but it's never quite as easy to find out the point where it's gone

:38:07. > :38:13.in the wet. It's gone, and that's the end of it, particularly if it's

:38:13. > :38:21.a front ender. A lot of body panels and stuff slithered around as well.

:38:22. > :38:31.Good start. Good one from Andrea Dovizioso. Look at that! Look at

:38:32. > :38:32.

:38:32. > :38:38.the middle there. Look at both of them. Lit up, spun up and left. Ben

:38:38. > :38:43.Spies had another nightmare. That was the same part of the track that

:38:43. > :38:46.Ben Spies had the big moment on. He was sixth, Randy De Puniet was 12th,

:38:46. > :38:49.so they are both on the right hand side. Maybe there was something on

:38:49. > :38:54.the track. It doesn't have any bikes over it generally also.

:38:54. > :38:58.Thafrpblgts's true. Two riders getting caught out there -- that's

:38:58. > :39:04.true. That gap between Lorenzo and Stoner is opening out. Lorenzo

:39:04. > :39:08.slaughtering him there with a 472, plays a 482, another second

:39:08. > :39:12.Stoner's taken out. And Rossi has got Stoner in his sights.

:39:12. > :39:18.wouldn't have been betting on that, would you? There will be millions

:39:18. > :39:23.of fans around the world watching this. Valentino Rossi and Ben Spies.

:39:23. > :39:28.Must have had another incident. He's battling it all the way back.

:39:28. > :39:34.That looked like an excursion recovery. Let's have a look what

:39:34. > :39:38.happened. He has got as much grip as a dog on lino, it's just not

:39:38. > :39:42.happening. I spoke to him a lot this weekend and he just can't work

:39:43. > :39:46.it out. Just seems to be that his luck isn't running. Come race day,

:39:46. > :39:50.everything seems to go horribly wrong after good training. There is

:39:50. > :39:53.Randy De Puniet. He's about to be lapped on his spare bike. He's also

:39:54. > :39:57.about to be disqualified I think. He'll probably just stay out there

:39:57. > :40:02.for the fans. There will be a French exemption, don't worry.

:40:02. > :40:05.Maybe they'll work a rule out. But I'm sure if you start on one bike

:40:05. > :40:10.you can't just jump on another one. He's lefting them through and will

:40:10. > :40:18.have a run round to keep the French fans happy. Join in with them,

:40:18. > :40:25.sunshine! Yes, a belting qualifier from him. Crash course in

:40:25. > :40:30.qualifying but nevertheless, you fancies the chances of some of the

:40:30. > :40:33.CRT boys? Yes, horsepower is great. The most important thing in these

:40:33. > :40:37.conditions is, your electronics, it's just having it so the machine,

:40:37. > :40:40.when you try and tap the power and it's not too fierce, you are trying

:40:40. > :40:43.to feed it in. Valentino Rossi on the brakes into turn one there,

:40:43. > :40:48.really very, very strong, very confident with the front end of

:40:48. > :40:51.that bike which is generally not in the drier. Lorenzo's taken yet

:40:51. > :40:56.another second out of Stoner. Stoner is a demon in the wet and

:40:56. > :40:59.obviously Lorenzo is too. But Jorge Lorenzo is almost five seconds

:40:59. > :41:04.ahead of Casey Stoner. Casey Stoner was fastest in every session right

:41:04. > :41:07.up to qualifying. Which is worrying, that much faster, a second a lap

:41:07. > :41:11.faster from Jorge Lorenzo, that tends to sound alarm bells to me.

:41:12. > :41:16.You think he's overdoing it? doesn't sound right to take out

:41:16. > :41:21.that time. He's got the confidence and the grip. If Valentino Rossi

:41:21. > :41:27.gets into second place, passes Casey Stoner, I can see the Italian

:41:27. > :41:33.Grand Prixs being hose down, there'll be water on the track. I

:41:33. > :41:36.reckon they'll put sprinklers up in Italy. That's not 0.6 of a second

:41:36. > :41:41.any more. Valentino Rossi's got his tail up. This is exciting to watch.

:41:41. > :41:49.It will be great for his team. Maximum, maximum encouragement.

:41:49. > :41:53.Yes. These two running at a good pace. The pace of Jorge Lorenzo, I

:41:53. > :41:57.can't get over that, a four second advantage he has. We were talking

:41:57. > :42:00.before the race about Dani Pedrosa who has since mastered the wet

:42:00. > :42:04.absolutely chucking away a monstrous lead in Germany. He

:42:04. > :42:08.looked confident but was going too hard. Yes, I'm sure it's a setting,

:42:08. > :42:11.something's not working for him, he's clearly very fast in the wet

:42:11. > :42:14.but was reasonably fast in the warm-up this morning. I don't know

:42:14. > :42:17.what's happened, but it just isn't working for him. Some times the

:42:17. > :42:20.fact that he's the lightest guy out there isn't working for him, he's

:42:20. > :42:24.not transferring the weight and not getting the grip. Look at Rossi on

:42:24. > :42:27.the brakes. So much grip. Takes out two or three bike lengths but where

:42:28. > :42:31.will he find the place to do it? He's already taken him out once in

:42:32. > :42:36.the wet if you remember. Indeed, yes, race two last year. The funny

:42:36. > :42:39.thing is is that it's the front end of the Ducati that upsets everybody

:42:39. > :42:43.and everybody finds it difficult to deal with it. It's the front end he

:42:43. > :42:47.looked so confident with in the wet. Really pushing. You and I both know

:42:47. > :42:52.it makes such a difference, the small amount of load that you can

:42:52. > :42:56.offer, the frame, the suspension and all the bike in wet conditions,

:42:56. > :43:06.it's ten, 20% less than you get in dry conditions. Extraordinarily,

:43:06. > :43:09.

:43:09. > :43:13.the lap times are about 10% off dry times.

