Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

again, Melandri all but crashed, his bike leaving black tire marks where he had slid on full lean. Amazingly he recovered, but this slowed Roberts as well. Rossi took full advantage, slipping past both of them. Stoner led the group next time round, from Rossi, Melandri and Roberts, but Melandri was not for giving up, and there was another reshuffle on lap 25, Melandri regaining second place, then Rossi, Stoner, Roberts. Now there were five laps to go, and it was fierce. Rossi took to the front of the group for the first time on lap 26 at the chicane, and over the remaining distance he and Melandri drew away slightly. So they were alone when Melandri slipped ahead again at the chicane on the last lap, only to lose the position when he was wide at the very next corner. Stoner was a close spectator, Roberts more distant. Edwards had been 11th at the end of lap one, but hadn't been able to follow teammate Rossi. He gained the odd place here and there, including one from Vermeulen when the pair collided on lap 16 at the hairpin. By the finish he was sixth. Hayden had been stuck after his off- track run near the back of a quintet - Marlboro Ducati's Loris Capirossi, Kawasaki's Nakano (soon to stop out on the track with gearshift problems), Edwards, Hayden and Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet. It wasn't until half distance that he managed finally to pass the fading Ducati, with Edwards now heading the gang and about to send Vermeulen flying. From there to the end, the factory Honda man trailed Edwards, passing Hopkins. Capirossi, battling fading tire grip, was behind Hopkins by the flag. Five seconds behind, Dunlop-shod Carlos Checa had closed down and passed the fading de Puniet. Hofmann was a distant 13th in his final ride on Gibernau's Ducati; James Ellison was a lonely 14th, with Jose Luis Cardoso a lap down in 15th. Vermeulen had pitted after his tumble, then rejoined, but was too far adrift to get into the points. As well as Nakano, Pramac Ducati's Ivan Silva retired after five laps. Pedrosa took fastest lap, a new record, on lap 13, shortly after taking the lead. Hayden's disappointment did his title rivals a big favor. He now has 153 points, Pedrosa 127, and Rossi 118. Melandri regained fourth on 114, Capirossi has 107, and Stoner 91. CN BRITISH GRAND PRIX DONINGTON PARK, ENGLAND RESULTS: JUNE 30-JULY 2, 2006 MOTOGP QUALIFYING: 1. Dani Pedrosa (1:27.676); 2. Chris Vermeulen (1:28.158); 3. Marco Melandri (1:28.205); 4. John Hopkins (1:28.252); 5. Loris Capirossi (1:28.394); 6. Randy de Puniet (1:28.428); 7. Shinya Nakano (1:28.431); 8. Casey Stoner (1:28.447); 9. Kenny Roberts Jr. (1:28.473); 10. Colin Edwards (1:28.481); 11. Nicky Hayden (1:28.509); 12. Valentino Rossi (1:28.808); 13. Carlos Checa (1:29.294); 14. Makoto Tamada (1:29.362); 15. Alex Hofmann (1:29.479); 16. James Ellison (1:30.382); 17. Ivan Silva (1:31.838); 18. Jose Luis Cardoso (1:32.252). MOTOGP RACE: 1. Dani Pedrosa (Hon); 2. Valentino Rossi (Yam); 3. Marco Melandri (Hon); 4. Casey Stoner (Hon); 5. Kenny Roberts Jr. (Hon); 6. Colin Edwards (Yam); 7. Nicky Hayden(Hon); 8. John Hopkins (Suz); 9. Loris Capirossi (Duc); 10. Carlos Checa(Yam); 11. Makoto Tamada (Hon); 12. Randy de Puniet (Kaw); 13. Alex Hofmann (Duc); 14. James Ellison (Yam); 15. Jose Luis Cardoso (Duc); 16. Chris Vermeulen (Suz); 17. Shinya Nakano (Kaw); 18. Ivan Silva (Duc). Time: 44 min., 54 sec. Distance: 30 Laps, 74.440 miles Average Speed: 99.959 mph Margin of Victory: 3.864 sec. MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 9 of 17 Races): 1. Nicky Hayden (153); 2. Dani Pedrosa (127); 3. Valentiono Rossi (118); 4. Marco Melandri (114); 5. Loris Capirossi (107); 6. Casey Stoner (91); 7. Colin Edwards (73); 8. Kenny Robets Jr. (66); 9. Makoto Tamada (59); 10. John Hopkins (58); 11. Shinya Nakano (57); 12. Toni Elias (53); 13. Sete Gibernau (44); 14. Chris Vermeulen (37); 15. Carlos Checa (37); 16. Alex Hofmann (19); 17. Randy de Puniet (17); 18. James Ellison (14). 250cc GP QUALIFYING: 1. Jorge Lorenzo (1:31.659); 2. Andrea Dovizioso (1:32.348); 3. Hiroshi Aoyama (1:32.421);4. Alex de Angelis (1:32.433); 5. Shuhei Amyama (1:32.721); 6. Hector Barbera (1:32.846); 7. Roberto Locatelli (1:33.093); 8. Manuel Poggiali (1:33.245); 9. Marco Simoncelli (1:33.346); 10. Jakub Smrz (1:33.454). 250cc GP RACE: 1. Jorge Lorenzo (Apr); 2. Alex de Angelis (Apr); 3. Hiroshi Aoyama (KTM); 4. Roberto Locatelli (Apr); 5. Hector Barbera (Apr); 6. Andrea Dovizioso (Hon); 7. Yuki Takahashi (Hon); 8. Sylvain Guintoli (Apr); 9. Anthony West (Apr); 10. Marco Simoncelli (Gil). Time: 42 min., 16 sec. Distance: 27 Laps, 67.332 miles Average Speed: 95.587 mph Margin of Victory: 6.257 sec. 50cc GP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 9 of 16 Races): 1. Andrea Dovizioso (159); 2. Jorge Lorenzo (158); 3. Alex de Angelis (111); 4. Hiroshi Aoyama (108); 5. Yuki Takahashi (108); 6. Roberto Locatelli (104); 7. Hector Barbera (89); 8. Sylvain Guintoli (59); 9. Marco Simoncelli (55); 10. . Anthony West (49). 