Posted by Administrator on 07-31-2005 at 02:07 pm
Full MotoGP race results from the restarted German Grand Prix at Sachsenring, round ten of the 2005 world championship.
1. Valentino Rossi ITA Gauloises Yamaha Team 35min 4.434 secs
2. Sete Gibernau SPA Team Movistar Honda 35min 5.119 secs
3. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team 35min 5.319 secs
4. Max Biaggi ITA Repsol Honda Team 35min 6.799 secs
5. Alex Barros BRA Camel Honda 35min 7.289 secs
6. Shinya Nakano JPN Kawasaki Racing Team 35min 8.991 secs
7. Marco Melandri ITA Team Movistar Honda 35min 16.703 secs
8. Colin Edwards USA Gauloises Yamaha Team 35min 19.283 secs
9. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 35min 27.923 secs
10. Makoto Tamada JPN Konica Minolta Honda 35min 32.263 secs
11. Kenny Roberts USA Team Suzuki MotoGP 35min 46.533 secs
12. Toni Elias SPA Fortuna Yamaha Team 35min 51.738 secs
13. Ruben Xaus SPA Fortuna Yamaha Team 36min 4.609 secs
14. Roberto Rolfo ITA D’Antin Ducati Pramac 36min 12.148 secs
15. Franco Battaini ITA Blata WCM 35min 21.155 secs
DNF:
Carlos Checa ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 5min 40.304 secs
DNS second part:
James Ellison GBR Blata WCM
Shane Byrne GBR Team Roberts
Olivier Jacque FRA Kawasaki Racing Team
John Hopkins USA Team Suzuki MotoGP
Alex Hofmann GER Kawasaki Racing Team
Troy Bayliss AUS Camel Honda
Posted by Administrator on 07-31-2005 at 02:07 pm
Just one week after his stunning wet weather win at Donington Park in England, reigning MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi was back on top of the podium at the Sachsenring circuit as he snatched victory from Sete Gibernau (Honda) on the final lap of the German Grand Prix today. The tenth round of the 2005 campaign and Rossi’s 150th Grand Prix appearance in all was stopped after five laps when John Hopkins (Suzuki) crashed out and left his machine strewn in the middle of the circuit. By that time Rossi had made his way up to second place and when the race restarted he quickly began to pile the pressure on early race leader Nicky Hayden, taking the lead on the second lap.
One lap later Gibernau passed both Hayden and Rossi, who was then relegated back to third place by the American on lap 13. The Italian mounted a typical late charge, passing Hayden and closing in on Gibernau during the closing stages of the race as he prepared an attack on the final lap. It proved unnecessary however, as a mistake from Gibernau in turn one handed the Italian his 76th Grand Prix victory, moving him third in the all-time Grand Prix winners list, level with Mike Hailwood. Whilst Rossi now leads the championship standings by 120 points over Marco Melandri (Honda), his Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards finished a difficult weekend with eighth position in the race today, and drops to fourth overall behind Gibernau. The Texan nonetheless remains in close contention at the top end of the championship table, where four riders are separated by just four points.
It was a long weekend for Fortuna Yamaha Team riders Toni Elias and Ruben Xaus, who both struggled to find a comfortable set-up, qualifying 17th and 18th respectively. Xaus’ qualifying rhythm was interrupted as he sought treatment for an injury to his left leg, while his team-mate continues to nurse an injured left hand sustain in a crash at Le Mans.
The early departure of seven riders in the field helped the Spanish riders up the points board as they finished just outside the top ten.
Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team) 1st
“It’s been a difficult weekend for sure. On Friday we arrived with a bad setting for this track and had some big problems. The team and Yamaha have done a fantastic job to recover from a bad situation and have worked step-by-step to resolve the issues. It was a hard race throughout, in some places we were fast and some slower, but the bike was working well after all the work we put in yesterday. At one point I lost second place to Nicky, but luckily I was able to take it back and then I prepared for a last lap battle with Sete. Then Sete made a small mistake at the first braking marker, which is an easy thing to do when you are racing at this speed, and I was able to take the lead. I don’t know if I would have won if he hadn’t made the mistake, but for sure I would have tried! I made a special flag to apologise to Mike Hailwood for matching his 76 wins in Grand Prix, because when another rider arrives at your level, it’s always disappointing! Mike is one of the greatest riders ever, and now I am beside him on the all-time winners podium in Grand Prix, which is a fantastic achievement!”
Davide Brivio, Gauloises Yamaha Team Director
“We won a race at the end of what has been a difficult weekend, so this is another great achievement. Now we go on holiday with an even stronger lead – after ten races we are leading all the categories: the rider, team and manufacturers’ championships. Also Colin remains close to the top of the championship. He is in good shape at the top of the table with all the best riders, despite not having such a good race today. Now everyone will take a well-deserved rest after the first half of the season, and let’s hope we can return in Brno and continue in the same way for the second half of the year.”