:43:13. > :43:16.Told you there would be an exemption, no disqualification for

:43:17. > :43:25.Randy De Puniet because he hadn't finished the first lap. Impressive

:43:25. > :43:29.stuff. Dump one on the pit wall and jump over and get another one.

:43:30. > :43:34.That's good for the French fans. Randy De Puniet is in front of Ivan

:43:34. > :43:43.Silva already. He had that major moment. Off he charges, a lap down

:43:43. > :43:51.to see who he can catch. The 2007 winner, he is back in front of

:43:51. > :43:57.Colin Edwards. As he said, coming back just jumping on a bike in the

:43:57. > :44:01.wet doesn't matter. If he qualified behind Randy De Puniet on the CRT

:44:01. > :44:06.machine, he qualified they are teenth. That crash didn't help but

:44:06. > :44:10.he's looking comfortable -- 13th Crutchlow getting his head down.

:44:10. > :44:15.Stoner and Rossi on the left, then you have Crutchlow in the green

:44:15. > :44:19.trying to find a way past his team- mate. This is basically the battle

:44:19. > :44:24.for second. Absolutely. We are talking one of the guys has runner-

:44:24. > :44:28.up spot, assuming they all stay on. Once tired degradation starts to

:44:28. > :44:32.happen and the sharp edges run off the Bridgestone tyres. It's just

:44:32. > :44:37.not quite the same amount of grip. It sheers off the blocks of rubber.

:44:37. > :44:41.Even if the rain stays constant, doesn't get worse, they are still

:44:41. > :44:44.chasing the ball downhill. Even this track, not known for its grip

:44:44. > :44:49.wet or dry, you can just see the angles the guys can get with the

:44:49. > :44:53.tyres. Because the fact that the tyre is made of such soft compounds,

:44:53. > :44:57.and it wriggles around, all the big blocks move around. Ben Spies is

:44:57. > :45:07.coming in. Can't change bikes because if he does, he has got to

:45:07. > :45:11.change to a different tyre. Surely he's got a misted up visor. Club

:45:11. > :45:15.racing. The horrible thing for him is that he knows full well that

:45:15. > :45:19.he's under scrutiny from his bosses, he's on the factory bike now, he

:45:19. > :45:24.was told he had to do more than last year. Cal Crutchlow, that you

:45:24. > :45:34.are racing with now, he'd be in with a shout. Ben Spies 11th in the

:45:34. > :45:40.

:45:40. > :45:45.Championship, it's just not 13 and 14, over the height lines,

:45:45. > :45:51.it is very, very slippery there. You won't believe this, but they

:45:51. > :45:55.are changing his his visor. You shouldn't have that happen. It

:45:55. > :45:59.is bad preparation. Something is not right. If that's the case, it

:45:59. > :46:02.is awful. How do you tell your bosses that you are riding a �1

:46:02. > :46:07.million motorcycle and there is 27 people in the crew and you couldn't

:46:07. > :46:11.see where you are going? Your best argument was that a wasp got in it.

:46:11. > :46:16.You don't get many wasps around on days like this. What is going on

:46:16. > :46:20.with Dani Pedrosa? That is Nicky Hayden. What is going on with Dani

:46:20. > :46:25.Pedrosa? He is a lot better in the wet. He is handy in the wet, but he

:46:25. > :46:29.is going south. He is being put under pressure by a Honda is not

:46:29. > :46:36.useful. They are running on identical tyres.

:46:36. > :46:41.They have gone for the softer option of tyres. It is who can keep

:46:41. > :46:48.this bike, their bikes upright. Who can get away with the lesser amount

:46:48. > :46:54.of tyre ware. It seems as if Dani Pedrosa has some sort of issues, he

:46:54. > :47:04.doesn't normally drop back like this in the rain. Is. Fast. Fast.

:47:04. > :47:04.

:47:04. > :47:09.Fast. Left Left-hander, Crutchlow is close to those boys.

:47:09. > :47:15.Jorge Lorenzo has read his pit board that tells him he has the

:47:15. > :47:21.plus four lead. There it is, plus four coming out as we ride with him

:47:21. > :47:25.now. He can afford to back the pace down. There is 20 laps to go. You

:47:25. > :47:35.see the big knee pads he has on, double knee pads, to help push the

:47:35. > :47:36.

:47:36. > :47:45.back up in case it starts sliding. You don't get the same lean angles.

:47:45. > :47:49.Jorge Lorenzo could manage the pace. There is Hector Barbera taking a

:47:49. > :47:55.different line to to everybody else on his Ducati.

:47:55. > :48:03.There is probably more grip out there. So... Crutchlow has done it.

:48:03. > :48:10.We will come back to that. It must have been at the chicane,

:48:10. > :48:17.Charlie? While we saw Hector Barbera's excursion, we will

:48:18. > :48:24.revisit this. Andrea Dovizioso had his first win

:48:24. > :48:27.last year. Down into the Dunlop chicane. A

:48:27. > :48:31.massive move. He was carrying the speed. He got the speed going into

:48:31. > :48:37.the left and jammed it down the inside. Not a a friendly move, but

:48:37. > :48:44.there you go, it is not a friendly sport! It is motorcycle racing in

:48:44. > :48:48.awful conditions! That was as tough as goat's meat!

:48:48. > :48:55.Not a great deal of love lost, but it is always hardly to be friends

:48:55. > :48:59.with your team-mate. I know you try!

:48:59. > :49:09.Valentino Rossi is getting chased by Casey Stoner. Not a whole bunch

:49:09. > :49:10.

:49:10. > :49:15.in it, but they are kissing - those two Yamaha boys. The recovering

:49:15. > :49:20.line. Stoner seems to be respond to go the challenge -- responding to

:49:20. > :49:27.the challenge. Stoner has the fastest lap that time. So just,

:49:27. > :49:32.just, just chipping away. He has brought that gap down a bit.

