Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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(Left) A flying Max Blaggi (background) had just overtaken Tro, (foreground) for third place when he suddenly crashed out of the race, likel, ending his chances at catching Rossi in the series points race as well. Corser (Below) Capirossi (65) dices with Fortuna Yamaha's Carlos Checa (7) and Camel Honda's Tohru Ukawa (11). Ukawa finished sixth. Checa was eighth. Nicky Hayden (69) earned his career-best MotoGP flnlsh In Gennany. Hayden was actuall, fourth for a brief spell, but Loris Capirossi (65) passed him back on the last lap to take the position. But his attack was flawed, and as both riders battled to save front wheel slides, it was Gibernau who handled it best, saving the bike with his knee and opening the throttle to shift the weight to the back, dirt-track style. "I have to thank Kenny Roberts for his training at his ranch," he said. As Rossi ran wide on the exit, Gibernau moved back inside and was just six hundredths ahead as they crossed the line. ..:'That last lap was unbelievable," said Gibernau. '" had no plan, because if you do, and it doesn't work out, then you are in big trouble. I played my cards better, but that was a very tough race, mentally and physically. At this track you can be half a second behind somebody and not make any impression. It's even harder when that person is Valentino Rossi." Rossi seemed unsurprisingly crestfallen after the race. "My mistake was to go inside to close the line into the last corners," he said. "I touched the brake and lost momentum, and then my front tire was sliding, and I went out wide. I had to wait too long to open the throttle. Sometimes this year I have been unlucky with the weather or the rules. Today, I just made a mistake." A shaven-headed Bayliss was 13 seconds behind at the finish but delighted with his second MotoGP podium. "It's been a good weekend, but it was a very difficult race," he said. "Max's pace was very fast, so in the end there wasn't much I could do about him. Then he crashed because he was pushing very hard. The last third of the race I was losing the back into the turns off the throttle, so I just did my own thing and brought the bike home." Camel Honda's Tohru Ukawa was sixth, a couple of seconds from Hayden, and Shinya Nakano seventh, a tenth behind and first Yamaha, with C,:rlos Checa dropping back from this group to finish eighth. Jeremy McWilliams was 12th after qualifying two thousandths from pole on the two-stroke Proton KR and running in the top 10, hovering inches from Checa - only to drop back behind similarly mounted teammate Nobu Aoki to finish a disappointing 12th in what will probably be the two-stroke's last race. Kenny Roberts Jr. was back after his Mugello injury and found himself in a fierce battle with Garry McCoy, his Kawasaki fortunes improved not only by a new chassis but more par- ticularly by a big step forward with a new Dunlop rear tire, designed in the UK and completed only a week before practice began. At the finish Roberts had repassed McCoy to claim the last point, four seconds behind Colin Edwards' Alice Aprilia. John Hopkins, a little way back on the second Suzuki, blew up with seven laps to ~o. Fortuna Yamaha's Marco Melandri crashed out on the same lap after a strong race, battling with Capirossi. Fortuna Honda's Roberto Rolfo took his first-ever win and Honda's first in the class since 2001 in a close and hard-fought 250cc GP full of drama. The 23-year-old Italian had his hands full all race long with Safilo Oxydo Aprilia's Randy de Puniet. But at the finish Fonsi Nieto - who earlier lost touch with the leaders in a wild ride across the grass - pushed his Telefonica MoviStar Aprilia between them to seize second. The first three were within three tenths; pole starter Seb Porto and his Telefonica MoviStar Honda was five seconds back in fourth. cue I e Australian rider Anthony West and his Zoppini Abruzzo Aprilia were a lonely sixth, after surviving a firstcorner melee that took out five riders. "That messed me up a bit, then I got stuck behind Debon for a few laps, and the front runners got too far ahead," West said. Points leader Manuel Poggiali had a dreadful race, battling through to within a touch of the leaders only to run off and crash at low speed on the grass. He remounted and moved up to seventh, only to be pipped in the last corner by Telefonica MoviStar Aprilia's Toni Elias. The title battle is now wide open again. In the 125cc GP, Stefano Perugini took his heading a rostrum. long-time second win of the year, very close all-Aprilia 125cc It was at the expense of race leader Casey Stoner, whose first rostrum of his career was just two tenths behind. Alex de Angelis was a similar distance behind in third, with points leader Dani Pedrosa inches off the back of the group after never quite getting on terms. n e vv S • AUGUST 6. 2003 9