Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

first gapping teammate Hopkins then holding off the late-charging Gibernau. Gibernau was damaged goods, riding with a weak left arm, the result of the col- larbone injury he suffered in Barcelona. "I had no strength in that shoulder from the start of the race, so it wasn't easy to get the bike stopped," he said after finishing .040 of a second behind Vermeulen. Next came Checa on the first Dunlop bike, just .049 of a second later. "The gap to the winner was the closest we have ever been this year, so that is another positive step considering that we had some chatter and after 17 laps some- thing went wrong with the engine," Checa said. Hopkins was on the same second as Checa, but seven-tenths behind and thinking ahead. "To be honest, my motivation even throughout the whole weekend has been towards Laguna, that's what I've been focusing on for the last couple of weeks for sure and last couple of months," he said. "I mean the bike and everything is going to be a lot better for us there. I'm motivated and just can't wait to start rid- ing at Laguna." CN MOTORRAD GERMAN GRAND PRIX SACHSENRING, GERMANY RESULTS: JULY 16, 2006 MOTOGP QUALIFYING: 1. Dani Pedrosa (1:21.815): 2. Kenny Roberts Jr. (1:21.907); 3. Nicky Hayden (1:22.083); 4. Shinya Nakano (1:22.273); 5. Loris Capirossi (1:22.329); 6. Marco Melandri (1:22.420); 7. Sete Gibernau (1:22.469); 8. Casey Stoner (1:22.577); 9. John Hopkins (1:22.701); 10. Makoto Tamada (1:22.866); 11. Valentino Rossi (1:22.868); 12. Carlos Checa (1:22.964); 13. Randy de Puniet (1:22.974); 14. Chris Vermeulen (1:23.050); 15. Colin Edwards (1:23.087); 16. Toni Elias (1:23.660); 17. Alex Hofmann (1:24.115); 18. James Ellison (1:24.464); 19. Jose Luis Cardoso (1:24.651). MOTOGP: 1. Valentino Rossi (Yam); 2. Marco Melandri (Hon); 3. Nicky Hayden (Hon); 4. Dani Pedrosa (Hon); 5. Loris Capirossi (Duc); 6. Shinya Nakano (Kaw); 7. Chris Vermeulen (Suz); 8. Sete Gibernau (Duc); 9. Carlos Checa (Yam); 10. John Hopkins (Suz); 11. Toni Elias (Hon); 12. Colin Edwards (Yam); 13. James Ellison (Yam); 14. Jose Luis Cardoso (Duc); 15. Randy de Puniet (Kaw); 16. Makoto Tamada (Hon); 17. Kenny Roberts Jr. (KR211V). Time: 41 min., 59.248 sec. Distance: 30 laps, 68.28 miles Average speed: 97.57 mph Margin of victory: .145 sec. Fastest lap: Dani Pedrosa, 1:23.355, Lap 4 MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS (after 10 of 17 races): 1. Nicky Hayden (169/2 wins); 2. Valentino Rossi (143/4 wins); 3. Dani Pedrosa (140/2 wins); 4. Marco Melandri (134/2 wins); 5. Loris Capirossi (118); 6. Casey Stoner (91); 7. Colin Edwards (77); 8. Shinya Nakano (67); 9. Kenny Roberts Jr. (66); 10. John Hopkins (64); 11. Makoto Tamada (59); 12. (TIE) Toni Elias/Sete Gibernau (58); 14. Chris Vermeulen (46); 15. Carlos Checa (44); 16. (TIE) Alex Hofmann/James Ellison (17). 250cc GP QUALIFYING: 1. Jorge Lorenzo (1:25.073); 2. Yuki Takahashi (1:25.151); 3. Hector Barbera (1:25.160); 4. Roberto Locatelli (1:25.256); 5. Alex de Angelis (1:25.301); 6. Hiroshi Aoyama (1:25.377); 7. Anthony West (1:25.554); 8. Andrea Dovizioso (1:25.567); 9. Marco Simoncelli (1:25.792); 10. Shuhei Aoyama (1:25.813); 11. Sylvain Guintoli (1:25.995); 12. Alex Baldolini (1:26.009); 13. Manuel Poggiali (1:26.097); 14. Dirk Heidolf (1:26.307); 15. Jakub Smrz (1:26.475); 16. Martin Cardenas (1:26.662); 17. Arturo Tizon (1:26.903); 18. Franco Battaini (1:27.007); 19. Aleix Espargaro (1:27.117); 20. Fabricio Perren (1:27.478); 21. Jordi Carchano (1:27.708); 22. Andrea Ballerini (1:27.710); 23. Dan Linfoot (1:27.919); 24. Arnaud Vincent (1:27.932); 25. Jules Clutzel (1:28.539); 26. Luca Morelli (1:28.586); 27. Niklas Cajback (1:28.939); 28. Andreas Martensson (1:29.307); 29. Franz Ashenbrenner (1:29.642); 30. Meik Kevin Minnerop (1:30.029). 