World Championship Road RacE Stlrl..
j e _ (1:<10.495); 21. & - NIgon (1:<10.857); 22.
~ leBlanc (1:41.420); 23. Dirlt HeidoIf (1:41.444);
24. _ _ (1:41.464); 25. AmhonyWest (1:42.139);
26. Gabor RIvnayer (1:42.540); 27. Huao _
(I :42.700), 28. Fredorik Watz (1:41.601).
150ec GRAND PRIX: I. DanleI _
(Hon); 2.
IIondy De PInel (Apr); 1. _lloYIzioso (Hon); 4. Casoy
_
(Apr), 5. JorJa Lorenzo (Hon); 6. HIroshi Aoyama
(Hon); 7. Hector Ilarber.a (Hon); 8. _
Debon (Hon); 9.
5jMlnGuinloll(Apr); 10. ~T_(Hon); II.Simone
Corsi (Apr); 12. Chu DaYios (Apr); 11. AJox _
(Apr);
14. Roberto LocateIi (Apr); 15. _ _ (Apr); 16.
)akub 5mn (Hon); 17. Mir1 GuintoIi (19); 14. Roberto LocateIi (II), 15. (llE)
Chu DaYios (9)INe< 80Idcri (9); 17. Mir1'a _
(1:11.516); 7. John HopIdns
(I ;11.594); 8. Max IliW (I :11.699); 9. Carlos Checa
(l;ll.n7); 10. Lons Capln>ooI (1:3.771), II. AJox Barros
(1:11.876); 12. lOni ElIas (1:11.991); 11. 0IYIer jocquo
(1:14.<101); 14. Kenny _
(1:15.068), 15. Troy 8a)oIiIs
(1:15.211); 16. Ruben Xaus (1:15.7n); 17. Shane 8yme
(1:16.249); lB. Roberto _
(1:16.119); I9.Juopn ....
den Goarborgh (I :16.595); 20. james EllIson (I :17.265), 21.
_ _ (1:17.141).
MOTOGPl I. VaIondno _
(Yam); 2. 5ete GIbemau
(Hon); 1. Colin Edwords (Yam); 4. Marco MeIIndri (Hon),
5. Max 8iag1 (Hon); 6. NIdcy ~ (Hon); 7. Lons
Capln>ooI (Iluc); 8. Shinyo _
(Kaw), 9. lOni E....
(Y....); 10. Troy 8a)oIiIs (Hon); II. OIYIer)aeque (Kaw), 12.
Ruben Xaus (Yam), 11. Kenny _
(Suz); 14.Juopn ....
den GoorberJh (Hon); 15. Roberto RoIfo (Iluc); 16. John
HopIdns (Sla), 17. _ _ (SIa).
TIme: 44 min., 12.221 sec.
- . 28 laps. n.68 miles
DanIeI_
Loris Caplros" ran has hlth as thInI on his
Martboro Ducat! befOre slipping back to seventh place.
- . . . opeed: 98.65 mph
...... '" 'IktcIooI (21); II. Troy 8ayIIss (21); 12.
CarlosCheca (17); 11. Ruben Xaus(16), 14. _ ElIas (I 5);
15.Juopn .... den Goarborgh (12); 16. John HopIdns (II);
17. _
Tamada (8); lB. Kenny _
(7); 19. (llE)
_ HoImam (S)IRobeno _
_Rossi
(5~
UPCOMING ROUNDS
Round 5: Mugello, Itoly, June 5
Round 6: Cotalunya, Spain, June 12
Briefly...
Continued from poge 34
said. "We contacted him again for China, and
now he is the best-ever Kawasaki rider! We
don't want to lose him, but we have a contract with Alex. I hope we can get some wildcard rides for him this year."
Olivier Jacque was well aware that Le
Mans would be a harder task than Shanghai,
at least if the race is dry. One problem was
the pressure of people who expect him to
reproduce his second place in China - or
even win. "I set the level too high:' he
smiled, adding. "Since then my phone hasn't
stopped ringing. I hope I have time to race."
Makoto Tamada made a short-lived return
to the tracks after fracturing his right wrist at
Portugal four weeks ago. The Japanese star
underwent surgery back home in Japan and
hoped to be able to race in France. Instead, he
pulled out after a fraught and agonizing first
free practice session. Tamada managed only
seven laps, and his best time was almost 10
seconds off the pace. Directly afterward he
was withdrawn from the meeting, and China
substitute Jurgen van den Goorbergh was
again put in his place. The team had made
sure the Dutchman was on hand. It made
another hard task for the ex-Supersport rider,
particularly when the heavens opened in the
afternoon, robbing him of another chance to
gain familiarity with the Honda in the dry. "I
had only six laps in the dry before it started
raining," van den Goorbergh said after the first
day. The bike felt nervous. and I didn't feel so
comfortable." Hopes of more dry time on
Saturday were dashed by more rain in the
morning session, leaving van den Goorbergh
just one hour in the afternoon. He ended up,
not surprisingly, the last Honda, qualifying 19th
and ahead only of the WCMs.
Australian 2S0cc GP winner Anthony West
was back at Le Mans, and the master of iffy
conditions made an immediate impact. In a
streaming wet first qualifying session on Friday afternoon, in spite of seven months without having ridden a racing bike, West posted
fastest time - by a massive four seconds.
36 MAY 25, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS
West was so much faster than everybody
else that all but four other riders failed to
qualify, running outside the 107-percent limit
of the fastest time. To be fair to the established stars, a number (including Dani
Pedrosa, Sebastien Porto. Andrea Dovizioso
and double-winner Casey Stoner) did not go
out; for much of the session, the track was
badly flooded by an unremitting deluge.
There was so much standing water at the
end ofthe pit straight that two riders (one of
them Alex de Angelis) fell even before
attempting to take the comer at the end of
the lane. hydroplaning out of control.
Anthony West is currently awaiting the new
KTM 2S0, his first full factory ride. The Austrian factory hopes the bike will be race-reatly
for the Italian GP at Mugello in two weeks.
KTM 2S0 and 125 technical guru and longtime two-stroke genius Harald Bartol
turned 58 on t~e first day of practice, and he
was rewarded by seeing his 12S KTM on
provisional pole (with Mika Kallio aboard)
and his 2S0cc candidate Anthony West in the
same position in the 250cc class. 8artol
made his own GP debut at Le Mans in 1970.
To blip or not to blip: That remains an
unresolved question in MotoGp, clearly displayed at the end of the pit straight, where
riders drop four or five gears for the chicane. It seems the only bikes that need to be
blipped, lacking electronic software to do it
for them. are the Ducatis, the Italian brand
haVing dumped the radical freewheeling-in
system that caused it so much trouble early
in the year. Even the WCM riders can stomp
down the gearbox without touching the
throttle. although they have no system
beyond a slipper clutch and a fast idle speed.
But some riders just can't stop themselves...
notable amongst them Troy 8ayliss, who
prefers to ignore (or perhaps override)
Honda's built-in autoblip with conspicuous
elbow-flapping. Most of the others resisted
the temptation, but not all the time, succum bing to reflex action now and then.
