MotoGP – The Catalan Grand Prix turn by turn –

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The Catalan Grand Prix turn by turn

MotoGP - The Catalan Grand Prix turn by turn -

As at Mugello, the tests take place under a beautiful sun, despite threats of a thunderstorm. The pilots have fewer adjustment problems, the tires and the rain are the most watched. The 105,698 spectators are waiting… Engine.

The crowd is present, setting a new Barcelona attendance record! And among them, 20% are French! Obviously, it was the Catalans who came the most, to encourage their many pilots….

The risk of a thunderstorm announced at the start of the weekend in Catalonia did not prevent the tests from taking place in the dry. In the 3 categories, the development was greatly facilitated. In Catalonia, the circuit requires complete qualities in terms of both drivers and machines. A beautiful straight line, heavy braking, successions of turns, everything is there. Enough to reveal the most homogeneous, both tuners and fine pilots! In 125, Kallio and Faubel, the latter in front of his audience, wanted to shine. As for Luthi, he must confirm his provisional 1st place.

In 250, Pedrosa returned to the top will have to fight against a De Puniet who won the last two editions of Barcelona. Let’s not forget Lorenzo, Stoner and Dovizioso, the mounted rookies of the 125 and devilishly performing for their 1st season 250 !

In the premier category, everyone is waiting for Gibernau’s reaction in front of his audience against Rossi, the only driver present to have won Catalonia in the 3 categories, and whom we know he will not want to let go! Melandri, very consistent since the start of the season, is still looking for his first success in MotoGP and the Ducatis, back in good shape in Italy, will also have to confirm their good arrangements !

Class 125

All the qualified pilots achieved their best time during the second session on Saturday. It was Mika Kallio who took pole 6 / 100th ahead of Pasini, whose damaged wrist at Le Mans is not known to enable him to go the distance. Simoncelli is third at 1 / 10th, and the surprising Zanetti completes the first row but 1/2 s from pole. Kuzuhara, Talmacsi, Faubel and Lai form the second row. Poggiali is 9th, ahead of Thomas Luthi, from whom we expected better after his good start to the season, but who is less than 1s from Kallio, Nieto and Koyama. Mike Di Meglio sets the 18th fastest time, Alexis Masbou, who due to bad timing did not set a qualifying tire qualifying is 20th. The two Frenchmen are a little more than 1.5 seconds from the fastest time.In warm-up, it is again Kallio who is the fastest just in front of Faubel, Talmacsi at 3 / 10ths, Poggiali who seems to be gradually regaining his brands, Nieto, Simon, Luthi, Gadea, Bautista. At more than 1 s, we then find Simoncelli, Zanetti, Olive, Pasini. Di Meglio makes the 17th time, Masbou the 18th.

Departure. It is Luthi, emerging from the second row, who makes the hole shot in front of Kallio, Lai, Pasini, Talmacsi, Kuzuhara, Simon, Iannone, Faubel. Oliva falls from the 2nd corner of the chicane at the end of the straight line.

Luthi quickly took three to four lengths ahead of Kallio, Talmacsi passed Lai. Simoncelli almost fell under braking, miraculously stayed on his wheels, touching no one, but lost several places. Di Meglio is 12th, Masbou 15th.

On the first lap, Luthi leads well in front of Kallio threatened by Pasini, Talmacsi, Lai, Simon, Faubel, Iannone, Koyama, Di Meglio 10th overtook Bautista. Masbou is 20th. Pasini takes advantage of the aspiration and passes 2nd in front of Kallio. Pirro falls and gives up with the Malaguti. Lai misses himself and must let Talmacsi and Simon pass. Pasini, who brought the three KTMs behind him, comes back like a bullet on Luthi and immediately overtakes him! Nieto and Terol fall and give up, stunned but unharmed.

In the second lap, Pasini, who had the fastest lap in the race, crossed the line with a few steps ahead of Luthi, Kallio, Simon who passed and let go of Talmacsi and Faubel who passed Lai. Further on, Koyama takes a group that Simoncelli tries to reach as they climb back up. Bautista was 10th ahead of Di Meglio, Masbou was 18th. Luthi reconnects with Pasini. Bradl and Pellino hang on, Bradl gives up but Pellino leaves.

