Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World C h a m p io n s h ip Road Race Series R o u n d 1 3 : P a c if ic Grand P r ix way ba ck , go ing mu ch too fast," said Chec a , w h o w a s co n s u med with anger. Ba y li ss was m or e phil osophi cal: "I we n t righ t over both of them . You can only lau gh o r cry . I'd rather laugh ." Up fr ont, Bi aggi m oved past Gibernau t o lead at the st a rt of lap three und er brak ing for t h e first co rn e r . Rossi followed suit on e lap later , and bo t h w er e pu ll ing away from Giberna u sligh t ly wh e n Rossi m a d e his blu nde r ; he wa s lu cky to avoid c ras hi n g as h e sped ac ross th e g ra ve l, rejoining behind M elandri in ni nth. Biaggi now had a lead of a second , and h e ke p t o n stre tc hi ng it , so h e was almos t fiv e seco nd s cl ea r with th ree laps to go . T here was p lenty of dram a in hi s wake . Hayden was ho undi ng Gi be rnau, and T amada closed up on th em by lap fiv e, and th ey all sta rte d trad in g b lows, with T amad a getting past the A meric an o n lap ei g h t, but th e battle c o nt inued be nd after bend , wi th Tamada nosin g ah ead of Gibernau from time to time. At the same t ime, Rossi was go ing hard and fast. He t oo k on e l ap t o p a s s M e l an dri , a nd the nex t tim e around he'd put Uk awa and Capiro ssi between hi m and his yo ung co m pa t riot. N e x t was Barr os , thou gh t h e Brazilia n fo ught back , and it took tw o attem pts . Now it was lap 10 , and Rossi was fift h , just o ve r four second s be h in d Hayden . It to ok him six laps to close th e gap, and hi s f astes t lap - a new r ecord - c a me o n t he 16th , as h e closed righ t up . Next ti me around , he almost hit his teammat e's back wheel and ran w ide aga in . On lap 18 , th e q uarte t was sh uffled , with Hayden briefly up to sec ond but back to th ird , be h ind Giberna u, at the end of the lap, and Tamada at the back of th e group, behind Rossi. A t the end of t he next la p , Rossi pa ssed Hayd en under brak es for the tig ht right at t he botto m of th e hill, and slipped past Gibernau as we ll two co rn er s later. He wa s seco n d , a nd though t he ot hers stayed close, it wa s not close eno ugh to be any threat to th e cha mp ion -e le ct. They w er e , i n an y ca se , fu ll y occ u pie d w ith o ne another. Tamada was the fi erc est, pu sh ing to try to esca pe from th e back of th e gang . At th e end o f l ap 22 , he and Hayden wer e side by sid e go ing into th e corne r before th e underp ass, and i n spit e o f st ro ng res istance, the J apan ese ri der eme rged in front. Now th ere were t wo m ore la ps, and j us t Gibern au betwe en him and a ros tr um fini sh in hi s home GP. A nd we k no w what happened next. Ba rros had led