Grand Prix of Valencia
Valencia, Spain
Sunday 6th November 2005 

YAMAHA CONCLUDES 50TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR WITH VALENCIA PODIUM

Yamaha Factory Racing rider Valentino Rossi scored his sixteenth podium from
seventeen races in the final round of the 2005 MotoGP World Championship to put
the shine on Yamaha's 50th Anniversary celebrations at Valencia. The Italian
started from his lowest grid position of the season but produced a dramatic ride
to end the race in third place, lapping quicker than eventual winner Marco
Melandri (Honda). A crowd of 124,520 watched Rossi make up seven positions with
an incredible surge on the first lap, although the early pace of Melandri and
Nicky Hayden (Honda) provided them with an advantage that proved impossible to
breach in the second half of the race.

Rossi's Yamaha Factory team-mate Colin Edwards suffered a disappointing end to
his first season with the team, losing three positions on the first lap after
starting from sixth and only managing to recover one place by the end of the
race. Nevertheless, the American has made significant progress with a new riding
style over the course of the weekend and he is now looking forward to winter
testing as he prepares for his second season as a Yamaha rider. In the meantime,
Yamaha is left to reflect on a stunning Anniversary season, in which it has
swept the board, taking the riders', teams' and constructors' World Championship
titles.

VALENTINO ROSSI (3rd  - +2.959)

"The second part of the race was very positive because my pace was fast and I
rode well but if you want to win a race then you can't start from fifteenth on
the grid. I made a mistake yesterday with the crash but the truth is that we
were struggling all weekend with the setting and we didn't understand until this
morning what the problem was. We worked it out and in the race I was able to
ride how I wanted to, but it was too late. It was good fun, I pushed hard but it
wasn't enough. In the future we have to make sure we work better in practice.
It's been a fantastic season and everyone has worked hard to achieve all our
targets. Now we look forward to some holidays and some hard work during winter
testing!"

COLIN EDWARDS (8th - +25.678)

"I didn't rider great today. In the middle of the race I started to push hard
and caught up again with the middle of the pack, but by that time I had abused
my tyres a lot, they were moving around and so I decided to hold station. I have
never been at the last race of a season counting down the days for winter
testing to start. We have a lot of work to do and I want to get going as soon as
possible. It's been an average season but we've learnt a lot for next year and
the whole team has worked very hard for me. I want to thank them and thank
Michelin and I'm looking forward to working with everyone over the winter and
coming out strong next year."

DAVIDE BRIVIO - YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM DIRECTOR

"Basically we lost the race in practice, both with the setting difficulties we
had and Valentino's starting position for the race. It is always going to be
difficult from the fifth row, but he was 4.9 seconds down on the leader after
four laps and by the end it was 2.9 so his pace was even better than the race
winner. It's been a long season from January, when testing started, to November.
We have won everything available, scored eleven race victories and right now I
would accept the same statistics next season - only with Colin higher in the
championship. That is our aim for next year but for now I just want to say thank
you to all our staff, engineers, crew and both of our riders. It has been a
fantastic season."

RESULTS

 1. Marco Melandri (ITA) Movistar Honda MotoGP,  46'58.152
 2. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team            +0.097
 3. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Yamaha Factory Racing     +2.959
 4. Carlos Checa (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team        +18.718
 5. Alex Barros (BRA) Camel Honda                  +20.706
 6. Max Biaggi (ITA) Repsol Honda Team             +21.254
 7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team     +23.142
 8. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Yamaha Factory Racing      +25.678
 9. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda       +36.710
10. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Yamaha Team           +39.116

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

 1. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA)  367
 2. Marco Melandri (ITA)   220
 3. Nicky Hayden (USA)     206
 4. COLIN EDWARDS (USA)    179
 5. Max Biaggi (ITA)       173
 6. Loris Capirossi (ITA)  157
 7. Sete Gibernau (SPA)    150
 8. Alex Barros (BRA)      147
 9. Carlos Checa (SPA)     138
10.Shinya Nakano (JPN)      98