Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

MOTOGP: loris Capirossi (Due); 2. Max Biaggi (Hon); 3. Makoto Tamada (Hon); 4. Carlos Checa (Due); 5. John Hopkins (Suz); 6. Colin Edwards (Yam); 7. Nicky Hayden (Hon); 8. Kenny Roberts Jr. (Suz); 9. Toni Elias (Yam); 10. Ruben Xaus (Yam); II. Franco Banaini (8Ia). Time: 43 min.• 30:499 sec. Distance: 2"1 laps, 71.43 miles Average speed: 98.51 mph Margin of victory: 1.479 sec. Fastest lap: loris Capirossi, lap 3. 1:47.968 125 GRAND PRIX WORLD C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After II of 16 rounds): I. Thomas Luthi (164/2 wins); 2. Mika Kallio (161/3 wins); 3. Gabor Talmacsi (120/2 wins); "I. Mareo Simoncelli (117/1 win); 5. Mattia Pasini (111/2 wins); 6. Fabrizio L.ai (104); 7. Julian Simon (97/1 w;n): 8. Manuel PoggiaJl (82): 9. He<:tor Faubel (66): 10. Tomoyoshi Koyama (65). 250 GRAND PRIX WORLD C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After II of 16 rounds): I. Daniel Pedrosa (226/6 wins); 2. Casey Stoner (163/2 wins); 3. Andrea Dovizioso (144); "I. Hiroshi Aoyama (123/1 Win); 5. Alex De Angelis (109); 6. Randy De Puniet (10811 win); 7. Sebastian Porto (105/1 win); 8. Jorge lorenzo (98); 9. Hector Barbera (67); 10. Simone Corsi (59). MOTOGP WORLD C'5HIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 12 of 17 rounds): I. Valentino Rossi (261/9 wins); 2. Max Biaggi (149); 3. Colin Edwards (133); 4. Marco Melandri (126); S. Nicky Hayden (121/1 win); 6. loris Capirossi (117/1 win); 7. Sete Gibemau (115); 8. Alex Barros (114/1 win); 9. Carlos Checa (72); 10. Shinya Nakano (69); II. Makoto Tamada (6"1); 12. Troy Bayliss (54); 13. Kenny Roberts Jr. ("I9); 14. John Hopkins (46); IS. Ruben Xaus (42). UPCOMING ROUNDS Sepong, Malaysia, Seplember 25 lasail, Qatar, Oelaber 1 (Top to bottom) Colin Edwords finished sixth, two spots better thon Kenny Roberts Jr. (10); Capirossi celebrates his fourth premier class victory; Hiroshi Aoyama ran away and hid in the 250cc Grand Prix. Briefly•.• MoviStar Honda MotoGP'5 Sete Gibemau refused to discuss his future in Motegi, leading to speculation that he could be headed for the Marlboro Ducati team. "I'm not saying anything now," the Spaniard said on the eve of the japanese GP. "My future will be talked about in the future, but right now my present is much more important than the future. I don't think it's the moment right now to be talking about it. I'm too focused in this Gp, and whatever happens in my future will depend absolutely on what I do in the present. I want to be here winning races, fighting for the championship on a competitive machine, and if not, I don't want to be here." Gibemau recently made a much-publicized visit to the Ducati factory in Bargo San Lorenzo. The Marlboro Ducati team manager said that no decision on a second rider was imminent. Valentino Rossi doesn't think he's going anywhere. "I'm not sure Sete goes to Ducati," he said. "Maybe he tries to remain with Honda." In concentrating on the present, Gibemau said he could race the newest version ofthe RC21 I V he tested briefly after the Czech GP at Bmo. "Maybe I'll race the bike this year," he said. I was supposed to be having a meeting tonight [Thursday] to talk more about this project, so I will have more information then. I'm open to using the bike quite soon, but we have to [know] what the impressions of HRC are now. In the past, I have been reluctant to change too much on my bike dUring the season, but now, with the championship being like it is, it's a different situation. This bike we shOUld have had before. If we know that this is the bike that will be used next year, then we have to work sooner rather than later." Repsol Hayden's Nicky Hayden doesn't think the new Honda RC211 V will be raced this year. Hayden didn't get a chance to ride the new bike after the recenc tests following the Czech GP at Brno, remaining on his standard bike. "There was talk on the second day that they wanted me to ride four or five laps just to see what I thought of it, but I won't have it for this year," he said. "They want to bring it out and race it this year and they were hoping to have it here. But I don't expect to see it myself." Though he sits fifth in points, 146 points behind Rossi, Gibernau refused to term his season a failure. "If you look at the number of pole positions, I'm first; if you look at how many laps in first place there have been, I have led more laps than anyone else," he said in a stroke of glass-half-full optimism. "The final standings perhaps don't reflect the season, but that's racing. I'm still positive and strong and will try and be competitive in the six races that we have left." Shinya Nakano said he was almost certain to remain with Kawasaki in 2006. The popular japanese rider had been courted by Suzuki but believes he'll stay put. "I'm happy with Kawasaki at this moment," he said. "I can say 99 percent I stay with Kawasaki." Elder statesman Max Biaggi is soon to be shoved aside for Spanish teenager Dan; Pedrosa. Pedrosa will join Nicky Hayden on the Repsol Honda team, leaving Biaggi free to find other employment. "Many rumors, but nothing's concrete, really," Biaggi said when asked about his future. "Talking about a few things. When I'm sure, I'll let you know. No worries." One clue may have come from his choice of headwear. The Repsol-contracted rider wore a Camel hat to the pre-race press conference. Biaggi, who has a personal-services contract with Camel, has been linked to the Camel Honda Pons team for 2006. Ducati will continue to supply machinery to the d'Antin Ducati team in 2006, according to Marlboro Ducati team director