250cc GRAND PRIX: 1. Yuki Takahashi (Hon); 2. Alex de Angelis (Apr); 3. Jorge Lorenzo (Apr); 4. Andrea Dovizioso (Hon); 5. Hector Barbera (Apr); 6. Roberto Locatelli (Apr); 7. Anthony West (Apr); 8. Hiroshi Aoyama (KTM); 9. Shuhei Aoyama (Hon); 10. Sylvain Guintoli (Apr); 11. Alex Baldolini (Apr); 12. Franco Battaini (Apr); 13. Manuel Poggiali (KTM); 14. Jakub Smrz (Apr) 15. Aleix Espargaro (Hon); 16. Dirk Heidolf (Apr); 17. Fabricio Perren (Hon); 18. Jules Cluzel (Apr); 19. Dan Linfoot (Hon); 20. Jordi Carchano (Apr); 21. Luca Morelli (Apr); 22. Meik Kevin Minnerop (Hon); 23. Franz Aschenbrenner (Hon). Time: 41 min., 30.350 sec. Distance: 29 laps, 66.004 miles Average speed: 95.414 mph Margin of victory: .0058 sec. 250cc GP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 10 of 16 races): 1. Jorge Lorenzo (174/5 wins); 2. Andrea Dovizioso (172/1 win); 3. Yuki Takahashi (133/2 wins); 4. Alex de Angelis (131); 5. Hiroshi Aoyama (116/1 win); 6. Roberto Locatelli (114); 7. Hector Barbera (100/1 win); 8. Sylvain Guintoli (65); 9. Anthony West (58); 10. Marco Simoncelli (55); 11. Shuhei Aoyama (48); 12. Alex Debon (35); 13. Jakub Smrz (34); 14. Manuel Poggiali (31); 15. Martin Cardenas (28). 125cc GP QUALIFYING: 1. Lukas Pesek (1:27.064); 2. Alvaro Bautista (1:27.283); 3. Mattia Pasini (1:27.417); 4. Mika Kallio (1:27.607); 5. Nicolas Terol (1:27.777); 6. Fabrizio Lai (1:27.879); 7. Gabor Talmacsi (1:27.920); 8. Pablo Nieto (1:27.968); 9. Simone Corsi (1:27.985); 10. Hector Faubel (1:27.987); 11. Sandro Cortese (1:28.057); 12. Sergio Gadea (1:28.202); 13. Thomas Luthi (1:28.215); 14. Bradley Smith (1:28.292); 15. Tomoyoshi Koyama (1:28.523); 16. Joan Olive (1:28.578); 17. Angel Rodriguez (1:28.613); 18. Stefan Bradl (1:28.622); 19. Imre Toth (1:28.680); 20. Andrea Iannone (1:28.689); 21. Randy Krummenacher (1:28.764); 22. Michele Pirro (1:28.981); 23. Lorenzo Zanetti (1:29.001); 24. Roberto Tamburini (1:29.114); 25. Raffaele de Rosa (1:29.221); 26. Lorenzo Baroni (1:29.486); 27. Federico Sandi (1:29.501); 28. Georg Froehlich (1:29.565); 29. Mateo Tunez (1:29.574); 30. Manuel Hernandez (1:29.703); 31. Vincent Braillard (1:29.706); 32. Joshua Sommer (1:29.744); 33. Michele Conti (1:29.808); 34. Karel Abraham (1:29.836); 35. Alexix. Eric Hubsch (1:29.944); 36. Simone Grotzkyj (1:29.947); 37. Robin Laesser (1:29.971); 38. Alexis Masbou (1:29.980); 39. Joey Litjens (1:1:29.991); 40. Esteve Rabat (1:30.042); 41. Clement Dunikowski (1:30.065); 42. Dino Lombardi (1:31.069); 43. Toni Wirsing (1:31.887). 125cc GP: 1. Mattia Pasini (Apr); 2. Alvaro Bautista (Apr); 3. Lukas Pesek (Der); 4. Hector Faubel (Apr); 5. Simone Corsi (Gil); 6. Thomas Luthi (Hon); 7. Nicolas Terol (Der); 8. Mika Kallio (KTM); 9. Joan Olive (Apr); 10. Sergio Gadea (Apr); 11. Fabrizio Lai (Hon); 12. Bradley Smith (Hon); 13. Sandro Cortese (Hon); 14. Gabor Talmacsi (Hon); 15. Tomoyoshi Koyama (Mag); 16. Randy Krummenacher (KTM); 17. Lorenzo Zanetti (Apr); 18. Stefan Bradl (KTM); 19. Georg Froehlich (Hon); 20. Raffaele de Rosa (Apr); 21. Vincent Braillard (Apr); 22. Federico Sandi (Apr); 23. Michele Pirro (Apr); 24. Andrea Iannone (Apr); 25. Alexis Masbou (Mag); 26. Michele Conti (Hon); 27. Imre Toth (Apr); 28. Manuel Hernandez (Apr); 29. Lorenzo Baroni (Hon); 