2005 MotoGP: LE MANS, FRANCE

2005 MotoGP : R4 of 17: MAY 15, 2005, LE MANS, FRANCE

CIRCUIT:

• Paul Ricard, Le Mans, France
• 4.18 km circuit in Le Mans, 200 km from Paris
• part of the longer circuit used for Le Mans 24 Hour race
• circuit modified in 2002 with slower corners
• one of the slowest circuits in MotoGP
• track resurfaced for 2004 race
• 2000 winner: Alex Criville, Honda
• 2001 winner: Max Biaggi, Yamaha
• 2002 winner: Valentino Rossi, Honda
• 2003 winner: Sete Gibernau, Honda
• 2004 winner: Sete Gibernau , Honda

• ROSSI ON POLE: "This track wasn't so good for me last year so this pole position is very important"
• LAST YEARS RESULT AT LE MANS: 1 Sete Gibernau, Honda
  2 Carlos Checa 3 Max Biaggi 4 Valentino Rossi 5 Colin Edwards 6 Marco Melandri Yamaha
• Jurgen van den Goorbergh to fill in for Tamada again
  Makoto Tamada is still recovering after wrist injury during Portuguese Grand Prix qualifying.

RACE RESULT

• 1 Valentino Rossi, Yamaha M1, 28 laps
  "At the start of the race we were lucky that it didn't rain and we were able to put on a fantastic show. It was a difficult and long but great race, although I made my life more complicated by messing up the start. But I made positions up lap by lap with some good overtaking moves and eventually caught Colin. I stayed behind him for a while because his rhythm was good and nobody was catching up, but then Gibernau arrived very fast from behind so I decided to try and overtake and push to the maximum. Every lap I was better and better and I set the fastest time of the race on the final lap, so that shows the excellent progress we have made with the setting of the bike. I took pole position, the fastest lap of the race and the victory and Colin was also on the podium, so it has been a perfect weekend for us. The bike was very precise and I was able to get the power down well so this looks good for the coming races. We continue our work here tomorrow. I'm not sure what I have to test but I'm very happy to stay if we can make even more progress. I'm looking forward to Mugello and hope to see lots of Italian fans there."
• 2 Sete Gibernau Honda +0.38
  “Today we’ve returned to where we should be, fighting to win races. I’m particularly satisfied because we’ve had a lot of problems in qualifying to find a good race pace and without the help of Michelin and the incredible job done by my team, this result was unthinkable. At the start it took me a while to get used to the bike and the tyre but I didn’t lose my head or my confidence and gave it everything to arrive at the front. It was incredibly tough becuase I needed an opportunity to rest and allow the tyre to cool down but they didn’t let me. When I saw Rossi pass Edwards I went with him. I had a clear idea of whereabouts I was going to pass him but I made a mistake on the corner before and it was impossible. In any case this is a very important result.”
• 3 Colin Edwards Yamaha +5.7
  "I desperately wanted to win that race but the other guys were just too fast today! Basically we took a gamble on the race tyre because with the limited dry track time in practice we only had five laps on it and didn't know if it would work towards the end of the race. I got a good start, got into my rhythm of mid-34s and knew that should be enough to keep me at the front. If you'd have said to me you have to get into the 33s I'd have told you there was no way I could do those times! But then Valentino and Sete came through and their pace was incredible. The tyre got really hot and I had of couple of moments, so I just decided to make sure of third place. It's an overdue reward for the phenomenal job the team have been doing and now we have a firm base to go from for the rest of the season."
• 4 Melandri Honda +7.2
  “We suffered a lot at the start but from there on we managed a good pace. The morning warm-up didn’t help with tyre choice because the temperature was low and there were damp patches, and I went for a tyre that was little too hard. But this is only the second dry race this season and we’ve got a lot of useful information now.”
• 5 Biaggi +7.7
  “A very hard race. After the warm-up crash I didn’t think I could race. When I put my leathers on I wasn’t even sure if I could make it to the flag. But adrenaline is an incredible fuel – although by the end of the race I couldn’t even get off the bike. This fifth place is really important in terms of points for the team.”
• 6 Hayden +21
  “Really disappointing. I got a really good start, but then ten laps from the end I had a lot of chatter. I don’t really know why and we need to find out. It’s a lame excuse but I just went backwards. It’s been a hard weekend but I thought we were in with a chance here.”
• 7 Capirossi +24
• 8 Nakano +35
• 9 Elias +38
• 10 Bayliss +52
  “I’m happy to have finished the race, to have had a good battle with Olivier Jacque, and to have beaten him. There is still ground to be made up because I’m still not comfortable on the bike – not to ride at the limit anyway. I did my fastest lap on the last one, so there is obviously room for improvement with set-up.”
• 11 Jacque 12 Xaus 13 Roberts 14 Vd Goorbergh 15 Rolfo 16 Hopkins
• DNF:
• Alex Barros (crash) “I’m really disappointed, I certainly didn’t expect today to go like this. I was pushing a bit because I was trying to catch Max and Melandri, but it was hard work. I was giving it everything and I lost the back end. It’s a shame because I take no points away from here, but now the World Championship is the last thing on my mind. I want to recover and think about the next race.”
• Shane Byrne (crash)