Livia Suppo, with the team expanding to two riders. "The current d'Antin team will go on, and at least we are really close to finalize a deal for next year," Suppa said. ':And the goal is to have bikes called GP-6 Sat, satellite. It means it won't be a 200S machine. It will be a kind of mix between a 2005 factory machine and a 2006 machine. Especially in terms of electronics, but evolution durlng the season. So we are trying to give them a good package. Now we are speaking about two riders." Suppa said he didn't know if the team would continue to use Dunlop tires in 2006. "That will be a choice of the team," he said. "Of course, we prefer that team to [use] Michelin, but will be their choice. If they already have a contract with Dunlap, I don't know." Dunlop's jeremy Ferguson said that they had an "understanding" with d'Antin that they'd continue to supply tires next year. tion. The 2005 M-I has about 10 more horsepower than the 2005 model. What does that add up to? No one at Yamaha was saying. The key areas of improvement for this year were in the linear throttle connection to the rear tire and centralization of mass. The idle control system, "ICS," allows engine braking with a natural feeling and reduces wheelspin and wheelying under acceleration. Ironically, the day after the briefing, Colin Edwards said he couldn't keep the front wheelan the ground: "That's our biggest issue at the moment - just can't keep the front wheelan the ground. Any time you put the rear wheel closer to you, it's going to get that." At the briefing, Edwards said the electronics on the M"I had come a long way from the fly-bywire Aprilia system that bucked him off the Cube in his first test. "You can do whatever you want to do, depending on rider preference, where you want the power, where you want the power curve," he said. "You can do whatever you want to do. But the important thing is the connection feeling the rider has with his right wrist and the rear tire. At the moment, it is very, very good." There has been an improvement in top speed at most, but not all, of the tracks; Assen and Brno were the exceptions. "We can always use more stop speed; we never have enough," M-I project leader Masahiko Nakajima said. The wheelbase is unchanged from 2004, but the weight bias has shifted. The center of gravity is improved by mounting a new, smaller rear shock to the back of the engine. The fuel-tank shape and position, and engine miniaturization, contribute to better center- Suppa also said that the team recently inked a contract with Vittoriano Guareschi to remain as one of the test riders. "Vittoriano has done a very good job so far," Suppo said. ':And the situation is similar with Loris [Capirossi]. Once you know each other, you can do a lot of things very quickly and in a good way, and Vittoriano is doing a very good job and is ready to start testing the new parts." Suppa used the car-racing analogy to describe his prowess: Average riders are flattered by good cars, but in motorcycling, it's impossible. "So in motorcycles, you really need to have these guys telling you the bike is doing well or not." Suppa also praised Shinichi Itoh, the japanese rider who mostly tests Bridgestone tires. "Sometimes we ask him to test something, and he's a kind of middle between Loris and Carlos [Checa] and Vittoriana. On that side, I think, we have done a good job." The second Marlboro Ducati rider announcement isn't on the horizon, Suppa said. "We still have six races to go. I still think that Carlos [Checa] will be able to do same good races, because in practice he's usually much better than what he is in the race. So we don't have any pressure." Yamaha presented a technical briefing on Thursday evening where very little was revealed and very few questions were asked business as usual. The supposed technical experts among the journalists were loathe to disclose what they knew to their colleagues, so only a very few asked questions, and none of the answers would slow the earth's rota- ing the mass. The engine width hasn't changed, but redUcing the axial interval has made it shorter. What was also learned is that the factory will likely build an inline four when the 800cc rules take effect in 2007. "We still believe in the inline-four concept," Nakajima said, though he hedged his bets by saying that they were studying various other cylinder layouts. "If there is a big advantage, we will try to build it." Because of the possibility of higher rev limits, Nakajima didn:t rule out pneumatic vales in 2007. As to when it would break cover, Nakajima wasn't offering a schedule. He said development on the following year's machine traditionally begins after the summer break. Yamaha may have little choice but to stick to the schedule for the new 800, Nakajima said, because of a lack of manpower and resources. As to when it would be seen? uAs soon as possible." Gauloises Yamaha's Colin Edwards would be happy never to go through Twin Ring Motegi's first tum again. Three of his last four race-weekend spills have come in the first comer of the 2.98-mile track. He's never made it through the first turn in a race. The first crash was in 2003 on the Aprilia Cube; then there was last year's first-turn incident on the Honda RC21 IV, and Friday morning's practice crash on the Yamaha M-I. ''That's jacked," the Texan said in his paddock container on Friday afternoon. "Well, we got this one out of the way. I'm safe for the race. That makes me feel better. I was a bit worried about the front." Edwards said Conrinued on page 20 CYCLE NEWS • SEPTEMBER 28, 2005 19

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