Rosssi shows he is no Chicken!

So I didn’t quite make it up at stupid o‘clock once more this weekend to watch the penultimate race in the MotoGP season out in Sepang, but thank goodness for iplayer, as it was one hell of an eventful Grand Prix!

First up was the incredible torrential rain that came 30 minutes before the race proper, after it had been sunny and dry all weekend, which would have completely messed up the riders preparation, then the fact that Lorenzo failed to make it back to his starting position in time meaning he had to start form the back of the grid looked to have ended any hopes he had of taking the Championship before the race had even begun.

Then when they finally did start, Rossi uncharacteristically lost his advantage from starting on pole as he slipped back to 5th on the first corner, and was languishing in 11th by the end of the first lap.

Suddenly it seemed as if the race was back on, with the awful conditions meaning Rossi could fall at any time, and with Lorenzo rapidly gaining back places it seemed as though we would have a race after all!

But the wise head of Rossi meant that he had actually simply stuck himself on the back wheel of Lorenzo, to ensure that he wouldn’t get away from him, knowing that a top four finish would do to help him take his 7th Premiere title.

Ruthlessly he loitered in Lorenzo’s mirrors, until he realised his teammate did not have the pace, and then he simply ghosted past him, and from that moment on, even though there was always a chance of a crash in the horrendous conditions, you just knew that “The Doctor” had it in the bag!

The most bizarre bit of the day though was clearly when Rossi, having won the title, decided to stop and pose with a chicken adorned in his colours…….no he hadn't mistakenly popped into a KFC Drive Thru, but instead the reason for this strange celebration is simple really, as the great man said "My celebration was because in Italy we say an old chicken makes good soup but can no longer lay eggs! I am like the old chicken - 30 years now - but I have made another egg! That's nine!,"…………………okay maybe not that simple, but zany enough to be done by Rossi!

He truly is the greatest, he has set pretty much every record and deserves to be champion once more, but I can’t help think that next year, with a fit Stoner and more experienced Lorenzo, it will be harder to make it a nice round 10. In fact Stoner was such a class above everyone else, he was in different time zone, having put on a 18 second lead in about 10 laps, he simply cruised home, and this young Aussie is looking better than ever, amazing when you think that the Ducati he is on is notoriously hard to ride!

Moving to the football, I was gutted to see Arsenal throw away the 2 goal lead at Upton Park, and with it the chance to go top of the table, sure its early doors, but games like that can make a huge difference at the end of the season. Just ask United who had their worst nightmares come true at Anfield as they were played off the park by a Liverpool team with something to prove!

Chelsea won again, although the real thriller was between Bolton & Everton…….I know who’d have thought it, especially with the fact that Megson’s men were actually playing some decent football and just not lumping  it up to Davies for him to get stuck into.

In fact after this weekends results, I would say that the Premiership is really open this year, and the European places, as no team seems to have an unbeatable air about them at all, and others seem to have really raised their games.

I managed to pick every game wrong this week in the Guinness Premiership, as my beloved Tigers went down at the Madejski to London Irish, again without scoring a try, and I would be seriously worried in the Tigers camp about their lack of penetration at times. Quins beat the impressive Worcester, Newcastle picked up their first win of the season at Bath, and even Wasps managed to beat Gloucester away! Sarries continued their 100% record with a hard fought win against Leeds, and returned to the top of the table, while with Northants beating Sale, they moved up into 4th place above the Tigers.

So all in all, both Premierships are throwing up some results that lead me to believe this could be one of the best seasons of sport ever!!

On a personal note this week, I am turning 30 on Friday, so I mostly going to be out celebrating, by going to see the Dead Weather tonight, hosting a premier in Birmingham for my listeners of Jennifer’s Body (Megan Fox as a demonic cheerleader…….hell yeah!), and then watching Greenday at the LG arena on Weds before heading home for a bone scan on my neck, and some fun and games with my mates and family back in Epsom!

Chances are then that the next time I’ll blog I will be thirty………….maybe I should get me a chicken too??