On the third lap, Pasini was very quick in the last part of the circuit and again left Luthi, Kallio, Simon and Talmacsi behind. Faubel, author of the best time, joined the leading group and let go of Lai, whose bike moves a lot. Simoncelli has joined the group led by Koyama who returns to the struggling Lai. The Swiss Braillard fell due to a tightening and left limping on his leg, already injured in the warm up in Shanghai. Faubel passes 5th in front of Talmacsi.

On the 4th lap, Pasini passes a few lengths in front of Luthi, Kallio and Simon, then Faubel and Talmacsi. Lai is almost joined by Iannone, Koyama, Simoncelli who is still going up and has just passed Di Meglio 12th. Pesek returns to the pits, there are no more Derbi in the race! Masbou is 18th.

In the 5th lap, Pasini drives home the point and takes more and more lead in the lead. Luthi, Kallio and Simon seem to have to distance Faubel and Talmacsi. Simoncelli took the lead in the chasing group. Kallio passes 2nd in front of Luthi, not wanting to let Pasini go alone.

On the 6th lap, Pasini leads with a good thirty meters over Kallio, who had the fastest lap in the race, Luthi, Faubel who overtook Simon and Talmacsi who struggled to stay in touch. Less than two seconds behind the Hungarian, Simoncelli put the turbo on and left the group of Iannone, Koyama and Di Meglio, back. In this round, the leading positions stretch, making it difficult to take the suction.

Pasini, Kallio then Luthi are detached in the 7th lap, then Faubel, Simon and Talmacsi together. Simoncelli is the only 7th, then Koyama, Bautista who passed Lai, Poggiali, Iannone, Di Meglio 13th. Masbou 16th overtook Espargaro and Rodriguez. Talmacsi passes Simon, who may be suffering from his arm, in the last sequence before the straight.

On the 8th lap, Pasini the fastest on the track, Kallio at 1.1 s and Luthi at 2.3 s mark their positions, Faubel at 2.8 s is for the moment out of range of Talmacsi and Simon at almost 4 s, Simoncelli approaches. In this lap, Faubel comes back on Luthi’s heels, and Simoncelli joins the two KTMs of Talmacsi and Simon.

In the 9th lap, Pasini is the only leader, Kallio only 2nd, Faubel passes 3rd in front of Luthi, Simoncelli wins the 2 KTMs in the same straight line! Halfway through the circuit, Simoncelli returned to Faubel and Luthi and brought Talmacsi and Simon back behind him! Simoncelli quickly passes Luthi.

On the 10th lap, behind Pasini and Kallio, Faubel was threatened by Simoncellli, Talmacsi passed 5th ahead of Luthi and Simon. Faubel, victim of a mechanical breakage, was dropped off by the 4 men who followed him: Simoncelli therefore passed 3rd !

On the 11th lap, Pasini far ahead, Kallio alone 2nd ahead of Simoncelli to whom Talmacsi clings, then Luthi and Simon are left behind. Koyama has let go of his group now led by Poggiali. Di Meglio is 14th, Masbou 15th. Unfortunately, while trying to pass Di Meglio, Alexis Masbou collides with his compatriot, has to pull straight into the gravel and lay his machine down so as not to hit the tires.

On the 12th lap, the positions are unchanged in the lead, even if Talmacsi seems to struggle to keep pace with Simoncelli who rolls 1/2 s faster than Kallio 2nd !

On the 13th lap, Pasini was 4.8 s ahead of Kallio, 6 s over Simoncelli, 6.4 s over Talmacsi, 12 s over Koyama who came back and passed Simon and Luthi who slowed down sharply, 14.6 s over Poggiali, 17.5 s over Lai and Zanetti, 19.1 s on Iannone and Ranseder, 19.9 s on Bautista, 22.6 s on Di Meglio and 23.2 s on Espargaro. At the end of this round, Simoncelli practically returned to Kallio’s aspiration.