30. Mateo Tunez (Apr); 31. Esteve Rabat (Hon); 32. Toni Wirsing (Hon). Time: 39 min., 44.091 sec. Distance: 27 laps, 61.45 miles Average speed: 92.793 mph Margin of victory: .010 sec. 125cc GP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 10 of 16 rounds): 1. Alvaro Bautista (205/4 wins); 2. Mika Kallio (141/2 wins); 3. Mattia Pasini (137/2 wins); 4. Hector Faubel (123/1 win); 5. Sergio Gadea (120); 6. Lukas Pesek (102); 7. Thomas Luthi (80/1 win); 8. Simone Corsi (70); 9. Gabor Talmacsi (65); 10. Joan Olive (60); 11. (TIE) Fabrizio Lai/Pablo Nieto (50); 13. Julian Simon (46); 14. Raffaele de Rosa (28); 15. Tomoyoshi Koyama (24). UPCOMING ROUNDS: Round 11: Monterey, California, July 23 Round 12: Brno, Czech Republic, August 19 Rossi celebrates his fourth win of the season. problems brought on by Michelin's newest- generation tires were magnified in Germany, and throughout qualifying Rossi battled to find time. "The problem is that the marriage between the new Michelins and our bike is not so good and we can't use the extra grip that the new tires give us," he said. "Last year everything worked very well but now, because of this problem, we're losing a lot of agility, which was one of our best points last year. We have a lot more traction, but we can't use it. Last year's tires gave us an advantage over the others but this year it's the opposite. The tires work really well for Honda, they can use all the traction and so they are ahead of us." To stress the point he said, "[Carlos] Checa is always fast here and he was very good today. It seems like the Dunlop qualifying tire is working very well for him here also. He is close to me." The gap to the Hondas is quite big, he said. "The big tire gives a lot more traction but for us with the M1 at the end of the lap we have more disad- vantages than advantages. That's because our bike is not ready to support the traction. We have better traction but we have lost a lot of agility. The bike is more difficult to change direction and more difficult to turn. Last year we had an advantage in traction compared to Honda, but this year the advantage has disap- peared because with this tire the traction is not a problem. We know Honda has a better engine than us so if they don't slide they always have an advantage." The GP Rider Safety Commission has already begun searching for a solution to the first-turn melee that decimated the field in last month's Catalunya GP. Marlboro Ducati's Loris Capirossi said the group had met at Donington Park and again at Sachsen- ring, and would reconvene at Laguna Seca. Among the current ideas is a larger fairing and alterations to the grid. "Bridgestone came to me and said they were really sorry about Donington," Capirossi said in Germany. Capirossi finished ninth, one spot behind Rizla Suzuki's John Hopkins, who'd run near the front before fading. "My condition wasn't so good, but John [Hopkins] was 100-percent fit and he finished just behind me. I think it's not a good track for us, but Bridgestone have come here with lots of different tires to try, but we are unlucky with the weather. All yesterday and this morning it was quite cool conditions and it is so difficult to make a good test with the tires. This afternoon I tried something that wasn't too bad, but the plan was to test a lot of tires, but I've only used three different rear compounds because we don't have enough time. And especially in the cold con- ditions the tire wasn't working so good. This is still one of our problems as the tires don't like the