2005 MotoGP: DONINGTON UK

2005 MotoGP : R9 of 17, July 24, 2005, DONINGTON, UK

CIRCUIT:

• DONINGTON
• 4.023 km circuit ; circuit opened 1931 ; re-opened 1977
• turns: 4 LEFT, 7 RIGHT
• 30 lap race
• 2004 winner: Valentino Rossi, Honda
• 2003 winner: Max Biaggi Honda
• 2002 winner: Valentino Rossi, Honda
• 2001 winner: Valentino Rossi, Honda
• 2000 winner: Valentino Rossi, Honda
• Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 29.973 (Colin Edwards, 2004)
• MotoGP lap record: 1' 29.973 (Colin Edwards, 2004)
• LAST YEAR'S RACE RESULT: 2004
• 1 Valentino Rossi, Yamaha 30 laps
• 2 Colin Edwards, Honda +2.9s
• 3 Sete Gibernau, Honda +4.4s
• 4 Nicky Hayden, Honda +6.9
• 5 Troy Bayliss, Ducati +14.7
• 6 Carlos Checa

RACE RESULT

SUN, JULY 24, 2005, Wet, Temp 15ºC, Crowd: 118,000

• 1 Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha
  "That was one of the most difficult races of my career - the conditions were incredible. It was very, very cold and the track was very slippery. At the beginning I was lucky because I made a mistake on the start and spun the tyre but after that I came back fast to the front. Biaggi crashed in front of me, then Gibernau. there were a lot of people making mistakes, also me, so I preferred to wait .... It was a great job by the team because the bike worked well even though we only had 20 minutes this morning to find the wet-weather set-up"
• 2 Kenny Roberts Jr. (USA) Suzuki +3.1s
  “This was a tough race today, but when you’re up front it’s a lot easier than where we’ve been recently. I had a fun day and it’s nice to be able to ride with these guys and to cross the chequered flag with them just behind or just in front of you. Today was one of those days when you really had to concentrate and not get ahead of yourself and start thinking about winning. I looked at my pit-board and it said 20 laps to go so I made an effort not to look at it again until later in the race. I didn’t want to see what was happening behind – if I’d made a bit of a gap – because it’s easy to lose concentration and run wide. Today was so easy to fall down and I just wanted to be there at the end – not to necessarily win the race but to have a good race and be up there with these guys. It’s been a long time since we have been on the podium and this is great for all crew and I hope that we can build on this and get something underneath me to be competitive next time out.”
• 3 Alex Barros (BRA) Honda +4
  "I had many problems - two or three times the front tyres locked so I couldn't brake as I would have liked. After Valentino passed me, I tried to follow him but I couldn't. I knew Kenny was waiting to attack on the last lap. I just tried to get the rhythm - I didn't try to go faster as I knew the other riders were following me. Kenny recognised I had problems and he passed me at a good point. But I had fun and it's good to be back on the podium."
• 4 Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha +10
  "The race was basically a case of survival. My start wasn't as good as it might have looked and the pace felt really slow to start with, but then it picked up and it was a pretty eventful first few laps. Then the front locked when I was braking in a straight line and I almost ended up in the dirt! I caught up very quickly but about 12 laps from the end I had another scary moment and the bike spat me up out of my seat, so I thought about the situation and decided to wait and see what happened in front of me... but I'm really pleased with what we've achieved this weekend."
• 5 Carlos Checa +13
  "That wasn't an easy race but we got a good result, which gives the whole team a chance to breathe. I got a lot of wheelspin at the start, then I wanted to get the feeling with the tyres before I began to push. A lot of guys were crashing and I couldn't see much, so it took me a while to feel confident. I was trying not to be too aggressive because it was so easy to fall. Considering where we were yesterday, fifth and sixth is a good result for the whole team."
• 6 Loris Capirossi +23
  "Thank God it rained. We were pretty fast in the damp warm-up, so I was hoping for a wet race and that's what we got. At the beginning I had an engine glitch, maybe some rain got in an ignition coil, which lost me contact with the front group. If I hadn't had that problem and I'd got a better start, maybe I could have made the podium. The track was very dangerous, flooded and with small rivers everywhere, plus visibility was really bad. In these conditions I prefer to get sixth, rather than lose everything with a crash. Today's race showed that the bike and tyre package worked well - Bridgestone has made great progress with its rain tyres. A difficult weekend, but I'm finally satisfied."
• 7 Tamada
• 8 Hoffman
• 9 Elias
• 10 Rolfo

