MotoGP [R]

[SueB]

The FIM Road Racing World Championship Season begins this weekend with the Grand Prix of Spain. We'll see if the rest of the field can make any headway against the juggernaut that is Valentino Rossi.

Riders/Teams for 2005 (<- indicates a move and last year's team; R = rookie)

3 - Max Biaggi (Italy) Repsol Honda <- Camel Honda
4 - Alex Barros (Brazil) Camel Honda <- Repsol Honda
5 - Colin Edwards (USA) Gauloises Yamaha <- Movistar Honda
6 - Makoto Tamada (Japan) Konica Minolta Honda <- Camel Honda
7 - Carlos Checa (Spain) Ducati Marlboro <- Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha
10 - Kenny Roberts (USA) Suzuki
11 - Ruben Xaus (Spain) Fortuna Yamaha <- Ducati D'Antin
12 - Troy Bayliss (Australia) Camel Honda <- Marlboro Ducati
15 - Sete Gibernau (Spain ) Movistar Honda
21 - John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki
24 - R - Toni Elias (Spain) Fortuna Yamaha
27 - R - Franco Battaini (Italy) Blata WCM
33 - Marco Melandri (Italy) Movistar Honda <- Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3 Yamaha
44 - R - Roberto Rolfo (Italy) D'Antin
46 - Valentino Rossi (Italy) Gauloises Yamaha
56 - Shinya Nakano (Japan) Kawasaki
64 - Loris Capirossi (Italy) Ducati Marlboro
66 - Alex Hofmann (Germany) Kawasaki
67 - Shane Byrne (Great Britain) Team Roberts <- Aprilia
69 - Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda
77 - R - James Ellison (Great Britain) Blata WCM

Aprilia has dropped their MotoGP racing team (they'll still participate in 125cc and 250cc series), which led to Jeremy McWilliams' jump to World Superbike.

Here is the calendar -

April 10 - Spain (Jerez)
April 17 - Portugal (Estoril)
*May 1 - China (Shanghai)
May 15 - France (Le Mans)
June 5 - Italy (Mugello)
June 12 - Catalunya
June 25 - Netherlands (Assen)
*July 10 - Laguna Seca
July 24 - Great Britain (Donington)
July 31 - Germany (Sachsenring)
August 28 - Czech Republic (Brno)
Sept 18 - Japan (Motegi)
Sept 25 - Malaysia (Sepang)
Oct 1 - Qatar (Losail)
Oct 16 - Australia (Phillip Island)
*Oct 23 - Turkey (Istanbul)
Nov 6 - Valencia

* new venues for 2005

[SueB]

Rossi disappointed the Spanish crowd by setting a lap record to take pole position in today's qualifying session for tomorro's race. Home favorite Sete Gibernau had been setting the pace all weekend but had to settle for second, followed by Melandri, Hayden, Nakano and Capirossi. Problems for Max Biaggi, who only managed to qualify in 16th spot.

Sunday's race begins at 2 pm local time (8 am Eastern US time), with delayed coverage in the US on Speed Channel at 3 pm Eastern.

[Nanbawan]

Formula One & MotoGP :


Frenchmen, not allowed !

http://www.pixpond.com/pix2/nofrenchsign.jpg


:( :o

[SueB]

Sort of like Americans, at least in Formula 1. I'm actually surprised there's not more American fan interest in MotoGP, given the number of American riders currently on the tour. Maybe the race in Laguna Seca this season will help.

[Nanbawan]

My advice of the day...Watch this last lap dudes ! Watch it !!! :eek: :cool:

[SueB]

No kidding. Wow, just wow. In fact, the last 3 laps were incredible, starting when Rossi first passed Gibernau. Then 2 or 3 lead changes on the last lap before the two riders bumped in the final turn, with Rossi forcing Gibernau into the gravel. Looks like the ill will between those two since last year's Qatar track sweeping controversy won't be letting up anytime soon. Marco Melandri got the final podium spot after American Honda rider Nicky Hayden slid off the track from third place when not under in any pressure.

[SueB]

Alex Barros will be on pole for tomorrow's GP of Portugal in Estoril, with Sete Gibernau and Carlos Checa joining him on the front row. Valentino Rossi could only get the 4th-fastest time in today's qualifying session and will start on the second row of the grid, with fellow Italians Marco Melandri and Loris Capirossi beside him. The factory Repsol Honda team riders continue to struggle with Biaggi qualifying 8th and Hayden 9th.

The race starts Sunday at 8 am Eastern US time and will be aired on Speed Channel at 4 pm.

[SueB]

Barros won the race fairly easily in the end, but only because Gibernau crashed out from a pretty comfortable first place position about halfway through. The track was damp with sprinkles, so that might've done Sete in. It was the first race where the new rules that the race has to be completed even in rainy conditions came into play. Although nobody changed bikes, the pits had them ready. Rossi's bike could not match Gibernau or Barros, but he still finished second to hold onto his lead in the championship with Biaggi finishing third after a strong start from the third row. Gibernau's teammate Marco Melandri continued his strong first Honda campaign finishing 4th.

Championship Standings
Rossi - 45, Barros - 38, Melandri - 29, Biaggi - 25, Gibernau - 20

[SueB]

Formula One & MotoGP :


[CENTER]Frenchmen, not allowed !

:( :o

Well, here's news I'd missed that Olivier Jacques will be racing in the next two MotoGP races, in place of Alex Hofmann:

http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/050420/23/af7w.html

Nicky Hayden has the fastest practice time so far in Shanghai for this weekend's first-ever Chinese GP.