:49:32. > :49:35.Jorge Lorenzo is going to have to back the pace down. It is nothing

:49:35. > :49:39.like Formula One, there is no radio. What's to come around and watch his

:49:39. > :49:44.pit board. It is very difficult. Sometimes you might slow down a bit

:49:45. > :49:52.too much. He has a comfortable lead. He will probably see that gap has

:49:52. > :49:58.come down a bit. Alvaro Bautista riding the bike

:49:58. > :50:08.which was destined for someone else. Alvaro Bautista is still getting

:50:08. > :50:18.his head around this Honda. Best of the CRTs, is Danilo

:50:18. > :50:23.

:50:23. > :50:29.Petrucci. In front of of Abraham. It sure knocks the corner of poor

:50:29. > :50:39.handling if you have got grip. There won't be any chatter out

:50:39. > :51:00.

:51:00. > :51:07.today. James Ellison has some good he line it up on the way out? Did

:51:07. > :51:10.that compromise Rossi? That was a sniff for Cal Crutchlow. Cal

:51:10. > :51:17.Crutchlow looks like he has a bunch of attitude there.

:51:17. > :51:26.Yes, 17 laps remaining. Everyone squirming and wriggling around.

:51:26. > :51:34.Look, he is trying it. Just awkward places to try and get the move.

:51:34. > :51:38.Look Steve, look! Rossi is good on the brakes. It

:51:38. > :51:42.seems that he has not got the corner speed that Crutchlow has got.

:51:42. > :51:46.There is nothing with the traction on that Ducati. Talking about the

:51:46. > :51:52.number 46, the doctor is back in the surgery, I think, isn't he?

:51:52. > :51:56.is and patient number 35 is behind him hoping for consultation, we

:51:56. > :52:01.shall see what Cal Crutchlow can do, but he looks to have momentum.

:52:01. > :52:06.There will be a big party in France this evening if Cal Crutchlow can

:52:06. > :52:14.lob that on the podium. Rossi, 46.

:52:14. > :52:19.The gap, Charlie, has come down again. I am talking Stoner to Jorge

:52:19. > :52:29.Lorenzo. Abraham is in. He hasn't scored a point all season. What is

:52:29. > :52:30.

:52:30. > :52:34.going on here? Karel Abraham has retired. Well, we have talked about

:52:34. > :52:38.him getting a podium this year. I don't want to speak too early, but

:52:38. > :52:46.he is in for a chance with one this weekend.

:52:46. > :52:51.A wet weekend, in France could be good for Cal Crutchlow. I think he

:52:51. > :52:54.will struggle up into the Dunlop Corner. Not a great deal in it. You

:52:54. > :52:58.will see they will be back down. Rossi is very strong into this

:52:58. > :53:04.corner. Again, you can see that Crutchlow didn't make up a lot of

:53:04. > :53:11.time. Crush low seems to be able to carry the corner speed. No, no, no.

:53:11. > :53:13.Can he make it stick? Cal Crutchlow slip it is down the inside. Thank

:53:13. > :53:17.you, doctor. He carried so much more corner

:53:17. > :53:22.speed. Look, look, don't tear it. Take the

:53:22. > :53:27.whole piece, Yamaha. It ain't over yet, but...

:53:27. > :53:34.That was very big. In fairness, from Cal's point of

:53:34. > :53:41.view, it would have been handy if Andrea Dovizioso hadn't got through.

:53:41. > :53:45.What has gone on? Surely, it can't be another - front forks. As soon

:53:45. > :53:50.as I put the brakes on, it just runs out wide.

:53:50. > :53:56.Had a bit of rain though. Not a good place to have handling issues.

:53:56. > :53:59.Look at this. Just extraordinary that last part. He was later on the

:53:59. > :54:06.brakes than Valentino Rossi. He carried so much corner speed. He

:54:06. > :54:13.got the slide coming out and didn't lose too much time. Valentino Rossi

:54:13. > :54:17.ruffled feathers there. It was a good bit of opportunism

:54:17. > :54:23.from Andrea Dovizioso. Hang on, that's not in the script. He is

:54:23. > :54:27.back past Cal Crutchlow. It ain't over yet with those three and the

:54:27. > :54:31.shuffle continues. Andrea Dovizioso is the bigger

:54:31. > :54:36.threat. Can Crutchlow do it again? We know which corner he is fast on

:54:36. > :54:41.and it is coming up shortly. I would like to see where Andrea

:54:41. > :54:47.Dovizioso got past him. There is his father there with the pit board,

:54:47. > :54:52."Come on son.". What they must not do, Steve and we have seen this -

:54:52. > :54:57.no, not close enough. He is going to have another go in a moment.

:54:57. > :55:06.he is he is rehearsing it. What these two must not do is take each

:55:06. > :55:10.other out. As a team owner and I have been

:55:10. > :55:16.there with your two team riders, at your home Grand Prix, trying to

:55:16. > :55:22.knock each other off well, not trying to, but it is a possibility!

:55:22. > :55:26.Casey Stoner meantime fastest lap 45.1.

:55:26. > :55:32.People are still chipping away as they get more comfortable with the

:55:32. > :55:38.grip. There will be standing water. 45.1 is hitting it real.

:55:38. > :55:42.The tyres will be past their best. The gap is 2.7 seconds. It does

:55:42. > :55:44.seem as it Jorge Lorenzo is able to hold the pace. What is it looking

:55:44. > :55:48.like out the window? It stopped raining.

:55:48. > :55:58.You said that before and it hadn't. No, but it is true.

:55:58. > :55:59.

:55:59. > :56:04.There is a drying line on top of the dustbin outside!

:56:04. > :56:14.As soon as we can where Andrea Dovizioso got past Cal Crutchlow.

:56:14. > :56:23.These guys are doing the thick end of 290 k.

