MotoGP – The Portuguese Grand Prix turn by turn –

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The Portuguese Grand Prix turn by turn

MotoGP - The Portuguese Grand Prix turn by turn -

Free practice in the rain, track drying to dry in the afternoon and less grip on the second day than on the first. Enough to disrupt the development of the machines and fuel the suspense … The turn by turn.

Free practice in the rain, track drying to dry in the afternoon and less good grip on the second day than on the first. Enough to disrupt the development of the machines and fuel the suspense … The turn by turn.

125

The leader is here again: Dovizioso, very domineering in the dry without demerit in the rain, is comfortable everywhere. He had the best time of the 2 qualifying sessions, even if his best time was achieved the day before. Pole therefore for the boss of the 125, accompanied by his young teammate Corsi, 17, who made his best place on the grid, Stoner and Locatelli. In 2nd row, Simoncelli, Giansanti, Lorenzo and Jenkner are on the lookout. Kallio, Barbera, Nieto and Lai form the 3rd row. Mike Di Meglio, decidedly not up to his start to the season or the hopes that the French supporters have placed in him, is 23rd on the grid. Marketa Janakova, the young Czech, qualified in 34th and last position after showing good dispositions in the wet, which proves that her driving is not the only cause for this modest place. Remember that Julian Simon, who had shown very good progress, is forfeited due to a broken collarbone: you do not take logs without consequences, even when you are progressing !

In the warm-up, Stoner set the best time in the morning, beating Dovizioso’s qualifying time, but not De Angelis’ record time last year … Favorite Dovizioso was not far away, second with him also driven faster than in practice, followed by Barbera, Corsi who confirms, Simoncelli, Bautista, Giansanti, Jenkner, Nieto and Locatelli disappointing 10th in fastest time but still present in the race. Di Meglio clocked 18th, a little better than his position on the grid but 2s behind Stoner: it will still be difficult for the young Frenchman !

Departure :

Dovizioso misses his start and finds himself around 10th place. It was Locatelli who made the hole shot in front of Corsi, who took the lead on the next braking. Follow Stoner, Kallio, Giansanti, Lai, Simoncelli, Talmacsi and Dovizioso. From the 2nd braking, Jenkner got off to a bad start, who was trying to brake on Pasini, goes to the fault and falls, Pasini being forced to pull straight to avoid the German’s bike! Pasini sets out again in the race but Jenkner’s motorcycle is destroyed after several rollovers. Di Meglio started off better than usual and is in 17th position. Quickly, Stoner was second in front of Locatelli. Shortly after, Kallio in turn passed the Italian to take 3rd. Dovizioso passed 8th in front of Talmacsi. Di Meglio is 16th. In the 1st straight, Stoner takes the lead ahead of Corsi, Kallio, Locatelli, Lai, Giansanti, Simoncelli, Dovizioso, Talmacsi, Perugini, Ballerini, Nieto, Bautista and Barbera. Di Meglio is 16th ahead of Lorenzo who started badly. Dovizioso on the attack brakes Giansanti and Simoncelli and passes 6th! Corsi returns to Stoner. The three leaders took several lengths at Dovizioso who passed 4th ahead of Lai and Locatelli. Stoner passes Corsi again at the entrance to the chicane. On the second lap, Dovizioso, author of the best time, took advantage of the fight in the lead to get back on the first. The 2 KTMs take advantage of their speed to pass Corsi, Stoner in the lead. Then follow Lai, Locatelli, Simoncelli, Perugini. Corsi attacks Kallio who resists: the two motorcycles touch each other. Kallio is forced to deviate, which Dovizioso takes advantage of to pass 3rd! Locatelli misses his braking, pulls aside and lets a hole form between him and the six leaders. Talmacsi took advantage of the error to pass 7th in front of Locatelli, imitated by Simoncelli. Ballerini and Giansanti hang on, fall and give up. In the third straight, Dovizioso took advantage of the aspiration to take the lead, Corsi in his wheel. But under braking the two KTMs are carried inside the young Italian, Stoner in the middle and Kallio inside. On re-acceleration, Kallio is 2nd, Stoner 3rd, Corsi 4th and Lai almost hit him while trying to take advantage of a better exit from the curve: hot! Suddenly, Dovizioso who was not threatened has taken a few good steps ahead! Simoncelli passed Lai in force while Barbera, who was climbing very hard, returned to the lead, leading his teammate Bautista. Kallio tries to get back on Dovizioso and distance Corsi. Seeing the first start, Stoner rushed through the entrance to the chicane. On the 4th lap, Dovizioso, who improved his times even further, was well in the lead ahead of Kallio alone in 2nd, Stoner, Corsi, Simoncelli, Lai, Barbera author of the best lap and Perugini. Barbera passes 6th in front of Lai.

