MotoGP – The Japanese Grand Prix turn-based –

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The Japanese Grand Prix lap by lap

MotoGP - The Japanese Grand Prix turn-based -

Motegi, Honda‘s stronghold, is not Rossi’s favorite circuit … Enough to fuel the suspense with high temperatures that are very trying for the drivers and the 68,015 spectators: the show can begin…

36 ° C on the track: the tone is set, the Pacific dictates its law to the pilots. A physical effort difficult to sustain in these conditions throughout the race.

In 125, much is expected from the title fight between Mika Kallio and Thomas Luthi, the last winner in Brno and current championship leader. The French Di Meglio and Masbou, friends in life, are not necessarily at their ease on the track: to be continued.

In 250, Pedrosa will have to resist his compatriot Lorenzo, who no longer plays for the title but wants at all costs to beat his sworn enemy to become the Spanish number 1 in the category. Randy De Puniet, also out of the race for the title, absolutely must perform well at the end of the season so as not to compromise his future. Sylvain Guintoli, on the other hand, confirms his status as the best privateer over the course of the races, and must continue to prove that he more than deserves a factory bike to play for the world title next season..

In MotoGP, Rossi will chase the title on Honda lands: he must start from Motegi with more than 125 points ahead of 2nd, knowing that he arrives at Motegi with 132 points ahead of Max Biaggi! The 2nd place, what one might call the vice-world championship, is not guaranteed, only 17 points separate current Max Biaggi 2nd and Nicky Hayden 7th provisional! Honda riders who owe it to themselves to perform well on the home circuit !

Class 125

Mika Kallio, who dominated the 1st day of practice, somewhat missed his Saturday, and it was Gabor Talmacsi who took the opportunity to sign his 1st pole ahead of Koyama, Masbou’s teammate, for whom it was the best place on a starting grid. Pasini, of which it is the 7th. 1st row in a row, and Simoncelli complete the 1st row.

In the 2nd row, we find Faubel, Kallio, Luthi and Poggiali. Bautista, Gadea, Simon and Di Meglio form the 3rd row. Alexis Masbou, struggling on the Japanese circuit, qualified in 20th position.

In warm-up, Mika Kallio sets the fastest time and confirms that he will be there for the victory, as he plays for the title, just ahead of Luthi, the current championship leader. Talmacsi, Gadea, Tunez, Simon, Poggiali, Faubel, Kuzuhara, Koyama, Nieto, Jerez, Iannone, Pasini and Simoncelli follow. Di Meglio is the 19th fastest time in this warm up and Alexis Masbou the 23rd. 41 pilots are at the start.

Departure. It’s Pasini who signs the hole shot and takes the lead ahead of Kallio, Koyama, Talmacsi, Luthi, Poggiali, Simoncelli, Faubel, Simon. Julian Simon fell in this first lap and retired, just like Bonache. Talmacsi passes 3rd in front of Koyama.

Quickly, Pasini, Kallio and Koyama took a few lengths on Luthi, then Poggiali, Simon and Faubel were themselves a little ahead of Nieto and Lai. Gadea and Di Meglio lost contact in this first round. Luthi passed 4th in front of Koyama and made an effort to pick up the top three. Faubel passed 7th in front of Simoncelli.

In the first lap, Pasini leads ahead of Kallio, Talmacsi and Luthi and Koyama returned, then Poggiali leads the chase ahead of Faubel, Simoncelli, Nieto, Lai, Gadea and Bautista. Di Meglio 13th in front of Espargaro and Iannone lost contact. Alexis Masbou is 22nd Kallio takes the lead in Pasini braking the longest straight before the tunnel. On the next braking, Talmacsi imitates his KTM teammate and goes 2nd. The two KTMs try to start and take a few lengths on Pasini and Luthi.

On the second lap, Kallio, who set the fastest time, leads ahead of Talmacsi, then Luthi takes 3rd place in Pasini in the draw. Koyama, Poggiali, Faubel, Nieto, Simoncelli and Gadea try to limit the damage but are struggling to keep up with the very high pace of the start of the race.

On the 3rd lap, Kallio and Talmacsi were joined by Luthi who had the fastest lap, Koyama also returned, then Koyama was joined by Poggiali, Faubel, Nieto and Simoncelli. Gadea is left behind. Poggiali takes 5th position at Koyama and pushes to try to pick up the leaders.

At the 4th lap, Kallio, Talmacsi, Luthi and Pasini lead, then Poggiali leads the chase ahead of Koyama, Faubel, Nieto and Simoncelli. Gadea lets go of her pursuers, trying to get back on Simoncelli. Di Meglio is 12th just behind his teammate Lai. 14th Mateo Tunez sets the fastest lap.