Posted by Administrator on 07-30-2005 at 03:07 pm
Gauloises Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards recovered from a difficult first day at the Sachsenring to improve their positions today, qualifying on the second and third row respectively for tomorrow’s German Grand Prix. Rossi in particular made impressive progress after struggling to the thirteenth fastest time yesterday, mounting a strong challenge this afternoon in an entertaining battle for pole position that was eventually won by Nicky Hayden (Honda).
Whilst Sete Gibernau and Alex Barros (both Honda) join Hayden on the front row, Rossi ended the session only 0.188 seconds off the day’s best time and the Italian was satisfied both with the steps taken with the set-up of his YZR-M1 machine and with a fourth-place start on the grid. Edwards also made encouraging progress, although he was unable to find the perfect compromise setting for the track, which places drastically diverse demands on the machine throughout the contrasting fast and slow sections. The American eventually qualified seventh fastest and will head the third row of the grid tomorrow.
VALENTINO ROSSI (4th – 1’22.973; 29 laps)
“I’m much happier today - the team have done a great job to get the bike working well here because it is such a peculiar circuit. Yesterday we lost our direction a little bit but today we made a lot of progress. In the morning we were able to sort out the problems we had on the front end and in the afternoon we made a big step forward on the rear, even with the race tyre. I made a mistake in the final corner on my fast lap that probably cost me a tenth but I am still only 0.188 seconds from the pole. Considering where we were yesterday, I am happy with that. Tomorrow will be a very hard race because there are four or five riders who have the pace to run at the front, but we’ve done a good job today and I think we can be there with them.”
COLIN EDWARDS (7th – 1’23.139; 31 laps)
“We made some progress today but it is still a struggle! This morning I put on a qualifier in the free practice just to test it out and only then was I able to set a fast lap. I’m losing three tenths of a second in the third section, which we just can’t seem to work out. Three tenths is a lot over a whole lap, especially here, but to lose it in one split is hard to swallow. To be honest though, things were so bad yesterday that if you’d have told me I’d be seventh fastest today and starting from the front of the third row, I wouldn’t have been too upset. We know exactly where the problem is and the team are doing everything they can to fix it. We’ve just got to work extremely hard in the warm-up tomorrow to try to come up with a solution.”
DAVIDE BRIVIO – GAULOISES YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR
“The team has reacted well to the problems we had yesterday and both riders have been able to improve their times. Actually, Valentino put in a few good laps at a decent pace and a second row start is not a problem for him. I am confident he will be there to fight in the race as usual. Colin has a more difficult job starting from the third row, but hopefully he can make some improvements in the morning and stick with the front group in the race. We’ll see what happens in the race tomorrow but so far I am very happy with the team and their reaction to a tough situation yesterday. Hopefully we can go on holiday in a good mood!”
Posted by Administrator on 07-30-2005 at 02:07 pm
Gauloises Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi celebrates a milestone achievement this weekend as he makes his 150th Grand Prix appearance in the tenth round of the 2005 MotoGP World Championship at the Sachsenring. Rossi made his world championship debut as a fresh-faced 16-year-old in the 1996 Malaysian Grand Prix, guiding his 125cc machine to sixth place. A lot has changed since then, with Rossi now established as the finest rider of his generation and one of the all-time MotoGP greats, with no fewer than 75 victories, 110 podiums and 40 pole positions in all classes. Here are a few other facts about his career:
· In 1997 Rossi became the second youngest ever 125cc World Champion after scoring 321 points and eleven wins.
· Two years later, he became the youngest ever 250cc World Champion with nine wins.
· In 2001 Rossi joined Phil Read as one of only two riders ever to win the 125cc, 250cc and 500cc titles.
· Rossi’s debut victory for Yamaha at the opening race of 2004 in South Africa made him the first rider in history to take back-to-back wins for different manufacturers.
· After winning the MotoGP World Championship three times for Honda, Rossi took his fourth premier-class title with Yamaha in 2004 and became the only rider other than Eddie Lawson to win consecutive premier-class titles for different manufacturers.
· Rossi also became only the seventh rider ever to win the MotoGP World Championship four times, joining Giacomo Agostini, Mick Doohan, Geoff Duke, Mike Hailwood, Eddie Lawson and John Surtees.
· Rossi’s total of nine victories in 2004 was the highest number of wins in a season for any Yamaha rider in history.
· His victory at the 2005 Dutch TT made him the first Yamaha rider ever to win five consecutive races in the premier-class.
· Rossi’s pole position at Donington Park was his 30th in the premier-class, one more than Kevin Schwantz and second only to Mick Doohan’s total of 58.
· Rossi has gone on to win 25 of the 30 premier-class races he has started from pole, a ratio equal to 83.3%.