At the start of the 5th straight line, a dramatic turn of events: Stoner slows down sharply instead of accelerating and Corsi, in full acceleration, hits the KTM exhaust and falls in the middle of the straight line! Fortunately, in trying to dodge Stoner, he strayed from course and was not struck by any of the following, seemingly coming out with a sore right hand. Dovizioso therefore leads ahead of Kallio, Simoncelli, Barbera, Lai, Perugini, Talmacsi and Locatelli. Stoner gives up at the end of the straight, his completely twisted exhaust preventing him from cornering to the right! We later learned that he was the victim of a box boredom. Barbera moved up to 3rd in front of Simoncelli, the positions having stretched even further after the crash of Corsi and the retirement of Stoner.

Photo O. BERGAMASCHI

On the 6th lap, Dovizioso is the only leader, Kallio only 2nd, Barbera alone 3rd, Simoncelli let go by the young Spanish lone 4th. A group of four follows: Locatelli returned to 5th in front of Lai, Perugini and Talmacsi, a group to which Nieto returns, followed a little further by Lorenzo. Bautista, Pesek and Di Meglio 13th. In the 7th lap, Dovizioso was still a solid leader, Kallio 2nd saw Barbera come back to him. Further on, Simoncelli 4th got back up by Locatelli and Perugini who overtook Lai, Nieto 8th having passed Talmacsi. Nieto passes Lai, the Italian resists and passes, but Nieto passes him again. At the entrance of the chicane, Barbera came back on Kallio’s heels! In the 8th straight line, Barbera passes 2nd in front of Kallio! Locatelli and Perugini joined Simoncelli, Locatelli quickly overtaking him to take 4th. On lap 9, Kallio caught on Barbera’s wheel to catch up with Dovizioso who was 1.4sec ahead, as did Simoncelli behind Locatelli, both men having let go of Perugini. Simoncelli passes Locatelli but comes out too wide and has to let him pass. New twist: Dovizioso suddenly slows down while turning around and sees Barbera then Kallio pass at the chicane! He will return to the pits on the next lap, his rear tire punctured by a screw !

On lap 10, Barbera passed, 0.9sec ahead of Kallio. Locatelli is at 3.8 s, Simoncelli at 4.1 s, Perugini at 4.9 s and the unfortunate Dovizioso sees them all pass in the same straight line … Nieto is 7th at 5.7 s, Lorenzo at 6 , 4 s, Bautista at 6.7 s, Lai and Talmacsi and Pesek at 7 s, Di Meglio at 10 s, Luthi and Rodriguez at 16 s. Shortly after, Locatelli missed his braking in front of Simoncelli and went out into the gravel to avoid a crash. He will resume the track in 11th position behind Mike Di Meglio. On the 11th lap, behind Barbera, Kallio and Simoncelli, Lorenzo and Nieto are now leading the chase ahead of Perugini and Bautista. Luthi passed Rodriguez at the end of the straight, the young Spaniard with a mechanical problem shoots straight into the gravel and retires. On the 12th lap, while Kallio seemed to gradually come back to Barbera at the head of the race, Lorenzo and Nieto let go of Perugini, Bautista, Pesek and Talmacsi. In the 13th straight, Kallio came within a second of Barbera and Nieto tried unsuccessfully to pass Lorenzo, the group having reformed except for Talmacsi who struggled to keep up. On lap 14, Kallio was just a few lengths behind Barbera and Nieto managed to grab 4th place at the expense of Lorenzo. Bautista passed Perugini. Nieto immediately took a few steps ahead of Lorenzo, attacked by Bautista. All come back to Simoncelli! In the 15th straight line, Kallio takes the lead in front of Barbera! Locatelli moved back to 10th ahead of Di Meglio is at 15s, the French taking the wheel of the Italian. Luthi is 12th at 23s. In the lead, Barbera takes the wheel of Kallio, visibly surprised by the return of the Finn. Nieto returns like a plane to Simoncelli. On the 16th lap, Barbera regained the lead from Kallio and Nieto passed 3rd in front of Simoncelli who came back but pulled out, Nieto again taking 3rd place. Talmacsi passes Perugini and Bautista. In the 17th lap, Barbera passed the leader, Kallio in his wheel. Simoncelli passes Nieto again, who immediately passes him back! Lorenzo lets go of Bautista, Perugini, Lai and Talmacsi and takes advantage of the fight between Nieto and Simoncelli to come back to them. On the 18th lap, Simoncelli came back to third in the draw ahead of Nieto. Lorenzo and Bautista nibble at their delay meter after meter. On the 19th lap, it was Nieto who passed Simoncelli again on suction, Simoncelli on braking again! Halfway through the circuit, Lorenzo and Bautista got back into the wheels of Simoncelli and Nieto.

