YRC News
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MotoGP : Rossi increases championship lead after tricky Estoril race
Round: 2 - Estoril MotoGP
Circuit: Estoril
Date: 17 April 2005
Crowd: 80000
Temp: 17ēC
Weather: Changeable
Valentino Rossi finished second in the Portuguese Grand Prix today after a
difficult race with changing weather conditions in Estoril. His Gauloises Yamaha
team-mate Colin Edwards showed a marked improvement in his performance but made
a small mistake on the slippery track and slid out off from fourth position four
laps from the end. He remounted and finished sixth, taking ten points in the
process and helping the Yamaha Factory Team to move to the top of the Team
Championship standings.
Starting from fourth, Rossi kept his grid position until he passed Max Biaggi
(Honda) on lap four and moved into third place. He had to work hard to keep in
front of his fellow Italian and was unable to keep pace with eventual winner
Alex Barros (Honda) and Sete Gibernau (Honda) as they opened up a gap over the
rest of the field. Meanwhile Edwards was engaged in a close battle with Marco
Melandri (Honda), the pair changing positions several times with neither able to
make the pass stick.
With 20 laps to go and the rainfall heavier, white flags were displayed due to a
new MotoGP rule whereby Race Direction can grant the riders permission to make a
pit stop and change bikes if they choose to. Since the rain never became much
more than a gentle drizzle, all riders chose to continue to race on slick tyres.
The difficult track conditions took their toll however when race leader Gibernau
crashed out on lap 17, elevating Rossi and Edwards to second and fifth
respectively. On lap 20 Edwards passed Melandri and was finally starting to open
up a gap on the Honda rider, when he was caught off-guard by the slippery track
at turn one and slid off. Luckily he was unhurt and remounted immediately, while
Rossi stuck behind Barros and eventually finished 2.771 seconds behind the
Brazilian, with Biaggi in third.
For the Fortuna Yamaha Team, like everyone else in the MotoGP field, the new
flag to flag format made for a challenging race. But both Ruben Xaus and Toni
Elias approached the race with the same frame of mind - to learn and survive.
They managed to do just that with Xaus finishing a respectable 10th while Elias
struggled with the extra burden of a knee injury - the result of yesterday's
crash.
Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team) 2nd
"That was a really difficult race for me. The conditions were so strange, with
patches of rain here and there. In the beginning it was light rain, then it got
worse and worse so that the first part of the track was very wet. It was a
horrible feeling to ride with slicks in the wet. Anyway, I'm very happy to have
finished in second place because we're now 20 points ahead, and this was a very
important race for us in terms of the championship. The bike still has a few
problems and we have a lot of work to do. Today was a bit of miracle really,
there was quite a lot of luck involved!
"I gradually got used to the conditions during the race but it's not ideal to
ride like that. The new wet race rules are better for TV but it's not entirely
safe, although it's clearer now for all the riders when the race has been
declared as wet. I think it's impossible in our sport, though, to find a perfect
rule for that."
Colin Edwards (Gauloises Yamaha Team) 6th
"That was a good race although of course I am disappointed about falling. The
bike felt completely different from the Jerez race and I felt like I could have
kept pace with Rossi and Barros quite easily. Unfortunately I was fighting with
Melandri and for the first half of the race I just couldn't make the pass stick
on him; gradually the leaders just edged away. Finally I got away from him and
Iwas pushing in order to keep a space between us, but I hit that slippery patch
at turn one and went down, it just caught me off guard! Everywhere else on the
track was okay and you could get the bike fully leaned over, but turn one was
just like ice. It was my mistake and I'm annoyed, but the rest of the race was
really encouraging and a big improvement."
Davide Brivio, Gauloises Yamaha Team
"That was a race in very difficult conditions with the change from the dry to
the wet. Congratulations to all the riders who finished the race. It was a good
race for Yamaha; with Valentino we've scored 20 important points. It would have
been easy to make a mistake so he did very well to keep pushing and finish in
second without any problems. For Colin this was a big improvement from the last
race, we fixed some problems after the last test in Jerez and he quickly found a
good base here. He made a small mistake but he was able to recover and finish
still in a good position. It was an encouraging race for him and I hope this is
the start of a good season."
