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MotoGP at Phillip Island
Grand Prix of Australia
October 16, 2005
Rossi Wins, Hayden 2nd and Pedrosa is 2006 250cc World Champion
Edited by R.K. for webBikeWorld
History was made at Phillip Island today when Dani
Pedrosa (Team Movistar Honda RS250RW) notched up his
second 250cc World Championship with his seventh win of
the season so far and Honda’s historic 600th in all
classes.
The factory’s first win was in the 125cc class in
1961 when Aussie Tom Phillis won from Ernst Degner on an
MZ. Honda has won more races than any other manufacturer
and it was fitting that Dani should clinch the 600th in
the country of Phillis’ birth.
In the MotoGP race Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V)
pressed winner Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) all the way to
the flag to take second place, Carlos Checa (Ducati) was
third.
In bright conditions the 27-lap contest got underway
with pole man Nicky swift off the line into the rapid
downhill turn one. But Checa judged the lights well too
and tried to force his machine up the inside of Nicky
but was then badly placed for the next turn, so Hayden
nosed in front.
Max Biaggi (Repsol Honda RC211V) did not last the
lap. He crashed at turn four when the rear of his
machine stepped out under braking. Alex Barros (Camel
Honda RC211V) was another non-finisher when he crashed
at the high-speed Hayshed turn in the closing stages of
the race while lying sixth. He was winded and badly
bruised but apart from that the Brazilian was uninjured.
On lap three Rossi took the lead from Nicky while
Marco Melandri (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) edged past
Checa into third place. On the next lap Marco also
relieved Hayden of second and it looked as if the crowd
could have been in for another epic Rossi/Melandri
showdown as seen at Qatar.
But Melandri could not sustain his initial sprint and
as Rossi pulled clear, Hayden had to set to work passing
the Movistar man so he could try to get back on terms
with the leader. The American wasted no time and in
three laps he was working on Rossi for the lead.
The first five riders; Rossi, Hayden, Melandri, Sete
Gibernau (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) and Checa were now
well clear of the field and the Rossi/Hayden duel was
itself drawing clear of the fight for third between
Melandri and Checa. But it would soon drift back into
their orbit as Rossi dropped the pace to upset Hayden’s
rhythm and let the chasers interfere with his progress.
Sure enough, Melandri relieved Hayden of second
within two laps, and Rossi then set about building a
lead. While he did that, Hayden had to squeeze past a
typically determined Melandri and try as he did, he
could never then recover the one second advantage held
by Rossi.
He shaved it down to 0.85 seconds in the closing laps
but it was 1.007 second at the flag. Checa just stole
third from Melandri over the line after the pair had
swapped places twice in the closing laps. Gibernau faded
to finish fifth.
Nicky said, “That was a tough race and I enjoyed it. Valentino was setting a good pace so I just sat there. It all felt good running at that speed – just nice and
comfortable. A couple of times Rossi picked up the pace
and I could respond. Then the others caught up and me
and Marco battled a bit and just gave a slight advantage
to Valentino. You can’t give a guy like him a one-second
lead round here with a few laps to go.
“It’s been a really nice race,” said Melandri. “I
fought hard until the end and I was hoping to finish on
the podium. I thought I had Checa under control but he
passed me in the slipstream. Despite that I am satisfied
– it has been a difficult weekend but this morning the
team did a great job and the bike was working really
well. I gave my maximum and I am happy. I arrived here
two points behind Max Biaggi and now I am level with
Nicky Hayden in second place.”
Gibernau said, “We’ve struggled all weekend. This
morning I thought we took a step forward in the warm up
but in the race I had a lot of problems. The bike was
sliding around and I couldn’t finish any higher.”
Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V) finished
eighth and said, “I lost feeling with the front tyre. I
couldn’t push as I did in the warm-up, particularly in
the left turns. In the last laps it has been very hard
to remain with Toni and Shinya. From Istanbul I really
hope to do better. I know that thanks to the technical
package at our disposal and my qualities, we can do
more.”
