MotoGP Race Results

2005 Grand Prix of Japan, Motegi

Loris Capirossi took his first victory of the season in a dramatic Grand Prix of Japan at Motegi this afternoon as Valentino Rossi crashed out and missed his first opportunity to clinch the 2005 MotoGP World Championship.

Capirossi made a cautious start from pole position, chasing early leader Marco Melandri over the opening laps before being joined by Max Biaggi.

Rossi, meanwhile, made good progress from eleventh on the grid and by the time he caught the leading trio on the fourth lap, Melandri had been relegated to third place. But Rossi appeared to be struggling, and his grid position spoke volumes of the Yamaha's setup problems.

With Biaggi now leading from Capirossi the pair were left alone at the front on lap thirteen, Rossi colliding with Melandri into turn ten and sending both riders tumbling into the gravel.

Capirossi then stalked his compatriot for the next six laps before making his move and opening up an advantage of 1.4 seconds to take a clear victory, Ducati’s first of the season and the first for tire manufacturers Bridgestone since winning at the same circuit last year with Makoto Tamada. The Japanese rider crossed the line in a distant third place to complete the podium today.

“It is good to have taken the win today but the team have done a great job all weekend,” said Capirossi, who recently signed a new one-year contract with the Italian factory. “Bridgestone have given us some brilliant tires here and my consistency was good over a lot of laps in practice. I had a good rhythm in the race but sometimes when I tried to pass I was over the limit. When I took the lead I knew I was faster than Max and I knew it would be my race.”

Carlos Checa took the checkered flag in fourth place although he was 22 seconds down on his victorious team-mate as only eleven riders finished a crash-strewn race. John Hopkins, who started from the front row of the grid but gradually lost positions as the race wore on, picked up his best ever Grand Prix finish in fifth ahead of Colin Edwards, Nicky Hayden, Kenny Roberts, Toni Elías, Ruben Xaus and Franco Battaini.

Alex Hofmann crashed and broke his ankle, almost certainly ruling him out for the rest of the season.

With Alex Barros and Sete Gibernau also crashing out, the only rider with a mathematical chance of halting Rossi’s championship charge over the next five races is Biaggi, who must score 14 points more than his compatriot to prevent him winning the title in the next race at Sepang in seven days’ time.

There was a complaint against Rossi regarding the incident with Melandri, which was rejected by Race Direction, meaning a top four finish will be sufficient for the Italian in Malaysia.

Capirossi's win didn't come easy -- the Ducati was as fast as anything on the track, but absolutely wild when coming on the power out of the turns. At times it looked like Capirossi was riding a wild stallion. If Ducati can get the handling problems worked out -- and their performance in the last couple of races indicates that this is a strong possibility -- the Ducatis will be a force to be reckoned with next season.