Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

, --- -MOTOGP I Round 13 _ _ Qatar Grand Prix I Briefly•.. Contin ued 'rom poge '9 13th in a race, depleted by a tum- one crash . Severe pain too k him back to the docto rs on his return to England, w he re it was diagnosed that not on ly was his scap hoid bone fractured, but it had also rotated the wrist - so mething that may have happened since the original dislocation. Byrne was not replaced for the Q atar GP. Kenny Rob e rts Jr. was another Qatar nonstarter and is expected to miss the next two GPs as well, as he is recovering from injuries incurred in the Motegi first-comer crash, when six riders w ere e liminated afte r Loris Capirossi lost cont rol on t he way into the first tum. In addition to bums to his nec k and right arm when he was pulled into Biaggi's machine, Roberts suffered a dislocated left elbow. Although qu ickly relocated at the circuit, w hen he returned to Calilom ia fractu res and ligament damage were diagnosed at Dr. Art li ng's clinic outside San Francisco , and Roberts was put off racing until at best the Valencia GP on October 3 1. He was promptly replaced by long-time Suzuki rider Yukio Kagayama for the Qatar and Malysian GPs, w ith official test -team rider Gregorio Lavilla taking over at Phillip Island . Kagayama is fresh from third in the British Superb ike series . Lorenzo taki ng over br iefly, and t he same pair swa pping a few more times, with Do vizioso poised in t hird, waiti ng fo r t he final showdown. Bautista ruled himse lf out with two laps left, run ning o ff the grip line and way wi de, letti ng D ovizio so through w ithout proble ms. He was neve r a factor after t hat. Lore nzo started t he last lap seemingly in co nt ro l, and that's t he way it stayed. Do vizio so was saving it all fo r the last run down t he long straight, wit h the finish line some way along it. He got a good drive after the last tum, tucked into the De rb i's draft and po pped o ut perhaps a t ho usan dth o f a second too late. He was alongside over the line , and the electronic timers couldn't split the pair. It to o k ca reful scrutiny of the video footage to give the race to Lorenzo. Bautista was th ird , Kallio alm o st 20 secon ds adrift, w ith Fabr izio Lai prevailing over Ni eto, Simon and Borsoi, almost 20 more seconds away in a widely spread rac e . jen kner dropped back to I Ith, with Barbera inches behind ove r t he line . Dov izioso no w has th e bigges t points lea d o f any class, 22 B to Barbera's 167. Lorenzo moves u p to th ird on 159 , w ith Lo ca te lli o n 156 and N ieto 124 . eN Lo SAlL CIRCUIT, DOHA, QATAR RESULTS: O CTOBER 2, 2004 MOTOGP QUALIFYING: I. CMioo Checa ( I:58.988): 2. Alex Barros ( 1:59.119): 3. Sete G,bemau ( 1:59. 126): 4. Nk ky Hayden ( 1:59. 187): 5. Shinya Nakano ( 1:59.2ll): 6. Loris CapiI'OSSi (1:59.28 1): 7. Ruben Xaus ( 1:59.352): 8. Valentino Roso ( 1:59.494): 9. Troy Bay!... ( 1:59.55 1): 10. Co/in Edwards ( 1:59.58.2): I I. John Hop!<", (1.59.944): 12. Max Biagg; (2:00.063): 13. Makoen >toli (Ap< 12. E Bautiota (Apr): 4. MoI (Ap<): 9. Mattia Pas... (Ap<): 10. Min.o G""""'i (Ap<): I I . Steve Jen!hiAoyama ( 11 9): 6. Alex DeAngelo (I 14): 7. Fa,,; Nieto (105): 8. Raben o Roifo (101/ 1 win ): 9. Anthony West (88): 10. Mn.eI Poggiafi (79/1 win), 11 5 GP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After I] of 16 rounds): I. Andrea Dovirioso (228/4 wins); 2. Hect or Barbera ( 167/3 wins); 3, Jorge Lorenzo ( 159/3 wins); 4. Roberto Locatelli(15612wins ); 5. Pablo Nieto ( 124); 6. Casey Stoner ( 104) ; 7. Steve Jen kne r (99) ; 8. Mirko Giansant i (98); 9 . Alvaro Baut ista (90); 10. Mika Kallio (86 ). OCTOBER 13,2004 • CYCLE NEWS Temperatures were high nudging 104 degrees - in the unrem itting desert sunshine ... exce pt inside Sete Gibema u's Spidi leathers. The Italian leathe r company fitted his backpack with a nove l cooling