Showdown at Brno?
The Czech Grand Prix at Brno kicks off the second part of the 2008 MotoGP season this Sunday. The championship is still close and Casey Stoner is probably itching to get his own back after being beaten by Valentino Rossi at Laguna Seca. He's got a 25 point gap to make up on his Italian rival and Dani Pedrosa, but with both Pedrosa and Lorenzo hindered by injury, the championship looks like it will be a two way battle for supremacy.
The Brno track is a fine modern autodrome with plenty of elevations changes, and a challenging mixture of fast and slow corners. It was originally built in 1987 to replace the ultra-demanding Masaryk road circuit, in the hope of attracting the Formula 1 circus, which has never materialised. The circuit has been completely resurfaced for this years race, which adds a pinch of the unknown into the mix. How the teams and riders will cope with the resurfacing remains to be seen.
As for the old Masaryk track, the garages, race control tower and pitlane still stand, housing ghosts of bike and sports car racers who used to sling their machines round those super-fast corners. Take a look at the great Jarno Saarinen at Brno in 1972 here, or see highlights of the 1982 250 and 350cc races here. If anyone has any footage of the European Touring Car races there, I'd love to see it!