Chris Vermeulen, standing in for the injured Troy
Bayliss (Camel Honda RC211V), finished 11th on his first
RCV ride. The Aussie said, “It was an okay race, nothing
more as far as I’m concerned. I wanted to get into the
top ten, but I got boxed in at the start and took the
first lap cautiously. Then I picked up the pace, I felt
good and passed Jacque, Xaus and Hopkins. They’re all
riders with experience and as I followed them before
attacking, especially John, I learnt so many things
about race management.”
Max said, “It is very hard to explain my
disappointment. To sit back in the garage after crashing
out of the race so early and watch the race on TV is so
hard when I know I could have been up at the front
fighting with the leaders. One moment I was braking for
the corner the next moment the bike was on its side. That’s as much as I can say.”
A battered Barros said, “At the moment I’m in a lot
of pain even though they’ve given me some painkillers. I
took a big hit to my side but everything’s hurting at
the moment. I was riding well, keeping my rhythm going
without pushing too hard but then I suddenly lost
control of the front. It would have all been okay if I
had just slid out and travelled along the ground, but
when I hit the gravel trap the sudden deceleration
flipped me up into the air.”
Nicky and Marco are now locked together on 170 points
each as they strive to pick up the runner-up spot in the
World Championship with two races and 50 points
available.
Dani Pedrosa (Team Movistar Honda RS250RW) won his
second consecutive 250cc World Championship in style
here with a last gasp draught of Sebastian Porto
(Aprilia) over the line. Jorge Lorenzo (Fortuna Honda
RS250RW) finished a distant third.
Porto has won here before and his second place on the
grid was testament to the Argentine’s competitiveness,
but Casey Stoner (Aprilia) on pole was the man many
feared might dent Dani’s World Championship ambitions.
He had won the last two races and was now riding at his
‘home’ track.
But Stoner’s outside chance of denying Dani his title
came to grief when he crashed on lap four while leading. If Dani won the race the 250cc crown would be his, but
the veteran Porto is never easy to beat and so it
proved. A momentary lack of traction from the Argentine
in the long left-hand turns onto the start/finish
straight was all it took for Dani to seize his moment
and dart out the slipstream to take the win.
It’s a doubly sweet win for Dani. It was here that he
badly broke both his ankles in 2003. So to take his
third World title and second 250cc title here in such
style and to secure Honda’s 600th Grand Prix before he
moves up to the MotoGP class next season as a Honda
rider is no more than he deserves.
Dani said, “That was difficult because qualifying was
hard, but I started well and pushed hard on cold tyres
to stay with Stoner until he crashed. Then I stayed with
Porto and he was good in the turns but my engine was
strong today. I couldn’t have done this without the work
of my team so thanks to them.”
Lorenzo said, “I’m not happy with third because I was
half a second a lap away from the leaders on every lap
and that’s too far away. I wasn’t really in the same
race.”
Hector Barbera (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) had his best
result of the season with a fourth in his rookie year. He said, “This is the first time this year I’m happy –
now that I’ve had a good bike for the whole weekend. Fourth is not a dream result but now I have the
confidence to expect more in Turkey next weekend.”
Andrea Dovizioso (Scot Racing Team Honda RS250RW) was
fifth and said, “During the whole weekend we had setting
problems we were not able to solve. As a consequence,
after three laps, my rear tyre was finished. It was very
difficult to ride in those conditions. I just tried to
get as many championship points as possible.”
Honda’s chances in the constructors’ World
Championship were given a welcome boost here with five
Honda’s filling the first six places. Honda now has 304
points to Aprilia’s 298.
Thomas Luthi (Elit Grand Prix Honda RS125R) stole
back the advantage in his fight for the World 125cc
Championship with a strong pole to flag victory where no
one, not even his title rival Kallio (KTM), who finished
fifth, came close.
Luthi had a lead of 1.3 seconds even by the end of
the second lap, and by mid-race it was 3.6 seconds over
the then second placeman Marco Simoncelli (Aprilia). But
behind Luthi it was hard going in a pack of seven
riders.
