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Bugdrri Circuil Le ^lan5, FEnce MOTOGP Round 5 ,rf,oy 21. aOO6 Wonld Championshlp Road Racc Seri€s Capirossi left him no room, closing the door firmly to lead him over the line by three tenths- Three seconds behind, Stoner and Hayden had been engaged virtually from the start, within inches all the way. Hayden had got ahead on laP six, and looked as though he might break awa, but at hall distance Stoner caught riSht uP again, and was pushing hard. It took him six laps of pushing and probing to find his way past the more experienced factory rider, but once he got there he resisted every attack, crossing the line two-tenths ahead. Edwards had a dramatic afternoon, pushed off into the gravel in the first-chi cane melee to linish the first lap last, on the tail of fellow victim Gibernau. The pair was soon moving through the back markers, and on lap nine the American passed the Ducati as well, to take ninth place. He hadn't flnished yet, passing Makoto Tamada on lap I 4 and leaving the Japanese Konika Minolta Honda rider to battle with Gibernau to the finish. Edwards finished flve seconds down on Hayden; Tamada held Gibernau at bay to the flag. Tonr Elias was a lonely ninth. and Chris Vermeulen similarly solitary in lfth, in his first visit to the track. Carlos Checa, on the Dunlop-shod Yamaha. had been close to the Suzuki, but was almost l0 seconds away at the finish, his hands lull with Nakano, who had reioined alter his ride- through penalty and was less than a tenth behind at the flag. Another lap would have reversed the positions. D'Antin Ducati's Alex Hofmann and Tech J Yamaha's James Ellison trailed in behind, with Hopkins taking the last point, two laps down. His crash had not only bent his right-hand bar and lever, but he'd also picked up some gl^avel in his clutch. Hayden remains on top on poins, 83- 79, over Melandri and Capirossi who are tied. Pedrosa has 73 - putting four riders within l0 points as the season aPProach- es the one-third point. Stoner has 65 and Edwards 45. But Rossi is now eiShth with just 40 points. Gl{ FRr cH GRAND PRx f,rsuus: MaY 2I , 2006 Bucam Crrcu[ Lr IlANs, FRANCT 125.c QUALIFYING: l. Mattia P.sini (l:'r4.515)r 2. Alvr.o Bautista (l:.14.764); 3. Lub5 Pe*k (l:4'!.81r)i 4. 6abor Talm,6 (l:+4.974):5 Ldenzo Zenft (r.45.1'14): 6. l.rka K,llio (l'45 451,. 7 Pih{o Nr.@ Ll a5 618). 8. lrhirio L, (l456ta): 9. lhomd Luth, { 1..5 7'Hl: 10. lcn Ol'e (1 45.781/: Il.and'alannoreIl'45.791l. I2 serpb Gad@ lla5.B92). ll Smone coB' (1.45.e'4,r): l'r lul, SrrM (l:{5.962)i 15. lledor Faubel ll.4t.99l) ' 125<< GttaND Pilxr l. I homs Luhi (Hdr: 2. m .d K!ll6lKTt1),I Faonzro Li' rHonl.4 AEroBdntt! iApr). 5. P.blo Nieto (Aprr: 6 R:lhek De Ro* rAorl. 7 J@ Olive (Apr): 8. seryio Gldea (Apr): 9. Andr€ lannon€ (Aor) l0.srmone Co6 (Grl). Il Antel Rodir8le. 1fu4: r2. ru[an Siion (KTll] rl Tomoy6L KoFmr (l4.l, l'1. Hector Faubel (Apr): 15. S.ndrc Corr6€ (Hon) Oktaftq 24 lnps. 62. I 98 miles TimG: 42 min..55 e.. AY.r.a. .ped: 86.971 mph H.rtin olndo.r: 3.180 s€t. Pedrosa Poles Again been well on the pace in all cooditions. "J*'ly time came on rny hst qualirying tire, and it was actuall), my 6ird timed lap," he said. "l'd screwed uP the lirst two. But when all is said and done, we finished up on the front row, and that was our goal. Bridgestone have made a tremendous effon; all the tir6 all weekerd have been really good. The Suzuki's working really well around here. Combined, it's ont natural I to out and perform my best." Hopkins turned the day after the race, and added: "My lirst podium would be a Sood birthday prasent." Hopkins had tipped de Puniet off his flrst class front row in his home GB by better than a loth of a second' but it was still an impressive performance - esPecially since he had crashed three times in thE two days of prac- tice. He was another to enioy the latest BridSestone qualirying tires. ending up narrowly ahead of Marco Melandri's Honda, wkh Capirossi's Bridgestone-shod Du6ti at the hr end of row two. He had spent qualify- ing working on race setup, so did not use the new qual- ifiers. "l ony did two fast laps," de Puniet said. "For sure, grid position is important, but it is more imPortant to bring home points from the race. We cannot win tomor- row, but our tires are better than in China." Rossi led row three, seventh being at least better than his I lth ard l3th at the last two races. He had switched to the new chassis butgone back to the old smaller