Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

GnAND PRlx c CH|NA Sltar.rcHA Cns.|tI sH NGH r, CHNA and Roberts Jr- l3th. "Uing a lot of traction conu-ol, a lot of engine control, and l'm using a lot of fuel and l'm going slow," Roberts Jr. said. "l crn't get it to steer in quick enough under a lot of hard braking, then I'm kind of dow in the middle and having to spin it on the way out." Ol E.stina (2: I I 990)i 5. 6abor Talmacsi {2: I 2..1,1 I )i 6. Matti, Pdini (2:l 2.541): 7. Thomd Luthi(2:12.805)i8. Raff*le de Ros (2:12-948); 9. Ang.l RodnSue2 (2:13.001)i 10. Tomoyo5hiKorma (2:13.045)r I l. Fabrizio L! (2:13.228): 12. P.blo Nieto (2:ll.l9o); ll.s€Eio Gadea (2:13.508): la- Loren:o Zaetti (2:13.517)r l5 Al.x Eeparto (2:ll.sgl)i 16. raike di t'1E8lio (2:13.622): 17. Andrea lanno.e (?:11.686): 18. S5ndro Cort.te (2:ll7oa)i 19. Simone Co6i(2:ll.74s): 20. HEctor Fobel (2: I 1.852); 2l . Joan Olive (2: l{.031):22. stelan BEd(2:14.260). l2&cGP: L l'1ika l(illD {KTra):2. raattia Paini(Aff,)i l. AIarc Bao6ta (Apr):4. GaborTalm.6i (Hon)i5.luli& Simon (KTM); 6. L!k4 Pesel (D.r)r 7. H*tor Febel (Apr)i 8. Fabnro La (Hon): 9. Tomoro'hi Koylma (f'1.1)l I 0. Simone Co6i (Gil): I I . Se.sio Gadd {Apr); I 2. Bzfi@re de Ros (Apr); ll. Andr€ l&Me (&.)i la. J@ olit (Apr): 15. Mike di l"ledio (Hon)i 16. AIet Elpo'sarc (Hon)i 17 Sandrc Cone* (Hon): 18. l'lich€le Conti (Hon)r 19. Nicohs Tercl (Ds):20. SterT Badl (KTH): 21. l'leuel Hernandd (Apr):22. a6dby Shith (Hon). Dittrr.er l9 laps, 62.210 mils AY.Brc Speedr 88.652 ftph H..8in of Yictorl: 0.097 se. 125c. GP WORID CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS (AfTER 4 OF 16 RACES): l. Alv"m B t,sta (86): 2. flika K,llio (s8): 3. Heaor Faubel (s4); a. Mania Psini(49)r 5. Seraio G.dea(46);6. Lul6s Perol(19); 7. Gabor TalFaGi (16); 8. luli& Smon (33)i 9. Sido.e Co6i (31)i l0.lo olive (20)i II. Pablo Nieto (19); 12. Tomoyoshi Korima (l9l; ll. Ansel Rodrisuez (15)r 14. FabrEio lai (13): 15. TnomE Luthi (12)r 16. Lorenzo Zaretti (ll): 17. RaffaEle de Rda (8)i 18. And.a lanMe (8Ji 19 Fedsico Sandi(2): 20. Mike diraqlio ( l)- UPCOMING ROUNDS Round 5-Le Mons, Fronce, Moy 21 Round 6 .Mugello, ltoly, June 4 conrinued trom page 2t Marlboro Ducati's Sete Gibernau ended Fri- day afternoon's wet session by hiBing himself in the head. lt +peared k was b€cause he lost the chance to set the day's fast time. He was fastest at the first three splits, but slowed in the final sequence oftums. But the problem was visibility, "lwas trying some different snrff - anti-fog - which vrasn't workint, and I couldnt see," he said. "The llrst split I could s€e a little bit, the second split less, less, and the third split I sav/ ir. I rnean I had to go, rhis eye was blind. lcouldn't see nothirig. I knew the last two split I had no clue where I was. So it! like.., but l've ne!/er had problems with Arai. I iust tried some different stuff, and now we're iust goint back to somethint I know." The Kawasaki Gr€€n Streak is no mo.e- Shinfa Nakano and Randy de Puniet were among the top-speed laggards all weekend, with Nakano down more than seven mph on the fasrest bike in final qud'rying. The prob- lem is, simply, horsepower. Unconfirmed esti- ma(es have rhe ZXRR down as much as 25- 30 horsepower on the Hondr Ka\rasaki is meant to test their new 800 after the Czech GP in Brno. but. at the momen(. it's said to be in the very earliest stages of development. Repsol Honda's Sebastian Porto +pears to be headed for a meltdown, with rumors of his replacemert swirlint in the air. Not so, acaording to team rnanager Albe.to Puig, but