YAMAHA RACE REPORT

Rossi splashes to seventh win from nine at Donington

• Gauloises Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi extended his advantage at the top of the MotoGP World Championship to 104 points, with his seventh victory from nine races this season in the British Grand Prix today. The Italian splashed his way through several centimetres of standing water and lashings of torrential rain to clinch his fourth MotoGP win at Donington Park after a treacherous race that saw no fewer than eleven riders crash.
• Rossi didn't get the best of starts as he dropped from pole position to seventh but fought his way back to the front by the fourth lap. A slight mistake at the midway point saw him lose ground on the lead group but two fast laps brought him back into contention. Another burst from the Italian seven laps from the end shaved over 2 seconds from the fastest lap of the race up to that point and left Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) and Alex Barros (Honda) trailing in his wake. Rossi's Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards joined in the battle for a top three finish but settled with fourth place at the end of the intense race, another solid points haul moving him up to third in the championship, just one point behind Marco Melandri (Honda), who crashed out of the race.
• Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 1st "That was one of the most difficult races of my career - the conditions were incredible. It was very, very cold and the track was very slippery. At the beginning I was lucky because I made a mistake on the start and spun the tyre but after that I came back fast to the front. Biaggi crashed in front of me, then Gibernau. there were a lot of people making mistakes, also me, so I preferred to wait. Alex had a good rhythm so I stayed behind him but I made a mistake at the chicane when I was fighting with Kenny and locked the brakes. Today was not like riding a bike, it was like riding a boat because there was a lot of water between the wheels and the track - always spinning the rear and locking the front. I tried to understand the points where I could push more and said to myself: 'Now I try and we see what happens!' I was able to go a lot faster and keep the advantage. It was a great job by the team because the bike worked well even though we only had 20 minutes this morning to find the wet-weather set-up. Yesterday when I looked at my best lap time I thought it was like a symphony of violins - perfect, so I decided that if I won I would do this celebration across the finish line!"
• Colin Edwards (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 4th "After the warm-up I was a bit down because it wasn't great. We made some changes to the spring settings but we weren't really sure whether it was the right option. Anyway, I got out on the warm-up lap and the balance of the bike was awesome. The race was basically a case of survival. My start wasn't as good as it might have looked and the pace felt really slow to start with, but then it picked up and it was a pretty eventful first few laps. Then the front locked when I was braking in a straight line and I almost ended up in the dirt! I caught up very quickly but about 12 laps from the end I had another scary moment and the bike spat me up out of my seat, so I thought about the situation and decided to wait and see what happened in front of me. Towards the end I was keeping an eye on Checa behind me because he was quite close. The points are really important; it's great to have moved into third place and to be so close to Melandri. It wasn't the result we wanted, but I'm really pleased with what we've achieved this weekend."
• Toni Elias (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 9th
  "Although I did not get a good start, and Hopkins hit me from behind, I felt comfortable and was able to pass a few riders in the opening stages. But I soon saw there was hardly any grip and the bike kept skidding at the front leaving me aquaplaning all the time. After a few scares I tried to follow Checa and Capirossi and just get a finish - that was the most important thing, to score more points. My injury responded well to the conditions and now I am looking forward to Germany as I am getting better all the time."

QUALIFYING

GRID, July 23, 2005, Dry, Temp 22ºC

• 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 1m 27.897 *** new lap record ***
  "I love racing at Donington and everybody knows that"
• 2. Sete Gibernau (ESP) Honda 1:28.182 +0.285s
• 3. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 1:28.295 +0.39
• 4. Alex Barros (BRA) Honda 1:28.394 +0.49
• 5. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 1:28.415 +0.51
• 6. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1:28.656 +0.75
• 7. Troy Bayliss (AUS) Honda
• 8. Max Biaggi (ITA) Honda
• 9. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Honda
• 10. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki
• 11. Loris Capirossi Ducati
  12. Shinya Nakano Kawasaki
  13 D. Checa Yamaha 14 R. Xaus Yamaha 15 A. Hofman Kawasaki 16 K. Roberts Suzuki
  17 T. Elias Yamaha 18 Shane Byrne 19 Roberto Rolfo 20 James Ellison 21 Franco Battaini
• 250 POLE: Pedrosa; 125 POLE: Kallio

YAMAHA QUALIFYING REPORT:

• Rossi takes fifth pole of the season at 'home' circuit
  Gauloises Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi will start tomorrow's British Grand Prix from the front of the MotoGP grid after clocking his fifth pole position of the season in this afternoon's qualifying practice at Donington Park. The Italian smashed his own pole record at the Nottinghamshire circuit by almost a second when he clocked a time of 1'27.897 on his 27th lap of the afternoon session. Rossi's effort put him over half a second clear of his rivals just two minutes from the end of the session, with Sete Gibernau (Honda) reducing the gap to 0.285 seconds on the final lap.
• After setting the pace in yesterday's first free practice sessions, Rossi's Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards was unable to continue his dominance today, slipping to sixth place on the grid but securing a valuable second row start. The American continued to work from the excellent base set-up he found yesterday and put in a scorching race pace during the morning session, when he was second fastest behind Rossi. However, a rear tyre experiment in the afternoon did not go as Edwards had hoped and he lost a handful of positions in the late push for times. Rossi and Gibernau will be joined on the front row of the grid by Marco Melandri (Honda), whilst Alex Barros and Nicky Hayden (both Honda) start immediately ahead of Edwards on row two.
• Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team) 1st, 1'27.897
  "For sure this is a very special pole position because I live here and I am having a lot of fun. I think for tomorrow everybody will wake up and hope for good weather because yesterday we lost a lot of time because of the rain. Today the situation was better, it was a few degrees warmer and when the conditions are like this it is a great pleasure to ride at Donington Park. With the MotoGP bike it is incredible, one of my favourite tracks, and I always go very well here. I am happy because I was able to do a great lap - almost one second faster than last year. The bike is quite good and the feeling is not bad, also with the race configuration. For sure the race will be hard but we will try to fix a few last things in the morning and I hope to do well."
• Colin Edwards (Gauloises Yamaha Team) 6th, 1'28.656
  "My race pace this morning was really good - consistently around 1'29.2 and I'm pretty happy with that. This afternoon I did a 1'29.6 on a tyre that had 24 laps on it so we know we're in good shape for the race. I was hoping to push into the 1'27s on a soft tyre but I tested a different construction rear for seven laps at the start of the session and it gave me a little chatter on the front end, which damaged my confidence a little bit. It's my own fault but after that I found it hard to push the front as much as I had done in the morning and didn't quite get the lap time I had hoped for. Anyway, it makes no difference whether I am on the front row or the second row - if you can get a good start you pretty much end up in the same place by the first corner."

FRI PRACTICE, JULY 22, 2005

• 1 C. Edwards Yamaha USA 1' 29.960
• 2 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 1' 29.985
  "We lost the practice this afternoon because it was half wet and half dry. It is a shame because that was an important time to work on the set-up of the bike and get the machine to work at this circuit. I was in London last Sunday and the weather was very hot but the temperature has dropped by about 10ºC in the last two days and they are saying it could get worse. It's disappointing because this track is great and it would be good to race here in the dry. The M1 does go well in the wet as well though anyway. To be honest the bike felt a little nervous in these conditions and especially this morning it was difficult to get the tyres up to the right temperature. However, I am satisfied to be second even though we haven't learned much today."
• 3 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA 1' 30.098
• 4 A. Barros Honda BRA
• 5 M. Melandri Honda ITA
• 6 S. Gibernau Honda ESP
• 7 K. Roberts Suzuki USA
• 8 T. Bayliss Honda AUS
• 9 N. Hayden 10 L. Capirossi 11 C. Checa 12 M. Biaggi 13 A. Hofman
  14 M. Tamada 15 T. Elias 16 S. Nakano