On the 14th lap, Simoncelli took advantage of the aspiration to catch up with Kallio, who braked hard and retained 2nd place. But 2 bends later, Simoncelli, who is riding at a higher pace, passes Kallio. who clings to his wheel.

On lap 16, behind Pasini, a comfortable leader, Simoncelli did not take enough lead to prevent Kallio from returning to the aspiration. Talmacsi is only 4th, then Koyama, Simon, Luthi and Poggiali. Toth is in turn the victim of mechanical problems and gives up. In this lap, Simoncelli manages to outrun Kallio.

In the 17th lap, behind the four leaders, Koyama, Simon and Luthi saw Poggiali return to the attack, who overtook the Swiss at the end of the straight line.

On the 18th lap, Poggiali took advantage of the suction again and suddenly passed Koyama and Simon: he was 5th! Koyama remains in Poggiali’s wheel, but Simon and especially Luthi are left behind.

On the 19th lap, Simoncelli 2nd behind Pasini was 1.3 s ahead of Kallio. Talmacsi is alone in 4th, then Poggiali holds the dragee high in Koyama, Simon and Luthi are released.

In the last lap, the unfortunate Karel Abraham is the last victim of the massacre, only 29 pilots out of the 41 starters are still there! Mike Di Meglio 16th is no longer in the points. The last lap only confirms the leading positions. Only Poggiali and Koyama are fighting for 5th place.

At the finish line, Pasini wins by a large margin: he is the 1st 125 driver to win 2 races in this season. Simoncelli, author of a magnificent comeback, is 2nd, Kallio completes the podium. Talmacsi finished 4th, then Koyama 5th who did not let go, passes Poggiali 6th with a last dash on the line! Luthi is 7th, Simon 8th, Zanetti 9th, Lai 10th, Iannone 11th, Ranseder 12th, Gadea 13th, Bautista 14th and Espargaro 15th deprives Di Meglio 16th from the last possible point.

In the championship, Pasini took the provisional lead with 84 points ahead of Luthi 83, Kallio 82, Talmacsi 75, Simoncelli 72, Lai 63, Poggiali 51, Simon 45, Koyama 43 and Faubel 30. Di Meglio remained at 23 is 14th, Masbou still with 9 is 20th.
Side brands, Aprilia with 131 distance KTM 118 and Honda 108.

Class 250

After a very big fall on Friday during a session dominated by Lorenzo and De Puniet, Dovizioso skipped the 2nd session on Saturday to heal himself. On Saturday, while Randy De Puniet remained at his pit 25 to 30 minutes before being able to set off on his second bike, Pedrosa set the best time on pole, 4 / 10th ahead of Lorenzo. Porto and De Puniet, who led the session until the last lap, complete the 1st row. In the 2nd row, Aoyama and De Angelis are less than 1 s, then, Barbera and Stoner. In 3rd place, Dovizioso, Corsi set lap times close to Stoner, but Guintoli and Takahashi are almost 2 seconds behind. Nigon is 20th, Marchand 21st, Leblanc 23rd and Arnaud Vincent qualifies Fantic in 24th position. His teammate Ferro qualifies for the 1st time on the other Fantic in 29th and last place.

In the warm-up, Lorenzo steals the show from his compatriot Pedrosa, then Stoner, De Angelis, injured Dovizioso, Corsi, De Puniet who has his second fall of the weekend after that of the tests, Aoyama, Porto and Barbera. Guintoli is the 15th time, Nigon the 17th, Leblanc the 21st, Marchand the 22nd and Vincent the 28th.

Departure :

Randy De Puniet makes the hole shot in front of Porto, Barbera, Aoyama, de Angelis, Lorenzo, Stoner, Corsi and Dovizioso. Barbera passes 2nd in front of Porto at the 2nd corner. Pedrosa who almost stalled on the grid is 11th ahead of Guintoli 12th! De Angelis passed 4th ahead of Aoyama.