Puig would say little more. "l dont really want to talk about it," Puit said before acknowL edgng thar Porto .rEy have lost dle plot. The Spaniard is ridint a hybrrd 250, a 2005 chassis with a 2005 motor, but at his own insistence. "Maybe this bike can't win, but sure he can linish in the top six." Porto has two finishes this year, a seventh and I oth, and he qualified 2lst in China, a prfornEnce that did little to endeer him to Puig. "ln my 27 yeaE of rnotorcycle racin8 we'ye neyer had a prcblem with sle front [tire]," said reremy Burgess, the crew chie{ for Cam€l Yarmha's lentino P€ssi. "lt was the same front as what everybody else was usin8. First time ws've raced on it. First time you go out with your girlfriend k might not be the best time. Doesnt rne.en it has to end there. We'll await what Mkhelin say. We work very clo6ely, and, overall, everythinS was Soing good, He had the third fastest l+ ofthe race. We were coming throu8h, we were attarkint. he was riding hard... a podium wasn't out of question. We d.op a race every year, we dropp€d two races in 2004. We dont want to be too far Hrind, but there's a lonS way to go," Burgess explained there uras some con- fusion when Rossi arrived in the pits- "l was focusing on his head and helmet to s€e what indkation we had to have. And he telt drat whatever had happened, he obviously felt things thrown out of balance. k wasn't until he pulled away that somebody spotted it was the front. and he would have felt that goint down the pit lane, and toured around and came back." As for fudrosa's winnint performance, Burgess said: "lt's fantas(ic. What can you sayl Both the young guys have performed well. Casey [Stoner] got the first pole lin Qatar] and Dani got fre fi.st win- Casey got a second [in Turkey]." Burgess couldn't resist taking a dig at sorne former MotoGP 8ray- beards. "l think any chence Max [Biaggi] and AIex [Barros] thor8ht they had to get back here har gone out the window." For $e first time, Mich€lin's motorcycle boss Nidlolal Goub€rt dis.ussed the new "fat" from tir€ that rnay help Yamaha out of thelr chattering problems. "Last year we came up with a bigger frort prolile and the first to choose it were Nicky Hayden and Alex Bar- ros," he said. "VVe tuned it with their com- rnents. For Valentino [Ros.si] and riderc like [Max] BiagSiand lYarcol Melandri, theywere happy wth wha! they had, rc we didnt pr.tsh them. At the end of last season it was 50-50. half of them used the big tire and half the old one. We were convinced it was a good direc- tion and it was the first thing we asked [Casey] Stoner and Oani [Pedrosa] to use when they came to MotoGP They did a comparison and rtraight away both of them cho6e the big one. We were absolutely certain it was the way to go so we worked on the construction to make it better and improve it. So gradualty every- body switched to $e 2005 prollle whh the 2006 constr\rction. Valentino only used it for the first tirne this w€ekend. He rcsted i! dur- ing the winter a couple oftimes, but with all the troubl€s he had, he said he u/anted to stay with $e old tire. He tested it prop€ri/ for the first time in lstanbul on Monday, and he said for sure h s better. He said he wanted it in Sllanghai, and he tried it on Saturday and felt it was dellnitet better. He did a comparison. and he said it was definitely better" Rizla Suz'rki's lohn Hopkins was the highest- placing BridSestorc run er, in fourth. Hopkins said the tire was something that had been developed durinS tfie preseason tests in Barcelona and Jerez- "We busted our asses at Barcelona and