Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

. Briefly... Racing officials brushed aside safety concems about the upcoming Qatar GP, in the wake of security warnings from the British Foreign Office of "a significant risk" of terro rist activity, especially at places where westerners mightgather. "I was in Qatar last week, and if I was worried, I wouldn't go," said Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta. "Unfortunately, now nowhere is safe · even Madrid." At present, he saw no need for special security precautions for the first MotoGP in the troubled Middle East. Qatar was peaceful and felt secure, he said, and he would be guided only by advice by the Qatar government, in the same way, he said, as wou ld the British and Spanish government advisers. "Th e situat ion is not bet- ter or worse than it was for the FI GP at Bahrain," he said. MikeTrimby, general secretary of teams' association IRTA, echoed those fee lings. "I've had no questions raised by any of the teams," he said. Ho nda's Makoto Tamada (to name but two) and clos ing rapidly o n 12th-placed Biaggi at the flag. Telefonica MoviStar Honda's Dani Pedrosa extended his 250cc GP title lead with a second succ essive runaway win, his fourth victory of the year. " My rhyt hm was perfect," he said later, and the proof was the way he pulled steadily away fro m second-placed Sebastian Porto's Repsol Aprilia. The Arge ntine rider admitted defeat. "Th is is a hard circuit for us, and also there are some slow comers - and Pedrosa is very light," Porto said later. "But there are some faster tracks coming up." Randy de Puniet was third , the top finishe rs w idely spaced out. Not among them, defending champion Manual Poggiali crashed out for the second suc cessive race in the early stages. Andrea Dovizioso claimed the 200th Italian victory in the 125cc class, after a race tha t he made processional, stretching away from the start. His t hird w in of the year was a mass ive bo ost to his t itle cha nces, w ith both Ro be rto Locatelli and Hec tor Barbe ra crashing ou t . Seco nd (a first po dium) went to Apr ilia pilot Alvaro Bautista , with lucky De rbi jockey Jo rge Lore nzo com ing throug h to defend th ird from KTM·mo unted Mika Kallio in a fierce last-corner fight. "I missed t he fight in th e rac e ," said Dov izioso . "It's Edwards (45) had his b est -eve r MataGP finish , the Te xan b eating hi s teammate Gibernau (15) home ta e n d up second. not usual to be alone - but the day cou ldn't have go ne better for me ." MO TO GP Lowering skies threatened the start of the race, with a stiff breeze pr o mising prompt delivery of any wa iting rain. Th is was in everybody 's minds - especially the riders' • but with the race starting at 3:30 , ( I 1/2 ho urs late r than usual, to avo id a TV clash wit h the German F I GP), there was also a feel ing of wanting to get it out of the w ay before the weather got any worse. Certainly th is was Rossi's thought, as a few drops spattered his screen and visor on lap nine, and again a little later. "I wanted to finish the race, so we co ntinued , and it was okay again," he said. Typically, even this turned to his advantage. Edwards , by now se cond and closing , just a second adri ft, saw Rossi slow in response to the d ro ps , and slowed himse lf • but a bit more t han Rossi. " I lost half a second and thought , That was n't t he plan," Edwards said . By that time , t he pattern of th e race had been e sta blishe d, after a thrilling first few laps. Rossi led into the fi rst corner, but his cautio n o n cooler tarmac down the d ifficult sweeps of Ho llywood and the Craner Curves (where three riders had crashed on the' first lap of the I25cc race) gave Capirossi enough day. light to dive through before the Old Hairpin at the bottom of the hill, and fo r Gibem au to fo llow suit two comers later. Rossi got him back at the penultimate bend , the Melbourne Loo p hairpin, and finished the first lap seco nd. Bayliss was a feisty fourth , Edwards was fifth and pushing hard , and then Biaggi, Checa, Hayden, Barros and Xaus led the midfield pack. Capirossi's time up fro nt was not to last. Ne xt time into t he ch icane at the end of the back straight, Rossi and Gibemau dived past, one on each side , whi le Edwa rds had toughed it out past Bayliss and was now setting abou t the other Ducat i. On lap th ree, he was past and dogg ing teammate Gibe rnau . An interesting situat ion: Wou ld Edwards defer to his teammate in the interests of Gibe rnau's titl e cha nces? Wou ld he be ordered to de fer, by his t eam or by Honda? Thi s was so o n answered when Edwards emerge d onto t he front st raight ahead of Gibe rna u at th e start of lap se ven. Rossi had been ek ing ou t a littl e lead , just ove r a second at this point, a little mo re next t ime ar ound. At t he same t ime , Bayliss and the n Hayden had ta ke n adva ntage of what Capirossi later said was "t ro uble under braking that made me ease my pace," and Bayliss was charging up toward Gibernau Donington's down-at-heel paddock played one of its nasty tricks even before the meet ing began, when a major downpour on Thursday evening flooded not onlysevera l access roads but also Hospitality Row in the paddock. Yamaha's hospitality unit the last of the major teams still at ground level · was Puddle Central, under something like two feet of water... enough for some amb itious so uls to swim in. Hospital i- ty staffcould not comment on whether the water was stillor sparkling. This was not the first time flood ing has occurred at a track that has a reputation for poor facilities not in keeping with its status. Donington's sweeping parldand location and challenging comers make it an attractive cir- cuit: the position and the state of the paddock leave it bereft of atmosphere, as well as competent drainage. The presentation could improve ifa rebuildingprogram goes ahead, and there were market researchers in the paddock, as part of a drive to secure some local government support. There were mixed responses to Don ington Park's full new surface , relaid over the winter. All praised the absence of bumps, and the grip level was at least consistent. For so me tast es, how ever, th er e was n't enough of it, especially in the we t. Colin Edwards was a major fan, after failing to fi nd chatter problems for the first time all year. "It's unbelievable - whoever did it needs to resu rface every circuit in t he world," he said after practice. "Its immaculate . The bumps have gone and the grip is so good, and you don't get that hopping fee ling, because both whee ls just slide across the surface," he said. Troy Bayliss also praised the smooth ness and the predictability but the Bridgestone tire users all ; found problems , after two tracks that had suited the Japanese tires. The most pungent criticism came from Kenny Robe rts Jr. and concerned another aspect. "Somebocly dropped the ball," he said. "The resurfacing has made the track more dangerous, because they didn't put the Continued on poge J 7 www.cyclenews.com CYCLE NEWS • AUGUST 4, 2004 1S

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