Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Briefly... Honda has built a new secret weapon for its beleaguered top rider, Max Biaggi - and the revised machine could be ready for the British Gp, two races down the line. The changes are to chassis stiffness and suspension design. according to European racing chief Carlo Fiorani, who confirmed that project leader Kyoichi Yoshii had been working on the changes in Japan since the Chinese GP in response to suggestions from Biaggi. The Italian rider has been plagued with chatter problems throughout the season. The more Assen changes, the less it stays the grandest track on the calendar - and Valentino Rossi was clear on the latest alterations to a track that is in any case living on borrowed time. "For sure, we have lost Hayden leads a sliding Gibernau in their battle for fourth place in Assen. The position went to Hayden with Gibernau finishing fifth. place on the last lap to Xaus, who had problems of his own, his fairing badly damaged by debris from Tamada in the early laps. Tamada couldn't explain his poor performance, except that he had never achieved confidence in the tires; he finished 14th. David Checa took the final point just over a second behind, battling with a badly bruised arm after getting hit by the same shower of rocks as teammate Xaus. Roberts was 12 seconds adrift, though he managed to hold Byrne at bay with a final spurt. Then came d'Antin Ducati's Roberto Rolfo and the WCM pair of James Ellison and Franco Battaini, with Ellison well ahead of the latter. Hofmann had to retire with six laps left after a strong ride, after the chain started jumping on the sprocket. Rossi's historic win further extends his already enormous points lead, now 63 points, I70-107, over Melandri. Biaggi is a distant third on 87, then Gibernau (84), Barros (74) and Edwards (73). eN CIRCUIT VAN DRfNTHE ASSEN, HOUAND RESULTS: JUNE 25, 2005 (ROUND 7 OF 17) MOTOGP QUALIFYING: I. Valentino Rossi (1:58.936): 2. Sete Gibemau (1:59.247): 3. Marco Melandri (1:59.632); 4. Shmya Nakano (1:59.760); 5. Nklad, (2:00.656); 12. John H~ (2;00.810); 13. Carlos Chea (2:00.883); 14. T,oy Bay1;" (2:01.216); IS. Kenny some of the taste of Assen," said the multitime champion when asked about the new chicane and another change further round the lap (at de Bult corner, where the entry has been simplified). Both these changes further interrupted the flow and rhythm of the great old track. Safety aside, the first chicane destroyed the difficult fast entry into the crucial Stekkenwal corner though, as Nicky Hayden said, "The hard braking might give you another overtaking opportunity." The de Bult entry eliminated a right flick before the left-hander, erasing another of the track's subtleties (where Rossi passed Sete Gibernau last year). At the same time, the banked corner was flattened out, changing another Assen characteristic; the revised turn is "just like any short-circuit comer:' according to riders. But the real sadness of 2005 cut even deeper: This will be the last time that the current version of the track will be used, with the daunting flat-out kink at the end of the pit straight, then the long "north loop," including the corner where Mick Doohan broke his leg so badly in 1992, slated to be changed. Where the bikes now run round a large fast square perimeter to huge fields and back to the Strubben hairpin, they will in future take a much slower and shorter double, IBO-degree loop, back into the ISO-degree Strubben hairpin. Some fine, old corner names will be lost, including Madijk and the evocative Ossebroeken, which translates IiteraJly as "ox trousers." The rest of the track will be almost unchanged from this year, leaving only a vestige of the fast kinks that give Assen its special character, certain to deny it the honor of being the fastest track on the calendar. That honor will pass to Australia's Phillip Island, where last year's qualifying speed average was 177.786 km/h (110.47 mph). Rossi's pole speed at Assen this year was IB1.519 km/h (112.79 mph). Will laguna Seca see a reprise of King Kenny Roberts' old yellow.and.black Yamaha livery, this time on Valentino Rossi's machine? Maybe so, according to whispers at Assen. One clue came from the entry list; For this race only, Rossi is entered by Yamaha Factory Racing rather Continued on PDge 23 CYCLE NEWS • JULY 6, 2005 21

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