Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

ii F enough on the start, but before the restart I heard from Dr. Costa that the three riders were not good, but not so bad,'' Rossi said. Rossi got away in fifth, and took nine laps to move into the lead. "With a full tank, the bike was difficult to stop, so Ihad to wait a bit," he explained. "But when the fuel went dgwn, the bike was working very well. lt was still difficult to overtake, especially with the speed of the Honda on the stra€ht. But my bike work very well in the comers, and once I got my rhythm I could go away. Today was a very impor- tant win for me. Hayden was almost as iubilant. "l've struggled all weekend," he said. "l was loth on Friday and loth this morn- ing in warmup, so lknew I'd have to work. But I was able to raise my game. The crash didn't help, but you have to stay focused. That's your job. When lwas with Rossi, I knew he was playing with me. He had more in the tank, and was saving his tires. I knew it would Eet hard- er, especially as it got hofter, which made traction an even bigger issue. I wanted to be smart and stay consistent today. I can't afford to have off days. But consistency won't be enouSh - I want to win 50me races." Roberts was positively glowing. "ln China [round four] I told my team that if you want to get someone else to ride the bike, that's okay - because I was struggling." But the team had taken advice from HRC on chassis stiffness. and over the past two races had built this in to the machine. lt finally came good in tests the day after the last race at Mugello. His aim for this race had been to keep Rossi in sight, and he admifted he had not succeeded. But he was less than l0 sec- onds adrift, on the rostrum, and had a strong race with Hopkins, letting him by with six laps to go, once he'd ascertained there was nobody else behind him, studying the Suzuki rider- "Then I rode past down the straight on Honda power, and that was done," Hopkins was another four seconds down by the finish, equalinS his career- best fourth place, and top BridSestone finisher at a track. which was one of their worst l:!st year. ln fact, a year ago he had to pit to change tires. This year he was in pain from the crash, and on a spare bike he hadn't ridden all weekend. "l got a good start and tried to stay with the leaders, but lhad to conserve my tires," Hopkins said. "Toward the end CYCLE NEWS . JUNE ?8,2006 43 , a g FXE:? a , f a crilzAxO jxr .Li t T H $ro ,i.,.. l$h hf,m ilrn E -. rE* T I I : T iD I ffiil m I a I {t ffi ,fiffi. ffi 'Sl li r ffit tt a s 3 I il & ffi t! a t!1' Ft I t ,4, -J.:rr. i E ffi::*=1' 'ffis)' I v?l }/,-. E- h'r fl?:t \ - !]rr - " \6sO ffi I u t I t a il a * $ I .?, f ffi tlr. :.1 I 5 \ ffi t il., , }} ,\\ (, tu' f . '- ffimr l' ,l ) _:_tr :- -.-! i"l I l I , t rf ^r'! Gibernou took q hqrd beoting in the crqsh. l, lr '4,'' -- T -E T \

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