Steve Parrish Moto GP column

  • Published
Media caption,

Stoner reigns supreme at Silverstone

It was a very wet day for the thousands who turned up at Silverstone but they still left entertained after a dramatic British MotoGP race.

Of course we were all devastated to lose Cal Crutchlow, external to injury during qualifying on Saturday and there is no doubt the day was spoiled by not having a British rider up there at the front.

But you can't help but enjoy yourself at a MotoGP race even in the rain because you are seeing guys fight 220 BHP bike around deep puddles and there is lots of action.

What the race proved again is how phenomenally good Casey Stoner, external is. Damp, dry, wet. Put him on a bike, point him in the right direction, and he can do the job. He is the master of MotoGP at the moment.

In wet conditions - especially at the start of the race - it is incredibly dangerous as you just cannot see a thing.

These guys were still doing nearly 180mph on the Hangar Straight and in rain you can hardly see the bike in front of you.

The conditions change lap by lap and we even saw some of the best riders crash out. It is very hard to find the limit of the grip in the wet but these guys are incredibly talented.

Media caption,

Stoner 'blinded' by Silverstone rain

I can tell you if you took a very good road rider and put him on a very good bike, he would not lap this circuit faster on a sunny day than they have in the wet. They are so good.

It was a bad weekend for Jorge Lorenzo. We've been talking about the hare and the tortoise fighting for the championship but the tortoise crashed out and has lost his consistent run of results.

The Stoner steamroller is looking ominous but we've still definitely got a fight on for the championship, it's only a third of the way through.

Marco Simoncelli crashed out when in a good position again but I am convinced he will win a Grand Prix before the end of the season as he has got so much speed.

But my man of the day has to be Colin Edwards. You would never have believed that eight days ago he was having surgery for a broken collarbone by the way he rode.

It's encouraging for Crutchlow to see that though and if Crutchlow hadn't been concussed I reckon he would have been fighting to at least start the race at Silverstone.

He is a really tough lad and so determined to do well and we all hope to have him back in Assen when the racing gets under way again at the end of the month.

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