:56:23. > :56:29.The clock goes and stops 2.7 again. He has got it nailed as far as

:56:29. > :56:32.keeping that gap nice and constant. They are chipping away. Bear in

:56:33. > :56:40.mind, of course, this is the race for the championship lead. Stoner

:56:41. > :56:46.holds that by one point over Jorge Lorenzo at the moment. If they

:56:46. > :56:55.finish this way on the track. Nicky Hayden had a terrible start.

:56:55. > :57:05.But he has fought his way up and he is in eighth position behind Stefan

:57:05. > :57:09.

:57:09. > :57:13.Bradl. And there is Danilo Petrucci's team, bike number nine.

:57:13. > :57:17.He is Haifg a stonking ride -- having a stonking ride. This bike

:57:18. > :57:26.is different. Yes, it is very different. It has

:57:26. > :57:32.the trellis type Ducati frame. It is not real powerful, but in these

:57:32. > :57:39.conditions, you don't need it real powerful. Rossi got the leg down

:57:39. > :57:43.and so has Crutchlow. Honda under brakes and does the job in the

:57:43. > :57:47.ninth and tenth chicane. Valentino Rossi having a resurgence

:57:47. > :57:52.here. Has he got anything left in that Ducati? Would he like to be on

:57:52. > :57:58.the podium? Would he ever? It would be a nice fitting, opening start

:57:58. > :58:02.for his season, because it hasn't been good up until now. Poor Old

:58:02. > :58:05.Valentino Rossi, he had a tenth, nineth, twelfth. Let's just watch

:58:05. > :58:10.this passing. It was all about the drive really

:58:10. > :58:15.off the bottom corner and out of turn eight. It would be useful for

:58:15. > :58:25.Rossi as well, for his psyche to get a win on the track if you like.

:58:25. > :58:25.

:58:25. > :58:28.When he got on to the podium last year, Pedrosa was out of it. So

:58:28. > :58:34.Rossi is holding his own on track at minute.

:58:34. > :58:39.Yes, he is. I can tell you that Jorge Lorenzo

:58:39. > :58:43.will be, "Oh no, not 13 laps to go." He has been holding the lead,

:58:43. > :58:49.tiptoeing around, he is not tiptoeing, but he is trying to keep

:58:49. > :58:54.the bike as upright and trying to squeeze the powers as as gently as

:58:54. > :58:57.you can. You can't make any fierce adjustments. You have to be smooth

:58:57. > :59:07.and it is just physically not demanding, but mentally it does

:59:07. > :59:14.

:59:14. > :59:19.don't son, I'm back in. The two Italians are going hammer and tongs.

:59:19. > :59:24.This is where Rossi passed Crutchlow. He got the run out.

:59:24. > :59:29.bit more rain on the camera as well. It might be drizzling yet again.

:59:29. > :59:39.This is a fantastic scrap. They all deserve to be on the podium.

:59:39. > :59:42.

:59:42. > :59:47.final place of the podium as it is, one of those three here.

:59:47. > :59:55.It's great to have the bikes in the lead group, of course, your home

:59:55. > :59:58.Grand Prix. This is a critical time for Cal Crutchlow, Steve, because

:59:58. > :00:04.being with Rossi in-between him and his team-mate with only a dozen

:00:04. > :00:12.laps to go, this could actually be the time when a gap opens up if Cal

:00:12. > :00:17.is not very judicious. Thought he was going to have one of

:00:17. > :00:23.his dives up the inside of Valentino. Michael Schumacher

:00:23. > :00:27.enjoying this. He's ridden in the German Championship. His retirement

:00:27. > :00:37.years went back to motor cycling. His wife said he kept falling off

:00:37. > :00:47.

:00:47. > :00:56.said, I'm going to sort you out once and for all. He's just put in

:00:56. > :01:02.his fastest lap. That is on good time with 12 lap res maining. He's

:01:02. > :01:05.back to the maximum gap he's had throughout the race -- remaining.

:01:06. > :01:10.Andrea Dovizioso strong in the wet. Managing to hold the other two off

:01:10. > :01:16.at the moment. As you can see, there's their last lap, there's

:01:16. > :01:19.nothing in it really. Crutchlow is the better of the three. It's sea

:01:19. > :01:24.sawing. So easy just to make a little mistake. Being the back of

:01:24. > :01:29.the bunch is the hardest place because you get unsighted at times,

:01:29. > :01:33.you are getting more spray than anyone else. There is no spray on

:01:33. > :01:43.the front of him, there hasn't been, only for the first lap. Jorge

:01:43. > :01:49.Lorenzo, another fastest lap again, first of the 144s. Gives him a 3.

:01:49. > :01:53.97 second advantage over his opponent. Rossi is looking hard to

:01:53. > :02:01.see if he can find a way back. Strong there but not strong enough.

:02:01. > :02:06.Crutchlow trying to go with him as well.

:02:06. > :02:11.I can't deskraib to anyone what it's like riding this sort of power

:02:11. > :02:16.in these types of conditions -- describe. It's just so easy to make

:02:16. > :02:21.a mistake. And it is a testimony and perhaps

:02:21. > :02:26.no surprise that these guys are the best in the world, they have fewer

:02:26. > :02:30.crashes here than anywhere else. Juniors sometimes succumb to

:02:31. > :02:34.enthusiasm and chuck it away. These guys are at the top of their game

:02:34. > :02:38.and are being as careful as they possibly can and it's paying

:02:38. > :02:41.dividends. The only thing you could say with these, they have the most

:02:41. > :02:45.sophisticated electronics that does assist. I'm not going to say it

:02:45. > :02:48.makes it easy, you could still fall off, but the traction control

:02:48. > :02:52.system will be working out where the power and grip is, where to put

:02:52. > :02:57.it down, it knows where it is on the circuit. Going back to that,

:02:57. > :03:00.Nicky Hayden running in eighth. They said the team put out a press

:03:00. > :03:04.release to say the bike lost where it was on the circuit. There's

:03:04. > :03:07.wires go under the circuit for segment times and the bike or

:03:07. > :03:10.electronics got confused and when it was in the sharp corner it

:03:10. > :03:16.thought it was on the straight, so it was delivering the wrong power

:03:16. > :03:24.and got confused, proving that things can go wrong with the

:03:24. > :03:33.sophisticated motorcycles. Ten laps left. 180mph they are

:03:33. > :03:41.doing in these conditions. Hard to get your head around that.

:03:41. > :03:44.A fast sweeping right hander. Rossi seems happiest there. Oh, no,

:03:44. > :03:48.Cal Crutchlow. I said, was just about to say he was closing in

:03:48. > :03:52.really taking yards out of them under brakes there. That's where he

:03:52. > :03:56.crashed this morning in the warm-up. It's going to be difficult to stand

:03:57. > :04:01.the bike up. Still running but whether or not - look at that,

:04:01. > :04:05.front folgded - he was looking for the outsideline again -- folded.

:04:05. > :04:09.Just kept the front brake on a little too much. He's got the bike

:04:09. > :04:12.going. That's the only good thing about it. The bike kept going. The

:04:12. > :04:17.system that shuts down in practise keeps it running for longer in the

:04:17. > :04:24.race so they can get the bike stood up. Done well to get it stood up.

:04:24. > :04:31.Rossi lunges through as well now. Time to get a wriggle on. Bike

:04:31. > :04:34.sliding back a little bit. Lucky omen not going very well. Andrea

:04:34. > :04:42.Dovizioso going to fight back. Cal Crutchlow, we will measure the gap

:04:42. > :04:47.when he comes back across the line, but that is an absolute nightmare.

:04:47. > :04:50.They are using the white lines here, Steve? Yes, they seem to have as

:04:50. > :04:53.much grip as the dark part of the track which shows how slippy the

:04:53. > :05:00.dark part is. It's unusual to be able to use them. It's when they

:05:00. > :05:04.have the bikes Stade up. The white paint has some sandy material in it

:05:04. > :05:12.offering a reasonable amount of grip. Lorenzo goes over the line.

:05:12. > :05:16.We wait for Stoner to see what that gap is. It's 5.9 seconds. Nine laps

:05:16. > :05:25.to go. Jorge Lorenzo could lead the heroinship now if it stays like

:05:25. > :05:30.this. You could speculate that Stoner has decided to give best to

:05:30. > :05:34.Lorenzo. Five seconds behind and three seconds ahead of these boys.

:05:34. > :05:38.Valentino Rossi. Maybe this is what he needed. This will put the

:05:38. > :05:43.sparkle back into him. Casey Stoner is retiring at the end of the year

:05:43. > :05:48.because he's lost the enthusiasm. You don't normally lose it when you

:05:48. > :05:52.are winning. Valentino Rossi says he will stay. Cal Crutchlow eighth.

:05:52. > :05:56.Good recovery for him. Still plenty of points. The bike's wriggling

:05:56. > :06:00.around everywhere. He looks furious and he will be, he'll be cross with

:06:00. > :06:07.himself, but you have got to try. He was trying very hard. So is this

:06:07. > :06:17.man, riding a four cylinder Yamaha. 250 brake horsepower. That will be

:06:17. > :06:20.

:06:20. > :06:30.toned down now. You can run the steel discs in the wet. Can't run

:06:30. > :06:38.

:06:38. > :06:42.carbon in the wet because they The sky looks like it's clearing a

:06:42. > :06:44.tiny bit. Maybe that's just the rain on the camera. Wishful

:06:44. > :06:54.thinking. Casey Stoner is going to have to

:06:54. > :07:03.

:07:03. > :07:06.wouldn't. Talking to Mick Doohan earlier, this would be one race

:07:06. > :07:13.he'll be watching and will be pleased that he's almost certainly

:07:13. > :07:17.out having a barbie at the moment on his back porch in Queensland.

:07:17. > :07:22.Casey will be doing a lot of that next year.

:07:22. > :07:26.A lot of speculation that Casey Stoner is going to go on race V8s

:07:26. > :07:29.in Australia. I can see that, he's already done a test there, he loves

:07:29. > :07:39.it, a couple of million bucks a year and live in Australia and have

:07:39. > :07:48.some fun. Get home on a Sunday night. Yes. Another Australian did

:07:48. > :07:54.that and he was a dab hand at it. Wayne Gardner still out racing on

:07:54. > :07:58.old bikes, he'll be at Goodwood with Max Norton. Still enjoys that.

:07:58. > :08:02.Anyway, look at this. Rossi is closing this down. Let's keep an

:08:02. > :08:12.eye on this, sunshine. Last time around, Valentino Rossi's lap time

:08:12. > :08:13.

:08:13. > :08:16.was 14 4tnt 2, compared to 144.4, two tenths of a second, that was

:08:16. > :08:19.Stoner's time. Valentino Rossi, would it be possible? Could we

:08:20. > :08:29.imagine it? Can we dream of him passing the current world champion,

:08:29. > :08:35.Casey Stoner there, number one? Looking good. It is. The doctor was

:08:35. > :08:39.definitely in the house here today. Stoner was OK in the warm-up this

:08:39. > :08:44.morning but wasn't tearing up trees by his normal standard?: I would

:08:44. > :08:48.say he's decided he's giving best. Valentino Rossi puts in the fastest

:08:48. > :08:54.lap of the race. Valentino Rossi, the nine times world champion, has

:08:54. > :08:58.just done a 144.614. He will be getting a pit board, Casey Stoner,

:08:58. > :09:04.and that will give him the hurry up now. Seven laps remaining. How

:09:04. > :09:09.about this? He doesn't want his Championship interfered with by

:09:09. > :09:14.Rossi. Dovizioso just has a slide across the top of the hill there.