[SueB]

Here are the first two rows of the grid after today's qualifying:

Gibernau ... Melandri .... Capirossi
Hopkins ... Hayden ... Rossi

Seems like Rossi's Yamaha and technical driving style is not that suited to this "F1" track which has its huge straightaways. Sort of surprising to be Hopkins up there. Alex Barros, currently second in the championship, could only manage the 11th-fastest time while Hayden's teammate Max Biaggi struggled in qualifying again and will start 14th.

The race takes place Sunday at 3 pm local time in Shanghai which is 3 am Eastern US time. In the US, it'll be shown on Speed Channel at 2 pm EDT on Sunday.

[Nanbawan]

Well, here's news I'd missed that Olivier Jacques will be racing in the next two MotoGP races, in place of Alex Hofmann:



Yeah, I was surprised to see that on a eurosport rerun of the quali...Cool, unexpected, even if the green color does not suit him... :D

[SueB]

Well, Jacque ended up having an incredible ride to second place in the rain, his first-ever podium finish in MotoGP/500cc. Great stuff. Rossi was also helped by the wet conditions and got the win as the Honda teams struggled to keep pace. Marco Melandri passed teammate Gibernau (who was having some sort of problem with his bike) on the last lap for the third podium spot. Now Rossi has a huge lead in the championship race with Melandri second. The top 10:

Rossi 70, Melandri 45, Barros 43, Biaggi 36, Gibernau 33, Edwards 25, Jacque (!) 20, Nakano 19, Checa 17, Hayden 16

[Nanbawan]

*amazed*

I was expecting a decent performance... :eek: , next race : Le Mans :D

[PsychedelicCeltic]

Laguna Seca will be fun to watch. Go to their website and download their lap of the circuit (I think it's a champ car camera or something..it's mounted on the wing I guess).

It's a phenomonal circuit.

[SueB]

After showing little promise in the 3 earlier practice sessions, Valentino Rossi has won pole position for tomorrow's French GP at Le Mans. He will be joined on the front row by Yamaha teammate American Colin Edwards and Marco Melandri, who outqualified his Movistar Honda teammate Sete Gibernau. American Nicky Hayden is 5th on the first factory Honda, ahead of Shinya Nakano from Kawasaki. Full grid here:

http://www.motogp.com/en/motogp/results/results_2754.htm?event_id=2754&subevent_id=5141&result=34419

Sunday's race starts at 1400 local time (8 am Eastern US) and will be aired in the US on Speed Channel at 1:00 pm EDT.

[Nanbawan]

Apparently, there should be rain during the race. Another Jacque come-back ? ;)

For those who wonder if it is the same circuit as the 24 hours (automobile), here is the track, the solid black lined draw is the 24H one. Bikes use the "Bugatti" circuit which is permanent (the 24H uses a portion of 'real' road), it is on grey on the graphic and has the start/finish line in common with the 24H circuit.

http://cyberechos.creteil.iufm.fr/cyber9/Sports/24mans/circuit.jpg

[SueB]

Thanks for that track map. I never knew the 24-hr circuit was so long.

Anyway, the rain never materialized and Rossi held off Gibernau in a tense finale to get the win today. American Colin Edwards got the last spot on the podium ahead of Melandri in 4th, Biaggi in 5th and Hayden in 6th.

Gibernau professed to be happy with the performance which moved him from 5th to 3rd in the championship. But Rossi still seems likely to run away with things:

Rossi - 95
Melandri - 58
Gibernau - 53
Biaggi - 47
Barros - 43
Edwards - 41

Three weeks until the next race, in front of Rossi's adoring fans at the Italian GP in Mugello.

[SueB]

Great race today in Mugello, with the home fans elated to have 4 Italians in the top 4 places. Rossi came in first after a tough battle with Max Biaggi and, earlier, Marco Melandri. Loris Capirossi passed Melandri in the last lap and got the final podium spot, the first podium of the season for Ducati. Sete Gibernau crashed out of the race and can pretty much kiss his championship hopes good-bye (although so can almost everybody not named Rossi).

Rossi 120
Melandri 71
Biaggi 67
Gibernau 53
Barros 52

Quick turnaround to the next race, next week in Catalunya.

[SueB]

Yet another win for Rossi last weekend in Barcelona. He seems to toy with his adversaries. This time, it was Gibernau who got passed and defeated in his home race with 3 laps remaining. Incredibly, Rossi then went on to set a track record on the next lap, on tires which had nearly a whole race worth of wear on them. It makes for a boring championship, but there seems little doubt that he is the best ever.

Honda humbled by Rossi
http://www.eurosport.com/home/pages/v4/l0/s39/e9324/sport_lng0_spo39_evt9324_sto730425.shtml

Rossi is getting close to doubling the points of his rivals after only 6 races:

Rossi 145
Melandri 87
Biaggi 78
Gibernau 73

Next up, Assen in two weeks, on its traditional Saturday date.

[SueB]

5th win in a row and 6th on the season for Valentino Rossi last weekend at Assen in the Netherlands. There's just no beating this guy although Marco Melandri put up something of a challenge most of the way. Rossi's Yamaha teammate, American Colin Edwards, got his second podium finish of the season, finishing in third. Nicky Hayden was 4th and Sete Gibernau 5th.

Next up is the Red Bull US GP at Laguna Seca, California on July 10. Speed Channel will be showing qualifying (yay!) live at 5 pm on Saturday July 9 The race will also be shown live at 5 pm Eastern time on Sunday. Let's hope it's a better show than this year's F1 US GP (can't help but be).