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MOTOGP cially [because] we didn't find the solution of the front grip," Pedrosa said. "In the race, I try so hard, and the rhythm was not so strong. At the end, I could make my rhythm, my pace, and I could go alone." Casey Stoner finished second, saying it was "probably the worst weekend of the year. We were struggling to get the setup and only found it in the last laps of the warmup." Third, another five seconds back, was SeTE-A New ReCORD A week after his MotoGP Championship hopes ended in an Italian gravel trap, Sete Gibernau stated the obvious: Winning was all that mattered. "We need the 2~ points since the first race, but we haven't been the strongest in the race, and at the end of the day, that's when it counts," the MoviStar Honda MotoGP rider said on Saturday afternoon. Not two hours earlier, he'd given the home crowd a thrill by lowering his own lap record in qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix of Catalunya. In front of a supportive crowd of friends and family, the Barcelona native dropped 0.259 seconds off his 2004 best, then issued a warning about tire wear on the recently resurfaced Montmelo circuit. "The higher the temperature, the worse feeling we get from the bike," he said ofthe 4.727km (2.93-mile) circuit that was repaved over the winter. ."Right now, with the higher temperature, we're pushing the front, and we're not capable of stopping the bike." The times he'd done with ease in the morning were a struggle in the afternoon. uWe didn't change nothing for the after- noon, but just because the temperature went up, the bike we had was very different. I think that is a good point to understand, to try to understand the reason why. It's a good point, but we are struggling, so we want to fight tomorrow to win the race; we know from where it's coming. Now we need to solve the problem for the race, - Round 6 June 12, 2005 World Championship Road Race Series Team Scot's Andrea Dovizioso. The Italian was certainly happier than Stoner, and with good reason. A vicious Saturday morning crash had thrown the Italian into an unprotected tire wall, forcing him to sit out the afternoon qualifying session and start ninth in the race. The intervals don't tell the full story. There were four lead changes, and there was also more contact than usual. Alex de Angelis was rammed from behind and because the race is at 2 p.m., and it's going to be hot." Teammate Marco Melandri slotted into second with his penultimate lap, one on which he felt he left something on the track. "This morning my bike was very, very good, with a very good setting," the young Italian said, "and in the afternoon I had so many front problems. It was so difficult to close the line, to keep the good line. But the race will be about 2 o'clock, so it will be a very difficult race." Gauloises Yamaha's Valentino Rossi moved up thr~ spots to the front rowan his penultimate lap. Like the others, Rossi said tire wear would be critical. And the closeness of the front-runners presaged a tight race. "I think Gibernau and Melandri, me and Edwards, for sure, very fast," he stated, "but also Hayden and Barros are not so bad. But the first four are there. Maybe have some other guys, but for the fight for the victory, I think is that four." He was reminded that there might be one more rider at the front. "Yes, Biaggi, too," he said of his longtime rival. Repsol Hondas led off row two, Max Biaggi in front of teammate Nicky Hayden, both turning their best laps one from the end. Biaggi got stuck in the pits at the end of the session and didn't leave enough time for an out lap for his final qualifier. Hayden had been experimenting with rim width during the season. He'd raced with a wide rim up to Mugello, and then switched to a narrow one. Marlboro Ducati's Loris Capirossi filled out row two on one of the two consistently fastest motorcycles on the track. The third row began with the Gauloises 18 JUNE 22, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS knocked down by Jorge Lorenzo while the pair sat second and third on the I Ith lap. Lorenzo fractured his collarbone. Four laps later, a fight between Simone Corsi and Hector Barbera got violent. On the front-straight draft pass, Corsi swerved hard to his left, sideswiping Barbera, who was only saved from an ugly tumble by his momentum. Corsi ended up fifth, one spot behind Hiroshi Aoyama. Barbera would later slow to 16th with Yamaha of Colin Edwards. The Texan was in front from the 2Bth minute to the 3Bth, but he didn't have a faster lap in him after that. Part of it came down to slower riders. With a soft qualifier on the rear, Edwards encountered slower riders in turn one. Knowing how quickly the qualifiers deteriorate, Edwards putted around for a lap, but in going slow, all the temperature in the front tire went away. Marlboro Ducati's Carlos Checa was next, the Spaniard having survived a morn- ing crash, with the Camel Honda of Alex Barros in ninth. Three brands sat on row four, Konica Minolta Honda's Makoto Tamada in front of the Suzuki of John Hopkins and the Kawasaki of Shinya Nakano. Hopkins was the last rider on the lead second, and he was not getting much benefit from new engine parts. Nor were the Bridgestone tires inspiring confidence. The same three makes were on row four, but in a different order. Suzuki's Kenny Roberts was 13th, with Kawasaki's Alex Hofmann next and Camel Honda's Troy Bayliss in 15th. The all-Spanish sixth row was headed by Fortuna Yamaha's Ruben Xaus, over Robbie Rolfo (d'Antin Pramac Ducati) and teammate-for-the-weekend David Checa, who was replacing Toni Elias, who practiced Friday but pulled out due to lingering wrist injuries. Two Englishman sh3fed the back row with an Italian. Shane Byrne had the Team Roberts Proton KR in 19th, in front of the Blata WCMs of James Ellison and Franco Battaini. mechanical problems. The string of different winners in the past nine 12Scc races ended in Spain, as did the streak of five different winners in the first five races of 200S. Aprilia rider Mattia Pasini won for the second time this season, today's victory far more leisurely than his first win in China. The margin today was 9.034 seconds; in China it had been .06S, and the pass had been made on the last lap. "I didn't expect to be so far in front at the end of the race," the Totti Top SportNGS rider said. Marco Simoncelli was almost as unchallenged in second, 3.3 seconds in front of Red Bull KTM's Mika Kallio, in third. '~fter seven laps, the tires go very fast down, and after that it was a very difficult race for me," Kallio said. '~fter that, Simoncelli overtake me [on the 16th of 22 laps]." MOTOGP It was Gibernau, Melandri, Biaggi and Hayden off the start. Rossi got by Hayden when he ran wide, and then passed Biaggi in the next corner, with Hayden getting past as well. Barros dropped Biaggi to sixth. Rossi went up the inside in the Curva Bane Sabadell, the first of three rights leading to the front straight, and then drafted into the lead, but Melandri wasn't having it and took the lead, with Rossi shuffled to third by Gibernau, who soon took the lead from Melandri. Hayden sat fourth, in front of Barros and then Biaggi. That was lap one - more hectic than most and a barometer of things to come. Melandri took Gibernau for the lead at the end of the back straight, in the looping left before the triple rights, as Barros moved to fourth, in front of Hayden. Rossi settled into third, but only for a lap. On the third lap, Gibernau butted Melandri's rear tire. Neither went down, somewhat miraculously, but Gibernau lost second to Rossi, who drafted into the lead