2005 MotoGP: QATAR

2005 MotoGP : MotoGP MotoGP R14 of 17, Oct 1, 2005, QATAR

• Losail, Qatar
• new circuit and venue for MotoGP
• very long circuit 5.4 km ; long main straight 1.1km
• 16 turns; 10 right hand; 6 left hand
• 22 lap race
• hot condition
• Fastest Lap record: 1m 58.988 (Carlos Checa, 2004)
• MotoGP lap record: 1'm 59.293 (Colin Edwards, 2004)
• LAST YEAR'S RESULT: 2004
• 1 Sete Gibernau SPA Honda, 22 laps
• 2 Colin Edwards USA Honda +1.31s
• 3 Ruben Xaus SPA Ducati +23.8s
• 4 Barros, Honda +25.4s
• 5 Hayden, Honda +31.4s
• 6 Biaggi, Honda

RACE RESULT:

MotoGP RACE, SAT, OCT 1, 2005, Temp: 39ºC

• 1 Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha, 22 laps
  *** his 10th win of 2005; 52nd win in premier class ***
• 2 M. Melandri Honda ITA +1.6s
• 3 N. Hayden Honda USA +5.5s
• 4 Edwards
• 5 Gibernau
• 6 Checa
• 7 Nakano
• 8 Elias
• 9 Barros
• 10 Capirossi
• 11 Roberts 12 Rolfo 13 Byrne 14 Xaus 15 Ellison 16 Battaini 17 Hopkins
• DNF: Biaggi, Hopkins

YAMAHA RACE REPORT:

• Rossi's tenth victory secures team title for Gauloises Yamaha
  
  Just six days after lifting the MotoGP title with Valentino Rossi in Malaysia, the Gauloises Yamaha Team were celebrating again today as Valentino Rossi's record-breaking tenth victory of the season secured the Teams' World Championship at the Qatar Grand Prix. Rossi became the first Yamaha rider ever to take his win total for a single season into double figures after an exhilarating last-lap battle with Marco Melandri (Honda), whilst his team-mate Colin Edwards boosted the team's points tally to unbeatable status with a determined ride to fourth place.
• Rossi's 79th victory of his career came after 22 dramatic laps of the Losail International Circuit, with Loris Capirossi (Ducati) taking an early lead from pole position before Sete Gibernau (Honda) took over. The Spaniard had built up a solid advantage by the halfway stage but he was eventually reeled in by the chasing pack and made a critical error with five laps remaining, running into the gravel when trying to repel an attack from Melandri. With Nicky Hayden (Honda) in close attendance, Rossi closed in on Melandri and the two Italians went head to head in a gripping finale, Rossi taking the lead with three laps remaining and holding off one last attempt from Melandri just two corners from the end to secure victory. With the riders' and teams' titles now in the bag, Yamaha needs to be just 50 points clear after Phillip Island to clinch the Manufactures' Championship.
• Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 1st
  "What a race! 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 had two great rivals and all three of us showed that we were in very good shape until the end. We gave more than 100% and had a fantastic battle from the beginning to the end. I have to thank Yamaha and 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 - my tenth of the season. I am very, very happy."
• Colin Edwards (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 4th
  "I felt we had the pace yesterday but we were looking for a little bit more rear grip to take that extra step and went with a different tyre this morning. It was the same as the other guys were using but my bike was set up around the tyre we had yesterday and I couldn't turn the thing. It was pushing the front a lot in the corners and I kept having to run it straight. We need to figure out why that was and take the lesson to Phillip Island in a couple of weeks. I'm disappointed for my team today because I was confident I could be up there fighting for the win and in the end it just didn't happen. On the up-side, my points today contributed to the teams' championship, so that's a good thing to take away from here."
• Davide Brivio - Gauloises Yamaha Team director
  "Today we saw a fantastic race, scored another victory and won another title so of course we are delighted. Valentino clearly wanted to win the race after what happened last year and he came out on top of another incredible battle, so congratulations to him. Colin finished in fourth place, which is not what he had hoped for, but he scored some important points and closed the gap to second in the championship so we are happy for him. The team have worked extremely well since Thursday, finding the right set-up for both bikes early in the weekend and then just fine-tuning for the race. We've won the Teams' Championship today and both riders have contributed to this, so congratulations to everybody. Both Valentino and Colin like Phillip Island so now we all looking forward to going to Australia in two weeks."
• Toni Elias (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 8th
  "I'm not satisfied. This weekend has been good, because we got off to a good start, but there's a moment where all the others advance more than I do. We need to find a better set-up for the first few laps when the tank is full. When it empties, I can start to go quicker and catch up those ahead, but then it's already too late. Gradually I think we'll get it sorted though."

