Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

MOTOGP -Round 5 Jun e 13, 2004 World Championship Road Race Series Qualifying: The American5 Nicky Hayden qualified 18th in Catalunya last year; this year he was third. The improvement in his time was over three seconds, a testament to his improvement as a rider. But the others had improved as well. The pace is hotter, and he knows he needs to keep up for race distance, not just one lap. "I try not to even worry about what they're going to do, just try to do the best I can , and when the green flagdrops tomorrow, it'd be nice to take it easy a few laps and keep quiet, but I'm sure from the start. ifit's like any other MotoGP I've ever been in, I'm going to have to drop the hammer and head down, butt up for 25 laps," he said. "There's not going to really be any holding back for me, I don't think." Suzuki'sJohn Hopkins qualified better than he had in over a year, but there was little chance he could back it up in the race. Eighth today - he was seventh at Jerez last year Hopkins was riding with a dislocated thumb that was certain to get worse in the race. "The thumb was so bad that I came in halfwaythrough the session and sat down awhile with it iced," Hopkins said. "I went back out and turned a 43.8 on the first qualifierand then a 43.6 on the next one, so we have a really competitive setup on the bike right now." The thumb was one problem; tires another. Bridgestone scrambled to build tires after the spectacular failureof Shinya Nakano's rear during the Mugellorace. There was safety built in, which meant less grip and less endurance . Repeated tank-slappers, caused by a lack of traction , had abused the thumb . "We have a reallygood package right now, but Bridgestone brought reinforced tires at very short notice, and the grip isn't there. so basically we're not as competitive as we because of t he tire s," Checa said. Edwards came fifth, and he w asn't pleased. " Not happy, no t hap py at all," he said. " But the last 10 laps or whatever we w e re do ing sam e as eve rybody else . We were just getting by and struggling and push ing as hard as w e co uld on what tires w e still had left. But I lost I th ink eight seconds in the first fou r laps." Edwards had been in w ith vario us packs of others, many of who m d idn't make it to t he end. D'Antin Ducati's Ruben Xaus d id, ta king sixth and earning first Ducati honors. It nearly w asn't so . Xaus ha d just moved in front of Marlboro Ducati's Troy Bayliss when Bayliss overshot turn four. Edwards had a blrd's eye view. He saw Bayliss unde r Xaus , "full-o n mo tard , like fee t up sidewa ys, knee on t he gro und just full sideways, and I'd already said to myself, T hey're both gone. They're both out of he re ,''' Edwards said. "It was the we irdes t shit because 99.9 times when somebody goes under and they lose it, they do on e of t hese and take both of t he m out. Troy [Bayliss1 actually held it and held it and held it forever that it act ually loaded up the rear so much that it simply pivoted, it actu ally highsided him and pivoted him around Ruben's front. It was unbelievable ." Xa us nev e r saw it. Expecting t he impact t hat never came , he 'd closed his eyes. When he opened them, there were 22 JUNE 23 , 2004 • would like," he said. TelefonicaMoviStarHonda's Colin Edwards was on the second row of the grid with two minutes to go but ended up down in II thoHis front-end woes continue and were evident at Catalunya. Edwards' trademark smoothness was nowhere to be found. He could be seen fighting and musclingthe RCV around the Catalunyan bends. Ever since Michelin brought out the newest-generation wider rear, Edwards has struggled. The evolution tires seem to benefit the more changeable Yamahas, rather than the less mallealble Hondas. "Basically the front and rear don't run on the same arc," Edwards began, "so the rear takes precedence. It's got a bigger contact patch, so it starts pushing the front across the pavement, so we've made the same step . We had everything working perfect , and now they 've come up with something that's got more side grip - but you can't friggin' use it." Suzuki's Kenny Roberts Jr. was sorting through the new Bridgestones while adapting to a new engine that wasn't optimal for qualifying. "The difference between my modified and the motor that John's [Hopkins] using is that we don't have the same amount of acceleration and top speed at the moment, so it's going to be quite hard for me in the race," he said, later adding: "Hopefully over race distance it'll prove itself to be more effective against the competition." Younger brother Kurtis was havinga world of problems. There were tire problems and bike problems and general frustration and little end in sight. He managed to qualify in front of his teammate Nobu Aoki and the two WCM machines, but it was a struggle. Comer entry was difftcult, and he couldn't get on the throttle without the rear tire stepping out . "We haven't found a tire yet that willdo the times for more than a few laps, so I'm feeling pretty frustrated, " he said. One problem after another cropped up in qualifying with the final straw being a misfire. "I just couldn't get it going out there." others in fro nt, but he was st ill ve rt ical. Bayliss tho ught he 'd t ou che d Xa us' bike, but was n't sure , and Xaus d idn't think so . "It had been a tough race fro m the start because I'd been getting chatter fro m the first lap, but that cou ld've been a good result for us," Bayliss said. The good result w e nt t o Fuchs Kawasaki's Shinya Nak ano in seventh , also in the battl e for fifth a week after surviv ing on e of the fastest crashes in GP histo ry. Th is time his Bridgestone rear held together, and he was able to pass Biaggi on Kevin Schwann: was a visitor in Catolunya, the final lap. the former World Champion oHering advice " Last week I crashed to Nicky Hayden and others . at Mugello, and thought I was dead, and then today I score my best result of the season," Nakano said. "T hat 's racing, and tha t's why I en joy it so much. Towards the end of the race I could see Max Biagg; was spinning up the rear quite a lot, so I knew there was an opportunity to pass him into the last turn if I changed my line slightly." Biaggi had a defect ive re ar t ire t hat caused chattering and made the bike virtu ally impossible to ride . CYCLE NEWS 40th Anniversary

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