ROSSI EXTENDS CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD WITH CATALUNYA VICTORY
Gauloises Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi re-ignited his
love affair with the Spanish public today as he stormed to
a fifth win from the opening six rounds of the 2005 MotoGP
World Championship in front of a record crowd of 105,698 at
the Catalunya Grand Prix. After losing places in a combative
opening to the race, the reigning World Champion stormed through
the filed to go head to head with home favourite and pole
setter Sete Gibernau (Honda) in another nail-biting finish.
Just as he had done with Max Biaggi at Mugello last weekend
and Gibernau himself two weeks previously at Le Mans, Rossi
timed his victory charge to perfection, passing the Spaniard
with three laps remaining and setting a stunning time of 1’43.195,
almost 1.5 seconds inside the previous circuit record, to
open up a decisive advantage over the final two laps. Whilst
Marco Melandri won a dramatic battle to the line for the final
podium finish ahead of Alex Barros and Nicky Hayden (all Honda),
Rossi’s Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards could
only manage seventh place behind Biaggi (Honda). Despite showing
podium pace through the weekend practice sessions, the American
took a gamble with his tyre choice that backfired in the race
as he struggled for rear grip at the demanding Spanish circuit.
Despite today’s result Edwards remains sixth in the
MotoGP World Championship, which is now led by Rossi with
an advantage of 58 points over Melandri.
VALENTINO ROSSI (1st – 43’16.487)
“The first lap was a hard fight with a lot of riders
coming crazy, everybody wanted to be at the front and it was
so much fun. Gibernau set a fast pace and I tried 100% to
follow him. I had some problems on the right side of the tyre
early in the race but Sete started to slide too. At the end
it was difficult but the bike was so good into the corners
and great fun to ride. To do the fastest lap three laps from
the end at a track like this is amazing - it was around two
seconds faster than the last lap last year and it shows the
fantastic job Michelin have done with tyre endurance. I was
a little worried before this weekend about the reaction from
the crowd but I was so happy with the reception I got. It
shows that motorcycle fans are the best kind and especially
here in Spain, where it is always a pleasure to ride. The
advantage in the championship is allowing the team to work
in a relaxed way and we are having a lot of fun, which is
an extra motivation in itself.”
COLIN EDWARDS – (7th - +18.762)
“We made a mistake by testing the race tyre yesterday
morning when the temperatures were much cooler than they were
this afternoon. We thought we were being sly by choosing a
tyre only one other rider had but it didn’t work out.
I had no rear grip at full lean in the second half of the
race, so I had to stand the bike up through the corners and
ran wide all the time. It’s a shame because we had a
great front tyre but I couldn’t push it. Not the best
finish but we’ve learnt a lot of things that we will
now take to Assen.”
DAVIDE BRIVIO – TEAM DIRECTOR
“The whole race was run at a full second inside lap
record pace, which is incredible. It shows the great job done
by our engineers and the wonderful partnership we have with
Michelin. I am so pleased to hear Valentino say he is enjoying
riding the bike – that is a great compliment to everybody
in the team. It is a pity Colin could not confirm his excellent
progress in the race but we know he is on the right tracks
and I’m looking forward to seeing him at Assen, a circuit
he likes and knows well.”
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