Bugofii Circuir
Le ,}tons, Fronce
Run in variable weather,
the race was
declared
wet before the start, but
in
fact,
the rain held ofl until
a
quick
shower on
the slow-down
lap.
lf it had come tlvo
minutes earlier, it might have caused
yet
more surPn5es.
LCR Honda's Casey
Stoner narrowly
won a fierce battle with Repsol
Honda's
Nicky Hayden
for fourth. sayinS:'iASain
l've answered the
people
who said I
couldn't race on worn tires."
Hayden was
glum,
suffering
from flu.
"lt's
been
a tough weekend, all week-
end. Since we
got off the
plane
from
China, it hasn't come
real smooth."
Set-up
problems
spoiled
his
qualafying,
but changes
in the morning
had improved
matters.
His fifth
place
finish broke a run
of eight consecutive
podiums,
but
he at
least retained
a narrow
points
lead.
Edwards was
sixth after
pulling
through
from last on lap one, after
being bumped
into rhe
gravel
at the
first chicane.
"lt
iust
went haywire from the start,
and riders
were coming at
me from
everpvhere-
I had nowhere to
go
except
into the
gravel,"
he said.
Kawasaki's Shinya
Nakano had a luck-
less afternoon,
penalized
for
jumping
the
start after a best-ever second
place
on
the
grid.
He hadn't started
early, he
explained. but said:
''The
data showed the
bike rolled
forward a little, so it was the
right call-"
He finished l2th after a ride-through
penalty.
Kenny Robens
Jr.
was also out
of luck.
His
race
bike
ran into an electronic
fuel-
control
problem
on the formation lap,
(Righr)
Colin
Edwords
(45)
wus
knocked off
ihe tro
-a
..
^-l
a
?
/
LU
t
J
c0.iu
Co'.y 5ton6r
(271
ond Nicky
Hsyden
t69l
bcttled
for mosr of
the
rqcc for fourth
ploce
wirh
Stoner
gelting
the
spol.
Hoyden
ended up fihh.
-.-
