Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

:I How m uch differen ce do qualifying tires make? Certa inly a health y chunk , given that this year there was an impressive two-second imp rovement from last year's pole time at Sep ang. Last year it was A lex Barros on pole. This year, for the seventh tim e, it was Valentino Rossi, after a dominant performance in searing tropical heat . He had changed his approach , he said, now with two qualifying tires. Instead of waiting unt il the end for both and riski ng running out of time, he put up his first fli er hal fway through the hour, chopping a full second off his time and consi gning erstwhile leader Mokoto Tamada to a distan t second . Kenny Roberts .Jr., whom he cam e flying past in the process, had a pung ent descript ion . " He's riding round in a symph ony, and I'm in a rock 'n' roll concert with somebody bashing into my head right next to me. " Rossi had his usual co mments about hard work and finding settings . More signifi cant was his pre-race statement of intent. "I know I have only to finish behind Sete, but I love riding at this track. I will try to win," he said. Rossi and his four -tenths margin apart, the front row was the usual movable feast. At the end, the order was Carlos Checa, Tamada and Max Biaggi , the trio covered by j ust over three tenths and the shuffling continuing until the check ered flag. Checa's time was a comeback after colliding with teammate Marco Melandri early in the session. With 20 minutes to go, he came out charg ing for his best quali fying of the year. "I felt comfortable with the setup at Motegi , and we had the same here. This is a great boost," he said. Tamada was still smarting from his Motegi disqu alification and hopin g there was m ore speed to come here. "The race settings aren't perfect yet , and we need to mak e m ore tests. But I can keep up with those at the front," he said. Biaggi , last year 's winner here, was quietly confident. "The track was very hot today , but my times were consistent. Although I didn't get pole, I didn't use a qualifying tire . My feeling is good." Shinya Nakano led row two , looking relaxed and comforta ble and fast throughout. Loris Capirossi was alongs ide, both bumped off the front row in the rush. Th e Ducatis had at least been here before for preseason tests. "We still have some prob lems here," said Capirossi. But the m ain one was tro uble with his number-one bike , forcing him onto the spare. Gibemau was alongsid e, still fighting his fever and nursin g increasingl y slender title hopes, not helped by th e sau na -hea t / icy eir-conditio ninq of Mal ay sia. Fast est in th e untimed sessions, he said: "I don 't think the qualifying times reflect race pace." Tohru Uk awa was alongsi de him; Nicky Hayde n led row three from an on -form but unhappy Roberts, who felt a gap of almost 1.5 seconds from pole meant more than his unusually high position on a Suzuki improved with new parts at Moteg i. "I'm thinking mor e about race pace - we have trouble with grip and full tanks and things like that ," he said. Hayden was fighting a cold and trying to calm down his increas ingly spectacul ar style . "I'm spinning up everywhere - I'm probably too aggressive on the gas," he said. mu ch as I used to . GP ra cing has be c ome so important. " T h is was Rossi's seventh win in 14 race s, a n d he c la imed a nother lap reco rd . Gibernau, who has w on fo u r times, was q uick to congra tulate him . " He ' s bee n th e st ro ng est g uy overa ll : he said . Gib e rn au w a s just ov er two se c on ds ad rift at th e fin ish. C amel Hond a ' s Max Biaggi wa s an oth er five seconds ad ri ft i n third , after a slo w start meant he lost t ou ch w ith th e leaders. He also had words of co ng ra t ulat io n s for his b itter riva l but add ed : " T h is ye ar has be en di fficu lt for h im . I hope I can make next y ear even m ore difficult. " ", ... Repsol Honda ' s N i'ck y H ;;'yden w . 4 as fourth after another strong race, f inalIy prevailing by haif a tenth over Fortuna Ya m ah a' s C arlos Ch ec a after a battl e lasting for mu c h of the l atter p a rt of the r ace. Ea r li e r h e ' d h ad a . si milar str u g gle ge tt i n g a he a d o f sixth - p la c ed Lo r is C api ross i a n d the M a rlb oro D uca ti , th e It ali an end ing up seven secon d s away at the finish . " W he n I tested here [at the begin ning o f t he y ea r). I really struggled, so I gu e s s I've mad e some progress : sai d th e l ai d - bac k K entucky ride r , wi th m a sterly understatemen t. Camel Honda 's, Tohru (jkawa w.a,,~ . II: e sev en th , fi n ally outpac ing d 'Ant in Yamaha 's Sh inya Naka no , w ith Marlb oro Yama ha' s Troy Bayliss losi ng t ou ch in the c l o s i n g stages . b ot h Du cati r ide rs st rugg ling for grip . In a spa c ed- o ut 250c c GP. Tele fo n ic a M o v iSta r Hon d a' s T o n i E l ias kep t h i s title ho pes aliv e w i t h a record- b rea k ing vi ctory . Po ints leader Manu el Po gg ial i and h i s MS Apri lia w on a h ar d - f ouqh t se cond after a ra c e-l on g b attl e with Elias ' teamma te F onsi Ni et o , wh ich went all the wa y to th e lin e , 10 se c ond s beh ind E l ias. The th ird c ontender, F ortuna Honda 's Roby Ro lfo w as another 15 se c onds adrift in fo urt h . . With two races left, Pogg ia li ' s lead is j ust 25 p o ints, w ith El ias and Rolfo eq ua l o n sec ond . Dani Pedros a took th e 125c c World Ghamp ionship in fin e styl e , wi t h a start- to-finish v ictory in a race where his la st rema in in g ti tle r iva l . Stefa no Perugin i, retir ed afte r j ust three of 19 l a ps wh e n his engi ne se ized . The you n g Spani ard d idn't d ev iate from hi s ta ctic s , k e epin g foc u se d o n ex t end in g hi s lead for a clear win . T he t e en age Te lefo nica M oviStar rider pa id tea rfu l tribut e t o Honda , h is team , and h is m en t or, A lb erto Puig . " I 'd o n ' t ha v e w ords t o thank them ;" he said . _ -s O C T O B ER 22 ,2003 15

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