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/128399
couldn't turn the thing. I was pushing the front a lot." Gibernau recovered from his excursion to rejoin behind Edwards, finishing six seconds adrift, in a state of some dudgeon. "Once again we've had a great race without the final result we deserved," Gibernau said. "I led until Marco [Melandri] came in a little aggressive, and in the battle I ran off my line. It's no use complaining - we're doing some things well and some things badly. I still think things will change." It was a disappointing afternoon for Marlboro Ducati, after Capirossi's third consecutive pole. He led the first lap but fell back to sixth, until on lap eight he ran into the gravel, rejoining near the back. "Bridgestone made a great job with the front tire, but we had some trouble with the rear," Capirossi said. "I took it easy for the first few laps. Then, after that, I lost some rear grip. It wasn't spinning, but sliding when I flicked it into the turns that's why I went off." Teammate Carlos Checa stayed on the tarmac and finished sixth, less than two seconds ahead of Shinya Nakano's Kawasaki, after keeping him at bay all race long. Fortuna Yamaha's Toni Elias was eighth, his best finish of his rookie season, fighting back after Camel Honda's Alex Barros had gotten past him midrace. Capirossi passed Kenny Roberts Jr. for 10th. Faststarter Roberto Rolfo was 12th, and then came Shane Byrne, well clear of Ruben Xaus. The last point went to Blata WCM's James Ellison, with his teammate Franco Battaini behind him. Last place went to John Hopkins, who ran off, pitted for a new tire, and finished one lap down. Australian Casey Stoner and his Carrera Aprilia took his second win in succession and his fourth of the year in dominant style in the 2S0cc race, leading from start to finish to add another boost to his slim but growing championship hopes. Points leader Dani Pedrosa and his Telef6nica MoviStar Honda was fourth, and the gap is down to 26 points. But it wasn't as easy as Stoner made it look. "I went hard for the first few laps, then smoothed it out, and I could control the gap," Stoner said. "But in the last laps, a spark plug or something started playing up, and I was really worried. In another couple of laps, I think they would have caught me." "They" in this case was just Fortuna Honda's jorge Lorenzo, catching up fast and just I.S seconds behind at the end - after outpacing the pursuit group. Pedrosa had been third, but then, in the final yards, Andrea Dovizioso pounced to take the last rostrum slot by six-hundredths of a second. Pedrosa later blamed a lack of engine power, after experiencing problems in that department all weekend. A sensational finish to the 125cc GP saw Gabor Talmacsi steal the victory from his KTM teammate Mika Kallio over the line, after dutifully follOWing him throughout the race. It looked like team orders, with Kallio the one fighting for the title. If so, then Talmacsi waited until the final yards to break ranks. The flabbergasted reaction in the KTM pit had to be seen to Nicky Hayden was all smiles after returning to the podium with a third-place finish. be believed. He said later that his pit lap board had been wrong, and he thought it was the penultimate lap. Asked whether, if he had known it was the last lap, he would have done the same, he looked puzzled for a second, and then said: "I don't know. I don't know." Kallio was livid, saying: "This was not so clever. Now I will have to push harder in the next races." Aprilia-mounted Marco Simoncelli was a lonely third, with erstwhile points leader Thomas Luthi unable to escape from a pack disputing fourth. He ended up sixth, and lost the points lead to Kallio by just two points. It would have been seven, but for Talmacsi's surprise last-straight move. MOTOGP Capirossi got the jump, heading a brawl in the first comer, with collisions and swerving but no fallers. The Ducati was still in front at the finish of the lap, but not for long. Capirossi already knew he had grip problems, and he could do nothing as Gibernau piled past him into the first corner, and also Rossi and Hayden by the end of the lap. Capirossi was clearly struggling, and he continued to lose ground until lap eight, when he dropped from sixth to 12th. Up front, Gibernau fought off Rossi's early challenge, but he was never as much as a second ahead. Hayden got ahead of Rossi briefly, and at the same time Edwards and Melandri closed up. It was the last-named who was really on the charge, and on lap five he was up to