Cycle News

Briefly... Valentino Rossi (46) was fantastic �� wet or dry. The Italian held oH the likes of Tro y Bayliss (12) on the re start and won his second GP of the season. Troy Bayliss was two-tenths down in fourth in a courageous ride, where his trademark determination allowed him to exploit the bad conditions to overcome the continuing Marlboro Ducati malaise and even lead for a spell. Then came d'Antin D ucati 's Rueben Xaus, half a second away, another spirited ride that saw him lead for a spell in the earlier, wetter laps . Repsol Honda's Alex Barros was next, also close. Abe led the next grou p from Marlboro Ducati's Loris Capirossi, Fortuna Yamaha's Marco Meland ri and erstwhile star Shane Byrn e , another to show well in the earlier, wetter laps on his Aprilia. Then came d'Antin Ducati's Neil Hodgson, Telefonica MoviStar Honda's Colin Edwards, Proton KR's Nobu Aoki, with a d istant Alex Hofmann on the Fuchs Kawasaki and Michel Fabrizio (WCM - using rain t ire s) taking t he last poi nts . MS Apri lia's Jeremy McW illiams (o n wets) and wild card And rew Pitt (Mori waki Honda) trai led in. Abse nt ees from the restart included earlier retirees Kenny Roberts Jr. and his broth er Kurt is. a nd first-leg crashers Carl os Checa and Nicky Hayden. And , of course. Shinya Nakano, the victim of the fastest and perhaps also luckiest cras h in GP history (see separate panel ). In a co m parative ly tame 250cc G p, Sebast ian Porto claimed his first win o f the seaso n, after an almost rac e-long t hree- bike battle . His lead ove r fellow Aprilia rider Randy de Puniet at the start of the final lap was small , but any hopes of a challenge d ied w hen the Fren ch rider sudde nly slowed thro ugh th e last co rner. his engine suddenly Valentino Rossi was luming after his race rival Sete Gibemau escaped without penalty lor overtaking him on the straight under the yellow flags shown for the Nakano crash. "I have lost two races in my career because of passing by mistake under yellow flags. The rules should be the same lor everybody. II Gibernau is not penalized, then I want a bonus for the future that will allow me to overtake under yellow flags," he said. Rossi lost the British GP last year lor such an infringement. with a time penalty applied alter the end of the race . In Australia he was notified of a 1000000nd penalty during the race, and he rode like a demon to regain the lead all the same. Race director Paul Butler said: "We had no marshal's report and no evidence available. There was rather a lot going on at that time." He had been approached by Rossi's team manager Davide Brivio, he said. "It's up to Brivio to lodge a protest and provide evidence. We can't act as policemen without evidence, said Butler. 1V viewers. however, had seen clear evidence 01 the passing move , fro m an overhead helicopter shot as they passed the Nakano crash site lor the tt first time. Should the race have been red -flagged alter the Nakano crash? Many riders expected it, including Loris Capirossi, who was just behind Nakano. "I was amazed that they didn't stop the race. There was debris and bodywork allover the track on the fastest section ." It too k marshals two or three laps to clear the track. depositing handluls 01 chunked rubber and shards of carbon-fiber bodywork against the pit wall. Race director Paul Butler delended the decision to let the race continue. "It was obviously a close call, because it was a serious acddent at very high speed . We got quick medical reports that Nakano was not seriously hurt and could see he was conscious from the TV monitors . And he was well clear of the track. The track was clear of threatening debris. and in any case it was not on the racing line. The marshals here are very brave boys, and they managed to clear the track quickly ." Alex Barros and his factory Repsol Honda deposed the Ducati from the top spee d charts in a race where record-breaking spee ds in practice were broken yet again. Barros reco rded 343.0 km/h (213.13 mph) in the second part of the MotoGP race, beating Capirossi's Ducati speed of 341. I (2 11.88) set in the first race . Bythe end 01 the weekend, only Kurtis Roberts' Proton and the two WCMs had not cracked 200 mph, with Andrew Pitt's wild card Moriwaki breaking the barrier in the first part 01 the race. were not in a position to battle for victory, even tho ugh my engine was very strong." Biaggi said . "In parts of the track where I have always been strong I had bad chatter. a nd I was lo sing tenth after tenth." Camel Honda's Makoto Tamada m ight have been am o ng t hem. afte r a superb first rac e wh e re he pus hed through to th e lead and w as playing a major role in a four-bike battle w ith Ro ssi, G ibe rna u and Biaggi. Sadly, it all ca me to an end when his re ar Bridgestone tire chunked, and he retired . Ducati's back-to-the-future exercise testing the 2003 Desmosedici after Le Mans - did not provide instant answe rs to the difficulties the Marlboro-backed factory riders are having with the 2004 machine. At the test Troy Bayliss was within tenths of the previous weekend's pole time, on a 2004 machine, with weight distrib ution revised to be more like the '03 machine, while Continued on poge 27 www.cyclenews.com CYC LE N EWS . JUNE 16, 2004 25

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