Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Briefly... Bridgestone's recent success has Michelin on the back foot for the first time in 10 years or more, with no quick answer to the latest generation of Japanese tires, which offer much-improved edge grip and a significant improvement to the from tire. It has forced the French tire giant to think again about its opposition to running tire test teams, which were reintroduced this year by Bridgestone (with Kawasaki, Suzuki and especially Ducati) to circumvent rules that prevent racing tearns from pretesting at forthcoming GP circuits. At the time, all the tire manufacturers were in discussions on limiting costs, and Michelin boss Nicolas Gaubert complained bitterly that Bridgestone had broken ranks. He admitted that they would eventually have to follow suit. It seems the time has come. "Michelin has realized that having test teams has given Bridgestone a big advantage," Gaubert said. "We have to go the same way with Honda and Yamaha next year." (Above) The race came down to three - and then two. Valentino Rossi (46), Marco Melandri (33) and Nicky Hayden (69) did ba"le, though Hayden would lose touch with the two Italians. for the Italian to displace the Australian. With the title already won - leaving the 26-year-old racing giant looking carefree and young again - nobody should bet against him winning the final rounds of the season. Rossi had qualified his Gauloises Yamaha on the front row of the grid for the first time in five races, but he had to wait as first Sete Gibernau and then his MoviStar Honda teammate Marco Melandri made it a race. Gibernau was the first to fail, after leading from the second to the 17th of 22 laps. Then, disputing the lead with Melandri, he ran off the track for a wild ride across the gravel. Melandri stayed in the picture, taking over the lead for two laps, and then tailing Rossi to line up a forceful last-lap attack. He dived underneath the Yamaha into one of the Losail desert circuit's sweeping corners - only to run wide on the exit, kicking up dust from the Astroturf as Rossi swept past again to win by 1.670 seconds. Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden was third after overcoming a bad starting position and running with the leaders until the last two laps, when he dropped back by some three seconds. As well as exceeding (Above and left) Polesi"er Loris Capirossi (65) led the wayan the opening lap of the Grand Prix of Qatar, but the likes of Sete Gibernau (15), Valentino Rossi (46) and Marco Melandri (33) didn't waste much time in moving past the factory Ducati man. his practice form, the American also took the fastest lap, the only record set on a day when high winds dropped speeds. (Qualifying times had been two seconds faster, on a track that had developed much better grip.) The small crowd had been treated to a fine spectacle. "I don't know about from the outside," Rossi said, "but from the bike, that was the best race of the year - unbelievable, and a lot of fun. It was a hard battle with Colin Edwards rode his factory Yamaha to fourth. two great rivals who were in very good shape. When you have three with the same rhythm, it is incredible. "I made a mistake racing Melandri in the middle of the race, and I went wide and lost ground. But I thought I would still try, because I knew when he caught Sete [Gibernau), they would fight and maybe slow each other up. "I have bad memories of this track from last year, when I started from the back, lost 2S points, and also had Bridgestone's clear advantage at the last three circuits had melted away in the dry heat of Qatar, according to Suzuki rider John Hopkins. "We definitely don't have the same edge," he said after the first day of practice. Qatar puts a heavy emphasis on front tires. "We're down to one tire· the hardest one they make," he said. A Bridgestone spokesman admitted that the edge of the last two tracks was no longer there but felt they were still at least on equal footing a fact born out by Bridgestone-using Loris Capirossi's third consecutive pole position. Olivier Jacque was an early victim at Qatar. Substituting for the injured Alex Hof- mann on the Kawasaki, the French former 250cc World Champion crashed at low speed after just six minutes of the first free training - after running off into the gravel. Jacque was able to go out again, but after the session, "everything started to stiffen up," he said. "By the time they transferred me from the Clinica Mobile to the local hospital, I was in a lot of pain, and walking was impossible." Although no fractures were visible on X-rays, doctors suspected a broken rib, and he flew home for treatment. He hopes to be fit in time for the Australian GP. Valentino Rossi used the week-long break between Malaysia and Qatar to clock up some more air miles - flying home to Italy to have a new mouthguard made and fitted. "I've used one since '95," he said. "If not, because I clench my jaw when I ride, the muscles in my cheek would get really painful, and it would affect my whole body. I needed a new one, so I went home to get one made." The World Champion's setup problems at the last couple of races were caused by one thing:- Bridgestone, with the newfound success of its new-generation tires. After finding a good balance for the machine earlier in the season, at Motegi and 5epang, Rossi found himself back in the early- 2004 situation of making last~minute machine changes between morning warmup and the race. "We've had a lot of problems after Brno," Rossi said. "It was especially fork settings, and we made some mistakes. But Continued on page 23 CYCLE NEWS • OCTOBER 12,2005 21

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