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In recent times, to win a MotoGP you need a crystal ball, a portable barometer and "big balls" as Cavendish puts it. Rain and tyres decided the race but this doesn't take away from those who took a risk in order to triumph. Crutchlow has awakened Great Britian from its torpor, with the national anthem dusted off again after 35 years.
Rossi, having done everything and worse in recent races, was back to being a strategist. Marquez less so, but for the Spaniard no situation is too difficult. Lucky for him, because meanwhile in Ducati the dreams of glory sank despite Iannone demonstrating that the wheels had good grip.
Baz, Barbera and Laverty all deserve a mention, as does Pasini in Moto2 and McPhee and Di Giannantonio in Moto3.
THE GOOD – After years of the Fantastic 4, Marvellous 3, Unique 2, now we have the dirty half dozen. Six different winner in the last six races, with three scoring their first. The latest to do so is Sir Cal Crutchlow, with eyes that recall those of Nicholson in The Shining. He definitely proved scary at Brno, but in a positive sense. And besides, what kind of Brit would he be if he weren't fast in the wet?
THE UGLY – There's now another reason for Jorge Lorenzo to view number 17 as an unlucky number. To see him lapped and the star of a pantomime along with Forcada in pitlane was the lowest point of the GP. And perhaps the lowest of his career. Luckily, the Majorcan is someone who can also swim well against the current to quickly reach the shore. And we apologise for the aquatic references.
THE BAD – Nicolas Goubert, Michelin boss, says that the riders were not at risk, as if it were normal for the tyres to pull apart like daisies: to crash or not to crash? To explode or not to explode? Perhaps it's a new idea to avoid a flag to flag, you start with rain tyres and then they turn into slicks. Transformer tyres... but despite the reassurances, it still made a negative (and dangerous) impression.
THE DISAPPOINTMENT – At a certain point of the race, four Ducatis were leading the way, double the number seen in Austria. But the tyres took things in a different direction and it was the GP14s, who will soon go into retirement, who saved face. Well done to Baz, Barbera and Laverty, and also Iannone. It takes more than a shredded tyre to stop the Maniac.
THE CONFIRMATION – Don't count your chickens before they've hatched, as they say. He made the wrong tyre choice along with most of the other riders but, unlike them, he reached the podium. Marc Marquez is a points machine, he doesn't let anything go and manages every situation. Hats off.
THE MISTAKE – Brad Binder could afford it, and the crash hasn't really made much a difference to the Moto3 standings. Unlike Zarco's blackout, which has revived the Moto2 classification. Rins and Lowes hope for rain again at Silverstone.
THE SURPRISE – Valentino Rossi and his team got the strategy right, despite recent performance in the wet. It's only human to make mistakes, but how sweet it is when you overcome them. The Doctor used the wings and put paid to the curse of the damp asphalt. On the podium at Brno twenty years after his first win, who said MotoGP is no country for 'old men'?
THE PASS – All of those made by Cal Crutchlow, the sea lion of Brno. It's a good job Willow slept through the race, or she'd have been up all night due to the excitement.
THE INTERESTING FACT – As far as HRC boss Nakamoto is concerned, the wings are costly and dangerous. Yet new appendages (already tested in Austria) appeared on Marquez's bike, with the rider giving positive feedback. We're missing something...
I TOLD YOU SO – Lorenzo after qualifying: “for the first time I feel good with the Michelins”. He was yet to test the rain tyres.
