Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Valentino Rossi really is The Doctor, since an Italian university awarded the national hero an honorary degree in Communication and Publicity. The award was from the University of Urbino, where he was born, and he was presented with a scroll, a gown and a mortarboard at a ceremony attended by 1500 people in what he later called a very emotional occasion. The degree is called "Doctorate ad Honorem," and Rossi's special lcalian GP helmet design reflected the new honor. On the top was a picture of a mortarboard, and the words "the real doctor." On the back were the words "II Laureoto" ("the graduate"). Rossi wore his mortarboard, now with the addition of a Michelin sticker, on the rostrum after the race. Estoril injury victims Makoto Tamada and Alex Hofmann made a racing return at Valentina "The Graduate" Rossi celebrates hi. fourth W Mugello, after eight weeks away. Each had suffered wrist fractures in Portugal, Hofmann after highsiding in a pre-race promotional event in the streets of Estoril. Tarnada was complaining of continuing pain and weakness. "This morning was really hard for me," he said after the first day of practice. Characteristically, he kept pushing. Kawasaki had substitute rider Olivier Jacque (second in China) standing by in case Hofmann's left wrist was not strong enough, but though he was not free from pain, Hofmann was able to keep going. "It's a really cool feeling to be back on the bike," he said on the first day. "I can still feel the occasional twinge in my wrist, but I was able to ride in the afternoon without strapping. I won't be thinking about it when the race starts." MataGP win of the season. Fortuna Yamaha rider Toni Elias is unlikely to be fit to race in next week's Catalunyan GP after breaking his left ann, left wrist and left ankle in a testing crash after the French GP at Le Mans. "The arm and leg could be plated. The most troublesome injury is to his wrist - he has fractured the scaphoid bone," a team spokesman said. "He is getting treatment to try to make him well enough for next weekend, but it will be difficult." The fonner 125 and 250cc star's absence from Mugello gave ex-250 rider David Checa Carlos' younger brother - a chance for a GP return. His class debut was marked with a crash on each day of practice. Team Suzuki will have a sponsor at last, for the first time since 2002, if negotiations in progress bear fruit. But the only unsponsored Japanese factory team will only enjoy the backing for one race - the U.S. GP. The sponsorship is from Red Bull, who is also sponsoring the event and already has a personal deal with rider John Hopkins. The Austrian company had tried to strike a deal with Repsol Honda, offering the team one-half of its F I car at its home Catalunyan GP in exchange for fairing space in the USA, but the decision was delayed too long and they turned instead to Suzuki, the only team with two American riders. Team manager Paul Denning said: "We are working on it, but we can't confinn Colin Edwards gives chase to Makoto Tamado. Tamada ended up eighth with Edwards ninth. anything yet, because nothing is finalized." Hopkins and teammate Kenny Roberts Jr. will also have a revised-spec motor for next week's Cacalunyan Gp, with reworked cylinder heads, valves and exhausts aimed at imprOVing midrange power and acceleration off the comers - still a weak point for the improving GSV-R. "It's come a week too late really," Denning said. "We could have used it here." The riders were suffering in top speed on Mugello's long straight, where a faster entry out of the long preceding comer would have helped them. Roberts was 14th in practice top-speed times, with a best of 325.7 kmIh (203.19 mph), more than 10 km/h (6.21 mph) down on the leaders. The fastest bikes in practice were again the Ducatis, with Carlos Checa clocking a best of 21 1.1 mph. Teammate Loris Capirossi was next at 208.1 mph, and Roberto Rolfo was fractionally slower on last year's machine. Tamada's Honda was next, at 206.B3 mph. Former World Superbike Superstar Carl Fogarty was qUick to deny rumors that he is coming into MotoGP racing with the lavish Petronas backing he currently enjoys for his so-far unsuccessful Foggy Petronas SBK team. "I don't know how these rumors spread. I have no comment - I know nothing about it, and I have nothing to say. Make your own mind up," Fogarty said. Mugello's long straight and the highest top speeds of the year would be a problem on the Yamaha, predicted Valentino Rossi, in spite of new engine parts tested after the last round at Le Mans. "Top speed is important here," Rossi said. "Last year, it was a very hard battle. I had to do a lot of overtaking under braking and in the middle of the chicanes, and every time at the end of the straight I would lose one or two places. This year, the situation is more or less the same. I need a perfect bike with good feel. We had a few engine parts as well as rear suspension to test after Le Mans. The engine gives better engine character on acceleration [Rossi had earlier complained that the new fuel-saving lean settings spoiled throttle response), also something for more speed, but the difference was very small." Ever the optimist, however, crew chiefJerry Burgess saw any deficit as a possible advantage. "The faster bikes have a problem because of wheelying over the crest of the hill at the end of the straight, just before they have to hit the brakes," he said. "We're better because our bike stays on the ground." He added that on less flimsy ground, "the new rear shock we tried after Le Mans worked welL" KTM engineers have solved the teething problems that struck their new engine at Le Mans, and tests in Hungary in the week before Mugello showed the improved potential of the second-generation motor. In France, the new engines gave so much trou- ble that Proton KR rider Shane Byrne was obliged to switch to an old engine for the race. According to KTM R&D chief Wolfgang Fel ber, the major cause was a problem with the oil filtration system and a consequential loss of oil pressure. Combined with overtight crankshaft bearings, this caused the repeated engine failures. The oil filter system has been redesigned. "This is the first time we've been able to use the new motor, which is the first racing motor rather than a prototype," team owner Kenny Roberts said. "It seems like a good step." Although still short of acceleration, the Proton KR set good top-speed figures, with Byrne II th fastest in practice at 203.484 mph. Again, the race might change this, but it was one kmIh (.62 mph) slower than Aoki on last year's V-fIVe machine. CYCLE NEWS • JUNE 15,2005 2

• Cover