Talmacsi took the lead from Kallio under braking at the end of the 5th straight line. Cortese falls and gives up. Braking from the right before the tunnel, Kallio passed Talmacsi again, but it was Luthi who mastered both KTMs and took the lead! Faubel passed 5th in front of Koyama. Pasini passed 3rd in front of Talmacsi. Poggiali looks back on the leaders by taking advantage of overtaking. Di Meglio lost ground 14th and Masbou is 20th.

In the 6th lap, Luthi, Kallio, Pasini and Talmacsi lead, but Faubel who overtook Poggiali returns, bringing behind them Koyama and Simoncelli past Nieto. Gadea slowly returns to her compatriot Nieto. Pirro on the Malaguti falls and gives up. Pasini attacks and passes Kallio through the hairpin at the back of the circuit. Braking from the right of the tunnel, Pasini attacks Luthi, but the latter delays his braking and keeps the lead. Faubel took advantage of the fight in front to come back to the two KTMs which preceded him. In the entrance of the chicane which controls the straight line of the pits, Pasini passes Luthi by a magnificent exterior.

At the 7th lap, Pasini leads in front of Luthi, Talmacsi passed in front of Kallio, Faubel, Poggiali, Koyama, then Simoncelli and Nieto. Gadea also nibbles his delay meter after meter. On braking from the hairpin at the end of the circuit, Talmacsi passed Pasini under braking, Luthi also took the opportunity to infiltrate, coming almost fairing against fairing with the Hungarian in the straight before the tunnel. After a few mutual intimidation attempts, Talmacsi delays his braking and keeps the lead, and Pasini passes Luthi again, although better placed inside: Pasini’s second "exter", who on the momentum takes the lead by missing touching Talmacsi in passing , while Kallio performs the same maneuver to pass Luthi just behind them !

On the 8th lap, behind Pasini, Talmacsi and Kallio, Faubel is in Luthi‘s exhausts and brought back Koyama, Poggiali, Simoncelli, Nieto and Gadea. Everyone took advantage of the overtaking to pick up and form a leading group that went from 4 to 10! Bautista, Lai and Di Meglio are too far away to take advantage of this return: they are left behind.

In the 9th lap, Pasini, Talmacsi, Kallio, Luthi, Faubel, Koyama, Poggiali, Nieto, Simoncelli and Gadea. Simoncelli, who was forcing his talent to stay in touch despite a machine that moved a lot, gets trapped by losing the front end, takes a big crash that rings him, but he gets up, just a little groggy. When braking before the tunnel, Talmacsi takes the lead in front of Pasini.

In the 10th lap, Talmacsi, Pasini, Kallio, Luthi, Faubel, Koyama, Poggiali, Nieto and Gadea pass in that order. Pasini breaks through the Hungarian when braking the hairpin. When the tunnel brakes, Kallio takes Talmacsi and Poggiali when braking and takes the lead again! Luthi passes 3rd in front of Talmacsi at the entrance to the straight ahead of the tunnel.

In the 11th round, Kallio, Pasini, Luthi, Talmacsi, Faubel, Koyama, Poggiali, Nieto and Gadea are still in the aspiration of each other. Pasini widens in the hairpin and has to give the lead to Kallio. Luthi passed 2nd in front of Pasini, seeing Kallio making the effort to try to start alone in front. Luthi puts Kallio back together quite easily and distances Pasini and Faubel a little, Talmacsi then seems in difficulty. Koyama took the opportunity to pass 5th ahead of the Hungarian on the draw of the long straight before the tunnel.

On the 12th lap, Kallio and Luthi lead, Pasini and Faubel try to come back, then Koyama, Talmacsi, Poggiali, Gadea and Nieto limit the damage. Talmacsi reacts and passes Koyama back. When braking from the back hairpin, Talmacsi passes Faubel again. Carchano gives up.

On lap 13, Kallio and Luthi were several steps ahead of Pasini, Talmacsi, Faubel, Koyama, Poggiali, Gadea and Nieto. When the tunnel brakes, Talmacsi takes third place ahead of Pasini. Talmacsi is pushing to come back, and Gadea bears the brunt of the increase in pace caused by the Hungarian. In the right of the tunnel, a little too optimistic Talmacsi accelerates too early, goes into the high side and falls, his motorbike twirls on the track, fortunately avoided by his pursuers.

On the 14th lap, Kallio and Luthi benefited from the avoidance the chasers had to make to widen the lead. Faubel and Koyama did the right thing by passing Pasini, delayed by the fall of the poleman. Pesek is forced to retire due to mechanical problems.

On the 15th lap, Kallio and Luthi lead by a long way, but Faubel rolls faster and comes back tenth after tenth. Koyama, Pasini, Poggiali, Nieto and Gadea try to follow but are left behind. Before the hairpin that controls the straight line of the tunnel, Kallio turns to assess the situation. Luthi took the opportunity to pass him under braking on the right of the tunnel, but widened and had to let the Finn pass again.