WINNING TEAM: YAMAHA REPORT

• Gauloises Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi extended his lead at the top of the MotoGP World Championship with a victory from pole position at the French Grand Prix this afternoon. The Italian World Champion recorded the fastest ever motorcycle lap of Le Mans in qualifying yesterday and followed it up with a new lap record on the very last lap of the today's 28-lap race. He was joined on the podium by team-mate Colin Edwards who took an excellent third place from the second spot on the grid.
• With Rossi making a poor start, Edwards charged to the front and led the way for the first 20 laps. Meanwhile, Rossi made his way through the pack from sixth place and joined the American ahead of the field, making his first attempt to pass on lap 18 as Sete Gibernau (Honda) closed in from third place. The Italian's attempted manoeuvre failed as he ran wide on the exit of the corner, allowing Edwards to recover the lead and Gibernau to steal through for second. However, three laps later the World Champion was back on the charge, passing Gibernau and then Edwards on consecutive laps, this time hanging on to the lead.
• With Gibernau passing Edwards in the same corner as Rossi, the pair went head-to-head for the final eight laps and set a scorching pace. The breathtaking battle went all the way to the final lap, when Rossi set a sensational new circuit record to secure victory by 0.382 seconds from the Spaniard. His championship tally now stands at 95 points from a possible 100 giving him a 37 point advantage over Marco Melandri (Honda, 58) whilst Edwards now moves up to sixth overall with 41 points. The result also extended Yamaha's lead in the constructors' and teams' World Championships.
• The French based Fortuna Yamaha Team's home MotoGP brought home a good result with young MotoGP rookie Toni Elias building on his solid 12th placed qualifying performance to end the 28 lap event ninth, behind Kawasaki mounted Shinya Nakano and ahead of Troy Bayliss (Honda). This was despite losing ground on the opening lap when Elias had to avoid the crash of Carlos Checa (Ducati). Elias' Spanish team-mate Ruben Xaus also finished the day with a solid 12th place.

QUALIFYING

GRID

• 1 Valentino Rossi, Yamaha M1, 1m 33.226 (vs 2004 pole 1m 33.4s Gibernau)
  "This track wasn't so good for me last year so this pole position is very important. We suffered a little bit in the practice but we did a great job in the hour we had this afternoon. The weather was good, the track surface was good and we were able to take advantage of every available second, working a lot on the tyres and the suspension. The race configuration is not bad. I put in a qualifying tyre and I wasn't at 100% on the first lap, but the second lap was perfect and the grip was excellent. I'm really happy for Yamaha because Colin is second today. He is a fast rider and his performance shows the potential of the YZR-M1. I think we can both have a good race tomorrow."
  2 C. Edwards Yamaha USA 1' 33.449
  "At last our hard work in the preseason and over the first three races is paying off! We pulled the bikes off the truck on Friday morning and basically they worked straight away. One of them had a simple base set-up and we dialled a few things into the other one that we thought would work here, and they turned out to be perfect. My race pace was really good and Michelin had the idea of putting a slightly softer tyre on before switching to the qualifiers, which really helped. The whole team have worked tremendously hard so far this season so this is a welcome boost. The first corner should be a bit gnarly but I'm feeling confident and, as I said yesterday, I'm ready to race whatever the weather."
  3 M. Melandri Honda ITA 1' 33.465
  4 S. Gibernau Honda ESP 1' 33.467
  5 N. Hayden Honda USA 1' 33.514
  6 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1' 33.536
  7 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA
  8 M. Biaggi Honda ITA
  9 C. Checa Ducati ESP
  10 Capirossi 11 Barros 12 Elias 13 Jacque 14 Roberts 15 Bayliss
  16 Xaus 17 Byrne 18 Rolfo 19 Vd Goorbergh 20 Ellison 21 Battaini