QUALIFYING:

• Loris Capirossi is on a roll. He took his 3rd consecutive pole ahead of Gibernau and Rossi.
  CAPIROSSI, POLE: "Three in a row - it's incredible, I'm so happy! Once again we've worked well since we got here. The bike and tyre package is really good now, which helps us to prepare for the race. The team's done a great job and Bridgestone too, especially on the front tyre. It's important to be on pole here because it's so difficult to pass. Race distance is no problem for me in this heat, but for everyone it will be difficult on tyre life. I will try my best and we will see what happens..."
• ROSSI WILL START 3RD: "Now the championship is decided so I am riding without any pressure, but of course I still want to win every race before the end of the season."

GRID, SEP 30, 2005, Temp: 34ºC

• 1 Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 1m 56.917
  "Three in a row - it's incredible, I'm so happy! Once again we've worked well since we got here. The bike and tyre package is really good now, which helps us to prepare for the race. The team's done a great job and Bridgestone too, especially on the front tyre. It's important to be on pole here because it's so difficult to pass. Race distance is no problem for me in this heat, but for everyone it will be difficult on tyre life. I will try my best and we will see what happens ..."
• 2 Sete Gibernau (SPA) Honda 1m 56.994
  “Yesterday we went in the wrong direction in the afternoon session but today we got back on the right track. We did a great job preparing for the race in the final session, the tyres and the settings are already decided. I was able to set a good rhythm, with quality laps, and even though I just missed out on pole at the end we are on the front row, which is important.”
• 3 Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 1m 57.360
  "We are not at 100% but anyway it is okay and we are on the front row so that is important. The grip is much better than last year and now it seems the track is more normal. In these conditions it is possible to push the bike to the limit, so hopefully it stays like this for tomorrow's race and for sure it will be a good show for everybody. My bike is also working much better than in recent races, we have found better grip on the front and the rear. We still need to make some small modifications before the race and then we will see how it goes. Now the championship is decided so I am riding without any pressure, but of course I still want to win every race before the end of the season."
• 4 C. Edwards Yamaha USA 1' 57.447
  "This weekend everything just seems to work! Everything has been clear-cut on how to make the bike work better and we've done just that. We've been struggling a bit for grip lately but here it's great and everything seems easy! This morning we did all of our work, the race tyre stuff, and this afternoon just went out there and concentrated on putting a fast lap time in. I think I did four or five laps on a race tyre at the beginning and then after that we just put the soft tyres in and went for it. I should have won the race here last year and right now I feel the same - we can win it. We are going to go out there with a good attitude, everybody's been working really good on the team so it would be a nice payback to get the victory."
• 5 M. Melandri Honda ITA 1' 57.468
  “It was a shame I wasn’t able to make the most of the qualifying tyres at the end of the session because when I went out there was a lot of traffic on the track. From a physical point of view I am better. I’ve started to put more force on the footpeg and it hurts a little more, but the doctors at the Clinica Mobile are looking after me and I know I’ll be in good shape for the race.”
• 6 C. Checa Ducati ESP 1' 57.481
• 7 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1' 57.697
• 8 N. Hayden Honda USA 1' 57.872
  “Not really where we want to be. We had a pretty good run of qualifying this season and I haven’t been on the third row since way back in Portugal. The main problem we have is with the front-end of the bike. It’s vague into corners and I was hoping that we would carry on with the real solid start we had yesterday but we haven’t been able to continue with that momentum. We’ve got a lot of work to do before the race to get a good set-up.
• 9 T. Elias Yamaha ESP 1' 57.902
• 10 M. Tamada Honda JPN 1' 58.317
  11 K. Roberts Suzuki USA 1' 58.329
  12 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA 1' 58.527
  13 M. Biaggi Honda ITA 1' 58.622
  14 A. Barros Honda BRA 1' 59.084
  15 R. Rolfo Ducati ITA 1' 59.392
  16 R. Xaus Yamaha ESP 1' 59.482