th e next group until half-di stanc e, sayi ng lat er th at it was tire wear th at spo iled th e seco nd ha lf of hi s race. " We need to find settings that wi ll be easie r on the tires ," he sa id . Melandri took over, and by t he fi nish h e h ad pulled c le ar. A slid in g Ukawa had dropped away somewh at, although he was st ill on ly just ove r 20 sec onds beh ind the winner. Capirossi had lo st to uc h with this gr ou p in the second half of th e ra ce. " T he bik e w asn' t perfect fo r th e tra ck - unstabl e und er brak es - but thi s is a learning yea r fo r us, and we learn ed a lot toda y ," Ca pirossi sa id . T he next trio had Nak ano , Olivie r Jacq ue and Ry o cl ose together until half -distan ce, wh en the Su zuki started t o drop back . Behi nd Ryo, Nor iy uki H a g a w a s fe n di ng off Ry uich i Ky on ari , both havin g passed Roberts. Kiyona ri rev ersed the posi tions on the last lap to take 11th o By t hen , J acq ue had gotten back pa st A ok i, an d th en p ulled th e Proton with hi m up to Roberts 's Suzuki. "M y ha ndling was ge tting better as t he fuel lo ad burned off, " said A oki . "a n d I w a s rea lly try ing t o ca tc h Robe rts t o get a point. Ja cque helped m e. " In the 125cc Grand Prix, He c10r Barbera 1 0 ) got his second w in of th e 8 2 yea r, over Casey Stoner 1 7) and Andrea Dov izioso (3 4) . 16 O C T O B ER 15, 2003 ' c u e I e n e _ s [1@fB§fX] @!? fl[]{]§ !l:il§§flD[]!J@g !l:il@[fx®71® U&JDfJD@@)@ Ma koto Tamada has been pre tty impressive all through hi s first yea r in MotoGP: The forme r All -Ja pan Sup erbi ke racer m ad e the m ost of his Honda wh ile at the same t im e dev eloping th e Bridgestone tires. Over th e last two races , things have reall y come together . He was o n the rostrum in Rio, and withi n a whisk er of pole pos ition for hi s second home GP at Mo tegi. And he rod e a blinder of a race. culminating in a bold and aggressive overtak ing m ov e o n Gib ern au o n th e last lap. It went a bit wrong. Phot os sho wed that wh en they tou ched, Tarnad a was aim ed across the track on a collision course with Gibern au . But th ey also sho wed that t he Span iard d id have eno ugh space to move out of th e way . Op inions were sharp ly divided. Tamada saw it as a legitim ate racing move, and 50 did ma ny others. Gibern au saw it as dan gerou s riding . Unfort unately for Tamada, the race director an d th e FIM ste wards ag ree d with Gib ernau . Th ey deci ded to ma ke an exam ple of him, and he was disqu ali fied. Bad luck , Mak ot o. Th e Fr en chman passed the Suzuki rid er with fou r laps to go, and Aoki t wo lap s l at er. Rob er t s d id ge t a point. but only afte r bein g pr omot ed by Tarnada 's disqualifi cation, and he w as disinclin ed to be ha p p y with a m ar g