125cc GP QUALIFYING: 1. Alvaro Bautista (1:36.203); 2. Mika Kallio (1:36.566);3. Mattia Pasini (1:36.869); 4. Simone Corsi (1:37.181); 5. Sergio Gadea (1:37.183); 6. Hector Faubel (1:37.304); 7. Lukas Pesek (1:37.331); 8. Joan Olive (1:37.419); 9. Nicolas Terol (1:37.552); 10. Thomas Luthi (1:37.584). Time: 40 min., 49 sec. Distance: 25 Laps, 62.310 miles Average Speed: 91.636 mph Margin of Victory: 3.454 sec. 125cc GP RACE: 1. Alvaro Bautista (Apr); 2. Mika Kallio (KTM); 3. Mattia Pasini (Apr); 4. Hector Faubel (Apr); 5. Sergio Gadea (Apr); 6. Joan Olive (Apr); 7. Lukas Pesek (Der); 8. Thomas Luthi (Hon); 9. Nicolas Terol (Der); 10. Gabor Talmacsi (Hon). 125cc GP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 9 of 17 Races): 1. Alvaro Bautista (185); 2. Mika Kallio (133); 3. Sergio Gadea (114); 4. Mattia Pasini (112); 5. Hector Faubel (110); 6. Lukas Pesek (86); 7. Thomas Luthi (70); 8. Gabor Talmacsi (63). 9. Simon Corsi (59); 10 Joan Olive (53). UPCOMING ROUNDS Round 10: Sachsenring, Germany, July 18 Round 11: Laguna Seca, California, July 23 JULY 12, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 28 in 1976 and 1977 to his second life as a celebrity in Australia, and his ultimately unsuccessful fight against cancer, that ended in 2003. Since it was written by this reporter, modesty forbids over praising the text. But as Michael Scott said at the launch, in Donington's superb motor racing muse- um: "I think anyone, the young as well as the old, will find leafing through very mov- ing. Writing the book was also very moving. Barry's force of personality made him a central figure in racing, even when he was- n't winning, and in many ways his influence is as strong today. Barry was the first rider to understand the commercial power of a rider. Today's MotoGP multimillionaires owe him a debt of gratitude." Barry Sheene - Motorcycle Racing's Jet-Set Superstar is published by Haynes. Football fever much interrupted the British GP, with World Cup matches on Fri- day and Saturday getting in the way of nor- mal routine, truncating rider debriefings and press conferences. There was joy in the paddock when Italy defeated Ukraine on Friday evening, and when France beat Italy, and manifest gloom when England was knocked out by Portugal. Kawasaki team owner Harald Eckl missed practice, because he had tickets to watch Germany defeat Argentina on Friday, but arrived in time for the race. Why does the Suzuki team pit clock have a mug shot of the manager "Popular" Paul Denning on the second hand? It is a tribute from the Japanese factory staff on the team, to the Englishman's generosity with his opinions when on the team's closed-circuit radio. He finds it so difficult to stop talking, on a channel more usually used by crew chiefs to communicate with mechanics in a noisy environment, that the factory men have nicknamed him "Jihou," which is Japanese for "speaking clock." "Whenever the line is open, Denning is talking," confid- ed a frustrated team member. The Repsol Honda 250 vacated at Catalun- ya by the retiring Sebastian Porto was again parked at Donington Park, after his replace- ment, Colombian Martin Cardenas, broke his collarbone in a first-lap crash at Assen. Second substitute rider Chaz Davies was glad to be out there, but not too happy with his low-grade privateer Honda from the Arie Molenaar team, which was even slower than the privateer Aprilia that he lost through a sponsorship muddle. He qualified a lowly 23rd for his home GP. Davies is substituting for the injured team- regular Arnaud Vincent. Statistics can prove anything, and are hardly needed to show that this is a bril- liantly exciting and unpredictable year in MotoGP. Here goes, anyway - over the first eight races this year there have been: Five different winners (Hayden, Pedrosa, Capirossi, Rossi and Melandri); nine differ- ent podium finishers (add Stoner, Edwards, Nakano and Roberts); five different mar- ques on the podium (Honda, Yamaha, Ducati, Kawasaki, KR211V); and seven dif- ferent pole starters (Pedrosa - twice, Capirossi, Rossi, Stoner, Hopkins, Gibernau, Vermeulen) Briefly... Donington Park Circuit Donington Park, England Round 8 July 2, 2006 World Championship Road Race Series Rossi, Pedrosa and Melandri cele- brate in front of some 70,000 fans at Donington Park. Continued from page 27

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