YAMAHA QUALIFYING REPORT

• Gauloises Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards will both start from the right end of the MotoGP grid at the Losail International Circuit on Saturday after setting the third and fourth fastest times respectively in this afternoon's single qualifying practice for the Grand Prix of Qatar. Rossi secured his first front row start in five races after lapping almost 1.7 seconds inside the previous pole record time here, his best lap falling just short of the pole time of 1'56.917 set by Loris Capirossi (Ducati), who will start from the front of the grid for the third successive race.
• Edwards ended up just 0.087 seconds behind his team-mate after honing his race pace in the morning before spending several lengthy spells at the top of the time sheets in the afternoon as he concentrated on a fast qualifying time. The American starts from the front of the second row in fourth place, his best grid position since qualifying second fastest at the fourth round of the season at Le Mans, as he looks to improve on second place at this Grand Prix last season by taking his first MotoGP victory in tomorrow's race.
• Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 3rd - 1'57.360
  "We are not at 100% but anyway it is okay and we are on the front row so that is important. The grip is much better than last year and now it seems the track is more normal. In these conditions it is possible to push the bike to the limit, so hopefully it stays like this for tomorrow's race and for sure it will be a good show for everybody. My bike is also working much better than in recent races, we have found better grip on the front and the rear. We still need to make some small modifications before the race and then we will see how it goes. Now the championship is decided so I am riding without any pressure, but of course I still want to win every race before the end of the season."
• Colin Edwards (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 4th - 1'57.447
  "This weekend everything just seems to work! Everything has been clear-cut on how to make the bike work better and we've done just that. We've been struggling a bit for grip lately but here it's great and everything seems easy! This morning we did all of our work, the race tyre stuff, and this afternoon just went out there and concentrated on putting a fast lap time in. I think I did four or five laps on a race tyre at the beginning and then after that we just put the soft tyres in and went for it. I should have won the race here last year and right now I feel the same - we can win it. We are going to go out there with a good attitude, everybody's been working really good on the team so it would be a nice payback to get the victory."
• Davide Brivio - Gauloises Yamaha Team director
  "We are more back to normal this weekend, with Valentino and Colin both at the top. At this track we are not facing as many problems as we did at Motegi and Sepang and I think tomorrow there is every possibility of a good race from both riders. The team has done a good job during the weekend. More or less the setting has been good from the beginning so we have been able to spend a lot of time testing tyres and preparing for the race. Still I think Valentino is not perfect yet but we have good positions on the grid and I think both riders can stick with the top pace so let's see what happens."
• Toni Elias (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 9th - 1'57.902
  "The best thing would have been to maintain my second place from yesterday, even though we knew that this would be very difficult, so I am not as happy as yesterday. I always seem to struggle a little bit on qualifying tyres. It's obvious we have improved in relation to the other GP's and I think we have a good set-up for the race. For tomorrow, the only tactic is to make a good start and try to lap with the eight riders who will be at the front. I want to finish a good weekend with a good result to make up for the disappointment in Malaysia."
• Ruben Xaus (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 16th - 1'59.482
  "Last year I was lapping very fast here but it has been a lot harder this time around. We are improving little by little and, although we did not get the big improvement we wanted, we are heading in the right direction. In the afternoon I found it difficult to match my time in the third free session. Tomorrow in the warm-up we will try to have the best set-up for the race."