In the first lap, Randy leads in front of Barbera, Porto, De Angelis, Aoyama, Lorenzo, Corsi, Dovizioso and Pedrosa who comes back up after his disastrous start. At the end of the straight, Pedrosa passed 8th ahead of Dovizioso. He passed 7th in front of Corsi at the next turn. Dovizioso follows Pedrosa and passes Corsi too. Porto falls and gives up on this 2nd round! In front, Randy and Barbera took the opportunity to make the hole on the 2nd pass over De Angelis, then a few more lengths Lorenzo, Aoyama, Pedrosa, who took the best lap, Dovizioso and Corsi. Guintoli is 11th, Nigon 19th, Vincent is 21st, Marchand 23rd, Leblanc 24th. At the end of the straight line which precedes the last sequence, Randy de Puniet loses the front, falls, but manages to start again, while Pedrosa passes Aoyama who shoots straight ahead and resumes the track.

On the 3rd lap, it is therefore Barbera who leads in front of De Angelis, then Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Dovizioso, then Corsi a few lengths, Stoner and Guintoli a little further. In the aspiration, De Angelis took the lead, then Pedrosa passed 3rd ahead of Lorenzo. Arnaud Vincent gives up. Lorenzo returns to 3rd in front of Pedrosa.

At the 4th passage, De Angelis distances Barbera, then Pedrosa returns to 3rd in front of Lorenzo, Dovizioso in ambush. Corsi sees Stoner putting the brakes on him. Guintoli 8th is already far behind at 8.7 s, ahead of Davies, Giansanti, Takahashi and Baldolini.

On the 5th lap, De Angelis still leads in front of Barbera, Pedrosa 3rd and author of the best lap is practically back, then Lorenzo and Dovizioso, Stoner then Corsi, Guintoli 8th leads the 2nd group. De Puniet 25th lap in the lap of the best. Pedrosa passed 2nd in front of Barbera who replied and immediately took 2nd place. Smrz falls and gives up. At the start of the last sequence, Lorenzo passed 3rd under braking in front of Pedrosa.

At the 6th passage, regroup in the lead: De Angelis leads in front of Barbera, Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Dovizioso, Stoner, Corsi a few lengths. Davies passed 8th in front of Guintoli. Nigon is 17th, Leblanc 19th, Marchand 20th and De Puniet 23rd. Stoner passes 5th in front of Dovizioso.

On lap 6, De Angelis is still the leader ahead of Barbera, Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Stoner, Dovizioso and returned Corsi. Stoner passes 4th in front of Pedrosa at the end of the straight line. Ballerini makes a mistake and gives up in turn. Randy is 21st 23s behind the leader !

On the 7th lap, De Angelis was threatened by Barbera who could not pass under braking. Guintoli is 9th behind Aoyama who goes up after his exit in the gravel.

In the 9th lap, Pedrosa and Lorenzo pass Stoner. Jenkner pulls straight and falls while trying to get back on track: he starts again at the end of the pack. Barbera takes the lead in front of De Angelis, Lorenzo passes 3rd in front of Pedrosa, Corsi passes 5th in front of Dovizioso. De Puniet is 19th !

At the 10th passage, Barbera leads ahead of De Angelis, Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Stoner, Corsi and Dovizioso. Aoyama left Guintoli behind. At the end of the straight, Pedrosa passed 2nd ahead of De Angelis and Lorenzo. He attacks and passes Barbera at the cost of a magnificent exterior! Hit by Lorenzo who could not avoid him as he slowed down after an excess of optimism, Alex De Angelis and him fall and give up! Jorge Lorenzo will leave with a double fractured left collarbone.

Meanwhile, on the 11th lap, Pedrosa in the lead was almost 1s ahead of Barbera, Corsi, Stoner and Dovizioso. Aoyama is 6th, then Guintoli 7th ahead of Giansanti. Randy De Puniet 15th returns to the points !

On lap 12, Pedrosa was 1.5 s ahead of Barbera, Stoner, Corsi and Dovizioso who returned to 4th at the end of the straight. Takahashi passed 7th in front of Guintoli. Stoner passes 2nd in front of Barbera. Dovizioso in turn passes Barbera who seems to have slowed down. Randy De Puniet 14th just passed Nigon 15th.