system, with an iced -ge l intercooler and battery operated pump s to kee p the water circu lating round his sho ulders and upper thorax. The pump and micro -batt ery, developed by the European space agency, were so co mpact that there was still room for the drinking bott le to also be placed in the backpack. Garry Taylor, team manager for the Suzuki factory GP team lo r more than 20 years, is set to retire from the position at the end of the seaso n. Taylo r, 55, the longes t-serv ing team manager in the paddoc k, said he was ste pping down for personal reason s, to spe nd more time with his familyand young daughter, and also for medical reaso ns. "It's noth ing that can't be treated, but I need to sta nd still long enough lor it to be done," Taylor said. Taylor was first associated w ith Suzuki in the days of Barry Shee ne's 1976 and 1977 Worid Championships, and has been manager since the days of Randy Mamo la, claiming two titles with Kevin Schwantz and Kenny Roberts Jr., as well as presiding over 40 GP wins. "I wou ld spe nd more than 200 days away from home next year, including winte r testing ," he said, re ferring to the punishing travel schedule. "My daughte r Phoebe is eight, and I have not yet been ho me for one o f her birthdays - or my wife's, for that matter. Being team manage r lor Suzuki has been the greatest job in the world, and I have enjoyed practicallyevery day of it . It's been a privilege to work with som e of the world 's greatest ride rs. I had always planned to retire at S5, and the factory was awa re o f tha t." He will be replaced by fellow -Briton Paul Denn ing, owner of the UK-based Crescent Suzuki team that won the 2004 British title. Crescent Suzuki plans to defend tha t title, as wellto contest MotoG P. "Garry has done a fantastic job fo r Suzu ki, and we aim to build on the continuing improvements and success of the team and the GSV -R," he said. "Suzuki has a high-quality, con sistent team in place, and we are inheriting a team with high potential ." Cam e l Pramac team manage r Gianluca Mon tiron has been dropped fro m the team, after "management disagreements" with Pramac. But the popular Italian was stillon hand at Q atar, dressed in plain Honda clothes rath er than Team Camel liveI)', because his rider Makoto Tamada insisted he stay. Fresh from victory at Motegi, Tama da carried enough authority to prevail. British ride r James Haydon made a GP ret urn after eight years away, taking the place of Kurtis Roberts on the second Prot o n KRVS alongside team regular Nobu Aoki. And he impressed onlookers and the team with consistently faster laps to qualifyjust half-a-second slow er than his teammate after o nly two days on the bike. "The Prot on is a lovely piece of kit, and the fastest bike I've ever ridden ," he enth used. "I'm in at the deep end, and it's difficult because of the lack of grip. But the bike has such linear power de livel)', and I was surprised how easy it is to ride - though it gets a bit harder when you tl)' to get the last bits ou t o f it." Haydon was top privateer in his days in GP racing, and since the n has had an up-and -down career, both in British Supe rbike racing and as second rider for the Foggy Petronas team - wh ich included o ne year without racing at all. This year he was drafted in to his o ld Virgin Yamaha team as a rep lacemen t rider for the injured Steve Plater. He w on one race , and finished fourth overall. Somebody had to do it, probably, in an environment of garbled English press re leases. The honor we nt to the factory Honda team in the postp ractice state me nt quoting Alex Barros, who (allegedly) said t hat the track was hard to keep clean "beca use [it] is in the middle of the dessert." Would tha t be because of the sticky caramel sauce , the w hipped cream or t he scattering of sprinkles? 40t h Anniversar y

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