At the exit of the chicane which commands the straight line of the pits, Luthi accelerates too early, goes to the high side and makes a big cabriole, gets up on all fours in the middle of the path just behind his bike. Faubel manages to avoid him, just like Koyama, Pasini, Poggiali and Nieto, but Gadea on the attack to stay in contact with Nieto and masked by the latter, cannot avoid rolling on the ankle of Luthi who remained on the ground, then violently collides with the Swiss motorcycle, goes over the 2 machines totally destroyed by the percussion, and falls on his back while getting back without damage.

This is not the case with Luthi, stunned, who must be evacuated on a stretcher. The young Swiss got off without serious damage. Much better for him, the debris of the two machines immediately brought the race to a halt with a red flag. 2/3 of the race having been completed, there will be no new start, and the classification is that of the last passage before the stop.

So it was Kallio who won ahead of Luthi who was then 2nd and is very lucky to score 20 points for 2nd place, Faubel completes the podium. Koyama is 4th, Pasini 5th, Poggiali 6th, Gadea who also retains the benefit of 7th place despite the fall, Nieto 8th, Bautista 9th, Lai 10th, Di Meglio 11th, Espargaro 12th, Iannone 13th, Kuzuhara 14th and Jerez 15th. 30 pilots are classified on this race which counted many falls, including that of two of the classified! Luthi taken for observation at Dr. Costa’s clinic will not climb on the podium, victim of a dislocated shoulder, to water his 2nd place alongside Kallio and Faubel.

In the championship, thanks to the interruption of the race, Luthi keeps the lead with 164 points, Kallio 2nd with 161 reduced the gap on the Swiss, Talmacsi 3rd remains at 120, Simoncelli 4th remains at 117, Pasini 5th with 111 interrupts his bad series of 3 white results, Lai is 6th with 104 ahead of Simon 97, Poggiali 82, Faubel 66, Koyama comes back with 65 and takes the provisional 10th place at Di Meglio 59.

Side brands, KTM with 238 increases its lead over Aprilia 212 and Honda 206.

Class 250

Hiroshi Aoyama is very comfortable dominating the two days of testing and taking pole position. Lorenzo will start second just ahead of Aoyama’s brother, Shuhei, wild card on Honda. De Angelis fast throughout the tests completes the 1st row.

In 2nd row, Dovizioso and Takahashi precede a Pedrosa who fell and suffers in the left hand and back, Randy De Puniet is placed 8th. Stoner, Porto, Guintoli and Sekiguchi form the 3rd row. Arnaud Vincent qualifies 31st and penultimate just ahead of the young Mathieu Ginès called up to replace Gregory Leblanc injured on the 2nd motorcycle of the French speed team.

In the warm-up, despite his pain, Pedrosa set the best time, as if to warn that he will still be there in the race. It precedes Hiroshi then Shuhei Aoyama, Takahashi, Dovizioso, Stoner, Lorenzo, De Puniet, Barbera, De Angelis, Porto, Locatelli, Debon, West and Guintoli. Vincent sets the 29th time, Gines the 30th.

Departure. Hiroshi Aoyama took full advantage of his pole and took the lead ahead of De Angelis, Lorenzo, Dovizioso, Pedrosa, Shuhei Aoyama, Takahashi, Stoner, Barbera, De Puniet and Porto. When braking the hairpin, Lorenzo manly slips between De Angelis and Aoyama and takes the lead ahead of the San Marinese and the Japanese. Stoner passes 6th ahead of Takahashi and S. Aoyama.

In the first lap, Lorenzo passed with 2 lengths ahead of Aoyama, who moved back to 2nd ahead of De Angelis, Pedrosa passed 4th ahead of Dovizioso, Stoner, Takahashi, S.Aoyama, Barbera and De Puniet. Locatelli, Vincent, Yokoe and Smrz do not finish the 1st round. Stoner passed 5th in front of Takahashi. At the entrance to the straight line of the tunnel, S. Aoyama gets a little heat when accelerating, he who is the only one in the category to ride a Bridgestone.

On the second lap, Lorenzo leads in front of De Angelis, again ahead of Aoyama, Pedrosa, Stoner author of the best time passed in front of Dovizioso, Takahashi, Barbera and De Puniet. Porto are struggling to keep pace with the leaders. West with the KTM 250 goes wrong and gives up holding his shoulder. Dovizioso passes Stoner back on braking the hairpin. Shuhei Aoyama goes high side as he accelerates through the tunnel.