Ruben Xaus (Fortuna Yamaha Team) 10th
"Throughout the weekend we improved our pace and because of this I was looking
forward to a dry race. I had to start from the fourth row, which wasn't easy,
and I couldn't find a really good rhythm until the latter stages of the race. Of
course by then it was too late to do anything. It was a very difficult race and
to be honest I was just happy to survive. I spent most of the race running
around on my own and that made it very lonely and the race seemed to drag on
forever. I hope Shanghai is dry!"
Toni Elias (Fortuna Yamaha Team) 14th
"It was a really difficult weekend for me. It started good but ended with me
struggling, physically, due to the injury to my knee. The rain kept changing the
track conditions for us, which made it very difficult. Even so I think it was a
very good experience and I have to keep thinking in this way - to learn."
Race classification MotoGP
Round: 2 - Estoril MotoGP
Circuit: Estoril
Circuit Length: 4182m
Lap Record: 1' 39.189 (Valentino Rossi, 2003)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 38.412 (Loris Capirossi, 2003)
Race: 28 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 A. Barros Honda BRA 47'14.053
2 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA +2.771
3 M. Biaggi Honda ITA +6.071
4 M. Melandri Honda ITA +29.546
5 C. Checa Ducati ESP +29.774
6 C. Edwards Yamaha USA +44.216
7 N. Hayden Honda USA +57.121
8 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN +59.847
9 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA +1' 7.718
10 R. Xaus Yamaha ESP +1'22.431
11 T. Bayliss Honda AUS +1'33.529
12 K. Roberts Suzuki USA +1'34.051
13 R. Rolfo Ducati ITA +1'35.956
14 T. Elias Yamaha ESP +1'36.492
15 J. Ellison Blata WCM GBR +2 lap(s)
Fastest Race Lap:
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 A. Barros Honda BRA 1'38.480
Championship standings MotoGP
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 45
2 Alex Barros Honda BRA 38
3 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 29
4 Max Biaggi Honda ITA 25
5 Sete Gibernau Honda ESP 20
6 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 19
7 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 17
8 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 17
9 Troy Bayliss Honda AUS 15
10 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 10
11 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 9
12 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 8
13 Ruben Xaus Yamaha ESP 6
14 Toni Elias Yamaha ESP 6
15 Alex Hofman Kawasaki GER 5
Manufacturers standings MotoGP
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1 Yamaha 45
1 Honda 45
2 Kawasaki 19
3 Ducati 17
4 Suzuki 6
5 Blata WCM 1
Race classification GP250
Round: 2 - Estoril GP250
Circuit: Estoril
Circuit Length: 4182m
Lap Record: 1' 41.417 (Toni Elias, 2004)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 41.417 (Toni Elias, 2004)
Race: 26 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 C. Stoner Aprilia AUS 45'36.009
2 A. Dovizioso Honda ITA +0.404
3 R. de Puniet Aprilia FRA +0.431
4 D. Pedrosa Honda ESP +2.009
5 A. de Angelis Aprilia SMR +2.204
6 H. Aoyama Honda JPN +17.855
7 Y. Takahashi Honda JPN +17.914
8 S. Guintoli Aprilia FRA +23.810
9 S. Porto Aprilia ARG +26.407
10 J. Lorenzo Honda ESP +45.921
11 H. Barbera Honda ESP +51.533
12 J. Smrz Honda CZE +56.920
13 A. Debon Honda ESP +1' 4.103
14 M. Giansanti Aprilia ITA +1' 9.512
15 M. Cardenas Aprilia COL +1'18.508
Fastest Race Lap:
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 A. de Angelis Aprilia SMR 1'43.484
Championship standings GP250
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 38
2 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 33
3 Sebastian Porto Aprilia ARG 27
4 Alex de Angelis Aprilia SMR 27
5 Casey Stoner Aprilia AUS 25
6 Randy de Puniet Aprilia FRA 16
7 Jorge Lorenzo Honda ESP 16
8 Hector Barbera Honda ESP 16
9 Alex Debon Honda ESP 11
10 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 10
11 Roberto Locatelli Aprilia ITA 9
12 Yuki Takahashi Honda JPN 9
13 Sylvain Guintoli Aprilia FRA 8
14 Mirko Giansanti Aprilia ITA 8
15 Simone Corsi Aprilia ITA 7
Manufacturers standings GP250
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1 Honda 45
1 Aprilia 45
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