Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128389
MOTOGP Round 9 July 24, 2005 ~ World Championship Road Race Series Briefly•.. Continued from page 22 replace Loris Capirossi, said to be disillusioned with the switch from Michelin to Bridgestone tires at Ducati and anxious to get back on a Honda on Michelins. His possible destination would be the Camel Honda Pons team, where he would replace either Troy Bayliss or possibly Alex Barros, if the Brazilian veteran decides to retire. A third rumor links John Hopkins with a move from Suzuki to Ducati. The Anglo-American came close to signing for Ducati at the end of last year. (Above) Randy de Puniet (7) won the 250cc Grand Prix, beating Anthony West (14) in what was the new KTM 250's debut race. 18. Alvaro Molini (Apr); 19. Gabriel Ferro (Fan). Time: "49 min., 11.337 sees. Distance: 27 laps, 67.H miles Average speed: 82.494mph Margin of victory: 1.236 sees. Fastest lap: Anthony West, lap 17,1:"47.025 250 GRAND PRIX WORLD C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 8 of 16 rounds): I. Daniel Pedrosa (156/"4 wins); 2. Casey Stoner (12212 wins); 3. Andrea Dovizioso (Ill); 4. Sebastian Porto (85/1 win); 5. Randy De Puniet (79/1 win) 6. Jorge Lorenl.o (78); 7. Hiroshi Aoyama (71); 8. Alex De Angelis (67); 9. Simone Corsi (54); 10. Hector Barbera (5 I). 125 GRANO PRIX QUALIFYING: I. Mika Kallio (1:37.295); 2. Mattia Pasini (1:37.396); 3. Marco Simoncelli (1:37.407); "4. Toomas Luthi (1:37.6H); 5. Fabrizio Lai (1:37.660); 6. Julian Simon (1:37.701); 7. Gabor Talmacsi (1:37.952); 8. Tomoyoshi Koyama (1:38.0H); 9. Mike De Meglio (1:38.060); 10. Alexis Masbou (1:38.238); II. Manuel Poggiali (1:38.238); 12. Alvaro Bautista (1:38.352); 13. Hector Faubel (I :38.372); 14. Sergio Gadea (I :38.55 I); IS. Joan Olive (1:38.1"45); 16. Manuel Hernandez (1:38.820); 17. Pablo Nieto (1:38.866); 18. Nicolas Terol (I :38.978); 19. A1eix Espargaro (I :39.(40); 20. Lukas Pesek (1:39.136); 21. Raffaele De Rosa (1:39.148); 22. Andrea Iannone (1:39.166); 23. Angel Rodriguez (1:39.261); 24. Mateo Tunez (I :39.265); 25. Raymond Schouten (I :39.417); 26/ Jordi Carchano (1:39.459); 27. Lorenzo Zanetti (1:39.480); 28. Sandro Cortese (1:39.538); 29. Dario Giuseppetti (I :39.579); 30. Toshihisa Kuzuhara (I :39.635); 3 I. Federico Sandi (I :39.895); 32. Michele Pirro (I :40.11 0); 33. Vincent Braillard (1:40.149); 34. lmre Tom (1:40.293); 35. Kev Coghlan (I :40.301): 36. l(a,-el Abr.mam (I :40.401): 37. James Westmoreland (I :-40.742); 38. Gioele Pellino (1:40.919); 39. Dan Unfoot (1:-40.996); 40. Rob Guiver (I :"41.272); 41. Christian Elkin (I A 1.699). 125 GRANO PRIX: I. Julian Simon (KTM); 2. Mike De Meglio (Hon): 3. Fabrizio la1 (Hon); 4. Marco 5imoncelli (Apr); 5. Pabkl Nieto (Der): 6. Thomas Luthi (Hon); 7. Mika Kamo (KTM): 8. Joan Olive (Ap,): 9. Dan Un/oat (Han): 10. Toshihisa Kuz.uhara (Hon); II. Sergio Gadea (Apr); 12. Christian Elkin (Hon); 13. Jordi Carchano (Apr): 1"4. Lorenzo Zanetti (Apr); 15. Sandro Cortese (Hon); 16. Raymond S<.houten (Hon); 17. Karel Abraham (Apr); 18. Gioele Pellino (Mal); 19. Federico Sandi (Hon); 20. Raffaele De Rosa (Apr); 21. Nicolas Terol (Der); 22. James Westmoreland (Hon): 23. Vincent Braillard (Apr); 24. Mateo Tunez (Apr); 25. Manuel Poggiali (Gil); 26. Imre Toth (Apr). 24 Time: no time Distance: 9 laps, 22.4-4 mites Average speed: 76.56 mph Margin of victory: 2.406 sees. Fastest lap: Atvaro Bautista, lap 6. 1:38.408 125 GRAND PRIX WORLD C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (AlterS of 16 rounds): I. (TIE) Mattia Pasini (100/2 wins)/Gabor Talmacsi (100/2 wins); 3. Thomas Luthi (99/1 win); 4. Mika Kallio (91/1 win): 5. Marco 5imoncelti (85/1 win); 6. Julian Simone (80/1 win); 7. Fabrizio Lai (79); 8. Manuel Poggiali (59); 9. Tomoyoshi Koyama (52); 10. Hector Faubel (50). UPCOMING ROUNDS Round 10: Sochsenring, Germony, July 31 Round 11: 8rno, Czech Republic, August 28 Rain on the first afternoon was half-hearted and costly in terms of time, but it stayed dry for all of Saturday, for a typically tense c1oseof-session flurry on qualifying tires. Typically, also, Valentino Rossi played it the best, with less than a minute to go, almost half a second faster than erstwhile