:09:14. > :09:20.Nice save. It's given Valentino Rossi a bit of breathing space.

:09:20. > :09:25.Looking back down, I'll check out the lap times of whether or not Cal

:09:25. > :09:30.Crutchlow's Yamaha is injured. Yes, I think it is. 148 last time around.

:09:30. > :09:35.I think he's got some problems, handle bars are twisted, levers,

:09:35. > :09:40.brake, all thing kind of things will have been twisted in the

:09:40. > :09:43.incident. The poor old Tech 3 Yamaha is injured.

:09:43. > :09:47.Ben Spies meantime, I don't know what his problem is, it's more than

:09:47. > :09:56.just being able to see properly, he's back in 17th and circulating

:09:56. > :10:00.in the high 46s, so not comfortable. He pitted earlier with a fogged

:10:00. > :10:04.visor. Valentino Rossi now two seconds back. Yes, really chipping

:10:04. > :10:09.away. He's found half a second in this

:10:09. > :10:14.lap. That will be a big old carrot, a nice orange carrot that we are

:10:14. > :10:18.looking at, Casey Stoner, he donate add helmet to him at this meeting,

:10:18. > :10:22.a retirement present as such but he's going to have a shock in a

:10:22. > :10:27.minute because I think Casey Stoner's pit board may say plus two.

:10:27. > :10:33.Whether it says that on Rossi rox, they probably haven't got that name

:10:33. > :10:36.out this year -- Valentino Rossi. Casey Stoner will feel a weight off

:10:36. > :10:41.his shoulders having made the announcement. Do you think it's

:10:41. > :10:46.likely to affect his head? I don't think he does. He gets the helmet

:10:46. > :10:48.on, gets angry and twists the throttle. He's now learnt how to

:10:48. > :10:54.win Championships, Casey Stoner, and there's days when you have to

:10:54. > :11:00.give best and be third or second, you don't need to be in the dirt.

:11:00. > :11:05.Yes, broken collar bone or hand or foot and a 0 point. He still only

:11:05. > :11:15.one ten of the 18 races. A long, long Championship. It's all going

:11:15. > :11:22.on there. These CRT are having a great run.

:11:23. > :11:31.Danilo Petrucci and Mattia Pasini. Pasini closing Petrucci down.

:11:32. > :11:41.At the back of the pack, Ellison is behind him. The Cumbrian lad there

:11:41. > :11:46.looking around the side of the screen, probably messed it up.

:11:46. > :11:56.Ellison there 147.1. Pasini a 48.1, so Ellison took a second a lap out

:11:56. > :12:00.of the man in front of him. 22 is not in this. He's a lap down. Paul

:12:00. > :12:06.Bird gave me a lift in and he's here watching what is going on. It

:12:06. > :12:10.will be nice for him to get some points. Yes, I think it would be

:12:10. > :12:20.nice for James too. The spwos chewing about quite a bit so he

:12:20. > :12:21.

:12:21. > :12:26.wouldn't mind a bit of the heat coming off him -- the boss. For

:12:26. > :12:30.goodness sake, don't get in the way of Casey Stoner, he will go berserk.

:12:30. > :12:33.He understands his land rights very well, Casey Stoner, he knows which

:12:33. > :12:36.bit of the track is his, whether the other rider agrees or not.

:12:36. > :12:43.the hill we go. A bad place to catch a slower rider through this

:12:43. > :12:49.long, long, long right hander. Can he get around the outside now?

:12:49. > :12:52.Maybe the inside. Which way? Gets his falt down and that will be

:12:52. > :12:58.a wake-up call. This might help Casey Stoner. He might be pleased

:12:58. > :13:01.of the CRT because it will get in the way of Valentino Rossi -- his

:13:02. > :13:05.foot down. Hernandez realised the others are following. Looks over

:13:05. > :13:09.his shoulder. Dovizioso sort of still in touch with these guys but

:13:09. > :13:14.only just. Rossi right there only a few bike lengths back. Didn't

:13:14. > :13:16.expect to see that. It's the first of the wet races. We have had wet

:13:16. > :13:20.weekends and wet practises and everything else. Rossi looked good

:13:20. > :13:24.in the warm-up this morning but is looking better in this race. Five

:13:24. > :13:33.laps to go. Forgetting the frustration for us with Cal

:13:33. > :13:38.Crutchlow, heading off into the Chicane. Andrea Dovizioso is still

:13:38. > :13:42.very much in touch with these guys. There he is there. Cal Crutchlow

:13:42. > :13:46.still going round, still in eighth place. I think he might lose that

:13:46. > :13:52.soon because he's still lapping 148 and they are doing 147s behind him.

:13:52. > :13:58.He has an issue with the bike, it's bent and buckedled, brake geefr,

:13:58. > :14:02.foot lever, clutch, something like that -- brake lever. He's getting

:14:02. > :14:06.closer here. Two tenths as they crossed the line last time around.

:14:06. > :14:16.Four laps left, plenty of time for the doctor to have a lunge at the

:14:16. > :14:24.

:14:24. > :14:28.seen these two battling. Yes, it is. This would be an ignaminious moment

:14:28. > :14:33.for Casey Stoner who says he can't understand what Valentino Rossi was

:14:33. > :14:40.doing. Very close in a minute. he hasn't seen the exhaust pipe for

:14:40. > :14:45.a long time. Casey will be thinking, that sounds like a Ducati behaind

:14:45. > :14:48.me, not heard one of those behind me and they do grumble and growl.

:14:48. > :14:52.Don't they. He will be grumbling and growling if this happens.

:14:52. > :14:58.Stoner, as I said, he'll be, if he can keep it on the podium somewhere,

:14:58. > :15:08.it's points for him. If he's got grip issues... More back markers

:15:08. > :15:11.