in al imp r o v em ent t o hi s ma ch in e. "If yo u're the so rt of person wh o is happy to finish out of the to p three, th en th ere are t h i ng s t o be h app y abo ut, " he sai d . " But l'rn not one of th o se peopl e." Ro ssi n o w ha s 2 82 po i n t s, with Gi bern au at 22 4 and B ia g g i up t o 199 . Capirossi is a dista nt fo urth on 13 1, and Bay li ss has 112: eN 6auloises Pac 6rand Prix ific Motegi,Japan Results October 5, 2003 : 125 Q UA UFYING : 1. Dan iel Pedrosa (t :57 .73 6) ; 2 . Stefano Perugini ( I :5 8 .5 58 ); 3 . Jor ge Lorenzo (I :58. 662 ): 4 . Hector Ber bere ( 1:58. 684 ); 5. Andrea Dovizioso ( 1:58 .988) ; 6 . Pab lo Nie to (1 :59.092 ); 7 . Luc io Cecc htnello ( 1:59 .2 19 ); 8 . Alex De Angel is ( I :59.2 86); 9. Stefano Bianco ( 1:59 .320 ); 10. Casey Stoner ( 1:59.3 60); II. Gino Borsoi (1 :59.378); 12. Ga bo r Fa lrn e c s l ( 1:5 9. 3 9 3 ); 13 . Mik 21 K a l lio (I :59 .437) ; 14 . M arco S imonce lli ( I :5 9 .44 8 ); 15. Th o m a s Lut h i ( I :5 9. 5 2 0 ) ; 16 . S t e ve Je nk ner ( 1:59 .620) ; 17. Simone Corsi ( 1:59 .737); 18. Alca ro Bautista ( I :59.756); 19. Mirk o Giansanli (1 :59 .866 ); 20. Roberto Locatelli ( 1:59 .9 16 ); 2 1. Masao Azuma ( 2 ;00 .0 76 ) ; 22 . A rna ud vin cen t (2 ;00. 3 8 1); 23 . Fabri zio Lal (2:00 .6 16): 24. Youichi Ui (2:00 .849 ); 25 . Juli an Sim on (2 :0 1. 198) ; 26. M ike D e Meg lio (2;0 1.340 ): 27. Toshihi se Kuzuhere (2;0 1.564) : 28. E mi lio Alzamo ra (2:0 1.5 96 ); 29 . Shuhei Ao ya ma (2; 0 1.6 14 ): 30 . And rea Ballert ni (2 ;01.618) : 3 1. S ada h it o S um a (2: 0 2 .0 5 8) ; 32 . Im re T oth (2 ;02. 13 1): 33. Robbin Harms (2;02 .294 ): 34 . Gioe le Pelli nc (2;0 2.3 09 ); 35. Max Sebbatani (2; 02 .495) : 36 . Hiroaki Kuzuha ra (2 :02.5 69); 37 . Yuk i Hat ano (2;0 2.7 7 1): 3 8. M;chele Danese (2 ;03 .345 ). 250 QOAUFYING; I. To n; Elias ( 15 2.849); 2. F ranco Battaini ( I :5 2 .9 65 ); 3 . Ra ndy De Punier ( 1:53 .24 7) ; 4 . Sebastian Porto ( 1:53.650) ; 5. Sylvain Guintoll ( 1:53 .713); 6. Hiroshi Aoya ma ( J:53.830 ); 7 . Manue l Poggia li ( 1:53. 868); 8 . Na ok i M atsuda ( 154 .0 21 ); 9. To moyos hi Koyama ( J:54 . 132) ; 10. Yuki T a k ah a shi ( I :5 4. 141 ) ; 11 . Rob e rt o Rolfo ( 1:54 .385 ) ; 12 . Chaz Davies (1 :54 .64 1); 13. Alex Oebon ( 1;54. 680 ): 14 . Cho uj un Kam eya (1;54 .714): 15 . Fo ns i N ieto ( 1 :5 5 . 0 95 ) ; 16 . Erwan Ni go n ( 1;5 5 . 16 4): 17 . He ct o r F a u b el ( 1;55 .3 00 ) : 18. Christian Gemm el (I :55.4 50 ); 19. Hugo Ma rchand ( 1;55.77 4 ); 20 . M asa k ; Toku dome ( 1;55. 8 11); 2 1. Eri c B ata i lle ( 1:5 5 .94 9 ) ; 22 . A le x Ba ldol ini (1 ;56 .1 74) : 23 . Antho ny West (1;56 .23 1): 24 . Oirk Heidolf ( 156.3 43 ): 25 . Lukas Pesek ( 1;56.3 61) ; 26. J a ku b S m rz ( 1:5 6. 