leader Marco Melandri. A few clicks later, Sete Gibernau slotted into second, displacing his teammate to third. In line with the general raising of the stakes this year, Rossi's time was almost a second faster than his pole last year, the first ever to drop below 1:28. Gibemau was three-tenths behind him and barely one-tenth ahead of Melandri, with eight riders within a second of pole. "This is one of my favorite tracks; I love riding a MotoGP bike here," said Rossi, who never fails to look both very fast and very smooth through the subtle downhill and uphill sweepers that make up most of the lap. "We lost a lot of time to the weather, and we have some last things to fix - but I hope it will be dry tomorrow, and I hope to have a good race." Rossi had won almost every time he has finished here - six times out of seven. The seventh time he crossed the line first but was robbed of victory by a time penalty. Gibernau was in step-by-step mode, as he hoped to salvage a season with dire results; he has not won a race since Qatar last year. "We didn't have enough time, but I am on the front row," Gibernau said. "That is the first stop, and we made it. It's very important here. I just have to keep my head down and improve_ We nave worked hard all season, but the results have not been there." Melandri said he'd made a little slip on his last lap on qualifiers, AUGUST 3, 200~ CYCLE NEWS Anglophone GP folk noticed with embarrassment that the GPs with the worst and shabbiest facilities are those in Englishspeaking countries. This was drawn to the attention by Valentino Rossi's revered and generally outspoken crew chief Jerry Burgess, but it found wide agreement in the puddle-strewn, cramped and grubby facilities at Donington Park. Just two weeks before, the paddock had operated in highly makeshift facilities at Laguna Seca. The other candidate is Phillip Island, where although some buildings are of a high standard, there is a general shortage of pit and paddock space and of local accommodation. It is the absence from the calendar of the Brazilian GP that has made these the worst tracks of the year, but at least at Donington. they promise an improvement for next year, after a £4.5-million (about $7.9-million) refit. "The bulldozers start in October, flattening everything in the paddock from the pit lane backwards," said track official Dave Fern. Pits and all paddock buildings will be rebuilt to modern standards by April. but admitted: "Even so, I would only be second. I don't think I can do a I:27. I hope to get away well tomorrow, and to learn more from Vale and Sete." Alex Barros was flying and was tipped off the front row by less than a tenth; Nicky Hayden was alongside after mistiming his final run on qualifiers, then Colin Edwards - another to carve a beautifully smooth series of arcs through the rolling parkland. Hayden had crashed on the first day while essaying the tricky half-wet conditions Troy Bayliss led row three from Max Biaggi, the last rider within a second. First-day faller Makoto Tamada came back in spite of a painful hip injury to qualify ninth. The Bridgestone runners were in trouble, with a quirk of qualifying tires that were actually slower than their race tires. The best of them was John Hopkins, who said: "Normally the Bridgestone qualifiers are really awesome, but unfortunately this was one track where they didn't work as well." He had the similarly shod Loris Capiross;'s Ducati and Shinya Nakano's Kawasaki alongside, with Carlos Checa leading the next row, all of them privately hoping it might rain (as Bridgestone wet tires gave Olivier Jacque second place in China). Ruben Xaus was next to Checa, crashing out on his final fast lap; then came Alex Hofmann. Kenny Roberts Jr. led row six from Toni Elias and Shayne Byrne. Byrne was having an eventful weekend with some engine trouble from the KTM-powered Proton KR, followed by a scary rear-suspension link failure, the bike collapsing at the back on the exit of a slow hairpin, a somewhat relief; if it had happened at a faster point (or even at Laguna Seca), he might have been in serious trouble. Roberto Rolfo, James Ellison and Franco Battaini completed the grid, and all 21 entrants qualified.