On lap 3, Lorenzo leads ahead of De Angelis, Aoyama, Pedrosa, Dovizioso, Stoner, Takahashi, Barbera and De Puniet. Porto is behind, a few lengths ahead of Guintoli good 10th. Dovizioso takes 4th place from Pedrosa, and Aoyama takes 2nd place ahead of De Angelis.

On the 4th lap, Lorenzo, Aoyama and De Angelis were under threat from Dovizioso, who set the fastest lap, Pedrosa, Stoner, Takahashi, De Puniet passed in front of Barbera clung to each other. Dovizioso took 3rd in front of De Angelis on braking the hairpin. De Angelis brakes again to the right of the tunnel. Aoyama takes the lead from Lorenzo. De Angelis passed Lorenzo, then Dovizioso in stride. Lorenzo manly returns to Dovizioso while braking the tunnel.

At the 5th lap, Aoyama leads ahead of De Angelis, Lorenzo, Dovizioso, Stoner, Pedrosa, Takahashi, De Puniet, Barbera and returned Porto. Dovizioso took 3rd place from Lorenzo when the tunnel brakes. De Puniet passed 6th ahead of Takahashi who was left behind by Pedrosa. Aoyama gets a little ahead of De Angelis, and Chaz Davies falls and retires.

On lap 6, Aoyama leads De Angelis, Dovizioso, Lorenzo, Stoner, Pedrosa by a few lengths, then Takahashi has overtaken De Puniet, Barbera and Porto. Guintoli 11th sees Debon return, fighting with the French for the unofficial title of best private. Dovizioso comes back to 2nd in front of De Angelis, who tries to get back under the braking of the tunnel, without success.

On the 7th lap, Aoyama leads in front of Dovizioso, author of the best lap, which comes back to the Japanese, De Angelis, Lorenzo, Stoner, Pedrosa, Takahashi, De Puniet who left Barbera and Porto behind. Lorenzo in gliding took 3rd place from De Angelis who was slightly behind. Porto passes 9th in front of Barbera.

On the 8th lap, Aoyama leads ahead of Dovizioso, Lorenzo, who set the fastest time, De Angelis, Stoner, Pedrosa, Takahashi, De Puniet who is slightly behind, Porto and Barbera. Guintoli still holds his 11th place, Ginès is 24th. Lorenzo took 3rd place from De Angelis under braking for the left double. Lorenzo pushes ahead and returns to the leaders by bringing back De Angelis and Stoner.

On lap 9, Aoyama, Dovizioso, Lorenzo, De Angelis and Stoner lead by a few lengths Pedrosa, Takahashi and De Puniet who hang on. Porto are further behind, and Barbera is left behind by the Argentine. De Angelis returned to 3rd in front of Lorenzo when the tunnel brakes.

On the 10th lap, Aoyama leads in front of De Angelis who on his tracks passed Dovizioso, Lorenzo, Stoner, Pedrosa, Takahashi, De Puniet, port is a little further, then Barbera a few lengths. Guintoli is fighting to keep his 11th place ahead of Debon. De Angelis glues Aoyama back in this round and brings Dovizioso, Lorenzo and Stoner back a little further. When the tunnel brakes, Takahashi passes Pedrosa for 6th position. Porto who had come back on his teammate De Puniet fell at the delicate turn of the tunnel.

On lap 11, Aoyama was 2-3 lengths ahead of De Angelis, Dovizioso, Lorenzo, Stoner, Takahashi, Pedrosa and De Puniet. Aoyama increased his lead slightly, De Angelis was a few lengths ahead of Dovizioso, then Lorenzo widened to the right of the tunnel and had to let Stoner pass. Randy De Puniet seems to be struggling to keep pace with his predecessors.

On lap 12, Aoyama leads, De Angelis hangs up, Stoner, Lorenzo, Takahashi and Pedrosa have slightly left De Puniet behind. Debon took 10th place from Guintoli. When braking in the tunnel, Pedrosa came alongside Takahashi, but the Japanese delayed his braking and took the opportunity to pass Lorenzo, Pedrosa forced to stay behind the 2 men. Lorenzo passes Takahashi again in the fast right which follows the tunnel. Randy manages to pick up Pedrosa. In the right which precedes the straight line of the tunnel, optimistic Takahashi arrives too hard on Lorenzo, deviates to avoid hitting the Spaniard, sees Pedrosa infiltrate the mouse hole left by the Japanese who must get up and let also pass De Puniet: hot! When braking on the right of the tunnel, Takahashi passes Randy again.

On the 13th lap, Aoyama, De Angelis, Dovizioso and Stoner took advantage of the fight to take a small lead over Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Takahashi and De Puniet. Pedrosa passed 5th in front of Lorenzo on braking the hairpin.