:15:11. > :15:16.an under threat for Casey Stoner, but these are such fluky conditions,

:15:16. > :15:26.I am survived that we have as many runners as we still have. 20 guys

:15:26. > :15:27.

:15:27. > :15:35.still on track. Michele Pirro is about to get a a wake-up when these

:15:35. > :15:42.guys come past him. Ah, no.

:15:42. > :15:47.That is not the result they are looking for. Kal went off and Rossi

:15:47. > :15:53.is all over Stoner like a rash. Carrying the speed.

:15:53. > :16:00.This is where I think tyre degradation is coming into play.

:16:00. > :16:08.Will he have a a stab? Yes, Stoner cuts back the other way, but that

:16:08. > :16:13.won't work. Stoner has gone back. He backed

:16:13. > :16:17.down. These tyres, the Bridgestone tyres are doing a great job, but

:16:17. > :16:22.they are starting to lose the sharp edges. It is finding out how fast

:16:22. > :16:27.you can go with the grip that you have got. And often you don't know

:16:27. > :16:37.how much grip you have got until you're chewing the gravel.

:16:37. > :16:38.

:16:39. > :16:48.Stoner knows he is going to have to fight for the second place.

:16:49. > :16:49.

:16:49. > :16:54.Valentino, don't go brassing him off. Andrea Dovizioso has got back

:16:54. > :17:03.on and he is in front of Crutchlow. Crutchlow has got some issues. His

:17:03. > :17:06.lap times are slow. Two-and-a-half laps left. Here is the double

:17:06. > :17:14.double shuffle. You can see Stoner thinking, "I'm

:17:14. > :17:21.going to square this one off. Switch back and get the bike stood

:17:21. > :17:25.up." Casey Stoner does know who his back is on with, he knows who he is

:17:25. > :17:32.fighting with, he is fighting with the nine times world champion who

:17:32. > :17:38.is just as smart as he is. Casey Stoner hasn't forgotten how

:17:38. > :17:46.to race. Listen to the crowd out there.

:17:46. > :17:50.Rossi is going to have another go. Yes. Anyone that gets on a

:17:50. > :17:55.motorbike - Valentino Rossi's crowd is with him here in France. He is

:17:55. > :18:00.going, he is going, no, he isn't. The drive out of the corner from

:18:00. > :18:10.the due Ducati looked fantastic. This will be some hell of a last

:18:10. > :18:20.lap. Who is going to give? Who is going to stay up? I'm the reigning

:18:20. > :18:37.

:18:37. > :18:43.champion this year, but Valentino Rossi is the master.

:18:43. > :18:52.Andrea Dovizioso is in seventh. Stoner having to work harder than

:18:52. > :18:57.he has had done all year. Andrea Dovizioso has crashed out

:18:57. > :19:03.again. It is not often you have two crashes in a race. Rossi is trying

:19:03. > :19:10.everything. He is throwing everything at it. A relatively easy

:19:10. > :19:14.cut back there for Stoner. Stoner has grip issues. Rossi will get the

:19:14. > :19:21.drive and he has nowhere to go. Stoner looked like he is changing

:19:21. > :19:25.the engine mapping at that point. The last lap.

:19:25. > :19:29.Who is going to be second out of these two or are they both going to

:19:29. > :19:34.end up in the gravel? Rossi is going.

:19:34. > :19:39.Will he come back? Now it looks as though Rossi might have got it

:19:39. > :19:43.right this time. Stoner is stuck on the wrong side of him. Can he get

:19:43. > :19:49.it down the inside? The crowd has gone ballistic.

:19:49. > :19:53.Oh, he has let it go. I think Rossi has more grip. Stoner has all sorts

:19:53. > :19:57.of issues. I saw him trying to change the engine mapping. He is

:19:57. > :20:06.losing traction in and out of the corner or grip into the corners on

:20:06. > :20:09.the brakes. Valentino Rossi has the better tyres. Stoner can expect him

:20:09. > :20:14.to come, but it is a difficult place.

:20:14. > :20:20.The Ducati camp is going to go wild. This man is ten seconds out in

:20:20. > :20:25.front, Jorge Lorenzo just cruising now. He surely can. Casey Stoner

:20:25. > :20:35.the bottom step of the podium. His uninterrupted podium run will

:20:35. > :20:35.

:20:35. > :20:39.continue. But Valentino Rossi... The Ducati crowd and management and

:20:39. > :20:44.everybody I can think of, who have spent millions and millions of

:20:44. > :20:50.pounds, get it wet. Valentino Rossi announced at the press conference

:20:50. > :20:57.when Stoner resigned, that he was free.

:20:57. > :21:03.Jorge Lorenzo wins hands and heels in la in Le Mans. Valentino Rossi,

:21:03. > :21:07.yes, you heard right, second. Casey Stoner third. Last step on

:21:07. > :21:13.the podium. That was a fantastic bit of entertainment, boys. Thanks

:21:13. > :21:20.for that. Remember Dani Pedrosa, the pole sitter, he kept his head

:21:20. > :21:30.down and he is fourth. A shake of hands for the two greats, Stoner

:21:30. > :21:38.

:21:38. > :21:45.and Rossi, they had a ball. Look at this battle. What is going to

:21:45. > :21:49.become of our racers? There is Andrea Dovizioso, battered

:21:49. > :21:59.and bruised, but he has got it to the finish so Andrea Dovizioso is

:21:59. > :22:08.

:22:09. > :22:16.going to finish seventh. Cal Crutchlow eighth. Stefan Bradl

:22:16. > :22:24.is ninety. I have a feeling Andrea Dovizioso bashed his way through.

:22:24. > :22:27.We could have another Rossi and Lorenzo garage, couldn't we? Bike

:22:27. > :22:34.number 77, the boy from Cumbria gets across the line in the points,

:22:34. > :22:41.well in the points, that's good stuff.