third, with Rossi back in second, and Hayden on his heels. Edwards was close, but it would not last, and he would start losing touch before half-distance. It seemed that Hayden would also drop back, as Melandri engaged with Rossi, pushing and probing. Then came Rossi's first slip, the Yamaha man running wide to let Melandri through, and almost Hayden as well. Rossi quickly caught up again, bringing the American with him, and on lap 10 the first four were covered by 1.3 seconds - more than half of that accounted for by Gibernau's lead. Next time around, Rossi was once more in second place, and four laps after that, all four of them were closer than ever. And again Melandri attacked Rossi, and succeeded, Rossi running wide once again after almost colliding with his adversary. On lap 17, Melandri started on Gibernau, riding very hard. He got ahead, but at the next turn Gibernau pushed in front once more. It was not for long - he was way off line, and he ran off into the gravel at a tangent, as his young teammate took off in the lead for two laps. Gibernau rejoined behind Edwards, and the leaders were still hard at it though Hayden would only stay close to the two Italians for one more lap. Melandri led for just two laps. Then, with three to go, Rossi blasted past down the straight. But it wasn't quite over yet. Melandri stayed close and eager, and on the final lap he made his final move - slipping inside Rossi, only to run wide himself on the exit. He puffed up dust from the Astroturf lining the track as Rossi swept Briefly... Continued from poge 21 when we got here, we found a setting after 15 minutes, and now I can find my line." But how had a good base setting become a bad setting, with no other changes? It was the pressure of the new Bridgestones, and their improved grip, especially at the front, said his renowned crew chief, jerry Burgess. "When the pace gets faster, you find problems you didn't have before." There will be a new-look Suzuki for the Australian GP at Phillip Island in two weeks. "Our aerodynamics are terrible, and we hoped to have the new cowling here," said john Hopkins. "But we'll have it for Phillip Island, which is a faster track." Sete Gibemau appears to be in line to win at least one thing, in a year of almost continuous ill luck and disaster: the BMW M5, for being the best qualifier of the season. This is taken on aggregate qualifying times, plus the official MotoGP winner test session at Catalunya, where Gibernau secured the first prize of the season, in the humbler form of a BMW one-series hatchback. With Rossi off the front row for four of the past five races, Gibernau has been drawing ahead - and at Qatar, his advantage was 1.399 seconds. Melandri is third, 2.846 seconds behind Rossi. Where will Sete Gibemau go next season? That question remained unanswered at Qatar, with the rider tight-lipped, and likewise Ducati, in the face of new rumors that the Spanish rider is now edging back toward Honda Gibernau would make no comment. Later, at the post-practice press conference, he mentioned "Honda problems" and how his crew had worked to overcome them. He was asked to expound on exactly what the problems were, but he clammed up. "I will say nothing," he said. KTM's 250 effort hit a major hiatus at Qatar, when the team withdrew from the race after rider Anthony West suffered yet another engine seizure in final qualifying. The cause of several seizures, dating back to the bike's second-placed debut at Donington Park, is a big-end problem, confirmed at that time by the designer Harald Bartol. The problem has persisted at Brno and Sepang, and possibly elsewhere. With no new parts expected until the last race of the year, this jeopardizes West's entry in his home GP at Phillip Island in two weeks. Before the decision was made, West said that he was expecting power-up parts only for the final race at Valencia, "if it doesn't kill me first." The decision follows KTM's shocking withdrawal from its engine-supply deal with Proton KR in the MotoGP class at Brno, sidelining the team owned by Kenny Roberts for the flyaway races. This means the Austrian company is now refusing to supply engines to itself as well. Blazing desert heat - plus the ennui of three consecutive flyaway race weekends took its toll at Qatar, where the I04-degree temperatures and the dry winds were exhausting once one stepped outside the air-conditioning. Marlboro Ducati rider Cartos Checa had a good way of summing it up. "Riding out there is like sitting in front Continued on page 24 CYCLE NEWS • OCTOBER 12,2005 23