Kallio, who was in the group, looked to have gone
clear in second place with two laps to go, but the group
swallowed up and spat him out in fifth, damaging his
title hopes, although not irretrievably.
Tomoyoshi Koyama (Ajo Motorsport Honda RS125R)
finished second for his first Grand Prix podium in a mad
dash for then line with Simoncelli third and Mattia
Pasini (Aprilia) fourth. The trio were separated just
ten thousandths of a second.
Luthi said, “A great race for me. The team did well
to get me on pole and give me a bike to win with. This
is a hard track to have to get out front and win on, you
have to really concentrate here, but it worked out OK.”
Koyama said, “I was confident in the fight because I
knew that if I was with the top group on the last lap I
had a chance of getting a good result – and I got second
which is great for me and my team.”
Luthi now leads the World Championship from Kallio by
12 points with two rounds remaining. In the
Manufacturer’s World Championship KTM has 294 points,
Honda 269 and Aprilia 260.
Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda, 2nd:
“That was a tough race and I enjoyed it. Valentino was
setting a good pace so I just sat there. It all felt
good running at that speed – just nice and comfortable. A couple of times Rossi picked up the pace and I could
respond. Then the others caught up and me and Marco
battled a bit and just gave a slight advantage to
Valentino. You can’t give a guy like him a one-second
lead round here with a few laps to go. The team gave me
a great bike today. It was really comfortable to ride. I
wanted more today. The way things were going it felt
like a win wasn’t out of the question. We’ve got two
more cracks at it. The season’s almost over and I want
another win.”
Marco Melandri, Movistar Honda MotoGP, 4th:
“It’s been a really nice race – I fought hard until the
end and I was hoping to finish on the podium so it is a
shame. I thought I had Checa under control but he passed
me in the slipstream. Despite that I am satisfied – it
has been a difficult weekend but this morning the team
did a great job and the bike was working really well. I
gave my maximum and I am happy. I arrived here two
points behind Max Biaggi and now I am level with Nicky
Hayden in second place. It will be important to do well
in the final two races if I want to finish as runner-up
in the championship.”
Sete Gibernau, MoviStar Honda, 5th:
“We’ve struggled all weekend. This morning I thought we
took a step forward in the warm up but in the race I had
a lot of problems. The bike was sliding around and I
couldn’t finish any higher.”
Makoto Tamada, Konica Minolta Honda, 8th:
“I was satisfied by my start, but at a certain point a
lost the optimal feeling with the front tyre. I didn’t
make it to push as I did in the warm up, particularly in
the left turns. In the last laps it has been very hard
to remain with Toni and Shinya. At the end, for how
things went, the eight position conquered at the photo
finish is good, but from Istanbul I really hope to do
better. I know that thanks to the technical package at
our disposal and my qualities, we can do more.”
Chris Vermeulen, replacement rider for Troy Bayliss
at Camel Honda, 11th:
“It was an okay race, nothing more as far as I’m
concerned. I wanted to get into the top ten, but I got
boxed in at the start and took the first lap cautiously. Then I picked up the pace, I felt good and passed
Jacque, Xaus and Hopkins. They’re all riders with
experience and as I followed them before attacking,
especially John, I learnt so many things about race
management. This one was longer than the ones I’m used
to, and the last five laps are crucial. By the end my
tyres were well worn, too much to think about Nakano
ahead, as I had planned. It was my mistake, I had used
them up too much at the beginning and on the last lap
Hopkins got back past me. Inexperience, but it’s a
lesson for the next race. Working with this vastly
experienced team is teaching me so much so quickly.”
Max Baggi, Repsol Honda: dnf - crash:
“Alex Barros, Camel Honda: dnf – crash: “At the moment
I’m in a lot of pain even though they’ve given me some
painkillers. I took a big hit to my side but
everything’s hurting at the moment. I was riding well,
keeping my rhythm going without pushing too hard but
then I suddenly lost control of the front. It would have
all been okay if I had just slid out and travelled along
the ground, but when I hit the gravel trap the sudden
deceleration flipped me up into the air. In any case now
I must try and rest as much as possible before we decide
what to do in Turkey.”
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