Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

on lap five, with Barros making a desperate move first on Hayden and then Melandri and into third. Rossi's tenure at the front was one lap. Then Gibernau took over, with Hayden third, in front of Melandri, Barros and Biaggi. Tamada had crashed a lap earlier. "What happened?" he asked. Edwards was just off the back, the beginning of a long afternoon. "We f-ked up," the always straighttalking Texan said about his choice of a medium rear over the more commonly chosen hards. "It got to where you just couldn't hold any lean angle. It was a lot more difficult than I thought it was going to be today to finish seventh. We should've been on the podium easily." Within a few laps, the pattern would be set: Gibernau and Rossi, then Hayden, Melandri, and Barros, the trailing trio in a constant state of flux. "To see the leaders pull away was kind of tough," Hayden said. Rossi waited until the 23rd lap to unleash the inevitable: Out of the final corner, one of his favorite in racing, he sped by on the inside and into turn one. The lap was the fastest of the race, a new record of 1:43.195. "Is incredible the rhythm, 43.2 to the end," Rossi said. "Last year, maybe the last lap, we are 45-high (45.961). Is more than two seconds faster, so Michelin did a great job with the tire that resists to the end. And yes, at the end I try to overtake and make the fantastic last three laps. Possible go a little bit faster, and we win. So it was a great result for everybody." Well, not everybody. "I thought I had still one- or two-tenths for the last laps of the race," Gibernau said, but his rear tire thought otherwise. "If it hadn't been for that on the rear tire, I think we could've had at least a little bit more chance to win the race." Lap 23 would also set the order of the following three. Melandri and Barros both moved by Hayden. "When I feel the full fuel tank drop down a little bit, I start to be faster also in the fast corners, and my rhythm was quite good," Melandri said after beating Barros by four-tenths of a second. "Towards the end," said Barros, "I overtook Nicky and then waited until the last lap to try and pass Marco, too. I wanted to get him at turn six, but I was too far back. then tried it a turn nine and didn't manage it." Hayden said a lack of left-side grip meant he was "just getting killed" out of the Curva Banc Sabadell that led to the final sequence of rights. ''A bit frustrating to be third the whole race and then lose out," he said. Biaggi was next, holding sixth from lap six to the end on a different bike than his runner-up. Braking was Mugello improved, but in the sections where feeling was good, "It really worsened [in the) handling and cornering, with consequent problems for the tires' life." After choosing the wrong rear tire, Edwards got stuck behind Biaggi on the sixth lap, never to improve. The tire had worked on Saturday morning, but not on Sunday afternoon. "We kind of stuck with it, and it was a mistake," he said. Bayliss was a mover. Fourth from last on lap one, he made his way to eighth on the penultimate lap, passing Nakano. "We're improving, but now we need to make another step forward, and I'm hoping we can do it when testing here tomorrow," he said. The japanese rider said he enjoyed the race, "Even though I would have preferred to hold off Bayliss at the end, but it was just not possible." Nakano nearly lost ninth to the latecharging Ruben Xaus, the Spaniard only .054 of a second back. The Ducatis were next, Checa clear of Capirossi, both skating to the end. "We had a problem with the rear-tire life here, and the performance was nothing special," Checa said. His brother shadowed Capirossi to the line for his best MotoGP finish. "I could not feel more satisfied with the result I have got," David Checa enthused. "If you think that I only had one day of testing on the M-I before the race, I don't think you could ask for more." The lone Dunlop runner, Robbie Rolfo, came 14th, one spot in front of Kenny Roberts, on the luckless Suzuki. Briefly... Continued from poge 17 had had problems with the Bridgestones during the IRTA tests and that they'd returned. "The rear tire is not too bad, I think: They do a big improvement compared to this winter. But the front one always is not perfect," he said. "The problem is the wear of the tire. It's not perfect." Suzuki's john Hopkins agreed: "I think we all are" having front-tire issues, he said. Team manager Paul Denning concurred. ':oJ1 the Bridgestone runners are struggling here," he said. "Compared to the IRTA test, [Bridgestone has] made a massive step forward, and if they keep improving at the rate they are improving, then by the end of the season and the start of next, I think they will be there. The rate of development is scary, with the amount of new stuff we get every race. But the reality is that it's not perfect here. The track surface and track tempera- woods. Senior rider Ruben Xaus did his best to maintain his reputation as graVity-challenged with a spectacular fall on Friday morning. The power-up parts for the Suzuki GSV-R produced subtle results, at best, according to john Hopkins. "If anything, it's just helped the torque