:22:41. > :22:46.So that's a good job from James Ellison.

:22:46. > :22:50.He never looked in doubt, did he? I know you were worried when he went

:22:50. > :22:55.off at the start. Extraordinary really. Whatever they have done

:22:55. > :23:01.with the bike or the settings, his smooth style, we have talked about

:23:01. > :23:07.the 250 nice style. He is silk at work on a motorcycle and he rode

:23:07. > :23:11.that bike nicely. He was lapping a second faster and he opened the gap

:23:11. > :23:15.up when he did, but there he is, number 46, it is a pleasure for me

:23:15. > :23:17.to say this, on the podium. I didn't expect it and I was

:23:17. > :23:23.concerned about the driving conditions.

:23:23. > :23:27.Here is the one that really stuck. He rehearsed it the lap before.

:23:27. > :23:35.Look, watch his switch to the inside. He said, "You are not

:23:35. > :23:39.coming down the inside here." Good stuff. He will be over the moon

:23:39. > :23:43.about this as will the crew because they all needed a boost and they've

:23:43. > :23:48.got it. There will abdroch blood pressure

:23:48. > :23:53.in -- be a drop of blood pressure in Ducati. It is a big afternoon in

:23:53. > :23:57.so many ways and it is great to see, the great Valentino Rossi back up

:23:57. > :24:02.there on the podium. We know confidence is a big thing

:24:02. > :24:07.and sometimes I bet you had it, a wet race can bring your confidence

:24:07. > :24:12.back a bit. You start to believe in yourself again. We go to Catalonia

:24:12. > :24:16.in a few weeks time, surely that won't be wet, but this will boost

:24:16. > :24:21.his confidence. The bike maybe not the best, but it is not as bad as

:24:21. > :24:27.it seems. Valentino needs to kind of be replugged in, charged up,

:24:27. > :24:32.whatever it takes. Pedrosa looks crest fallen with

:24:32. > :24:42.pole position and finishing off the podium, you can understand why.

:24:42. > :24:47.

:24:47. > :24:52.He didn't like it, he says. He is congratulating the Ducati

:24:52. > :24:56.team. There are the boys, will they be pleased?

:24:56. > :25:01.It is great for the sport. It is great for Ducati, the team that

:25:01. > :25:06.worked so hardment it is great for value teen yo, it is -- Valentino,

:25:06. > :25:16.it is great for the fans to see him on the podium.

:25:16. > :25:17.

:25:17. > :25:21.Jorge Lorenzo, there, he is up there. Valentino Rossi has taken a

:25:21. > :25:29.load of points. It was going to be four points, but it is eight or

:25:29. > :25:33.nine points. There is the boss of the team. Congratulations between

:25:33. > :25:37.the two of them. They had a stonking race. These two, what is

:25:37. > :25:42.going on here? We need to watch and understand closely.

:25:42. > :25:48.Not just the damage, but it seemed to me as if Crutchlow wasn't happy

:25:48. > :25:52.with him. That was Andrea Dovizioso's error.

:25:52. > :25:59.We saw Cal Crutchlow's one. I wonder if something else has gone

:25:59. > :26:04.Maybe I misread it, but it seemed to me as though... It is horrible.

:26:04. > :26:14.It really is. Your home Grand Prix just always seems and it turns into

:26:14. > :26:14.

:26:14. > :26:15.a ball of chalk. Casey Stoner couldn't quite do it

:26:15. > :26:20.Casey Stoner couldn't quite do it today.

:26:20. > :26:24.Casey, it was fun for us to watch, but not fun to ride? No, it want

:26:24. > :26:28.the best day for us today. I don't think our bikes were working on

:26:28. > :26:32.this track. Myself and Dani had the same problems. I was behind him in

:26:32. > :26:35.the early stages and he was up out of the seat, and every bike I

:26:35. > :26:39.followed seemed to drive out of every corner and a lot more easily

:26:40. > :26:45.than us and in the corner entry. So I think we struggled a bit as Honda

:26:45. > :26:49.today, we didn't didn't dot best job, I guess, in the wet. I gave it

:26:49. > :26:53.my all, but the risk was too high and I lost grip completely and had

:26:53. > :26:58.nothing more. So we tried to hold on to second, but in the end, the

:26:58. > :27:04.amount we held on to, I was happy with. Valentino Rossi had a higher

:27:04. > :27:07.pace than us and we were able to hold on to the last lap, but that's

:27:07. > :27:17.the way it goes. He had a good race in the process.

:27:17. > :27:26.

:27:26. > :27:32.Boy, oh boy when did we talk about it in that order?

:27:32. > :27:35.Cal Crutchlow and Hector Barbera that should top nine. Now that is a

:27:35. > :27:40.problem for Cal Crutchlow because his team-mate has outscored him,

:27:40. > :27:45.but the thing I want to address on the second page is this - have a

:27:45. > :27:51.look at our friend James Ellison. He is the leading CRT guy. James

:27:51. > :27:59.Ellison has come home in 11th and smoked them. Lovely stuff. A great

:27:59. > :28:04.day for one Brit, but boy, oh boy, they won't be throwing down the

:28:04. > :28:11.champers. It is the case of soap and WD40.

:28:11. > :28:15.Hit the Red Button for half an hour of motoGP extra. We are out of time

:28:15. > :28:19.on BBC Two. We have lots to reflect on. Valentino Rossi back on the

:28:19. > :28:24.podium. We will show you that. Jorge Lorenzo taking the

:28:24. > :28:28.championship lead from the shy and retiring, Casey Stoner. So as I

:28:28. > :28:31.said, Red Button now for half an hour of reaction from the French

:28:31. > :28:34.Grand Prix. In two weeks time, Jorge Lorenzo takes the