2005 MotoGP Race Results - Assen- webBikeWorld

MotoGP 2005 Assen Dutch TT Race

Sete Gibernau never challenged and ended up in 5th place.

Shinya Nakano in 8th place on the Kawasaki.

Valentino Rossi became the first Yamaha rider ever to win five consecutive premier-class races after another cracking performance in the 75th anniversary Gauloises Dutch TT, where he was joined on the podium by his Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards.

Rossi had pole position, but he did not get the best of starts and had to work his way up from fifth after the first lap to take the lead by the lap 10, just about exactly half-way through the race, taking over from Marco Melandri (Honda) and gradually opening out a slight but crucial advantage.

“It was another hard battle, as it has been every race this season. At the start the grip was tricky because of the morning rain and I lost some places and had to overtake Loris and Nakano to arrive behind the three Hondas,” explained Rossi.

“I knew I could go a bit faster and after I passed them all I made some good laps and it became easier to ride at the limit, as there was less fuel. Melandri was very strong and he came back to fight until the end. I had to keep pushing at 100 percent and really concentrate, especially on the last lap, when I made no mistakes and clocked the fastest lap of the race.

"My bike worked perfectly again, so thank you to Yamaha and my team for all the brilliant work they’ve done, and to Michelin because the tires were really good. We have a great atmosphere in our team and this makes it very easy to relax and give 100 percent every time. It’s a pleasure to try to win together. I can’t believe that I am the first Yamaha rider to win five races in a row, when you look at the company I am in with – Yamaha’s former World Champions: Agostini, Lawson, Roberts and Rainey. It’s great!”

Edwards followed his team-mate through the opening few laps to make up some important positions from sixth on the grid, quickly settling into the excellent race pace he found during practice and finally getting the opportunity to impose it on the front group. One lap after seeing Rossi take the lead, Edwards passed Sete Gibernau (Honda) for third place and did everything he could to catch Melandri for second, before deciding to settle for a podium finish.

“Of course it could still have been better, but it was a good race. We made a breakthrough with the bike set-up this week and it just felt really good – better than it’s felt all season I think,” said Edwards. “I had a bad start, then I saw Valentino and realized his wasn’t great either!”

“At the first corner I passed a couple and then on the back straight it was chaos with everyone trying to pass anywhere! I tried to follow Valentino through the traffic, then I got stuck behind Gibernau for a bit when he started to slow down.

I got some time back when Marco made his big mistake and I saw red and really pushed hard to catch him! With four laps to go I was on the limit and lost the front really badly at turn two. When exactly the same thing happened on the next lap I decided it was safer to take it easy, get home on two wheels and make it onto the podium. I want to say a big thank you to my team and my Crew Chief Daniele Romagnoli, they’ve worked hard to find the right way forward and now I am going to Laguna in great shape.”

Another point was driven home at this race - the handwriting is on the wall, because Marco Melandri has definitely proven himself to be fully capable of challenging Rossi. My prediction - we shall be seeing much more of Melandri in the podium photos.

Results: GAULOISES TT ASSEN Classification after 19 laps = 113.943 km
46 YAMAHA Valentino ROSSI ITA 1 38'41.808 176.670 25 Gauloises Yamaha Team
33 HONDA Marco MELANDRI ITA 2 38'43.391 176.550 1.583 20 Movistar Honda MotoGP
5 YAMAHA Colin EDWARDS USA 3 38'49.451 176.090 7.643 16 Gauloises Yamaha Team
69 HONDA Nicky HAYDEN USA 4 38'51.936 175.903 10.128 13 Repsol Honda Team
15 HONDA Sete GIBERNAU SPA 5 38'56.603 175.551 14.795 11 Movistar Honda MotoGP
3 HONDA Max BIAGGI ITA 6 39'03.383 175.043 21.575 10 Repsol Honda Team
4 HONDA Alex BARROS BRA 7 39'04.533 174.957 22.725 9 Camel Honda
56 KAWASAKI Shinya NAKANO JPN 8 39'08.285 174.678 26.477 8 Kawasaki Racing Team
7 DUCATI Carlos CHECA SPA 9 39'12.029 174.400 30.221 7 Ducati Marlboro Team
65 DUCATI Loris CAPIROSSI ITA 10 39'12.273 174.382 30.465 6 Ducati Marlboro Team
12 HONDA Troy BAYLISS AUS 11 39'25.610 173.399 43.802 5 Camel Honda
11 YAMAHA Ruben XAUS SPA 12 39'31.672 172.955 49.864 4 Fortuna Yamaha Team
21 SUZUKI John HOPKINS USA 13 39'32.638 172.885 50.830 3 Team Suzuki MotoGP
6 HONDA Makoto TAMADA JPN 14 39'35.178 172.700 53.370 2 Konica Minolta Honda
94 YAMAHA David CHECA SPA 15 39'36.773 172.584 54.965 1 Fortuna Yamaha Team
10 SUZUKI Kenny ROBERTS USA 16 39'48.747 171.719 1'06.939 Team Suzuki MotoGP
67 PROTON KR Shane BYRNE GBR 17 39'48.807 171.715 1'06.999 Team Roberts
44 DUCATI Roberto ROLFO ITA 18 40'10.856 170.144 1'29.048 Team D’Antin Pramac
77 BLATA James ELLISON GBR 19 40'25.576 169.112 1'43.768 Blata WCM
27 BLATA Franco BATTAINI ITA 20 39'22.537 164.486 1 lap Blata WCM

Not Classified
66 KAWASAKI Alex HOFMANN GER 26'52.136 174.091 6 laps Kawasaki Racing Team