Going into the early hours of June 12th, 2009, high above the earth and stretched out for billions of miles through countless galaxies, stars themselves were lining up in preparation for what was to come just two days later. Here on earth, as the morning sun shone across the Circuit de Catalunya, the crack of 800cc MotoGP motors could be heard sucking air through their lungs for the second Spanish race of the MotoGP calendar. For through their first outing into the final qualifying practice, it was clear that there was going to be an another epic battle come Sunday afternoon.

First up, Valentino Rossi came out of the gate with a commanding lead followed closest by his rival teammate, Jorge Lorenzo. In qualifying, the two members of the Fiat Yamaha factory team, split by a wall down the middle of their garage, set lap times just .013 seconds apart. On the same Bridgestone tires and mostly identical Yamaha M1s, there were no safe bets on this round. To further drive home how little there was between them, both riders set identical lap times on their closing laps, a 1′41.987.

The beginning of this race was like many others before it. Dani Pedrosa, injured, but still able to get a rocket start moved up from 8th position to 5th in the first few corners. Lorenzo, Rossi, and Stoner got to the first corner in the order in which they started and remained as such for the first 3 laps. Not so much as a razors edge separated the three as they glided into turn one for the fourth time. Rossi and Stoner went in hotter on the brakes and Rossi was able to slip past Lorenzo with ease while Stoner remained third.

Things at the front remained close but steady until Casey Stoner started to struggle with 17 laps left on the clock. By the next lap, his pace had dropped off enough to show an unrecoverable gap back to the front two riders. He’d ride out the rest of this race in 3rd position, eventually fending off a charge from Andre Dovizioso who was looking for his first MotoGP podium.

With Stoner out of the running, Jorge Lorenzo could concentrate on keeping Valentino Rossi within a fighting distance. While Rossi, trying to break away from Lorenzo from the front, would quickly realize that while his pace matched and beat Lorenzo’s in some areas, it wasn’t enough to make a safe break for the final laps. So, with thirteen laps left to go, Valentino Rossi gave Jorge Lorenzo back his lead. From second position, Rossi could put to use one of his old favourite techniques honed against former Spanish and Italian rivals in years past. He could sit and watch every line that Lorenzo had, pushing and edging him in various corners, trying to find where Lorenzo was weak and could be passed in the final laps. While Jorge Lorenzo could try to break Rossi and hold him off long enough to win.

For ten laps they sat, Rossi showing Lorenzo his front tire in different corners, daring Lorenzo to let up the pace even a fraction. Lorenzo in return, daring Rossi to make his move, cutting in tight onto the rumble strip where Rossi would have been. Lap after lap, corner after corner, anticipation slowly built up in MotoGP fans across the world. Hearts thudded inside of chests eager for a showdown that was surely being played out before them at last. This was it, the head to head battle that the world had been waiting for. Everything clean and fair, two of the top motorcycle riders in history equally matched with nothing between them but themselves. This was, at last, MotoGP.

Further back, Andre Dovizioso was coming closer to Casey Stoner but wasn’t going to seal it here. Battles raged between riders, tires faded, and the rest of the grid went about doing their jobs to the best of their abilities under the Spanish sun. But all the eyes of the world were set upon what was happening at Elf corner.

With three laps to go, Valentino Rossi out braked Jorge Lorenzo into the first corner. With his head down, sliding the back tire out around turn 3, Rossi set out to put some distance between himself and Lorenzo. But Lorenzo had his head down too, matching Rossi slide for slide, not giving up an inch to his older teammate but unable to pass him before the finish line. Instead, Lorenzo drafted Rossi down the straight, passing him before setting up to brake for the first corner but leaving too much room on his left hand side. Rossi, never one to miss an opportunity and hard on the brakes placed his Yamaha M1 on the white line and, lifting his knee to avoid hitting Jorge Lorenzo’s leg, once again out braked him into the first turn.

Lorenzo wasn’t giving up that easily. Again into turn three, this time so close as to be almost side by side through the corner with Lorenzo trying to go around the outside and live up to his nickname. It didn’t work but he held tight to Rossi’s back tire through the rest of the lap and onto the straight once again.This time down the straight, Lorenzo once again drafted Rossi and took the lead, knowing well enough to close off the outside of the track to stop Rossi from coming back through.

Through the first corner for the final time it was Valentino’s turn to go around the outside to try and slip by into the second bend. But Jorge Lorenzo saw him in time to close that door before Rossi could get his foot through. Going into turn four, Rossi was once again stronger on the brakes than his teammate and regained the lead, but only for a fraction of a second as he ran it just wide enough for Lorenzo to cut back through into the lead. Onto the back straight, inches apart, Jorge Lorenzo carried more speed onto the straightaway and opened up a slight gap. But Valentino Rossi isn’t one to tread lightly and closed it back up immediately, dangling his left leg out onto the track under the force of braking as he once again went side by side into turn ten. From there into turn eleven, Rossi closed in even closer, having to make a correction mid-corner to avoid hitting Lorenzo’s rear tire.

Into the penultimate corner, Rossi was breathing so hot down the back of Jorge Lorenzo’s Yamaha M1 that he must have felt the weight of the moment instantly set upon him for he left the door open just wide enough to allow the eight times Grand Prix Champion of the World, the man known for stalking his rivals from second position and springing onto them in the final corner of the last lap enough times to write volumes about. Jorge Lorenzo, leading a hard fought battle into the final corner, left enough room on the inside of the bend to allow Valentino Rossi to slip past him and take the lead. Lorenzo tried everything in his power to fix his mistake, but it was too late. Rossi had the drive, the line, and the experience to block everything Jorge Lorenzo could bring to the fight.

Anything you can do I can do better

Down the straight, just before crossing the finish line, the outcome of the closest MotoGP battle in recent years was outwardly visible in the two riders body language. Rossi, knowing that he’d won such an important battle, was elated. Bucking and cheering with relief at the knowledge that on such equal terms, he could still beat the best competition he’s faced in his career, he finished his out lap with as much or more energy then when he beat Casey Stoner at Laguna Seca last year. Jorge Lorenzo, not having expected Rossi to take him in the final corner, thought he must have won the race up until the last second. He made his way around the track, even stopping to collect his Lorenzo Land flag and plant it, obviously dejected by his last grasp loss.

Finally in Parc Ferme, after giving some interviews and talking to his crew, Rossi jumped over the wall and onto the track to bow to the crowd. When Jorge Lorenzo caught wind of this, he immediately jumped over the wall and went out to let his presence be known to the fans as well. He wasn’t going to let Rossi take everything from him at his home track, and in the face of defeat he held his composure and gave the fans what they wanted. Competition and showmanship of the highest level.

Significant Numbers

At the end of the race, standing next to the bikes in Parc Ferme, Valentino Rossi walked a cameraman over to the front of Jorge Lorenzo’s M1 and pointed at the number on the front of it. There in bright blue and red, a bold 99. The number of the rider he had just beaten, and the number of races he’s won since joining Grand Prix racing in 1996.

At the end of the weekend, three MotoGP riders share 106 points each in the championship standings. Each have won two races, and each start the seventh race of the season on equal footing. By virtue of second place results, Valentino Rossi is currently the official leader of the series, but in what must be the tightest run championship in history, that could change with every one of the eleven remaining races.