level of the bike, and that's something that we're pretty much lacking at the moment. It's brought that to a little bit of a better level. Unfortunately, Ithought it was going to be a little more of a step." The difference was noticeable coming out of the ture doesn't seem to suit the tire like it did corners. "It's a little bit smoother. just the right throttle connection. As soon as you open the throttle, probably zero to 20 percent, it's probably cleaned that up a little bit and made that better. From 20 percent on, it's pretty much similar." The parts include top-end engine parts, intake parts, and a in Mugello. Although we didn't perform particularly well in Mugello in terms of our race new exhaust system. Team manager Paul Denning was said it was 30 percent of what position, the tire consistency over the race the team needs. "The next step will be in was very good." The Suzukis were doomed by a lack of corner speed and edge grip. spec to match the updated parts we have "We have to ride our bike around the corner like an F I car. And when the tire is dead, now to give it the next step in torque." Denning said the engines are like big motocross we can't do anything with it. That's why the bikes. "They've got instant torque and a flat torque character. We also got a new cylinder head to match with the new exhaust pipes. Fingers crossed, the next step will be at Laguna. We are bench-testing and reliabilitytesting in japan at the moment." Denning's opinion of the upgrades was brighter than Hopkins'. "We're not disappointed, because engine, in terms of handling, is so critical." Michelin boss Nicolas Gaubert said the resurfacing made the track "nearly as difficult as going to a new circuit. We expect this, to have a hard time, and we're having a hard time. But we're pretty happy with the consistency of the tires and the lap time, so we're pretty happy to be in front of the competitors." Gaubert said usually they bring two or three fronts, and everyone uses the same. "This time we have three. and they use the three," he said. Gauloises Yamaha's Colin Edwards, one of Michelin's most experienced testers, said the front they used last year lasted about six laps. "This place has always been hard on front tires here," he noted. "We got something now that's working good, so we're happy about it.' Fortuna Yamaha's Toni Elias lasted a day Laguna Seca, when there's a new camshaft the direction is correct," the first-year MotoGP team manager said. "The factory was hoping to deliver more of a step for this race, but there have been some technical reasons why we haven't got the full step that could be available. That's reliability issues on the dyno. There is more stuff to be had yet when it can be proven. In fairness, both riders had one new spec motor each, and john hasn't ridden his spare bike at all. Kenny has, and he's used both as a benchmarik, and for him the step is better. He said it's nicer to ride and a step in the right direction. john just didn't do a back-to-back to get a proper feel, perhaps, of how much the improve- before lingering wrist injuries forced him to ments are. Kenny was very positive that it is give up his seat to fellow Spaniard David Checa. "I gave it everything," said Elias, who in the right direction but still not enough in the right direction." was unable to overcome the pain of the wrist injuries suffered at Mugello the previous week. '" managed a few minutes of qualifying, which has left me hopeful about competing at Assen. Things went better than I expected in the morning, but I lost power in the afternoon and had to retire. I did not When the MotoGP era started, Suzuki was caught with its pants down. Initially they'd planned to run a two-stroke for the first year. After a rethink, they rushed the GSY-R want to make things any worse and would same mistake twice. "Suzuki started working prefer to wait a bit and be I00 percent for Assen. I had it in my head that I could make it through to Sunday and start the race, but on the 800cc about two months ago in my arm has said 'no' sooner than I expected. I just have to accept that is how it is." Checa was back in the seat for Saturday morning and beyond, and in a difficult position. Local knowledge helped, but Checa had only Saturday morning's session to get up to speed before qualifying. "I would prefer not to have to substitute for him in these circumstances, but there's nothing that can be done, in reality," said Carlos' younger brother. The team wasn't completely out of the onto the race track, and they have never caught up. They don't plan on making the earnest," team manager Denning said of the 2007 MotoGP capacity. "I'm not sure about the configuration, but Iwouldn't be surprised if they we were working on a couple of options. They'll be computer-simulating what is what, but right now Idon't know what the format will be. The 2 I-liters rule is not a bad thing, because that will probably stop people going to mega-high-rpm engines. You will struggle to finish a race if you are rewing to 20,000 rpm, for example; rpm is fuel consumption, so that's probably a sensible move." Continued on poge 20 CYCLE NEWS • JUNE 22, 2005 19

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