YAMAHA QUALIFYING REPORT

• Gauloises Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards took the front two positions on the starting grid for the French Grand Prix in a grand finale to today's qualifying session. After a wet morning practice the thick clouds were broken by bright sunshine that warmed the Le Mans circuit in the afternoon, giving the riders a crucial opportunity to work on their race set-up for tomorrow's fourth round of the MotoGP World Championship. It was the most intense practice session of the season so far as the teams worked frantically in the pit boxes and the riders pushed harder and harder towards a dramatic climax.
• After setting the fastest time in the only other dry practice so far this weekend, which took place in cool conditions yesterday morning, it was no surprise when Edwards surged to the top of the time sheets with eight minutes remaining. Having used a softer compound Michelin tyre for that lap, Edwards (1'33.449) then moved on to his qualifying tyres and posted two more scorching times, only to be denied pole position by his irrepressible team-mate with a pair of stunning laps of his own. Rossi's first effort proved decisive as he stopped the clock at 1'33.226, some 0.199 seconds inside the pole position record, before setting a second lap within a tenth of that time.
• Despite being a little disappointed about his overall position on the grid (12th) Toni Elias (Fortuna Yamaha Team) was more than happy with his time - qualifying with a 1'33.991, only 0.765 of a second off Rossi's pole time. His team-mate Ruben Xaus (1'35.772), however, continues to find it difficult to improve with minor set-up concerns significantly hindering his lap-times. The likeable Spaniard is looking forward to finding a solution in tomorrow's warm-up.

FRI PRACTICE 2, MAY 13, 2005, cool, showers

• 1 Alex Barros 1m 34.171 (vs 2004 pole 1m 33.4s Gibernau)
  “The weather conditions were really strange today, constantly changing. We found a reasonable base setting in the dry, but once the track had been dampened, I also felt at ease in the wet, and I was able to lap well. The asphalt wasn’t totally wet, but I wanted to get an idea of the grip levels it offered with wet tyres on: well, at least until it dried up a bit too much for the wet tyres to work properly. Now our only hope is that the weather decides one way or the other.”
• 2 Sete Gibernau
• 3 Max Biaggi
  “Strange day, first humid, then dry and finally wet. Anyway our job keeps on going in the same direction: improving the bike’s cornering, especially in braking areas. Decelerating still is the weak point of my RCV since race 1. Today the gap from the fastest guys is reduced because of the circuit. Le Mans is a narrow and pretty slow track that hides the real values. What I need, to ride again as I like, is not something that can come in a race weekend. We need a different kind of improvement and I hope that Honda is preparing something for the Italian GP. My team and I keep on giving our best. It’s hard to tell how it’s gonna be in the race, also because of the uncertain weather. Anyhow I always liked this track.”
• 4 Edwards 5 Nakano 6 Melandri 7 Hopkins 8 Checa 9 Hayden
• 10 Capirossi 11 Roberts 12 Elias 13 Rossi 14 Bayliss 15 Jacque
• 16 Xaus 17 Rolfo 18 Ellison 19 Battaini 20 Vd Goorbergh
• ROSSI: "I was also trying a different tyre for Michelin at the start of the afternoon session and we stayed out there maybe a bit too long as it wasn't right. I came in to change but then it started raining and we ended up further down the time sheets than we would like to be. It's only free practice, though, so it doesn't matter. After that the conditions were very difficult as it was drying in some areas but very wet in others so we didn't really learn anything. This morning things went well and I was confident of a good session in the afternoon. We used the base we had found for a dry race in China and it was working well. The weather is not looking good and if it rains I'm just hoping we can find a good setting, like in China, although I'd prefer it to be dry. I'm a bit fed up actually, it seems as though the bad weather is following us around. Where is summer?"

FRI PRACTICE 1 , MAY 13, 2005

• 1 Colin Edwards, Yamaha YZR-M1, 1m 34.7
  2 Sete Gibernau
  3 Alex Barros
  4 Rossi 5 Checa 6 Nakano
  7 Biaggi 8 Roberts 9 Hayden 10 Hopkins

BEFORE RACE:

• GIBERNAU: "circuit is a very particular track ... It's quite difficult, characterized by a very fast right-hand corner at the end of the start straight, followed by a chicane which demands a quick change in speed. An impressive piece of the track! A perfect set-up is needed and good feel from the front tyre is very important."
• BIAGGI: "Le Mans GP is a nice appointment. I like the atmosphere and French motorcyclists' philosophy. They have a romantic way of living with motorcycles and I'm happy to see it every time I'm at my house in Monte Carlo. Of course I like the circuit too and the way its organization works. Here I won in 500 class, in 2001, and I wrote several fastest lap records. The track is narrow, technical and it doesn't allow big differences among the riders: here it's always an exciting challenge. I go to Le Mans to finally do a good race. Certainly, the season didn't start the way I wanted, but I hope that from the French GP, my team and I will be able to express our potential and be ahead again."
• HAYDEN: "I sure hope we can get the season back on track in Le Mans. Well be back in Europe and the year is moving by fast now and its important we get a result soon. I want to give my boys something to smile about; they're working real hard and there's a great spirit in the team but so far nothing really to cheer about. The waterlogged sensor in China was bummer as it was real disheartening to go backwards at the end of the race but at least we found out what the problem was. I haven't had the best time in Le Mans in the past but I hope to be changing all that come the first Free Practice on Friday morning and will want to put it all together for Sunday."
• BARROS: “Le Mans is a track that has always been rather tough for me, but that’s not to say that I won’t be aiming for a top result. The important thing is to prepare the bike well, not necessarily to get it one hundred percent perfect - I know things can’t always go as well as they did in Estoril for example - but still, as perfect as possible. In China we didn’t have the set-up spot on, but on Sunday, besides the penalty, I was quick and I was able to pick up a few points, so I hope I can go well in France too. I’ve still got a bit of pain in my side after I hit the kerb in the crash on Saturday morning, but I think I should be fine by the time of the Friday morning free practice.”
• BAYLISS: “I can’t wait to get to France because Le Mans is a track I love. Last year the race went quite well for me, but better still was the test day following it, I had a great day and rode really well. I think that if we can get the bike set up well, I will be able to make a good race.”

YAMAHA PREVIEW

• 2005 Set-up report YZR-M1
  Le Mans is a circuit made up of a number of second gear hairpins linked together by a series of long straights, with only the occasional chicane breaking up the run to the next hairpin. A design of the past, the French circuit causes little concern for engineers regarding set-up. Turns three and five are the most likely passing points and all efforts will be focused towards finding stability under brakes in these areas.
• The YZR-M1 therefore requires a heavier spring rate on the front to deal with the aggressive weight transfer as the rider dramatically decreases his velocity, while still providing the ability to soak up any bumps entering each of the slower turns. The latter will be taken care of by the Öhlins front-end compression damping. Meanwhile the fork rebound will be dialed in to offer a more controlled return to the fork's full length. This will be done in an effort to offer stability as the rider makes the somewhat aggressive, almost light switch like transition from the brakes to the throttle in the chicanes.
• In addition to the heavy fork springs the bike's attitude will be set to ensure stability with the rear. This is achieved with a slightly lower rear ride-height, lowering the center of gravity, in turn helping to prevent the rear tyre from rising off the track's surface. Progress made on braking stability throughout pre-season testing and during the first two rounds of the 2005 season will pay dividends at the stop-go styled Le Mans circuit, as will the M1's lightweight steering character - especially through the quick chicanes.
• This approach is in fact a compromise, but it's a set-up that will be the most efficient on a circuit with this classic character. The improved stability will affect the cornering characteristics by reducing its turn-in agility slightly, but experience has shown the Yamaha is one of the most agile bikes in the championship and the slight loss here is minimum compared to the gains made up under brakes.
• Meanwhile drive off the turns must not be neglected; but with the rear ride-height reduced for stability the ability to hold the racing line, while exiting a corner, is compromised to a certain degree. Therefore a softer rear spring rate will feature on the M1 for good predictable feedback, but it will be dialed in with a high degree of preload to prevent the rear-end from squatting under power as the weight transfers to the back of the bike. As the Le Mans corners are short and sharp the rear shock linkage ratio therefore plays an important role at compensating for the softer spring rate by providing a movement which is initially firmer.
• 2004 MotoGP race summary
  Carlos Checa took a well-earned second in the 2004 French Grand Prix after a close-fought race with Sete Gibernau (Honda) in Le Mans, France. Although his Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi was unable to overcome the set-up problems which had plagued his YZR-M1 all weekend, the young Italian still finished a strong fourth after a hard fought battle with Max Biaggi (Honda).
• Checa managed a strong start from second place on the grid to immediately take the lead, with Rossi in third. Pole-sitter Gibernau gradually closed the gap from behind before overtaking Checa on lap 11 and then continuing on to take his second successive Grand Prix win of the year.
• Meanwhile Biaggi made his move on Rossi and before making up the lost ground on Checa. The Spaniard rode a hard race to fend off the Roman Emperor, eventually crossing the line just three tenths of a second ahead of Biaggi. In the midst of all this Rossi closed the gap between himself and Biaggi, considerably, in the closing stages - passing him momentarily on lap 25, but was unable to stay ahead at the line.