Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

warmup to wet weather. His race error dropped him from seventh to 11th on lap seven, and he made only slight progress after that. "I was getting excited at getting up to the front, and I went into the chicane too hard," Hayden said. Melandri's third left him with mixed feelings. "I'm a little bit disappointed because I got ahead of Rossi at the chicane on the last lap, then I braked too late and could- n't close my line at the hairpin," the Italian said. "But yesterday I didn't think I would be able to make the podium." Fatigue had slowed him at Assen, less than a week after his heavy Catalunya crash, but he put that down to the amount of medication he was taking at the time. "I felt tired today after three laps, but I told myself I must keep pushing," he said. Stoner was less than two seconds adrift at the finish, after he was puzzled when his perfect practice settings went wrong in the race. "When I was in front of Marco, Valentino and Kenny, I couldn't find the drive - the rear end was spinning up. Plus I lost a bit of fitness and I couldn't brake as hard as normal, so I eased off and settled for fourth," he said. The revived Roberts' challenge was impressive, but ran out of steam at the end. "I pushed as hard as I could, but during the race, the balance shifted from the front until it was at the back by the end, and I had to ride it differently," Roberts said. "It was better on the fast stuff, but worse in the hard braking. With three or four laps to go, I was struggling with my rhythm. I could see there was no one behind, and the guys up front were either going to knock each other down or beat me, so I eased up." Camel Yamaha's Colin Edwards was more than 12 seconds down in sixth, after suffering the same set-up problems as Rossi. "It just hasn't clicked for us this week- end," he said, a major disappointment at a favorite circuit. Hayden was another four seconds down, and three ahead of John Hopkins, best of the Bridgestone runners, at one of the Japanese tires' worst tracks. He had run with the leaders in the early stages, then gradually dropped back place by place as the grip dwindled. "We just kept at it and tried to pick up as many points as possible," Hopkins. Earlier, Fortuna Aprilia's Jorge Lorenzo laid on a dominant display in the 250cc GP, taking over from early leader Andrea Dovizioso, and then closing to within one point of the Italian when his dogged pur- suit ended in a crash. Dovizioso remount- ed to finish sixth. Some way back, Alex de Angelis snitched second on the last lap after a race-long duel with third-placed Hiroshi Aoyama. "I sat in second for a lap, then passed Dovizioso and took my rhythm. After he crashed, I could keep my pace, and I won again," said Lorenzo. It was his fifth win, in eight races. The 125cc race, for once the last of the day, was another runaway win for Master- MVA Aprilia's Alvaro Bautista, starting from pole. It was his fifth of the year, extending his title lead over Mika Kallio, who was second today, the victor in a race-long battle with Mattia Pasini. MOTOGP It was Melandri out of the traps, with Pedrosa and Chris Vermeulen following along, though by the end of that lap, Hopkins was to third ahead of his team- mate, and Stoner looming menacingly over his shoulder, also ahead of Vermuelen one lap later. They stayed close as Roberts also passed the Australian Suzuki rider, and the first flurry of action came on lap five, JULY 12, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 26 Donington Park Circuit Donington Park, England Round 8 July 2, 2006 World Championship Road Race Series Kenny Roberts Jr. again had a solid ride, the Californian finishing fifth on the KR211V hybrid Honda. Colin Edwards (5) never got comfortable at Donington, as both he and Rossi struggled with bike setup. Edwards ended up sixth. Nicky Hayden (69) didn't have the best of days. An off-track excursion ultimately landed him in seventh place, two spots better than John Hopkins (21).

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