· Rossi’s victory at Donington Park last weekend was his 75th from 149 starts. Only three riders have stood on top of a Grand Prix podium on more occasions: Giacomo Agostini, Angel Nieto and Mike Hailwood.
· Rossi’s win in the first round of the season at Jerez made him the only rider other than Agostini to win the opening race of the year on five consecutive occasions.
· Rossi’s current advantage is the biggest by any rider after nine rounds of the premier-class World Championship since Mick Doohan in 1997.
· In the 25 races since he joined Yamaha, Rossi has taken 16 victories, 20 podiums and an average of 20.6 points per start, his best record from the three manufacturers he has raced with.
Posted by Administrator on 07-25-2005 at 05:07 am
Round 10: Sachsenring, Germany
Track length: 3671 m
Opened: 1966
Fastest Lap Ever: 1′ 24.056 (Alex Barros, 2004)
MotoGP lap record: 1′ 24.056 (Alex Barros, 2004)
Last year MotoGP winner: Max Biaggi
Circuit tel: +49 3723 65330
Circuit web site: http://www.sachsenring.de
2004 MotoGP Race Summary
Yamaha Factory rider and reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi entered the 2004 German Grand Prix, held at the Sachsenring with high expectations since the tight and twisty circuit has traditionally suited the nimble Yamaha. But after a determined fourth place in what was a dramatic and changeable race it was Max Biaggi (Honda) who mounted the podium as winner.
Rossi’s fourth place came after an incident-filled race, and his team-mate Carlos Checa was one of many riders who did not make the finish. The Spaniard tumbled out on lap five, shortly after passing a string of riders. Rossi encountered his own challenges in the final laps, running wide on two corners and experiencing a violent weave as he tipped into the fast left hand curve at the top of the hill, losing places on each occasion after the rear tyre began to fade.
Rossi chased the eventual race winner Max Biaggi in the early laps, sitting second and harrying his fellow Italian throughout. Sete Gibernau (Honda) closed in on the pairing until he fell from third place on lap eight, allowing fellow Honda riders Nicky Hayden and Alex Barros to move in on the act. Rossi broke Biaggi’s lead on lap 16, 0.7 seconds ahead at one stage, heading the order for a total of six laps. The young Italian’s challenge for maximum points faded, however, when he lost places consecutively to Biaggi, Barros and finally Hayden.
Meanwhile massive misfortune visited the Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3 team when both riders crashed out on lap 21 of the 30-lap race. Marco Melandri lost control of his YZR-M1 when the rear wheel touched the grass. The bike highsided the young Italian into the air and then Norick Abe hit the stricken machine at nearly 200kmh, crashing spectacularly as a result.
Both riders were circulating the 3.671km track in close company as they both tried to get the better of Honda runners Colin Edwards and Makoto Tamada. Marco and Abe were both well into the points places in seventh and eighth when the double disaster unfolded.
2005 Set-up report YZR-M1
The tight and twisty nature of Sachsenring lends itself to close racing. This is partially influenced by its rather short overall length, only just scraping in on the minimum allowed distance to host a MotoGP race, while the looping layout itself has the reputation of making passing moves on fellow competitors difficult even at the best of times. The design of the circuit, with virtually only three pieces of straight tarmac, has seen the MotoGP machines reach their top speeds at the back straight, with two key passing points – the final two left-handers.
Like Donington Sachsenring is made up of low and high speed sections. For this reason the Yamaha YZR-M1 will need to offer agility and a degree of stability too – a difficult combination – although agility takes priority. For 2005 this has become a major strength with the re-born YZR-M1 and should provide each of the four Yamaha pilots an advantage.
Due to the long radius turns, and the low speeds a smoother power delivery is especially useful at such an undulating circuit as much of the driving is done off the left side of the tyre. All of this with little camber on offer.
To help the YZR-M1 in this regard Yamaha will opt for a more linear characteristic from the rear suspension linkage – to suit the needs of the circuit and the flatter torque characteristics likely to be used by the inline-four. Such a linkage ratio will offer a plusher movement through the first stage of the stroke before gradually increasing in intensity. It will not only improve traction off the turns, allowing the rider to get on the power harder and earlier than before, the new linkage should also reduce the effects of the M1’s front wheel pawing for the clouds. This is often an issue for the 240 plus horsepower 145kg machines.
This will be supported with a rear shock set-up that sports a setting a little more on the softer side; offering more feel while working the rear tyre less over the bumpy surface. It is necessary, however, to ensure the swingarm motion is predictable, as these setting, combined with the undulating layout and lack of grip, can lead to instability. To prevent this from becoming an issue the shock’s damping will be dialed in to compensate, while the front forks will be set to provide the best all-round balance. This is possible with the limited amount of hard braking that takes place at the Sachsenring.
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