2009: Catalan GP (Catalunya)

Jorge Lorenzo became Valentino Rossi’s teammate in 2008 and got faster and faster. Even Vale’s crew wondered if their man was done. Catalunya proved he was not.

The pair swapped the lead early on, then Vale sat back to study his teammate’s strengths and weaknesses. Would he leave his move to the final lap, leaving no chance for a counter-attack?

No. He moved ahead as the pair swept down the start-finish with three laps to go, but the next lap Lorenzo drafted back into the lead. Rossi immediately counterattacked, only for the Spaniard to draft past once more at the beginning of the last lap. Vale attacked again and again, without success. Now there were three corners left and no obvious passing point. Into the last corner, where no one overtakes, he shifted down an extra gear and veered inside, stealing Lorenzo’s line to win by 0.095 seconds.

This was Valentino at his most extraordinary, a magician who could magic victory from defeat. But, of course, it wasn’t magic — he had had it all planned.

‘I’ve dreamt of that overtake for a week!’ he said. ‘At the end of the race, I had the chance, so I tried and it was okay. I confirmed that I’m very strong in one-toone battles, also that I’m good at overtaking! I’m so excited to win like this.’