ROSSI EDGES TOWARDS TITLE WITH BRILLIANT BRNO VICTORY
Gauloises Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi became the first
rider in the history of the MotoGP World Championship to score
nine wins for five consecutive seasons, as he clinched victory
in the eleventh round of the 2005 campaign at Brno today.
Rossi’s record-breaking ride featured an intense battle
with Sete Gibernau (Honda) that again came down to a dramatic
finale, with Rossi making his definitive pass at the end of
the penultimate lap. Gibernau tried to fight back but as Rossi
edged clear through the final series of sweeping corners,
the Spaniard’s slim hope of a victorious response disappeared
completely as he suffered a technical problem and was forced
to retire. Whilst Loris Capirossi (Ducati) and Max Biaggi
(Honda) made the most of Gibernau’s misfortune to complete
the podium, Rossi’s Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin
Edwards was promoted one place to seventh after a tough race
that again saw the American struggle to find sufficient rear
grip for his Yamaha YZR-M1 machine. Despite his disappointment,
Edwards remains in the thick of the battle for second place
in the championship, trailing Biaggi by six points with six
rounds still remaining. Rossi, meanwhile, can seal the championship
title in the next round at Motegi by finishing in the top
two.
VALENTINO ROSSI (1st; 43’56.539)
“That was one of the hardest races of the season. After
the warm-up I saw Sete’s time and I wasn’t sure
that I could beat him in the race. I had confidence in the
bike but I knew I was a bit slower than him. I spoke with
Jeremy Burgess to ask for some modifications to be made to
the bike in order to make a better compromise for the whole
race and, like always, he and the rest of the team worked
at 100% to improve the situation. There were a lot of fast
riders out there but Gibernau was my hardest opponent so I
tried to push him and put the pressure on from the start.
It was a great fight with a lot of overtaking. In the middle
of the race I decided to try to go and make a gap, but Sete
came back. At the end I did three or four good laps, made
the pass on Sete and then did a perfect final lap. Unfortunately
Sete had a problem, which was bad luck for him because he
deserved to be on the podium. Anyway this is a good win for
me and now I just need one more for the title, but it is not
over yet.”
COLIN EDWARDS (7th; + 13.532)
“I started alright but after five laps we were in trouble.
We changed the setting of the bike a little after the warm-up
but the track was much warmer than we expected for the race
and we loaded up the front a bit too much. It was a repeat
of the race at Mugello – the bike was spinning and I
couldn’t get any edge grip on the rear. I pushed on
the pegs, stood up, leaned back…everything I could think
of to make it stick! The positive side is that we still got
some points and we’ve got a two-day test coming up where
we can work on some of these problems and hopefully find the
solution we need. We haven’t tested since Le Mans so
it will be nice to have a chance to rack up plenty of hours
on the track without the pressure of a Grand Prix, as we get
ready for a tough finish to the season.”
DAVIDE BRIVIO – GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR
“I have to congratulate and thank the whole team, particularly
Valentino’s engineers because they followed his requests
to modify the bike precisely and gave him the package he needed
to take victory today. He made the bike work and put on a
great show for the fans with Sete Gibernau, who deserved to
be on the podium. Valentino has a good advantage in the championship
now and we will go to Motegi looking for the same result.
Unfortunately Colin couldn’t do any better than seventh
place today but the fight for second place is still very close
and he is still in contention having collected nine points
today. We will look for some solutions with him during the
test and look forward to going to Japan in three weeks’
time.”
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