PREVIEW: YAMAHA - HONDA

YAMAHA

• V ROSSI: “I was very happy to finish on the podium at Laguna Seca because it was my first time at the track and we knew it would be hard to battle with the Americans there. We didn’t have time to learn everything about the track and find the perfect setting for the bike, but I was close to the winner and that is important because now we go to Donington Park, a track I know well.
• “I always look forward to riding at Donington because it is close to my house and now it is like a second home Grand Prix for me. It has been one of my favourite tracks ever since I rode the 125 and I have a lot of good memories – especially my first win with the 500 in 2001.
• “Last year also was a good race with the Yamaha. It was an important time of the season, just before the summer, and we were making a lot of progress with the bike so I was able to win. Anyway, Colin was very strong in that race and I know he will be strong again this weekend. Marco Melandri is fast at Donington and also Nicky Hayden is in a very good moment, so I think it will be a big battle.”
• C EDWARDS: “I had a good result last year, ending up second, and at the time I was riding a bike I wasn’t completely comfortable with,” recalls Edwards. “Now I’m going there on the back of a third, a second… I’m guessing it must be time for a first! I like Donington, I always get along with it and it’s been one of my favourite tracks for a long time, so we’re rolling up there looking to win.”
• “With everything going on around Laguna, all the hype and concerns about the track and everything else, I think it just became one of those pivotal weekends. Barros and Melandri crashed out of the race and the points have scrunched up a lot. As far as the title race is concerned… I’m not saying it’s over yet but basically Valentino is gone! So our target is to finish second in the championship, to get a one- two for Yamaha, and we’re approaching the rest of the season with that attitude.”
• DAVIDE BRIVIO (DIRECTOR): “This is a very positive moment for us – Laguna Seca was the third time we have had both riders on the podium this season and the second in a row so we are all feeling confident,” says Brivio. “It was great to see both yellow, white and black bikes on the podium in America for Yamaha’s 50th Anniversary but now we are back to our standard colours to continue the job in Europe.
• “Valentino wants to confirm his leadership in the championship again and he likes the track very much, as does Colin, who has a lot of experience at Donington Park. Last year both our riders were on the top two steps of the podium so our target is to repeat that, whichever way around they are! It won’t be easy because our competitors are strong at the moment; it’s going to be another tough race!
• “Donington is a special track because it combines a section of very fast and flowing corners with a slow section full of chicanes, so you need to have a bike that is good in all conditions. Last year Valentino ran the race on his own so we know the M1 works there and in theory it should be better this year because so far this season the 2005 bike has been much easier to set-up. That is the theory but we’ll see what happens when we get there!”
• 2005 Set-up report YZR-M1
  Donington was a circuit born with a reputation for being challenging on both rider and machine, a reputation that only gained further strength with the 1987 extension - carried out to allow Donington to form part of the GP calendar. It's this 'modern' extension that has added to the complexity of the circuit layout, which can be separated into two contrasting components. The first, from the start finish line to the right-hander called Coppice Corner, is a flowing sequence of medium to high-speed corners that drop down Craner Curves into the Old Hairpin before climbing back out on the approach to Coppice. In an extreme contrast the circuit is completed with a sequence of stop- and-go switchback and hairpins between Fogarty Esses and Goddard Corner.
• This one feature alone makes setting up a motorcycle chassis difficult, as a fast lap will come down to a compromise in all-round set-up. Add to that the lack of grip, which some say is due to the jet fuel residue left by the nearby East Midlands airport, and the best result will be achieved by the rider who can make the most of the situation.
• The main aim is to find a chassis that offers a good pitching balance during braking and acceleration - to increase the much needed grip levels. However too much and you lose stability under brakes in the second half of the lap; not enough and the bike will be difficult to turn through the faster sweeping opening sequence of turns. The catch is that the first half of the circuit lends itself to a fast lap-time, while a good set-up for the second half - the stop-and-go addition - is where many riders can make an easy pass.
• What also needs to be taken into consideration is that the undulating layout of the first part of the circuit pushes the front of the bike a great deal, while the second half is pretty much 'highside' territory. With this in mind softer spring rates front and rear will be used, with the fine-tuning left to the spring preload. This approach will improve drive and front-end feedback, although it will come at the expense of a little braking stability into the two hairpins.
• As for the YZR-M1's in-line four-cylinder engine, its linear character will prove ideal for the slick layout. Still it will be tuned to offer a strong midrange and a progressive and predictable delivery. Confidence to use that power on a slippery surface infested with changing cambers is the key to success here.

HONDA

• A BARROS: “I really like the Donington track, it’s got its very own character, fast at the beginning, then stop-and-go at the end, with some of the most crucial braking points in the championship. I’ve already had some good results there and I want another there now, especially now. At Laguna Seca I was very frustrated , angry even, but I cleared things up with Melandri, and now I want to get over it with a good result in England. After the crash in America I took another blow to the back which limited my movements for a few days, but I should be ok by Friday.”
• T BAYLISS: “At Laguna Seca we did some brilliant work in practice, but in the race I couldn’t get the same feeling in the race. We did however show that we can be quick, now we need the consistency. I would love to have a good race in Britain, my first country after I moved from Australia to take part in the British Superbike series.”
• M BIAGGI: “Donington’s circuit is a good one, I like it. In 2003 I’ve got a pole position and I also won the race. We coming from a good performance in Laguna Seca one week ago, so I’m thinking why we can’t go for a great result?! Currently I’m in the third position on the general championship, but I will do my best to go up. During the break after the American race, I’ve trained a lot and I feel ready to go to Donington.”
• N HAYDEN: “As I said at the end of the Laguna weekend the whole three days went to plan and it was like a dream come true. Race day was just amazing but we have to all move on. I said that we Hayden's work well on momentum. It took me and while to win races back home in AMA but when I did they seemed to come - same thing with my brother Tommy. I now know I can do it at this level and I won't be happy till we can do it again. I was very aware that we had important home advantage and I had good circuit knowledge but then so did some other guys! I go to Donington realistic that a repeat performance of Laguna will be a very long shot but I go there with a new spring in my step knowing that we - that is me, my team and Honda and Michelin and all my sponsors - have the capability to shock and that is what I want to do again - soon."

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