Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Briefly... A Spanish civil war is looming between two of MotoGPs biggest sponsors, with Repsol and Telef6nica battling over the prize properties on the grid. Repsol has already won its fight to retain the factory Honda team, continuing II years of sponsorship and seeing off an attempt by Telef6nica MoviSrar - first to take over the team, and secondly to share sponsorship. But it cost them money: Repsol is understood to have had to add $2 or $3 million to its budget in the face of an even bigger bid from Telef6nica. Now Telef6nica is said to be pushing Honda to back a four-bike factory team, two for Repsol and two more for its riders - in a Spanish-backed superteam. Telef6nica's threat, if it doesn't get its way, is to pull out of motorcycle racing, to which Telef6nica has been a major benefactor, claiming a World Championship in 2000 with Kenny Roberts Jr. on the Suzuki and two runner-up slots with the team's favored rider, Sete Gibernau. There is another prize involved in the battle: 125 and 250cc World Champion Dani Pedrosa, currently a Telef6nica rider but thought to be destined for the official factory team sooner or later. (Above) Kenny Roberts Jr. (10) leods the British MotoGP over Volentino Rossi (46) and Alex Barros (4) in a torrential downpour at Doningtan Park, (Far left) Rossi again proved to be the maestro, and he celebrated by playing the air-violin across the finish line after winning his eighth GP af the season. eight laps left, he was suddenly able to take two seconds a lap out of them all. "That was one of the longest and hardest races of my life," a jubilant violinist Rossi said afterward. He had suffered wheelspin at the start but had picked his way through to fourth at the end of the lap. By then he had already seen Max Biaggi have the first of two crashes on the Repsol Honda (the second one ending his race). Within two more laps, he would also see his closest title rival, Marco Melandri, fall from his MoviStar Honda, taking Camel Honda's Troy Bayliss down with him. Soon afterward, early leader Sete Gibernau tipped off his MoviStar Honda under braking for the first corner after three laps up front. Fortuna Yamaha's Ruben Xaus, Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden, Kawasaki's Shinya Nakano, Proton KR/KTM's Shane Byrne and WCM's James Ellison were all gone before eight of the 29 laps were done; Hopkins and Franco Bartaini were to follow suit before the finish. It was a crash fest, though with no injuries. '" nearly crashed myself four times in the race," Rossi said. "Then, when I tried to pass Kenny [Roberts Jr.] at the chicane, I was too late on the brakes, and I ran wide and lost my position." But he closed up again very quickly. "I realized I could go faster," he said. "I passed Kenny, stayed with Barros to get the rhythm, then passed and went as fast as I could." For both Barros and Roberts, that was just too fast, and Rossi left them to a private battle, Edwards having already opted for discretion after a major out-of-saddle moment of his own. Roberts waited until the last lap before attacking decisively at Macleans. "I hadn't been thinking about winning," Roberts said. "For me to be with the front guys instead of my usual position was a lot easier and more enjoyable. I just wanted to stay with them to have a good race. Up there I feel safe and confident. You race with them, and some finish in front of you and some behind you." Confidence was, he added, something of a key. ')\t the end, Rossi had the confidence and the courage," Roberts said. "It was very easy to make a mistake out there, so easy to fall down. When I saw Valentino pass Alex [Barros], I knew he would try and make a break, and I thought: 'Okay, let's go.' It took about three corners before I decided: 'Okay, now I'm only racing Alex.' It would have been awesome to have had traction control in these conditions, but I don't have it - or not a system that works well. It might have made a big difference. " Barros, who celebrated his 250th GP start at Donington, was less than a second adrift over the line. "The track was so difficult, some parts more slippery than others, and you had to learn which was which," Barros said. "Then I had some trouble with my front, and I couldn't brake like I wanted to. When Valentino passed, I didn't have enough to go with him. Kenny was close, and he could see what my problem was. He passed in a clever place, where I couldn't do anything about it." Edwards in turn had been running with the front four for most of the race. 'Then, about 12 laps from the end, , had a second scary moment, spat out of Doningron's famous Day of Champions on the eve of the British GP again broke records, raising £ In,OOO-plus (over $300,000) in support of the Riders for Health Charity and giving rostrum-jigging U.S. GP winner Nicky Hayden a chance to show his legs. Entering into the spirit of the charity auction, Hayden took off his jacket and jeans and added them to the pile of memorabilia up for offer. The jeans alone added another £500 (more than $850) to the coffers. The top price was for Makoto Tamada's one-off Batman leathers and helmet that he wore at Assen, fetching £5600 (about $9800); another generous bidder gave more than £5000 (about $8700) for a helmet and jacket from Troy Bayliss, Valentino Rossi's cap, and a pillion ride with Randy Mamola. The Riders charity, originated around and built up by GP racing, has built a widely admired program in Africa, keeping fleets of motorcycles running reliably for primary healthcare workers in remote areas. KTM's new 250 made its debut at Donington Park, with a parallel-twin configuration so old that it is now novel again and a bigbang firing order thought to be the first of its time in the class. In practice, rider Anthony West showed well in the middle of the field before crashing heavily on the second morning because of an engine failure - a broken connecting rod and subsequent seize. Unhurt, he returned to qualify 15th, just over two seconds off Pedrosa's pole. Just teething problems, according to designer Harald Bartol. This was only the bike's second outing, after some 380 shakedown miles at Vallelunga in Italy. "Until this, it was going quite well:' Bartol said. "We knew that the can rods were on the weak side." The rider was not hurt and would be out again in the afternoon, he said. Unusually, Continued on page 2' CYCLE NEWS • AUGUST 3,2005 19

• Cover