Rossi takes revenge at Doha with tenth victory of the season

Valentino Rossi added the Losail International Circuit to his long list of Grand
Prix conquests today as he banished the memory of his crash here last season
with his tenth victory of the season in the Marlboro Grand Prix of Qatar. Rossi
passed Marco Melandri with three laps remaining, just two laps after Sete
Gibernau had buckled under pressure from his Honda team-mate and run straight
into the gravel. The Italian pair rubbed elbows in an intense battle over the
last fifteen kilometres of the race, with Melandri making a desperate surge just
three corners from the end but running out of track on the exit of the turn and
conceding victory to his compatriot.

"What a race!" said Rossi, who has now won at every circuit on the Grand Prix
calendar except Laguna Seca and Istanbul, which will host the series for the
first time in three weeks. "For me that was the best of the season, it was so
much fun. I had bad memories from this circuit from last year so I really wanted
to win and after practice yesterday I knew it was not impossible. I have to
thank my whole team because my bike was very fast over the final few laps, which
it needed to be because Marco Melandri was very strong and we had a great
battle. He tried to pass me on the last lap but I was able to hold on and win."

Nicky Hayden was the only other rider capable of following the intense pace at
the front, the American youngster setting a new lap record of 1'57.903, faster
than his time in qualifying, to seal the final podium position in third place.
Colin Edwards was unable to repeat his podium finish from last season, bringing
his YZR-M1 home in a distant fourth place but adding valuable points to Rossi's
tally and securing the Teams' World Championship for Gauloises Yamaha.

Gibernau returned to the track to pick up his first points in over two months as
he crossed the line in fifth place, with Carlos Checa taking sixth on a
relatively disappointing day for Ducati. After taking his third consecutive pole
position yesterday, Checa's team-mate Loris Capirossi was unable to follow up
with a third straight win as he struggled to tenth place, despite leading in the
early stages. Capirossi's problems, combined with a mechanical breakdown for Max
Biaggi and those podium finishes for Melandri and Hayden, mean that just eleven
points now separate five riders in the chase for the runner-up spot with three
rounds remaining.

Casey Stoner continued his quest to hunt down 250cc World Championship leader
Dani Pedrosa with a convincing fourth victory of the season, his second in just
six days. Pedrosa, who was leading by 63 points before his crash in Malaysia
last weekend, could only manage fourth place today and has seen his advantage
reduced to just 26 points, with Stoner's home race at Phillip Island in
Australia next on the calendar. Jorge Lorenzo marked his return to action from a
one-race ban with a second-place finish from pole position, whilst Andrea
Dovizioso stole the final podium spot with a draught pass on Pedrosa at the line.

Mika Kallio regained control of the 125cc World Championship despite conceding
victory to Gabor Talmacsi by just 0.017 seconds. Kallio led his KTM team-mate
for the entire race after the pair broke free from the pack over the opening
laps, only to concede victory at the finish line after an expertly timed
slipstream carried the Hungarian to the line first. Despite his disappointment
at second place, Kallio now leads the championship by two points from Thomas
Luthi, who could only manage sixth place as Marco Simoncelli completed the podium.

INFO 2005/151. 1-10-2005
DORNA COMMUNICATIONS