Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

MOTOGP Round 13 Octobe r 2 , 2004 ~ Qatar Grand Prix [heca Iloe§ It The only bike tha t had previously been rou nd the Losail circuit was Rancly Mamela and the two-seater D ucati. The surface was, to say the least (and if not too much of an oxymoron in the desert) very green. And very slippery. Almost every rider had some sort of an off-track excursion, usually involving a the Isle of Man. Only Barros ran off, having already lost a couple of positions, when Rossi slammed past him at the end o f the main straight - Rossi had touched Xaus at speed on the way past and then Barros on the corner entry. Ro ssi waved an apology, then got back to business, not liking the sight of the leaders disappearing. They were four seconds clear when Rossi tucked in behind Edwards on lap four, and the pair set about closing the gap. Edwards had the pace to keep Rossi sa fely at bay. Then it happened, on the sixth lap. Rather than settling for a safe fourth to see what m ight develop, Rossi pushed and pushed, running off the curb in familiar style at the e xit of the last left-hander of the lap . But instead o f mere ly kicking up dust from the grass, he was on Ast roturf, and in an instant his bike flicked sideways and he was slithe ring along the short st ra ight behind it in a shower of spa rks . He got to his feet, clutched his helmet in despair, then ran off the track and straight to the medical center, where a small cut on a finger was repaired. He was fum ing with anger at t he whole situation. The start-grid debacle may not have been of his own doing, but in su bsequent events Rossi was architect o f his own downfall - showing a hitherto unseen tendency to get in a tizzy under pressure. Up fro nt, Gibernau had put a second on Checa, the Yamaha ride r already suffering some sort of fuel vaporization problems. It took four more laps for Edwards, who was simply flying, to catch the Yamaha and surge past. Edwards was then four seconds adrift of Gibernau, w ith 14 laps left, and he set one fastest lap after another as he sliced away at the gap to just over 1.5 seconds by lap 14. Gibernau knew he was coming, however, and had the pace to keep him at bay to the finish. long, long ride across the huge gravel traps. Valentino Rossi probably had more than anyone, with a total of eight such offs.Amazingly, however, there was not one actual crash in two days of practice. The other indication that traction was improving was the radical dro p in lap times as rubber was laid on the racing line. Fastest time in the first free training was 2:07. 144, set by Co lin Edwar ds . Pole time , fou r sessions later, was more than eight seco nds faster, at 1:58.988 . And that time was n't Edwards', wh ose final session was spoiled w he n first he had to switch to his spare bike and then had his qualifying-tire run spoiled when he ran w ide on the last corner. Pole went to Car los Checa, his third in his career and first since Estoril in 2002 . And it was convincing enough even though times were very close , going even faster at the end of the session. "It's a very important pole, with the track so slippery off-line," he said. "We went to a setting we used a few races ago . and it worked well." The potential spoiler was Alex Barros , who put in a real flyer right in the c1ying minutes to slot into second, just over a tenth slower. "I like the track, and everything for me is fine," he smiled. This pushed Sete Gibernau to third, on the wrong side of the grid for the "grip line," and he worried about it despite of an obvious return to fonn. "The striking things about this track are the heat and the lack of grip. Overtaking will be so hard , and being off the line is going to make the start difficult," he said. Nicky Hayden was also going well. spasmodically, and slotted into fourth to lead the second row from the favored right-hand side of the grid inside for the first tum. "It might not be so bad - only .2 [of a second] off pole," he said. "The big thing tomorrow is not to make any mistakes ." Indeed so , and the sentiment was echoed by Loris Capirossi , on the far end of the second row in sixth, who said: "Everyone needs to pay a lot of attention at the start. " As the man who knocked off five other riders in the first tum at Moteg i, there was some irony here - did he mean that he was going to do it again?Or was he seeking to shift the blame? In between them was Shinya Nakano's Kawasaki,who had followed Barros to earn his best time. "I'd have been happy with the third row, but it helps to follow someone here because the brake markers are hard to judge:' the Motegi rostrum man said. Ruben Xaus had been fast throughout, heading the lists after the first day, and though he dropped to seventh, he was still less than four-tenths off pole and looking goo d. "I've been learning new circuits quickly allyear, and I've equa led my best position, seventh at Cata lunya - one track I knew really well: ' he said. Rossi was no better than eighth, alongside and in the middle of row th ree . He had been higher, challenging for the front row, and his pace on race tires was good . "I had a problem again with the qualifyingtire ," he explained . '~ d I went straight on at the last comer and lost about five minutes because I had to go back to the garage." Since he'd ended up past pit-lane entrance, that had meant an extra-slow lap. "Starting fro m the third row will make it difficulttomorrow because it is so difficult to overtake: ' Rossi said. The controversy that erupted on race morning meant things would be even harder, as he started from the back row instead (see sidebar story) . Troy Bayliss finished the row still less than six-tenths off pole and saying: "The grip is get ting better and you can brake reasonably hard. but there's not a lot of grip when you 're on the side. You lose the front more times in one session here where else." than over a whole weekend any· Colin Edwards ended up IOth, seriously inconvenienced by bike problems in the final qualifying after leading both morning sessions as well as race-morning warmup. "We found a good rhythm, but it will be tough starting where I am ," he said. AlongSide him on the fourth row was john Hopkins, also suffering bike problems in the final session and switching to his spare, followed by Biaggi. Last race winner Makota Tarnada was struggling somewhat, heading row five from jeremy McWilliams and Neil Hodgson, though times were still close and the japanese rider was [ust 1.6 seconds off pole on a long lap. Marco Melandri led the next row from Norick Abe and Hofmann , then came Suzuki substitute Yukio Kagayama, 14 oaOBER 13,2004 • CYCLE NEWS 40th Anniversary

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