cold conditions because we can't get enough temperature in them." Before his victory on Sunday, Camel Yama- ha's Valentino Rossi was genuinely starting to worry about seeing the World Champi- onship slip away. "Yes for sure," he said. "When arrive the new chassis I had a good feeling, but unfortunately I made the mistake in Assen. Without the engine problem in Le Mans, I could have made three victories in a row and got a good result in Assen. In Don- ington we struggled too much with the bike, and the championship is long, but at this moment our bike has a lot of problems." Having the MotoGP stars ride down Holly- wood Boulevard for the Los Angeles pre- miere of "The Doctor, The Tornado, and Kentucky Kid" ran into a slight snag - a few of the riders don't hold valid motorcycle licenses. Neither Rizla Suzuki's John Hopkins nor Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden have licenses. And Kawasaki's Shinya Nakano only has a license to ride 400cc motorcycles in Japan, where he rides a scooter. The prob- lem was solved when authorities agreed to close Hollywood Blvd. to allow the stars to ride to the premiere. Which was the only reasonable solution, since Randy Mamola is scheduled to ride the very non-street-legal Ducati Desmosedici two-seater with a sur- prise passenger. Mamola, by the way, has had a motorcycle license since he turned 16. Valentino Rossi further cemented his place in history with his victory in the German GP. The win broke a tie with Phil Read at 121 podium appearances. Rossi now trails only Giacomo Agostini (159) and Angel Nieto (139) in podium spots. Those are also the only two riders he trails in victories. Rossi's 83 put Nieto's 90 well within reach. Agosti- ni's benchmark 122 are a few years away. Should there be a dedicated chief medical officer for the MotoGP paddock? Team owner Lucio Cecchinello thinks so after his rider was ruled out of taking part in the Ger- man GP. Australian Casey Stoner's second crash of the weekend-his first came in prac- tice-during the Sunday morning warmup earned him a trip to the nearby Chemnitz Hospital. He was given a clean bill of health and released. But the track medical officer, Jorg-Uwe Fischer, denied Stoner his place on the grid. "I made a small mistake and crashed, but there was absolutely no problem with me, physically or mentally. I was capable of riding today," Stoner was quoted as saying in a very sanitized team press release. "I was cleared by the scans and it is very disappoint the circuit doctor would not all me to race." Said Cecchinello, "As a committee member of IRTA, I am going to recommend that we put on the agenda a system of having an FIM medical delegate at each Grand Prix and that he would have the final decision in these mat- ters. This would be similar to the system in Formula One operated by the FIA." Laughter is the best medicine. It was proved once again in Germany by Kenny Roberts Jr., though inadvertently. Roberts Jr. knocked Makoto Tamada off toward the end of the 11th lap, then quickly went to his side to ask him how he was, but in very poor Japan- ese. Tamada said that he was laughing so hard at Junior's attempts to ask, "How are you?" in Japanese that he forgot about the pain in his leg. Tamada escaped injury, as did Roberts Jr. Briefly... Sachsenring Circuit Sachsenring, Germany Round 10 July 16, 2006 JULY 26, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 20 World Championship Road Race Series Continued from page 19

• Cycle News 2026 Issue 29 July 26.pdf
• 84 HONProm_FststFP_CN28.pdf