On the 14th lap, Aoyama leads De Angelis, Dovizioso and Stoner by a few lengths, joined by Pedrosa, who set the fastest time. Lorenzo, Takahashi and De Puniet failed to keep pace with the championship leader. De Puniet passed 7th ahead of Takahashi. Pedrosa passed 4th in front of Stoner when the tunnel brakes. On the next round, Stoner returns politeness to the Spanish in the same place.

On the 15th lap, Aoyama still leads a few lengths ahead of De Angelis, Dovizioso, Stoner and Pedrosa come back on the San Marinais, then Lorenzo and De Puniet much further behind Takahashi meter after meter. At the cost of hard braking in gliding, De Angelis gradually returns to Aoyama, Dovizioso, Stoner and Pedrosa stuck to each other do not let go, Lorenzo accelerates again and lets go of Randy De Puniet, Takahashi can no longer keep up..

On lap 16, Aoyama was almost joined by De Angelis, Dovizioso brought back Stoner and Pedrosa, Lorenzo continued his forcing, Randy tried to hang on but barely, and Takahashi was let loose. On the 17th lap, Aoyama was joined by De Angelis, Dovizioso let go of Stoner whose bike moved a lot but Pedrosa could not pass despite a higher speed entering the curve and better stability, Lorenzo nibbled his delay, and De Puniet was behind. his turn dropped.

On the 18th lap, Aoyama got some air again on De Angelis joined by Dovizioso, Stoner and Pedrosa are a few lengths behind, Lorenzo is slowly coming back, and Randy De Puniet is again under threat from Takahashi. Barbera is only 9th, then Debon still contains Guintoli to keep the 10th position. When the tunnel brakes, Pedrosa finally manages to pass 4th in front of Stoner.

On the 19th lap, Aoyama was about thirty meters ahead of De Angelis, Dovizioso and Pedrosa returned like a bullet on the 2 men, Stoner was slightly behind, Lorenzo made the effort to come back, then De Puniet still contained the assaults of Takahashi. When the tunnel brakes, Pedrosa passes 3rd in front of Dovizioso, tries to attack De Angelis at the entrance to the finish chicane, but the hot San Marinese resists and remains 2nd.

Entering the 20th straight line, Pedrosa is wedged into De Angelis’s exhaust and takes full advantage of the suction to take 2nd on the line. But De Angelis delayed his braking at the end of the straight line and passed the world champion again! Behind them, Lorenzo came back on Stoner’s heels, and Takahashi regained 7th place from De Puniet. At the entrance to the right of the tunnel, Pedrosa attempts an outside on De Angelis who resists yet again. Under the tunnel, Dovizioso comes up to Pedrosa, passes him with a better position on the inside, but must deviate to the right before the hairpin to the right of the back of the circuit and let the Spanish pass again.

On the 21st lap, Aoyama seems to have won the race, helped by the fight for 2nd place, Pedrosa still tries to pass De Angelis at the end of the straight line without success, Lorenzo has come back well and passed 4th in front of Stoner and Dovizioso apparently grappling with problems of tires after his mistake in trying to pass Pedrosa on the previous lap. Takahashi is still 7th ahead of De Puniet, Barbera alone 9th, and Debon retains 10th place ahead of Guintoli. At the end of the straight, De Angelis delays his braking to resist Pedrosa, but slips off, loses the rope and sees the Spaniard pass through a mouse hole inside.

When braking from the hairpin to the left, Pedrosa brakes too much on the outside, goes through the dirt past the curb, fails to take the correct line and has to let De Angelis pass. When braking in the tunnel, Pedrosa passed De Angelis again under braking, the San Marinese resisted by keeping up with the Spaniard but the latter closed the door and retained 2nd place. In the next left, De Angelis again delays his braking and takes the 2nd position! Lorenzo takes advantage of the fight between the 2 men to reduce his gap significantly.

At the start of the last lap, Aoyama is too far ahead to be threatened, De Angelis resists Pedrosa at the end of the straight line thanks to a braking from beyond the grave, his motorcycle slips at the entrance of the turn, Lorenzo approaches again, then Stoner alone 5th precedes with a comfortable lead Takahashi who passed Dovizioso, then De Puniet. While braking in the tunnel, De Angelis, trying to resist by delayed braking, lost the rope and had to let Pedrosa pass. Lorenzo came back to a short length of these 2 men !

When braking from the hairpin at the end of the circuit, De Angelis passes Pedrosa again, and Lorenzo, also trying to take advantage of the windfall, crashes into the rear of the No.1 Honda, luckily of no consequence. When braking from the hairpin to the right which precedes the straight line of the tunnel, Lorenzo in a more than aggressive attempt takes the interior in Pedrosa, arrives too quickly in the curve and cannot avoid hitting De Angelis at full angle who was coming back on the rope.

