Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128346
- -- - - -- - -- ale nt ino Rossi generally races to w in. In fact , he always races to w in . Sel d om w a s he so inte nt o n do ing so as at the Malaysian Grand Prix. After the disasters of Q atar - Rossi was pu shed to the back of the grid and then crashed o ut of a har d-earned fourth in the early laps - his focus and his dete rm ination were as clear as at the o pening ro und in So uth Africa, where he sco red a breathtaking w in o n his Yamaha debut . Th is tim e his rivals made it easier. O r pe rh aps, w ith 12 more races under his be lt , he just made it harde r for the m . And he scored a seve nt h win - his first in the last three races - in devastati ng style . Rossi left Sepang with a 14-point margin in the championship stretched to 30 points, and he is now ca pable of w inning the title next weekend in Australia. If Sete Gibernau wi ns at Phillip Island and Ro ssi is se cond , Rossi will still be champio n, with one race to spare. Wh ile othe rs , and especially new deadly rival Gibe rnau, suffered from changed con ditions as race day was markedly hotter and to ughe r than the two pract ice days , Rossi reveled in his own talent and that of his preeminent pit crew - led by the now lege ndary Je rry Burge ss, He spent the first day working wide open on race setup, and the second day demoralizing his riva ls as he set o ne fastest lap after anothe r to claim his fifth pole pos ition, Then he se ized the lea d on th e fourth of 21 laps of the 3.43 -m ile Sepang circu it, with track temperatures up to I 38 deg ree s and amb ient at a sweaty 104, and he reeled off o ne fastest lap afte r anothe r, The only person who stuck with the Gaulo ises Yamaha rider to the end, as in South Africa, was Camel Ho nda's Max Biaggi,and even he was more than 3.6 sec onds adrift at the en d. Gibe rn au was already under severe pressure fro m Rossi, wh o vowed "neve r to talk to him again" after blam ing him for push ing forward the protest at Q atar. The Tele f6nica MoviStar Ho nda rider wilted in Sunday's heat, never in the hu nt, and dro pped to sevent h, passed by both Ca mel Hon da's Makoto Tamada and the Marlbo ro Ducat i of Loris Capiro ssi in the clos ing laps, Rossi had arrived at Se pang glowering, decli ning to mellow his attitude toward Gibe rnau , in private o r in public. Afte r the race, Gibe rnau pulled alongside to o ffer a hand of congratulation - and Rossi igno re d him once again. Later, he explained his policy. "I've worked w ith Jerry [Burgess ) for four years, through good times and bad times, but I've never seen him so deflated as in Q atar," Rossi said. " I told him not to w orry: We w o uld go to Sepang and spank eve rybody's ars e . I had a very precise plan - to work to the maximum on Friday so w e cou ld get to Saturday with th e bike perfect, and the n to show eve rybody on Saturday what I was capable of on Sund ay. I wanted V I I Briefly... Valentino Rossi changed his travel plans afte r Qatar to fly home for treatment to the only injury from his crash in that race a cut to his left-hand little finger. "There is a small hole in it," he explained, and it was heavily bandaged wh ile he was riding. In fact that finger was already damaged from a crash in 1995 - just about the only mark the luckiest rider in racing has on his body. The burn ing question rema ined at Malaysia at Qatar: Who will ride the two facto ry Repsol Hondas next year ? It seems likely it willbe two of the following three: Max Biaggi, Makoto Tamada, and Nicky Hayden. There were ru mors galor e, acce lerated by a major bloodletting in the Repsol Honda team, with Nicky Hayden's crew chief Trevor Morris and five other pit stall to ld that their co ntracts would not be re newed next year. This is likely to be to make way for re placements favored by incoming riders and puts a question mark over whether Hayden will be retained in the factory team or moved to a sate llite squad. Hayde n himself be lieves he will stay. "It seems that way, but I'll be a lot happie r once I see the ink on the paper," the popu lar young America n said. His pe rformance this year has been far from shabby, but both he and more experienced teammate Alex Barros have been overshadowed by satel lite team riders Gibernau and Biagg;. Barros is not expected to stay at Repsol Honda. Gibemau would be a prime cand idate to replace him, but for a sponsor clash - he hasa strong personal relationship and con- tract with Telef6nia Movi5tar; and while Repsol was approached about the possibility of sharing spo nsorsh ip, its financial demands ruled it out . Biaggi is the name at the top of the list, if his own spo nsorship situation can be sorted out . If he leaves, then Team Pons may lose its Came l backing. The name of his fellow Camel team rider Makot o Tamada is increasingly popu lar w ith the rumor mill - and some believe that this pair might go together to Repsol Honda, pushing Hayde n to another nonfactory team. The night of the long knives at Repsol adds to major blood letting at other teams. At Yamaha, Carlo s Checa's crew chief Antonio Jimenez and mechanics Jim Hendy and Alan Talis will also not have their contracts renewed . At Suzuki, three staff me mbers will de part , along with manager Garry Taylor, as reported last week. The overall situat remains fluid. with ion many other riders uncertain as to the ir futures. Here are some of the possi bilities: John Hopkins to Ducat i, if his current negotiat ions with Suzuki do not be ar fruit. "I have two possibilities," he said. "I hope to have it sorted out by the end of the weeke nd." Colin Edwards now seem s ce rtain to sw itch to Y amaha as Valentino Rossi's teammate . Marco Melandri is tipped to switch to Honda. Alex Barros will be moved to a sate llite Honda te am. perhaps Gresini's squad to replace Edwards. But the Brazilian is also be ing eyed by Kawasaki. Continued on page 35 www.cyclenews.com CYCLE NEWS • OCTOBER 20, 2004 33