RACE PREVIEW:   HONDA    YAMAHA

HONDA PREVIEW

• BIAGGI: “Last year I remember we had the stupid incident where I had to start the race from the back of the grid. The whole weekend up to this point had been not so good anyway. We couldn’t find the best set-up for the machine and we could only get on the third row of the grid. With the penalty I had to start from the back and went from 24th position to 6th place at the end of the race. I go there with high expectation but it is not easy at the moment. The situation in the championship table looks better than it is. We have second place in the championship even though we struggle at nearly every track this year. I can only dream about where we might be if things had gone well. However I never give up and will be looking to work hard with my team to get the machine to work well for the race next week.”
• HAYDEN: “I remember Qatar as a pretty strange country from our visit last year – way different from where I come from – but I kinda’ liked it. I’m going to have to get into the sprit of the place as soon as we arrive as I think I’m down to be doing some camel riding and having some henna tattoos as part of the Dorna pre-event publicly that we all have to do from GP to GP. Should be fun. As for the track, I struggled there last year and never felt that comfortable from the start. We’ve moved on as team a lot and we have a real tight group of guys at the moment and I’m sure we can up with something that should feel good round there. Gotta’ keep up the pressure for the rest of the season. I don’t want to be finishing were I am now in sixth. I’m only 25 points behind second place and that’s where I’m aiming with 100 points still to play for.”
• BARROS: “Unfortunately we’re having trouble like in Malaysia while the times are getting really quick here. Work began quite well, but when we started to push, the problems with the front surfaced again. I’m not able to ride well, to brake hard and to get into the corner well because the bike is jumping. I’m forced to brake with the bike practically upright and then tip it in to make the corner. Perhaps we still need to find the right front tyre and that’s what stopping us going fast. The tests here went quite well, we were all quite close together then, and the bike’s still the same so I don’t think it’s a problem with set-up, or at least not just that. However we have an intense day’s work tomorrow to continue testing, and so we hope to find a solution so we can be competitive again."
• BYRNE: “I’m quite happy with how things are going here compared to Sepang. In every practice session in Malaysia, instead of getting the bike working well, I was only looking to go as fast as possible. Now I know the bike a little better and my confidence is rising rapidly. This morning we worked on the set-up and with every change I noticed improvements and even this afternoon we made another big step forward. The last tyre I used worked really well, and I think that with a few minutes more I would have bettered my lap-time. Anyway, we have some good ideas for tomorrow morning, and even though I’m in the same position today as I was in Malaysia, I’m much happier because I know we can make even more progress.”

YAMAHA PREVIEW

• Set-up report YZR-M1
  The Losail circuit is located on the western side of the Persian Gulf just outside of the capital city Doha, and was used for the first time last year. Being a desert location the high air temperatures - averaging around 37 degrees Celsius during the day, with track temperatures approaching 50 degrees - play a determining role in the outcome of the race. The weather conditions are not unlike the last race venue Sepang, so the settings from this circuit could be a proper starting point for Qatar as well.
  The 5.4km Losail track is of a greater length than most MotoGP venues, and certainly few existing tracks feature quite so many corners, and in such varieties. To their credit the track designers have eschewed the adoption of rhythm-disrupting chicanes, yet have managed to make the layout of the circuit fascinating on paper. Several high-speed corners, plus two tighter hairpins, make Losail a circuit of contrasts. Six left and ten right hand corners are laid on top of a largely flat surface, removing at least one complication to the machine's set-up, bumps.

  But in addition to the intricate circuit layout and the high track temperatures another factor comes into play, sand. As the track is located in a desert, the track surface is covered with fine sand which means that grip levels can be deceiving and inconsistent, certainly on coming Thursday when free practice commences (race is held on Saturday). The relatively fast corners will clearly require stability from chassis and suspension set-up. The track will demand an almost constant agility at the same time as offering stability driving off the sides of the tyres. Although there are no real hard braking areas, front-end confidence will again be paramount as the last two races at Motegi and Sepang have proven that this was one of the main determining factors for a successful race. The riders will need to depend greatly on their front tyre giving enough feel and endurance to prevent low-siding out of the race.

  Another target will be a good stable turn-in characteristic and a set-up that offers easy changes in direction. Weight bias will start of as neutral as possible to prevent the front overloading in the midpoint of the turn, while also ensuring good drive off the sides of the rear. A slightly lower center of gravity could be utilized in an effort to improve the rate of pitching and the bike's ability to change direction quickly. With only two hard braking areas on the 5.4 kilometer layout, being turn one and the turn six hairpin, fork springs will be chosen to maximize rider feedback, biased slightly towards the softer side. It will also be a similar case on the rear with the monoshock's spring rate. Power delivery will need to be mapped to provide the best midrange torque and predictability to drive off the turns, while still being able to push the M1 past the 320 km/h mark on the one kilometer long straight.

• 2004 Qatar review
  Valentino Rossi's race started the inaugural Qatar MotoGP race from dead last, after being relegated to the last grid position due to a protest made by the competition after his crew cleaned the surface of his original starting position (8th position). After one lap Rossi had scythed through the field to eighth position and continued his scintillating progress until he caught the wrong edge of the track with his rear wheel coming out of the second last turn on lap six and was thrown from his bike, he walked away from the crash unhurt.
  While Rossi had his worst 2004 race, his current teammate Colin Edwards had his best. Edwards celebrated his MotoGP career best result with a second place, setting the lap record along the way.

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