Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

much time in practice. Before the race we said, 'Which tire?' That one felt good. We only got fIVe laps on it yesterday, and we don't know if It'll last, but it felt good. "I could do mid-I :34s all race long, but if you told me I had to do a 1:33 or you'd kill me, I'd have said put the gun to my head right now," Edwards added. Sliding at the end, in the last few laps Edwards elected to settle for third, more than fIVe seconds adrift, for his first rostrum of the season. Telef6nica MoviStar Honda's Marco Melandri was fourth, fending off a determined Repsol Honda's Max Biagg! by haifa-second after a long battle that had taken them past two faster starters: Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden and a fading Loris Capirossi on the Marlboro Ducati. Biaggi was riding in pain, after crashing heavily in morning warmup. ':.\t first I didn't think I could race," Biaggi said. "The pain never left me. Then adrenaline and my big desire gave me an incredible fuel. At the end of the race, I could hardly get off the bike, so I am happy with fifth place." Hayden had run with the leaders for the first half of the race but blamed chatter for dropping off the pace. "I'm really, really disappointed." he said. "It all felt great until about 10 laps from the end, and It started to feel like last week in the rain." Rain was a big theme of the weekend, with the French circuit turning into "Le Monsoon" In practice, with a deluge on Friday and more on Saturday morning. Race day stayed dry but threatening, with light spots of rain before the start of the MotoGP race bringing out the "Wet Race" boards to allow a bike change if the heavens did open. Mercifully for the riders and the 75,5OO-strong crowd, It never happened. There were plenty of sad stories, all the same. Capirossl dropped off the pace later in the race, finishing seventh, three seconds behind Hayden. Shinya Nakano was a fine eighth on the Kawasaki, with Fortuna Yamaha's Toni Elias just two seconds adrift. Camel Honda's Troy Bayliss managed to get narrowly ahead of Olivier jacque, in jacque's second substitute ride on the Kawasaki. jurgen van den Goorbergh was 14th in his second substitute outing on the Konika Minolta Honda, paying the price of a severe lack of dry time on the bike. "The bike is my boss," he said later. "I'm still learning things that the other guys learned In preseason testing." Difficulty getting used to the brakes meant a scary run across the gravel at the second chicane earlier in the race, and he was satisfied to finish In the points. Worse off by far were Proton KTM's Shane Byrne and Marlboro Ducati's Carlos Checa. Byrne was taken to the hospital for precautionary scans after a huge first-lap hlghside, while Checa, fastest in morning warmup, didn't get past the first chicane. The Spaniard was knocked flying after two other riders collided on the exit. Camel Honda's Alex Barros was also battered but unhurt after crashing out of eighth place on lap 13. john Hopkins had problems on the warmup lap, when a servomotor on his Suzuki's throttle-management system failed. He was passed by the pace car, and as the field got away, he was still pottering toward the pit. He made it before they had completed the first lap and was able to switch to his spare, but he was so far behind that he could do no better than finish 16th, second from last and one lap down. Teammate Kenny Roberts was 13th, beaten by Fortuna Yamaha's Ruben Xaus after a long battle. Dani Pedrosa showed his World Champion's class with the narrowest of wins in a thrilling 2S0cc race that had five different leaders and ended in a last-corner showdown between the Spanish Telef6nica MovlStar Honda rider and French hero Randy de Punlet, on the Repsol Aprilia. Pedrosa had lost the lead on the penultimate lap but got It back with an aggressive move on the penultimate tight turn. Early leader Andrea Dovlzioso was a close third on the Scot Honda, while earlier leaders Casey Stoner on the KTM and jorge Lorenzo on the Fortuna Honda lost ground by the finish but were still miles clear of the rest. "It was a very difficult race," Pedrosa said. "The tires were very Important because everyone was sliding a lot, but in the end we had a good setup, and though the engine was not perfect, I could push hard to win." De Punlet accepted second, saying, "For me it was a very good race. Dani [Pedrosa) pushed at the end, and I was able to go with him and even get in front. I made a little mistake two corners from the end, and that's how he won." Dovizloso, the last one still close, was also happy. "' could almost follow Danl, so now I know I can still go fast with them even when the tires are right down," he said. Thomas Luthi took a massive runaway win in the first race of the day, the 16year-old Swiss 125 Honda rider pulling an advantage of almost 10 seconds by twothirds distance before easing his pace to the finish for his first victory. Aprilia rider Sergio Gadea emerged as the narrow victor of a fierce battle for second, hounded to the line by KTM's Mika Kallio. jerez winner Marco Simoncelli had moved through to second on his Aprilia but had to drop back to fifth as a penalty for passing under a yellow flag. This was the first time the new regulation was applied, which requires a rider to rejoin in the position he was before the infringement rather than suffer a time penalty. The rule was introduced at last year's japanese GP. (Left to right) A satisfied Gibernau, the dominant Rossi, and a relieved Edwards.

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