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Grabbing the Bull by the horns

Sport

Sebastian Vettel did all he had to do on Sunday. Pole position and a flawless race victory showed why the young German is still in contention for the championship title on a day when the two main protagonists Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello struggled.

Button still leads with a very comfortable cushion of 14 points over Barrichello and 16 points over Vettel with 20 left to play for. It would require two absolutely horrific race weekends for Button if he is to lose this title, but memories of the Alonso-Hamilton-Raikkonen title fight of 2007 are still very fresh. It’s certainly those memories stoking Barrichello and Vettel’s respective fires as Button tiptoes his way to glory. If Button is going to claim the crown, though, we want him to grab the Bull (and the Brawn) by the horns and clinch it with a dominant performance in the style that reflects his early season prowess.

While Vettel was keeping things mathematically in order on four wheels, Jorge Lorenzo was doing exactly the same things over on two wheels. Pole position and a flawless victory showed why the Spaniard is still in contention for the championship title on a day when the main protagonist Valentino Rossi struggled. A familiar sounding story, but Lorenzo has more than a shout now. Rossi limped home to fourth place in Estoril leaving his team-mate just 18 points adrift with 75 still up for grabs. Jorge says the title is still ‘very difficult’ but that it is just ‘less impossible’. It’ll be an interesting run-in to the season finale with Australia, Malaysia and Valencia remaining.

Speaking of Australia, high praise for Casey Stoner who returned from a lengthy post-illness recuperation period and was immediately back on the sort of form that his rivals fear and praise in equal measure. That’s the mark of a true professional, a true racer and a true champion. Second place in Estoril, critics silenced and Phillip Island’s up next. The top step beckons and such a result would actually play in Rossi’s favour...for a change.

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