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/1542395
Melondri celebrotes with q drink. But Melandri, who had dropped to sixth in the early laps on his hard-tire choice, was now the fastest man on the track, and the 76,200- strong crowd was on tenterhooks as he slashed away at a gap of almost three seconds, his tire choice paying off. He swepr convincing- ly past on the 24th of 28 laps, and went away to win by 1.929 seconds. "My technicians gave me that tire, which was okay yesterday, but the track was much cooler today," Melandri said. "l was quite angry in the first laps. I was slidinS and spinning a lot, and I made sorne mistakes. I told myself I must be quiet. After three or four laps it stafted to work okay, then lsaw Dani [Pedrosa] going slower, and I thought I could catch him. Then I saw Valentino lRossi] stopped, and I thought on the limit, so lclosed the thrortle a bit." There had been drama from the first run though the tight new chi.ane, where a charging Rossi coming up the inside collided with Pedrosa, which pushed Rossi into sec- ond-row qualifier Randy de Puniet and sent him and his Kawasaki flying, Camel Yamaha's Colin Edwards and Marlboro Ducati's Sete Gibernau were pushed out into the gravel trap, to rejoin at the back- (Leh) Morco Melondri (33), Doni Pedrcso (26). Loris Copirosri (65), Volenlino Rossi (46) ond Shinyo Nokono (hidden) give chose lo eorly leoder John Hopkinr in the French Grqnd Prix ql Le Mqns. I I f4ichelin's racint boss Nicolas Goubert was scathing about fast yount Australian Carey Stoner, expresdng serious concern about his safety, "Stoner can be as last as anybody whatever the conditions are, but he should learn to use his brain,'' he said. "l'm being a bit abrupt but when I s€e somebody crash three tames on the same circuit in the s3me conditions on the first lap out of the pits with tires that are made to do 22 laps, it s a silly mistake lhe was talking about $e Chinese Grand Prix]. I'm afraid if he doesn't change his attitude, his career is at 'take. Vvhen you crash, it can be the end of your career lt only takes one crash. Dani lPedrosa] is a lot cleverer in that way, there is no comparison. For me, Stoner takes too many risks - far too many, He doesn't wait for the tires to be warm, and he tries to give 100 percent. He is real- ly gfted - I mean inc.edibly gifted - but he has to think tvvice," said Goubert, during a lonter interview. Had Goubert spoken to Stoner about thisl ''l have done, and I will do again for sure. I hope he understands before it is too late. So far it doesn't seem that he is taking much from me. I've never worked with him a lot - he missed a lot of testing - bur if he can fix this, he can go a lon8 way. For me, in Shanghai he should have been fightingwith Dani and Nicky [Hayden]. lf he hadn't have crashed thrce times he would have been on the front row and fighting for $e victory, he said. Yamaha had a truckloed of parts for Le Mans, desperate to solve the chattering problems that have put their star Valentino Rossi in his worst early-season champi- onship position since his first 500cc year in 2000. Developments are concentratint mainly on revising ahassis stillness mtios, but the new chassis was only for Rossi. Teammate Colin Edwards was on the ori8i- nal 2006 machrnei Rossi had one new chas- sir on fte firs1day, and rwo on the second. Rossi has tested the relatively chatter-free 2005 machine several times, but it is not possibl€ to fit the new enSine in the old ahassis, which would s€€m to be a simple fix. At Le Mans, Rossi was fastest on the first morning with the new chassis, and sec- ond fastest in the afternoon. EncouraSint - except that Edwards set the fastest after- noon time, on the oriSinal machine. As Rossi reminded pressrnen, Le Hans has lonS been a Yamaha-friendll, circuit. "l had no chat(er with the new chassis today, but also no chatter with tie old chassis." said Rossi, addinS that this had often been the case this year. "On Friday, we have had no chatter, but when we get qualiting tires and the lap times drop with more grip, then the chatter arrives." On Friday, he con- firmed that his sLrspicion! wers corect. "The new geoeration of qualirying tires has a lot of extra grip, but our bike is not ready to support this 8rip," he said. His new chas- sis was not a rnodifiGd 2005 chassis. but an ConlinucA on poge 43 CYCLE NEWS. MAY31,2006 4l I then - 'maybe I can win.' For sure, Valentino gave me a big present today, and at the end it was quite easy for me.'' It wasn't over yet for Pedrosa. Marlboro Ducati's Loris Capirossi was now also closing fast. He caught him on the last lap, passed him as Pedrosa ran wide on the tight corner before the back straight, and firmly resisted the Spanish, class rookie's attack in the last right turns, Capirossi's result left him surprised. "When lsaw rain this morning, lwas so happy," he said. "l knew we were good in the wet. But then it dried, and I told my team 'l know my rhythm, so I willgo steadily.' l"1y tires were very good, consistent all race, So when I saw Dani had a little problem, I pushed very hard for the last laps." Pedrosa said he'd known from the early laps he would be in trouble at the end, with his soft tire choice. "My mistake,'' he said. "l feel lucky to be on the podium today. At the beginninS I was strong, then I realized Valentino was taking some tenths and the gap was growing. I tried to close, but then I realized I was going slowly, tg\ I Briefly... Ir .4 }I ] &. 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