Je.ez eady in the )"ear iust to get this tire up to wtrere it was," he said. "UnforBrnatety, when we had the tire prob- lem in Turkey, it wes a difierert series of tires, But we were able to come back to this one on this circuit. I don't know, it was actually a pretty soft edge rubber. The way the con- struction's made it helpr out. BasicaIly, it was iust the riSlt8amble." Hopkins said he had Iour or five rea6 to choose Irom, but knew he'd made the ritk choice "when I was pulling rome lean angle and noticed that I still had a little bit more edSe trip than Colin [Edwards], " Hopkins said. 'And after about lap 13, 14 - that's when I realized - 'okay, the tires are delinatety the right ones.' " Spanish motorheads werre reated to a doubleheader at the Spanish Formula One 6r-end Prix in Catalunya. ln addition to watch- int Spaniard Fernando Alonso win his hom€ Grand Prix live, 50,000 fans were treated to the live MotoGP action from Shanghai, which was being shown on 23 gian( screens at the circuit. The l25cc Ge won by Hika Kallio, was broadcast live at 7: l5 a.m., followed by the inaugural victory of Spaniard Hector Bar- bera in the 250cc class. The MotoGP class was given the green light at 9 a.m. local Eme, and the crowd was aeated to Dani Pedrosa't first MotoGP victory The Sates were opened at 6 a-m. with fans arrivint before 9 a.m, eniolng a free breaHast. CYCLE NEWS MAY 24,2006 25 REsulrsr MAY 14 2006 MOTOGP QuAlFYli{G r. Oai Pedroe ( l:59.009)1 2. j.hn HopkiN(l'59.171) J Coln EdMtt, / | 59181):4.shnla N.kano (1,59570): 5. Ni<|ry l_layde. (l:59.574): 6.s€te ciberru (l:s9.619); 7. Gi!, Stffi (l:59890): 8. I'4arco Mebrnn G.m.ola):9. Eano/ de PUM (2,m.O+4): 10. Loro Caoici (2S0.078)i I L M,km I Eda (2O0.I76); I2.Chds Vemdld Gmj04); 13. valatirc Rc$i gm.r20): 1.1 Ca'los Ch@ (2:01.052)i 15. Toni El6 (?:01.27s1: 16. AIq Hofrunn (2!1.972): 17.lalc Ellis (2:02.0€8I 18 Kmny Rob..E lr. (232.31 l)r l9.l@ Luis Ca'd@ {2:02.948). I"IOTOGE L &n Ped@ (Ho)r 2. Niclg Hzld6' (Flo.); 3. Coln EdMlds ffn)i { John l-loPkiN Fr)i s. c.sty St(F (r-Ln): 6. rtkoto T{mad. (Hn): 7 f,arco l"ldsdn (Hd):8. Lodi Gpi.oss {D()i 9. Sete Gib.ru (DG)i I 0. ShirF N.L2rc (Ke)i I I . To, E6 (H6)i I 2. n$d/ de Pun'e! 0qw): I l. l(ei^y R.berE lr (Kf.): 14. C!n6 Ge (Ym): ls. L/ex Hofttffi (DsI 16.JalcEllis Crm)i l7.lc Lir Gdoe (o(). 18. VakrriE F6ia/ )i19. C.lfis velruhn (Su) Dbt fte: ?2 l+s, 7 L920 mlB AEaAG S[ed: 97.939 mph M.rah of Vi.tdy: L505 *- iIOTo.GP IYORLD CHATTIPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS (ArIER 4 Or lT aAcEs): l. Nidq Hayden (72)i 2. 16! Cap,tBi (s9)i l. D i Pedlw (54: 4. l'1ar6 Mdaldn (v); 5. C6et Staoner (52); 6 V.leftjrc PGi (40)i 7. Toni Eri6 (37)i I Colr EdErds (3s): 9. shinF N:[at (28)l 10. Sete Gib€ru Ps); lr. l',lil.a!o Tmada eal: 12.lohn Hopktu (20)t 13. Kefry Robersjr (20): 14 q'rk vmlen (13)r Is.Cerlc Ch@ (10)i 16. Rady de FurEt (8)r lTles Ellisn (lJi 18. AIq Holmon (3). 25&. GP QiJAUFYING: I Hdtd &rhea (2:0s.781)i 2.ld8e Lorcnzo (2:05.9a81: l. shuhei AoFro (2:06.6r4i '4. And@ Dovir6o (2:06.936)1 5. Ald de An8eli! (2:07.073): 6. Yukl TaLahafi (2:07.124i 7. Hircsh r'€)ana (2:07.28t)t 8. AId1onywe (2o7.182)r ,.lalub Smz (2,08.028). l0 l"laEl PolBialr Gm.058)i 11. s an Gunibi (2:08.301): ll. DirI H€idor(108.419):14.Am d vircqt (2:08.458)r l5 Ande B.llerini (2:08.612)r 16. l'lartin Cfdena (?:08.6'{s): 17. Hmo Siftsrdl (?,08-878): 18. cha Davi$ (2:09.1r4r 19 Art!rc Tizon (2:09.201)i 20 Aq Saldoln (2:09.133); 21. 9eb6ue Porc (239.8 l8): 22. shi zhao H@a (2: I L473). 250.c GP l. H

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