3 7 0); 27 . Jo ha n St ige felt ( 1;57 .112 ); 28. J oan O liv e ( 15 7.329) : 29 . J aroslav Hul e s ( 1:57 .4 86) ; 30 . Henk Van D en Lagemaa l ( 1;58. 94 1). MOT OGP Q UALI F YIN G : 1. M ax B ia ggi ( 1;4 7. 6 9 6 ) : 2. M ok olO Ta m a da (1 ;4 7 .8 0 4 ) ; 3 . Va len t ino Rossi ( 1;4 8. 0 3 0 ) ; 4 . S e te G iberna u ( 1;48 .4 57): 5. Ni c k y Hayden ( 1;48. 6 18 ); 6 . Lo ris Capirossi (1 :48.695) ; 7. Carlos Checa ( I :48.767 ); 8. A lex Ba r ro s ( I :48 . 7aO ) ; 9 . Ma rc o M elandri (1 ;48.882) : 10 . T ro y Bayliss ( 1.48. 9 64); 11. Tohru U kawa ( I ;49 .002); 12. Shiny a Nakano ( 1.49 . 123): 13 . C o li n E d war ds (I :4 9. 15 8) : 14 . Ak ira Ryo ( 1;49.404 ): IS . Ol ivier Jacque ( 1:49.638 ); 16. John H o p k in s ( I :4 9. 6 5 0 ); 17 . J ere m y M cW i lliams ( 1;5 0 .2 7 3 ) ; 18. N ob u at su A ok i ( 1:5 0 .4 2 1); 19 . Kenny Roberts Jr. ( 1:50 .436); 20. Ryuichi Kiyonari ( 1;50.480) : 2 1. Garry McC oy (I ;50. 677) : 22. An drew P;lt ( 1;5 1.008 ): 23. Ta ma kl Serizewe ( 1;5 1.1 12): 24 . D a vi d D e Ge a ( I :5 1.4 29 ): 25 . N ori yuk i Ha ga (I ;5 1.505) : 26. Chris Burns ( 1;53. 133). 125 GRAND PRIX: 1. Hector Barbera (Apr): 2. Casey Stoner (Ap r); 3 . Andrea Dovizioso ( He n): 4 . Stefano Perugin i (Apr) ; 5. Stev e Jenkne r (Apr); 6 . Daniel Pedrosa (Hon); 7. Mika Kallio (KTM ): 8. Pablo Nieto (Apr); 9. Alex De Angelis (Apr); 10. Th omas Luthi ( Hon); 11. Mirk o Giansa nti (Apr); 12. Alvaro Bautista (A pr); 13. Masao Azuma ( Hon); 14. Gabor Talmacsi (Apr); I S. Simo ne Corsi ( Hon) ; 16. Stefano Bian co ( Gil); 17. Youichi Ui (G il); 18. Fabrizi o Lai (Mal ); 19. Arnaud Vincent (Apr); 20. Andrea Ballerini ( Hon); 21. Shuhei Aoyama ( Han ); 22 . Robbin Harms (Apr) : 23 . Hir oakl Kuzuhara (Hon); 24 . Julian Simon (Mal ) ; 25 . Sada hito Suma ( Ho n ) ; 26 . Im re Toth (Ho n) . Tim e: 41 min.. 54 .483 sec. Distan ce: 2 1 laps. 62 .50 miles Aver age speed: 89.4 9 mp h Margin of victory : . 164 sec . Fas tes t lap: I :58 .454 , Jorge Lorenzo, lap 8 2 5 0 GRANO PR IX : 1. T on i E li a s ( A p r); 2 . Rob erto Rolfe ( He n); 3 . Manu el Pogg ia li (A pr); 4 . Yuki Takahashi ( Han): 5 . Hiroshi Aoyama ( Hon); 6 . Randy De Puniet (Apr); 7. Naoki Ma tsudo (Yam ); 8 . Fonsi N ieto (Apr); 9 . Alex Debo n ( Han) ; 10. Choujun Kam cya (Hon); 11. Chaz Da vies (Apr) ; 12. Christian Gemmel (H an ); 13. Alex Ba ldolini (A pr) ; 14 . Dirk Heid olf ( Ap r) ; 15 . M asa ki Tok udom e ( Yam ); 16 . Hugo Marcha nd (Ap r); 17. Erwan N igon (Apr); 18 . Jakub Smrz (Hon) ; 19. Joan Oli ve (Apr); 20. Henk vd Lagemaat (Hon) . T ime: 43 min.. 57 . 125 sec. Dist ance: 23 laps, 68 .46 miles Averag e speed: 93.45 mph M.argin of victory: 1.4 83 sec. Fas te st lap: 1:53 .61 2 . Toni Elias, lap 6

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