On the 13th lap, Pedrosa was 2 seconds ahead of Stoner, then Dovizioso passed Barbera and Corsi again. Corsi in turn passes Barbera at the start of the last sequence, failing to drag him into the gravel due to a slight excess of optimism under braking.

On the 14th lap, Pedrosa was 2 s ahead of Stoner, 3.1 over Dovizioso, 5.1 over Corsi, 5.6 over Barbera, 14.7 over Aoyama, 23.1 over Takahashi, 23.5 over Guintoli, 23.9 over Giansanti, 24.3 over Baldolini, 25.3 over Debon, 25.9 on Locatelli, 27.9 on Davies and De Puniet which wasted no time in overtaking English, then Nigon was 15th at 33.9 s.

On the next lap, Corsi again fails to drop Barbera by falling back on his front wheel. !

On the 16th lap, Pedrosa is still the only leader, Stoner alone 2nd, Dovizioso alone 3rd, Corsi all the more alone 4th as Barbera has slowed down very strongly, his bike does not seem to respond! Guintoli is still 8th.

On lap 17, Pedrosa was 3s ahead of Stoner. Barbera is still 5th but far behind Corsi and threatened by Aoyama. Randy De Puniet is 10th ahead of Giansanti and just behind Baldolini. Nigon is 15th, Marchand 16th, Leblanc 17th.

On the 18th lap, Pedrosa consolidated his lead over Stoner, Dovizioso, Corsi and Aoyama. Barbera sees Takahashi, Guintoli and … De Puniet return! At the end of the straight, Randy overtook Guintoli and Takahashi. The 3 men pass Barbera, betrayed by his mechanics. Randy is then 6th after starting 26th following his fall !

At the 19th passage, nothing changed in mind: Nigon is 15th, Marchand 16th and Leblanc 17th.

Three laps from the finish, Pedrosa still turns the fastest, and his teammate Aoyama also gets his fastest lap in the race..

Two laps from the finish, Pedrosa still drives home the nail of his domination, Stoner and Dovizioso secure their respective positions. Aoyama who attacks to the end has returned to Corsi’s wheels: he passes him before the start of the last lap !

On the finish line, Pedrosa triumphs, he who has already signed his MotoGP contract and who will be the first to ride an 800, which will be the rule next year! Stoner 2nd, Dovizioso 3rd despite his injury complete a podium gained in courage, like Pasini in 125. Aoyama is 4th, Corsi 5th, De Puniet who will be able to nourish regrets 6th, Takahasi 7th, Guintoli 8th, Nigon 13th, Marchand 14th and Leblanc 15th in front of the unfortunate Barbera who crossed the checkered flag in the worst place: 16th !

In the championship, Pedrosa increases his lead, leader with 123 points ahead of Stoner 96, Dovizioso 93, Aoyama 4th is behind with 58, then De Angelis 56, Lorenzo 54, Porto 49, Randy De Puniet 46. Sylvain Guintoli is 13th with 27. La marks race is led by Honda 140 ahead of Aprilia 126.

MotoGP Category:

After testing dominated by Marco Melandri, Gibernau finally took pole: he broke his own record last year, 5 / 100th ahead of Rossi. Melandri completes the 1st row. Biaggi, Hayden and Capirossi form the 2nd. Edwards who had very good tests behind Melandri throughout the weekend qualifies 7th in the 3rd row, followed by Checa and Barros. Tamada, Hopkins and Nakano are in 4th row, then Roberts, Hofmann and Bayliss in 5th. David Checa finally took to the track on Saturday on the Yamaha Tech-3 in place of Elias who was still too disabled, qualified 18th, 2.9 s behind his compatriot Gibernau.

In the warm up, Gibernau is the only one to turn under 1’43 ", 0.037 s ahead of Rossi. Then Hayden, Melandri, Barros, Biaggi, Tamada, Edwards, Capirossi, Hofmann and Hopkins are in the same second! Nakano, Checa, Bayliss, Roberts and Xaus stand between 1.1 and 1.3 s behind Sete, and David Checa has an honorable 17th time at 2.3 s from the fastest time, 6 / 10th in front of the experienced Rolfo !