front Michelin - the only rider still to use it, after his lirst try with the bigSer tire at China ended with a bi8 lumP of rubber flying off. "Vy'e used one new chassis yesterday, and today I had both bikes with the new chassis,'' Rossi said, "lt's an improvement, especially on race tires, and I have a good rhythm for the race. But I lost my chance for the first or second row when my flrst qualifying tire didn't work like normal," Even then, it was dubious- ''The new generation of qudiryiog tires has a lot of extra grip, and our bike is not ready to support this 8riP." His problem was still chatterinS, imProved but not eliminated with the new chassis, and much worse with the high"grip qualifying tire. He was relying on a good start, and his better form on worn tires. Gibernau was alongside, comPhining of problems entering the corners: Edwards was on the far end of the row after having been fa5test on the first day, when he said he hoped it would rain ovemight to wash o{f the rubber and reduce grip, to avoid chatter Problems. lt did rain, but it didn't suit him. "The track was a little slippery today, I guess after the rain." Edwards said, "l didn't haYe the same level of grip on the front. I wasn't as comfartable but we did a good iob on the race tires and my Pace is decent. lt's iust a shame about the chatter on the qualirying tires because we cquld have been much funher forward on the grid." Nicky Hayden, nursinS a severe head cold, was loth and disSruntled. "We felt pretty strong in full wet conditions, but in the dry we're strug8ling for tra(tion ln these long cor- ners," he said. Casey Stoner was alongside, with a different com- plaint, "l struggled to go faster on qualifying tires than [l did] yesterday on race tires. I wasn't too happy with some of the set-up changes, and I kePt losing the front end atmost every time ltouched the brakes, lf we can get the bike back to the setup I had on Friday, I should be in bet- ter shape for the race," he said. Chris Vermeulen completed the row at a second suc- cersive circuit he was seeing for the first time. Makoto Tamada headed row five from Carlos Checa and Kenny Roberts Jr., an off-form Toni Elias headed James Ellison and Alex Hofmann on the next, with Jose Luis Cardoso the last qualifier. , h' rl ta 46 MAY 3r, 2006 CYCLE NEWS MotoGP's newest rocket ship Dani Pedrosa claimed his second pole position in succestion at Le Mans, with a blistering lap two-tenths faster than anybody, after get- ting himself onto the front row only at the end of the hourJong qualifiing session. ln the previous free prac- tices. he had never been hisher than ninth. Pedrosa deposed Shinya Nakano's Kawasaki from the position, i. a warm and sunny session after rain in the moming. He \Mas almost a second faster than the next Honda, Marco Melandri in fifth, who was also the next- best Hichelin user. \Mth John HoPkins third. Randy de Puniet fou.th and Loris C+irossi sixth, BridSestone took four of the top six positions. All bad news for Valentino Rossi, Colin Edwards and Yamaha. The pair had dominated the first day of Pra.- tice, but when the pace got hotter, as Rossi had feared' the dreaded chatter problem returned - in sPite of Rossi trying three new chassis \rariations during the two days. He was seventh, leading row two from Sete Gibernau's Ducati and teammate Edwards - and more than eight tenths down on pole. The lirst l0 riders qualified within one secood of Pedro5a. whose time was a new record on the revised circuit. The 20-year-old SPaniard was already comPlaining about other riders following him to 8et a Sood time, and costing him time a! the start of the session- "lwas a little bit an8ry but then I could make three or four laps on a nrce tire, b€fore puttinS on the qualifier"' Pedrosa said. 'On my penultimate lap, I found some rider. and I couldn't make my best IaP But at the end rhere was nobody in front.'' Nakano was obviously disaPPointed to be ousted from pole. but happy to be running close to the front, wet and dry after a couple of poor races. "l didn't expect this after a difficult time in China," Nakano said. "For this race, my Parents are here from .lapan to watch. So it looks like I have to bring my par- ents to every racel From Friday, I had a good feeling, with tires and bike. All season we have had traction problems, because our engine is still a little bit a88res- sive. lt looks like this bike suits this track. I am ready for wet or dry" Hopkins considered himself lucky, although he'd also