MotoGP Championship Standings 2005

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Race results - Assen

Full MotoGP race results from the Dutch TT at Assen, round seven of the 2005 world championship.

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Gauloises Yamaha 38min 41.808 secs
2. Marco Melandri ITA Team Movistar Honda 38min 43.391 secs
3. Colin Edwards USA Gauloises Yamaha 38min 49.451 secs
4. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda 38min 51.936 secs
5. Sete Gibernau SPA Team Movistar Honda 38min 56.603 secs
6. Max Biaggi ITA Repsol Honda 39min 3.383 secs
7. Alex Barros BRA Camel Honda 39min 4.533 secs
8. Shinya Nakano JPN Kawasaki Racing Team 39min 8.285 secs
9. Carlos Checa ITA Ducati Marlboro 39min 12.029 secs
10. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro 39min 12.273 secs
11. Troy Bayliss AUS Camel Honda 39min 25.61 secs
12. Ruben Xaus SPA Fortuna Yamaha 39min 31.672 secs
13. John Hopkins USA Team Suzuki MotoGP 39min 32.638 secs
14. Makoto Tamada JPN Konica Minolta Honda 39min 35.178 secs
15. David Checa SPA Fortuna Yamaha 39min 36.773 secs
16. Kenny Roberts USA Team Suzuki MotoGP 39min 48.747 secs
17. Shane Byrne GBR Team Roberts 39min 48.807 secs
18. Roberto Rolfo ITA D’Antin Ducati Pramac 40min 10.856 secs
19. James Ellison GBR Blata WCM 40min 25.576 secs
20. Roberto Rolfo ITA D’Antin Ducati Pramac 39min 22.537 secs

DNF:
Alex Hofmann GER Kawasaki Racing Team 26min 52.136 secs

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Rossi makes history as Gauloises Yamaha celebrate podium double

Valentino Rossi became the first Yamaha rider ever to win five consecutive premier-class races after another authoritarian performance in the 75th anniversary Gauloises Dutch TT, where he was joined on the podium by his Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards. Rossi did not get the best of starts from pole position but worked his way up from fifth after the first lap to take the lead by the midway stage, taking over from Marco Melandri (Honda) on lap ten and gradually opening out a crucial advantage.
Edwards followed his team-mate through the opening few laps to make up some important positions from sixth on the grid, quickly settling into the excellent race pace he had found during practice and finally getting the opportunity to impose it on the front group. One lap after seeing Rossi take the lead, Edwards passed Sete Gibernau (Honda) for third place and did everything he could to catch Melandri for second, before deciding to settle for a podium finish.

As Melandri escaped from the American he also began to close the gap on his Italian compatriot at the front, but a stunning final lap of 2’00.991 from Rossi was the fastest of the race and sealed the win by 1.583 seconds.

VALENTINO ROSSI (1st; 38’41.808)

“Today was another hard battle, as it has been every race this season. At the start the grip was tricky because of the rain this morning and I lost some places and had to overtake Loris and Nakano to arrive behind the three Hondas. I knew I could go a bit faster and after I passed them all I made some good laps and it became easier to ride on the limit, as there was less fuel. Melandri was very strong today and he came back to fight until the end. I had to keep pushing at 100% and really concentrate, especially on the last lap, when I made no mistakes and the fastest lap of the race. It was incredible for everybody. My bike worked perfectly again, so thank you to Yamaha and my team for all the brilliant work they’ve done, and to Michelin because the tyres were really good. We have a great atmosphere in our team and this makes it very easy to relax and give 100% every time. It’s a pleasure to try to win together. I can’t believe that I am the first Yamaha rider to win five races in a row, when you look at the company I am in with Yamaha’s former World Champions – Agostini, Lawson, Roberts and Rainey, it’s great.”

COLIN EDWARDS (3rd; + 7.643)

“Of course it could still have been better, but it was a good race. We made a breakthrough with the bike set-up this week and it just felt really good, better than it’s felt all season I think. I had a bad start, then I saw Valentino and realised his wasn’t great either! The first corner I passed a couple and then on the back straight it was chaos with everyone trying to pass anywhere! I tried to follow Valentino through the traffic, then I got stuck behind Gibernau for a bit when he started to slow down. I got some time back when Marco made his big mistake and I saw red and really pushed hard to catch him! With four laps to go I was on the limit and lost the front really badly at turn two. When exactly the same thing happened on the next lap I decided it was safer to take it easy, get home on two wheels and make it onto the podium. I want to say a big thank you to my team and my Crew Chief Daniele Romagnoli, they’ve worked hard to find the right way forward and now I am going to Laguna in great shape.”

DAVIDE BRIVIO

“It was a very good day and once again both riders are on the podium with Valentino taking victory. Every race is different and this time it was a great fight with Melandri and with Colin also in the fighting group. It was very exciting to watch such good racing. This also shows the big progress that Yamaha has made and in this sense our engineers and team crew are really working very well. I’m just very lucky to be a representative of such a fantastic team. It’s also very encouraging to be going to Laguna Seca in this situation, when we will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Yamaha.”

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Race results - Barcelona

Full MotoGP race results from the Catalan Grand Prix at Barcelona, round six of the 2005 world championship.

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Gauloises Yamaha 43min 16.487 secs
2. Sete Gibernau SPA Team Movistar Honda 43min 17.581 secs
3. Marco Melandri ITA Team Movistar Honda 43min 24.297 secs
4. Alex Barros BRA Camel Honda 43min 24.691 secs
5. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda 43min 24.76 secs
6. Max Biaggi ITA Repsol Honda 43min 28.538 secs
7. Colin Edwards USA Gauloises Yamaha 43min 35.249 secs
8. Troy Bayliss AUS Camel Honda 43min 59.118 secs
9. Shinya Nakano JPN Kawasaki Racing Team 44min 3.125 secs
10. Ruben Xaus SPA Fortuna Yamaha 44min 3.179 secs
11. Carlos Checa ITA Ducati Marlboro 44min 16.844 secs
12. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro 44min 20.351 secs
13. David Checa SPA Fortuna Yamaha 44min 20.472 secs
14. Roberto Rolfo ITA D’Antin Ducati Pramac 44min 26.745 secs
15. Kenny Roberts USA Team Suzuki MotoGP 44min 40.218 secs
16. Shane Byrne GBR Team Roberts 44min 51.111 secs
17. Alex Hofmann GER Kawasaki Racing Team 43min 43.269 secs
18. James Ellison GBR Blata WCM 43min 52.521 secs
19. Franco Battaini ITA Blata WCM 43min 56.686 secs

DNF:
John Hopkins USA Team Suzuki MotoGP 31min 26.247 secs
Makoto Tamada JPN Konica Minolta Honda 8min 47.428 secs

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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 field to go head to head with local favourite and pole setter Sete Gibernau (Honda) in another nail-biting finish. Just as he had done with Max Biaggi (Honda) 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 (Honda) won a dramatic battle to the line for the final podium finish ahead of Alex Barros (Honda) and Nicky Hayden (Honda), Rossi’s Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards could only manage seventh place behind Biaggi. 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.

For the Spanish Fortuna Yamaha Team pair of Ruben Xaus and David Checa it was positive day in front of a home crowd. Xaus scored his third top ten result and Checa, who replaced the injured Toni Elias, scored in the points in only his second MotoGP ride.

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team) 1st
“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 - my last lap 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 (Gauloises Yamaha Team) 7th
“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, Gauloises Yamaha 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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