Departure :

Gibernau took full advantage of his pole position and took the lead in front of Melandri, Biaggi, Hayden, Capirossi, Rossi, which started off badly, Barros, Rolfo, Tamada. Rossi passes Capirossi from the first corners, then infiltrates between Hayden and Biaggi for 3rd position! In front, Melandri attacks Gibernau who passes immediately. Barros passed 5th in front of Biaggi. Rossi passes 2nd in front of Melandri in the last sequence.

On the first lap, we therefore had Gibernau leading ahead of Rossi, Melandri, Hayden, Barros, Biaggi. Rossi attacks Gibernau at the end of the straight line, but is attacked by Melandri, the three men on the front! Melandri wins, forces Rossi to move away, and Gibernau takes the opportunity to return to 2nd in front of His Holiness. Hayden, Barros, Biaggi, Capirossi, Tamada, Nakano, Edwards, Hopkins, Rolfo, Roberts, C. Checa, Xaus, Hofmann, D. Checa, Bayliss, Ellison, Battaini and Byrne follow in that order. Gibernau passes Melandri at the end of the 2nd straight, and Barros grills courtesy to Hayden at the same spot.

On the second lap, Melandri in the lead replied to his elder brother, Rossi and Barros, who had the fastest lap in the race, followed, then Biaggi, Tamada passed in front of Capirossi and Nakano 9th. Barros attacks and passes Rossi at the end of the straight line, but Rossi retorts and passes Barros again in the baffle of the chicane, in a mouse hole! Xaus passed 14th ahead of Roberts. In the hairpin on the left, optimistic Gibernau hits Melandri’s rear wheel, pulls away and lets Rossi pass.

On the 3rd lap, Rossi 2nd was glued to Melandri’s wheel, then Gibernau, Barros, Hayden and Biaggi saw Tamada return, author of the best time, followed a few lengths behind Edwards past Capirossi. At the end of the straight, Barros entered the chicane too hard, moved away, had to let Hayden pass and missed colliding with Biaggi by coming back on the line. Suddenly, Tamada takes the opportunity to double the Roman !

On the 4th lap, Melandri, Rossi and Gibernau, who in turn set the fastest time, took a few lengths over Hayden, Barros, Tamada and Biaggi. At the end of the straight line, Rossi brakes beautifully and takes the lead in front of Melandri who moves away. Gibernau tries to infiltrate but Melandri resists. Gibernau insisted and passed 2nd, Melandri moved away, Barros took the opportunity to pass 3rd in front of the young Italian. Rossi and Gibernau took the opportunity to gain some air in the lead on lap 5, followed by Barros, Melandri, Hayden, Tamada and Biaggi. Edwards 8th is far ahead of Nakano. At the end of the straight line, Gibernau takes control from Rossi, Melandri returns to 3rd in front of Hayden who also passes Barros.

Tamada loses the front, falls and has to give up, luckily without damage.

On the 6th lap, Gibernau tries to make the effort but Rossi hangs on. Hayden 3rd took the fastest lap in the race and gave up Melandri and Barros a little, Biaggi seemed to be struggling to keep up. Edwards is 7th, Nakano 8th, Capirossi 9th. At the start of the final sequence of the circuit, Barros brakes Melandri, but deviates and must regain his 5th position behind a clever Melandri who had well anticipated the Brazilian’s maneuver..

On the 7th lap, Gibernau and Rossi lead Hayden a few lengths, Melandri and Barros, then Biaggi. Edwards is over 1 sec from the Roman. Bayliss passed Hofmann for the 14th position. Barros tries the same maneuver as in the previous lap on Melandri, with exactly the same result: Melandri is better placed and comes back !

Positions therefore unchanged in the 8th round. Gibernau, author of a new fastest lap, takes a little air on Rossi.

On the 9th lap, Gibernau was 6 / 10ths ahead of Rossi. At the end of the straight, Barros manages to pass Melandri.

In the next round, Melandri takes 4th place from the Brazilian.

On the 11th lap, the gap in the lead seems to stabilize: Rossi is making the effort! Biaggi, on the other hand, loses 1s on the leading group.