Pedrosa as an experienced pilot passes inside the 2 men on the ground, De Angelis manages to get back on his motorcycle and set off again, Lorenzo, he picks up his friendly machine, makes it fall on the other side and has to give up a few turns of arrival, victim of his excessive temperament. Too bad for De Angelis who had a good race and can only start 7th behind Dovizioso !

In the lead, Aoyama didn’t question himself and crossed the finish line for his well-deserved 1st victory after a weekend he largely dominated. Pedrosa takes the precious points of 2nd place and completes a double for his team, Stoner climbs on an unexpected 3rd step of the podium. Takahashi 4th contained until the end De Puniet 5th, Dovizioso takes 6th position, De Angelis has to be content with 7th after his superb race, Barbera is 8th, Debon 9th and 1st private ahead of Guintoli 10th, Corsi 11th, Jenkner 12th, Giansanti 13th, Baldolini 14th and Rous 15th. Mathieu Ginès, for his 1st race at this level, finished the race 21st and last classified, without conceding 1 lap to the winner: not so bad for a start at the highest level of the French Open champion who is not yet 17 years old !

In the championship, it is of course Dani Pedrosa who does the best operation and now has 226 points, that is to say 63 ahead of Stoner 2nd with 163. Dovizioso is 3rd with 144, Aoyama passes 4th with 123 ahead of De Angelis 109 threatened by De Puniet 108, Porto remains at 105 and passes provisional 7th. Guintoli 11th with 55 remains 1st private in the provisional classification ahead of Debon 13th with 46.

In terms of brands, Honda with 248 is 20 points ahead of Honda 228.

MotoGP Category

It was Loris Capirossi who was consistently very quick throughout practice to take pole position, half a second ahead of another rider equipped with Bridgestone, John Hopkins and the Suzuki. Melandri back in shape completes the 1st row, 1st Michelin driver and also Honda.

Tamada at home on the Honda Minolta precedes Biaggi and Hayden in 2nd row. Gibernau, Roberts and Checa make up the 3rd line. More than 1 second from Capirossi’s stopwatch, Barros, Rossi and Hofmann are in 4th place. Rossi has not qualified so far on a grid since the 2001 German GP (with a starting grid which still had 4 drivers per row, which put him in 3rd and not 5th row), German GP as Vale had won. Motegi sees return of Tohru Ukawa, called in by Sito Pons to replace Troy Bayliss who broke his wrist in motocross.

In the warm-up, Capirossi was again the fastest ahead of Hopkins, but it was Gibernau and Rossi who followed them ahead of Roberts, Tamada, Nakano, Checa, Biaggi, Edwards, Melandri, Hayden and Hofmann. 20 pilots will take the start.

Departure. It was Marco Melandri who was the quickest to launch and made the hole shot in front of Biaggi, Capirossi, Hopkins, Tamada, Hayden, Gibernau, Roberts, Barros and Rossi. When braking the 1st hairpin, Rossi brakes Barros and Roberts and goes 9th. Barros uses the momentum to pass the American and his Suzuki as well. Melandri started very strong and left a slight gap on Biaggi.

Under braking from the left hairpin, Gibernau under threat from Rossi passed Hayden under braking. Checa passes Roberts. When the tunnel brakes, Capirossi passes 2nd in front of Biaggi and Rossi passes 7th in front of Hayden. On lap 1, Melandri took the lead with some 30 meters ahead of Capirossi, Biaggi, Hopkins and Tamada, then Gibernau was under direct threat from Rossi, followed by Hayden, Checa, Barros and Roberts.

When braking at the end of the straight line, Rossi passed 6th in front of Gibernau, and Tamada took 4th place in Hopkins. Naoki Matsudo made a mistake on the Moriwaki and retired from the first lap. In the long right of the tunnel exit, Rossi, stuck in Hopkins’ exhaust, passes him inside the next left despite the American’s resistance..

On the second lap, Melandri still leads ahead of Capirossi, who set the fastest time, Biaggi, then Tamada, slightly off the hook, is under threat from Rossi, ahead of Hopkins, Gibernau, Checa and Hayden. In the hairpin on the right, Hofmann catches Rolfo and leads the 2 men to the fault: it is abandonment.

On the 3rd lap, Melandri was joined by Capirossi, who had another fastest lap, Biaggi, 3rd, was not far away, Rossi, more and more threatening on Tamada, managed to pass him by braking the hairpin on the right, Hopkins was loose. On the 4th lap, Melandri, Capirossi and Biaggi returned lead, Rossi gradually more than 1 s behind the Roman distance, Tamada, Hopkins remained 6th, Checa who climbed passed successively Hayden then Gibernau.

