SHANGHAI STORM SPOILS IT FOR DUCATI MARLBORO MEN
Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai
 Ducati
Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa had
a miserable day at rain-lashed Shanghai today, recording a
12th-place finish and a DNF. The results were an unfair reward
for the tireless work put in by the entire team, which showed
real promise during qualifying when Capirossi and Checa scored
impressive first- and third-row starts.
Rain affected all three days of the inaugural Chinese Grand
Prix at the spectacular Shanghai circuit but instead of the
light rain and drizzle that dampened the track on Friday and
Saturday, today's action was dominated by monsoon-like downpours,
first during morning warm-up and then again during this today's
race which was won by Valentino Rossi ahead of Olivier Jacque.
"Of course we can't be happy with today's result,"
said Ducati MotoGP project manager Livio Suppo. "We were
going okay in the dry but the rain didn't help us at all.
We know that the Bridgestone rain tyres worked well, thanks
to Jacque's amazing result, but we weren't able to put together
a good race ourselves. Wet races like today's can always be
a bit of a lottery."
 CAPIROSSI
TAKES 12th-PLACE FINISH
Loris Capirossi scored a dogged 12th-place finish after 22
waterlogged laps of the Shanghai circuit. The Ducati Marlboro
Team man had been looking forward to a much better result
after qualifying third fastest in yesterday's dry qualifying
session.
"The track was badly flooded in warm-up, so we ended
up choosing quite a soft rear tyre for the race, too soft
as it turned out," said the Italian. "There was
less water on the track during the race, so things got difficult
for me. Overall the machine worked pretty well but I still
had some problems in the lower gears."
CHECA SLIDES OFF ON LAP FIVE
After qualifying just off row two, Carlos Checa had high expectations
for today, especially since his practice pace on race tyres
had been impressive. But the torrential rain changed everything
for the Ducati Marlboro Team rider who fell on lap five while
starting to make forward progress.
"There was a lot of standing water, some areas were really
bad, other areas I could catch people," explained the
Spaniard. "In warm-up I didn't feel too confident, so
I took my time in the race. I was beginning to build confidence
when I lost the front at turn 16, maybe I used a little too
much brake with a little too much angle. I guess I found the
limit."
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