On the 12th lap, Rossi recovered 1 / 10th from Gibernau. Edwards 7th returns to Biaggi. Hofmann stops at the pit, changes tires and sets off again.

On the 13th lap, Rossi almost came back to Gibernau’s wheel. Hopkins also returns to the pit, also to change the rear tire! Problems at Bridgestone ?

On the 14th lap, Rossi was once again stuck to Gibernau’s wheel: the 2 men rolled 1/2 s faster than their opponents! Barros passes Melandri back, but the Italian takes back his good again !

In the 15th lap, Gibernau and Rossi are 3 s ahead of Hayden, 3.7 s over Melandri and Barros, 6.2 s over Biaggi, 7.6 s over Edwards, 16 s over Nakano, 25.9 s over Bayliss, 27.4 s over Capirossi followed by Xaus , 28.1 s on Checa, 32.3 s on Roberts, 37.4 s on Rolfo and 38 s on David Checa back in the points. In this round, Melandri and Barros get back on Hayden’s heels.

In the 16th straight line, while Rossi still plays Gibernau cat and mouse, Melandri passes 3rd in front of Hayden. Xaus walks past Capirossi.

In the 17th lap, the leaders hold their respective positions. Hopkins, he makes a mistake in the gravel but does not fall and takes again the track. D. Checa passes 14th ahead of Rolfo.

In the 19th lap, Gibernau regained some distance from Rossi. Hayden returned to 3rd in front of Melandri and Barros. Hopkins returns to the booth for the 2nd time! Marco Melandri replied and took 3rd place. Hayden passes Italian again under Barros watch !

On the 22nd lap, Rossi attacked and took the lead ahead of Gibernau. Rossi accelerates, Gibernau hangs on with a motorcycle that moves a lot! Melandri doubles Hayden again, and Barros takes the opportunity to pass the American too !

On the 23rd lap, Rossi broke the race record and took a few lengths at Gibernau. Barros 4th puts pressure on Melandri for the podium !

At the start of the last lap, Rossi was more than 1/2 s ahead of Gibernau. Melandri resists Barros, Hayden seems beaten. While Rossi made the hole, Barros again tries to pass Melandri at the entrance of the last sequence, but moves away and must let Marco pass again..

His Holiness Rossi finally wins his 47th victory in the premier class of the Grand Prix: he could beat Doohan by number of victories this season !

Gibernau at home climbs on the 2nd step of the podium, Melandri 3rd confirms his consistency. Barros is 4th, Hayden 5th, Biaggi 6th, Edwards 7th, Bayliss 8th, Nakano 9th, Xaus 10th, Carlos Checa 11th, Capirossi 12th, David Checa made a great performance finishing 13th, Rolfo 14th and Roberts 15th.

In the championship, Rossi stuns the competition with 145 points out of 150 possible. Melandri is 2nd with 87, 58 behind the world champion! Biaggi is 3rd at 77, Gibernau returns to 4th position with 73 ahead of Barros 65, Edwards 57, Hayden 47, Capirossi 43, Nakano 40, Checa 33, Bayliss 32 and … Olivier Jacque 25 !

In terms of brands, His Holiness Rossi carries Yamaha at arm’s length in the lead with 145 ahead of Honda 121, Kawasaki 60 and Ducati 51.

The Yamaha Gauloises team is obviously in the lead with 202 ahead of Honda Movistar 160 and Repsol Honda, again ahead of Fausto Gresini’s 2 Honda in Catalonia, 124.

The 125 category is once again the most contested with a nice regrouping in the provisional classification. In 250, Pedrosa seems to have regained its cruising speed after a start to the season which allowed the rookies to surprise him: he is again dominating. As for MotoGP, how not to fall into superlatives when seeing the ease with which Rossi dominates his opponents? One thing is certain in the premier class: the only one able to beat Rossi, apart from the famous Koudussor, is himself! And given his mentality, even with a bet of 1000 to 1, we take a big risk!

See you in Assen, in two weeks, where like every year the races take place on Saturday, so the tests on Thursday and Friday !

J. ARSOUILLE – Photos O. BERGAMASCHI and DR

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