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/128374
both at the same point - it was not especially late, and I was not out of control. But he was tight, and the room for overtaking was very small, and I didn't make a perfect line for the corner - about I 1/2 meters wide. But the rhythm of the race was incredible, and Sete rode very well." The champion's victory came after a potentially ruinous crash in morning warmup. Rossi blamed an electronic glitch with his machine, and said: "Luckily there was no pain." His bike was badly damaged, however, and he switched to his spare for the race. That was the only hiccup in a weekend when he bided his time in practice, then set a devastating and morale-boosting pole position in the new Saturday-afternoononly qualifying session, displacing Gibernau, who had headed the freepractice sheets until that point. In spite of new fuel regulations, both riders were a second inside last year's pole time, proving just how much the machines have improved over 12 months. The same high pace characterized a blindingly fast race, more than a minute faster than the last dry race two years ago, in spite of high winds spreading dust around the 2.74-mile circuit. Rossi set a new record on lap five, also inside last year's pole time, set on soft qualifying tires. Third place went to Telef6nica MoviStar Honda's Marco Melandri, a fine reward for his first race on a Honda. But he knew he was somewhat lucky. Nicky Hayden had been tailing the leading pair, still in touch when he crashed under braking for the final hairpin late in the race. "I'm just so frustrated," Hayden said. "Most of the weekend we'd been going real well. The leaders pulled a bit of a gap on me, but I managed to close up again. It all felt pretty comfortable, but I was pushing, and in the end I crashed. To be so close in the first race and get no points is hard." Camel Honda's Alex Barros came through from a slow start to snitch fifth from a very impressive Shinya Nakano and his new "big-bang" Kawasaki. Second Camel Honda rider Troy BayliSS proved himself a much better racer than tester and qualifier, and he finished close behind in sixth in his first on the Honda. He was two seconds ahead of factory Repsol Honda rider Max Biaggi, who had to be pleased with seventh in a disastrous weekend, after qualifying 16th. Colin Edwards was ninth in his first race as Rossi's Gauloises-Yamaha teammate, on the midfield pace until he lost touch, but getting clear of Marlboro Ducati's Carlos Checa. Neither Checa nor teammate Loris Capirossi used the controversial electronic engine-braking system they had been battling with right up until morning warmup, the team saying it had discovered in a practice start that it stretched the chain too severely. Plans didn't bear fruit either for Suzuki, the improvement promised in preseason testing proving unreliable. John Hopkins was 14th after a first-lap collision with Roberto Rolfo spoiled his start. His teammate, Kenny Roberts Jr., retired from a similarly lowly position, with an electronic glitch affecting his engine-management program. Earlier, defending champion Dani Pedrosa and his Honda served an ill omen to anyone hoping for an end to processional 2S0cc-class racing, leading from start to finish in the second race of the day, with only his main 2004 rival Sebastian Porto able to stay close to the finish to keep him honest. Porto's new teammate, Randy de 20 APRIL 20,2005 • CYCLE NEWS