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MOTOGP them all somewhat. Rossi escaped involvement and was picking riders off one by one, passing Roberts for sixth before half the lap was done. Melandri ducked under Nakano into the first corner as they started the second lap, with Gibernau making the same move on Hayden. It was to prove fateful, because at the end of the last back straight he had become close enough to attack the slower Kawasaki. It was flawed, though. He'd left his braking too late and fell off right underneath and alongside the Kawasaki, taking them both out of the race. This promoted Rossi to third briefly, before Hayden found a way past both him and Melandri to take up pursuit of headlong leader Capirossi. Melandri, however, was in no condition to hold Rossi at bay, and he eased past at the esses on lap four. A little way ahead, Hayden was starting to lean on Capirossi, who revealed later he was trying to control the pace to save his tires. Control Hayden he did. When the Honda rider ran wide on lap six, that let Rossi catch right up, and now there were three breaking away up front as Melandri lost ground. Behind him, Checa had come storming past Roberts on lap three and was working on closing a gap of 1.5 seconds on Melandri. It took him just five laps, and now he had a gap of less than 2.5 seconds to the leaders. There'd been a change up front as well, when a flawed attack at the first corner had taken Hayden wide again, giving Rossi the chance to take second. The front three stayed close - and Checa inexorably closed up a few tenths at a time, using his tires and the advantage of an empty track to the full. Capirossi had a little wobble early on lap I I, and that was Rossi's chance to attack on the following corner. Now, he was in the lead. With Hayden close and Checa closing, on lap 12 the first four were covered by 1.3 seconds. This was Capirossi's warning signal - it was time to stretch the pace. He easily outdragged Rossi down the pit straight, then outbraked him at the end of it and settled down to a string of fast laps, steadily extending a small but confidenceinspiring lead to win by almost two seconds. Rossi chased him hard, Hayden losing touch little by little. The American had proved hard for Checa to catch, and even harder to pass, though he finally did it with a do-or-die lunge under braking for the final hairpin, showing full commitment. Now the man in front was Rossi, with a 2.5-second gap and four laps to go. The DucatiBridgestone combination was clearly faster, the race a lap or two too short. 24 - Round 13 September 25, 2005 World Championship Road Racing Series (Above) As if Ducati's second successive win wasn't enough, Checa (7) made Ducati's day even sweeter br. finishing third. Here, the Spaniard eads Kenny Roberts Jr. (10) and Max Biaggi (3). (Right) Capirossi (65) holds back Rossi (46) and Hayden (hidden) in their battle for victory. Checa pulled almost alongside across the finish line, beaten by just sevenhundredths of a second. Hayden played it safe to the finish for fourth, Melandri dropping away behind, keeping a close watch on the group behind. Roberts had led the group until lap eight, but with Biaggi and Barros closing all the time, and Hopkins had caught up as well, with Edwards not far behind. At this point, less than three seconds covered sixth to 10th. Biaggi got ahead of the Suzuki at this point, but they stayed close to the finish, in the same order and by now right up with Melandri. As with them, the order didn't change for the remainder of finishers either, with the only engagement a steady pursuit of Byrne by Xaus for the last points. Kawasaki's Olivier Jacque retired to the pits with 17 laps remaining; James Ellison did likewise with four left. Rossi's points total of 281 now makes him unassailable. Capirossi took another big step forward in the battle for second, with Biaggi on 159, Capirossi on 142. Edwards drops to fourth, tied with Melandri on 137 each, followed by Hayden with 134. Barros is still in the picture on 122. CN OCTOBER 5, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS