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/1542350
fter Valentino
Rossi's five
years
of domination,
you
probably wouldn't have
believed
the script
of the
Spanish Grand
Prix. Truth,
two weeks ago at the
test here-
We
were
well
prepared. ln the middle of the
race,
when Dani
[Pedrosa]
caught
me, I was
able
to ease the
pace
and set
my rhythm-"
Pedrosa looked
more comfortable and
Capirossr more
ra8ged, but
he was raking
wide lines
to make it hard for the
young-
ster to overtake.
Then with six
l+s to
80,
he
put
his head down.
"l
started
to
push,
and I saw I was
get-
ting some
tenths, and
I realized the race
was
won," the Ducati man said.
His teammate Sete
Gibernau resumed
his run of bad luck
- his Ducati
losing a
gear-position sensor that Sent
the elec-
tronics
haywire on
only the second lap
while he was in third.
He slowed
sudden-
ly and held up
his hand, and Hayden
was
lucky not to have
hit him.
fu for
Pedrosa, Capirossi
was ri8ht.
While he may
have
looked comfonable,
he was at full stretch.
He had already
done amazingly
well.
"l
didn't
expect this,"
Pedrosa said.
"This
is my first race, and at
the end
I was
ti.ed. The
rear wheel was spinning
and
the front was sliding.
But
it
was
still ver/
good for me. Hy start was
not so
Bood
[he
finished the
first lap seventh]. I had to
pass
a lot of
people.
By the
time
I
got
to
second
I was already
tired."
He was aware
that Capirossi
had slack-
ened
the
pace,
but b/ then,
had no crazy
drcams.
"l
took
profit
from that
to have a rest
also,''
he smiled,
promising
that during the
season
he wotrld
"grow
up
physicalty"
to
avoid this in
future.
The
last man on the Tgstrum
was
Hayden, and
he considered
himself lucky
to
be there. One
narrow escape came
early in the
race, as he
was following
Gibernau's
Ducati when
he suddenly
slowed
and
put
up his
hand.
Australian MotocP rookie Casey
Stoner
made a strong re(urn after
missinS
the final
round of tests because surSery
on
an
old
shoulder iniury Stoner
had missed
nine
days of resring and
had not ridden
a motor-
cycle for five weeks
when
practice betan at
lerez.
He was an
impressive
fifth fastest in
Saturday morning's
free tiaininS.
but
dropped down to
lSth in the
afternoon
qualirying session, when
all riders
used soft
tires.
"l'm
no! a one-lap
wonder,
and I find
it hard to
push
on
qualitint tires, especially
when l'm not comfortable
with
the setup,'
he said.
"l
preter racinS to qualifying,"
HRC test
ridei test-team
manapr and
former
GP winner
Tadayuki Okada
reacted
bady
when
a trackide
photographer took
pictures of him filming the lines
used by other
riders
durirB
practice
at
Jerez.
At first he tri€d
to conceal
the cameftI then after
a while
co.fronted
the
photo8rapher,
dernandint
his
"name
card"
in o{'der to discuss
the matter
with
him later. This request
was denied.
Fandy
de Puniet had a
nightmare
final
practice session, lvhen at
one
Poim
it
seemed
he might not be
able to complete a
single
lap. He
wes one of live victims
of the
multiple-rider
accident
at the start
of the
session, on
his first lap out.
He switched
to
his spare
Kawasaki, only to
miss his
braking
poim for the same turn eight
(Antel
Nieto
comer)
on his li6t lap on
that machine.
He
did
not fall. but had to
abandon the
bike in
the gravel. ln fact, the
machine
wes
.eturned after little
more than
I 0 minutes,
and he was able to
reloi[ and
set eiShth-
fastest tirne.
"lt
was a
worryinS time, sitting
in the
pits
wi*r no bike
to ride," he said.
-
-.a
{69)
wor
Ee(ond
rcommote
PedrdEq
rhird.
lYodili