On the 5th lap, Melandri, Capirossi and Biaggi lead, Rossi narrows his delay to less than 1s, Tamada hangs on, then clearly behind Hopkins is under threat from Checa, followed by Gibernau and Hayden.

On the 6th lap, Melandri, Capirossi and Biaggi lead, but Rossi is back tenth after tenth, taking Tamada behind him. Checa passed 6th ahead of Hopkins, Gibernau and Barros. Tohru Ukawa won’t have gone very far on his GP comeback: he retired with a crash after crashing in every practice session. When braking in the chicane that precedes the tunnel straight, Rossi missed his point, widened and lost some of the ground he had just gained from the leaders. Tamada takes the opportunity to put it back together.

At the 7th passage, Melandri, Capirossi who attacks but does not find the fault, then Biaggi still lead, Rossi and Tamada follow, then Checa takes Gibernau, Hopkins, Hayden, Barros, Nakano, Roberts, Edwards and Elias.

On lap 8, Melandri and Capirossi seem to take a bit of air on Biaggi, then Rossi does the same with Tamada. Checa quickly left Gibernau, himself slightly ahead of Hopkins, Hayden and Barros. When the tunnel brakes, Biaggi came back into contact with Capirossi again. Nakano, whose broken engine is on the verge of catching fire, shoots straight into the gravel and quickly pulls away from his motorcycle: it’s abandonment.

On lap 9, Melandri, Capirossi and Biaggi are together in the lead, Rossi and Tamada try to hang on but seem to be struggling, almost 2s behind Biaggi. Checa, Gibernau, Hopkins follow, then Barros passed Hayden for the 9th position. In this lap, Rossi accelerates again and reduces his delay by steps of tenths. At the head, Capirossi tries to pass Melandri but he resists and closes the door in a daring way. In the hairpin bend on the left, Capirossi tries to pass again, manages to do so but cannot keep the advantage, his motorbike jerking with jolts does not allow him to reach the rope: Biaggi takes the opportunity to pass 2nd !

On lap 10, Melandri still leads, but it is Biaggi who follows him, Capirossi who has lost contact sees Rossi and Tamada return. Checa, Gibernau, Hopkins, Barros and Hayden always follow in that order. In this lap, Capirossi put the pressure on and came back quite easily to the 2 leaders, leaving Rossi behind again. When braking in the tunnel, Biaggi delays his braking, passes in front of Melandri but widens and has to let Melandri pass who has almost made a specialty of letting his opponents pass and picking them up immediately in the middle of the curve.

On lap 11, it was therefore still Melandri who led before Biaggi and Capirossi returned, Rossi 4th regained a few steps ahead of Tamada. In the hairpin to the left, Biaggi took advantage of a slight deviation from Melandri’s course to take the lead, this time keeping the rope. Further down, Gibernau made a mistake and retired, unfortunately for him a logical conclusion to a rather difficult weekend. When braking the tunnel, Capirossi brakes Melandri who was slightly behind by Biaggi.

In the 12th lap, Biaggi is 0.37 s ahead of Capirossi, 0.62 s on Melandri, 1.6 s on Rossi, 2 s on Tamada, 8.1 s on Checa, 9.7 s on Hopkins, 10.4 s on Barros, 13.9 s on Edwards and 17.8 s on Roberts. At the exit of the hairpin to the left, Melandri came out very wide into the dirt, came back on the track but saw Rossi practically come back in his exhausts thanks to this mistake. When the tunnel brakes, Capirossi passes Biaggi but the Roman accelerates very early on the exit and immediately regains the lead.

Twist in the same turn, Rossi surprised by an unusual trajectory of Melandri can not avoid hitting his buddy and takes him to the mat. Vale will immediately apologize to Marco visibly injured in the knee. Sorry for not being able to avoid his pal in the maneuver, Rossi walked away with his head bowed, probably more upset that he had caused an injury to Melandri than that he himself lost the race. Suddenly, it is Tamada who inherits the 3rd position behind Biaggi who always manages to contain the attacks of Capirossi.

On the 14th lap, leaders Biaggi and Capirossi take a lap in Battaini who sportingly moved away so as not to interfere with them, Tamada rode alone 3rd, then Checa now 4th largely ahead of Hopkins. At the 15th passage, Biaggi and Capirossi are still wheel to wheel, Tamada alone 3rd, Checa alone 4th, Hopkins alone 5th, Edwards alone 6th, then Hayden and Roberts.

Biaggi put up a magnificent resistance to Capirossi who tried interiors, exteriors, delayed braking, and suddenly made a little accordion, losing ground with each failed attempt to come back and try again. Barros, then 13th, goes in his turn to the fault and gives up.

