Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Meland'; led early with 581e Gibemau (15), NICky Hayden (69), Rossi (hidden) and Colin Edwards (5) in tow. By MICHAEL Scon PHOTOS BY GOLD & GOOSE f there's history to be made, there's one man always ready to make it. The surprise at Assen was not that Valentino Rossi won the 75th Dutch TT - the last GP to be held on the currently long circuit - but it was just how hard he was pushed, all the way to the final lap, by the young, new Italian pretender, Marco Melandri. The 22-year-old's MoviStar Honda started the last lap barely half-a-second adrift after having led the first nine laps, dropping back after a little slip, then closing relentlessly up again. Only after a dose of wheel spin on the second turn did Meland ri decide that a best-ever second place would do, and he still finished only 1.5 seconds down. "It is the first time I have had such a tough race against Melandri, and he rode really well," said Rossi, who made it six out of seven in the northern Dutch flatlands and added a bit to Yamaha's history files as well, being the first Yamaha rider to win five in a row in the premier class. "It's good for my motivation to have a new, strong rival," Rossi said. "It will take a little bit of time to understand him. And he is so young - 2 1/2 years younger than me! But we're here, and we're ready to race," Rossi had been ready all weekend with the balance and setup of the 2005 bike now to his liking. "Yamaha gave me a really good bike today," he said. But he had no idea how hard he would have to use it. And what a display of racing he would have to lay on for the crowd of more than 90,000, who braved storms and heavy rain in the morning after the baking heat in qualifying. The rain had cleared in time for the race, but temperatures and the track surface were a lot different. Melandri seized the lead from teammate Sete Gibernau on the first lap, and then Rossi closed from his average start and nipped cleanly past. "It was so difficult," Melandri said. "I had rear traction and grip problems from the start, because the heavy rain had washed the track. Then I noticed others were having the same problems, so I got a good rhythm and carried on. "When Valentino came past, I could see he was faster than me at the end section of the track, but I followed him and learned," Melandin continued. "Then I almost crashed and lost more than a second. But now I was better though the last section, and with a lighter fuel load, the bike was easier to turn, so I could catch up again. On the last lap I wanted to try to win, but when I had such bad wheel spin, I decided that second would be good enough today." Colin Edwards might also have • been in the fight, but he also chose discretion after a storming ride h saw him move through to third, held up awhile behind the fading Gibernau after dispatching fast starter Nicky Hayden, who had run close to or with the leaders almost throughout. Edwards spoke of an eventful race. "I was a bit too aggressive on the first lap, and going into the back chicane, it felt like my brakes weren't working I was so deep in," Edwards said. "It was all assholes and elbows everywhere. I thought I might have to go straight on, then I said, 'I'm going that way, and everyone had better get out my way.''' He made it and followed Rossi toward the front. Finally past Gibernau and Hayden, he saw Melandri's slip, "and that red came over my eyes." He had caught up to within eighttenths with five laps left when, "I had a real big front-wheel slide at turn two. Next lap, same thing - I was really pushing the limit. Then I said, 'There's 2 1/2 laps Rossi kisses his helmet after winning the 75th Dutch Grand Prix. CYCLE NEWS • JULY 6,2005 19

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