On lap 16, Biaggi stepped up and managed to take a few steps ahead of Capirossi, Tamada still 3rd, Checa 4th, Hopkins 5th, Edwards 6th. On the 17th lap, Biaggi was 0.4 s ahead of Capirossi, 5.7 s over Tamada, 13 s over Checa, 15.4 s over Hopkins, 22 s over Edwards. In this lap, Capirossi becomes again directly threatening on Biaggi and crosses the 18th straight line in the exhausts of the Roman. Tamada secures his 3rd position, Checa sees Hopkins come back slightly.

Capirossi finally manages to pass Biaggi who widened in the double right at the start of the circuit under the pressure of n ° 65. Capirossi quickly takes a few steps ahead but Biaggi does not give up and comes back on Capirex’s heels.

With 5 laps from the finish, Capirossi seemed to take the measure of his direct opponent who won at 034 seconds, Tamada, Checa, Hopkins and Edwards maintained their positions. Capirossi increases their lead tenth after tenth over Biaggi, much to the chagrin of Honda officials who hoped they could take advantage of Rossi‘s mistake to score at home! On lap 20, Capirossi inexorably increased his lead over the Roman: the gap increased to over 1s.

In the 21st lap, it seems that mass has been said, as Capirossi seems to dominate the subject in front of Biaggi. Tamada holds on. On the 22nd lap, the positions remain frozen, Capirossi puts on a show with slips and heavy braking.

At the start of the last lap, the drivers seem to be content with their respective positions after a race which saw many retirements. Finally, Capirossi crosses the line as the winner, his first victory over the Ducati since the 2003 Catalan GP, ​​he who has already resigned with Ducati for 2006. Biaggi and Tamada complete the podium, then Checa 4th after a good comeback. at the start of the race, the fine result of the Bolognese motorcycles was further enhanced. Hopkins is 5th, Edwards 6th, Hayden 7th, Roberts 8th, Elias 9th, Xaus 10th and Battaini 11th and last classified within 1 round of the winner !

In the standings, Rossi is of course still the leader with 261 points but will not be titled before Malaysia, where he will have to leave with more than 100 points. Biaggi with 149 points consolidates his 2nd provisional place thanks to Melandri’s misadventure, Edwards takes the opportunity to pass 3rd provisional with 133 ahead of Marco Melandri 126, Hayden 121 and Capirossi 117 who passed in front of Gibernau 115 and Barros 114, far ahead of Checa who with 72 double Nakano remained at 69.

On the brand side, Yamaha remains leader with 278 points ahead of Honda 238 and Ducati, which consolidates the 3rd provisional position with 127 ahead of Kawasaki 97 and Suzuki 76. The Gauloises Yamaha team of Rossi and Edwards remains leader with 394 ahead of Repsol 270 which benefits from the falls of Gibernau and Melandri to take off.

A short week and already it will be Sepang, in Malaysia, where Rossi will be keen to erase the unpleasant memory of his fatal mistake to his friend Melandri. A probable title for Il Dottore after the next GP, 4 GP before the end of the season. It would be surprising if the 46 made another mistake, even if this GP reminds us that even he is not a robot but a man, exceptional certainly but also fallible..

At the end of the GP, he will say that "he hopes Marco didn’t hurt himself. We knew it would be a tough race, but the mechanics worked hard to improve the bike during the warm up. During the 1st laps, everything seemed to be going well. I managed to overtake a lot of riders but soon after I started having problems with my front tire. When I got behind the three 1sts, I knew it would have been risky to try to overtake, and expected Loris to pass Max only in the last laps. I also knew I could settle for 4th place to get the world title, so I decided to race with peace of mind. Then Marco made a small mistake and suddenly I found myself behind him. When we approached the curve, we took completely different lines, him more on the outside to cut the corner and have better acceleration on the exit, me who stayed more on the inside. In the 1st 50m of braking we had the same speed, so there was no sign of danger. But he managed to brake a lot harder than I did and I really couldn’t avoid him. I don’t know if it looked good on TV, but I wasn’t looking to overtake him at all. It is simply an unfortunate circumstance. I apologized to Marco, who told me that these are things that happen. I am concerned for him and only hope he hasn’t hurt himself. "

The latest news Marco Melandri is suffering from an injury to his right heel, and it is not yet known whether or not the severity of his injury will prevent him from competing in the Malaysian GP next Sunday.

In 250, Pedrosa should also stride towards his title before his rise in MotoGP on the Honda 800 3 cylinder. Our Randy De Puniet will have to live up to his claims if he wants to ensure a future in the premier class for the moment compromised by his inconstancy.

In 125, let’s hope that the Kallio-Luthi fight will not be arbitrated by the consequences of the Swiss’s shoulder injury, and that our French will find their way back to the places of honor, at least !

See you next Sunday to experience the Malaysian GP !

J. ARSOUILLE – Photos O. BERGAMASCHI and DR

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