Photo O. BERGAMASCHI

In front, on lap 20, Barbera regained 0.6sec of lead over Kallio, Simoncelli, who overtook Nieto, took Lorenzo and Bautista 9s later. Nieto, Bautista and Lorenzo presenting themselves together under braking. Nieto and Lorenzo fail to touch each other in the curve. Nieto almost collided with Simoncelli on the exit and took advantage of the momentum to take 3rd! Lorenzo also took advantage of Simoncelli’s hesitation to move up to 4th. With two laps to go, Kallio got back into Barbera’s wheel and passed him in favor of a mistake by the Spaniard who came out too wide. But at the entrance of the chicane, Barbera brakes again! At the start of the last lap, Barbera and Kallio are way ahead. Nieto sees Lorenzo return who let go of Bautista and Simoncelli, Talmacsi and Pesek 2 seconds later. Bautista passes Simoncelli. In the lead, Barbera managed to take Kallio 1 or 2 lengths ahead of the long straight ahead of the finish, thus avoiding the draw. Barbera wins ahead of Kallio, who scores his best result of the season. Nieto is 3rd at the finish line, but Lorenzo just behind him takes the suction and dislodges him just before the line to steal 3rd place at the very last moment! Bautista retains 5th place ahead of Simoncelli 6th, Talmacsi 7th and Pesek 8th who also made his best result. Locatelli finally saves 7 points from 9th place ahead of Perugini 10th, Di Meglio 11th, his best ranking since Barcelona, ​​Lai 12th, Gadea 13th, Giuseppetti 14th and Borsoi 15th.

In the championship, Dovizioso made a bad deal with his puncture, remaining provisional leader with 183 points. Good operation for Barbera who took 25 points from him, passing 2nd in the standings with 163 points. Overly optimistic Locatelli took only 7 with 154, Lorenzo remained 4th with 125, Nieto passed 5th with 114 ahead of Stoner who made his 4th white result in a row … Jenkner 7th with 83 and Giansanti 8th with 79, because of them also of their white result, see return Bautista 74, Kallio 73 and Simoncelli 69 … Enough to fuel the suspense as much in the head as for the accessits! Dovizioso, touched by bad luck in his turn, must regain the big points to maintain his leadership, which Barbera and Locatelli ask only to challenge him! Di Meglio, he returned to 15th place, tied with Pasini, the teammate of Locatelli.

250

As in 125, the leader answered present: Pedrosa, the only one of the first five on the grid to have improved his time on the second day, took pole. Porto, Elias and De Puniet are at his side in the front row. In second place, only De Angelis qualified with less than a second against the clock with Pedrosa. Nieto 6th is already beyond. Debon and Poggiali complete the 2nd line. Aoyama, Battaini, West and Baldolini make up the 3rd row. Guintoli, who is still suffering from the consequences of his fall in Brno is 15th, Marchand 20th, Nigon 22nd, Vincent 25th, Leblanc who broke his 5th metatarsal the day before in practice 26th and Bataille 27th. In the warm-up, Toni Elias was the fastest ahead of Porto, De Angelis, Pedrosa, De Puniet, Poggiali, Battaini, West, Aoyama and Debon. The French are in difficulty in Portugal, apart from Marchand who takes the 15th fastest time in the morning, Guintoli making the 20th.

Departure

Porto took the lead followed by Pedrosa, Nieto, Elias, Debon, De Puniet, Poggiali, West, Aoyama, Rolfo, De Angelis and Bataille started very well. Elias passes Nieto who replies, Debon taking the opportunity to also pass Elias. Randy passes 5th in front of Debon. Aoyama and Rolfo pass West. On the first lap, Porto led alone, Pedrosa and Elias wheel to wheel, De Puniet passing Nieto in the aspiration a little further. Debon, Poggiali, Aoyama, Rolfo, West, De Angelis, Bataille, Battaini, Faubel, Olive and Guintoli follow. Marchand is 23rd, Vincent 25th, Nigon 27th. Elias passed 2nd in front of Pedrosa when braking at the end of the straight line. Randy, well back, also passes Pedrosa who turns around, which is not at all in his habits. Arnaud Vincent shoots straight into the gravel and falls. On the second lap, Porto, the only leader, saw Elias and De Puniet return with the fastest lap, Pedrosa a little further leading Nieto, then Debon, De Angelis and Aoyama a few lengths away. On the third lap, Porto saw Elias return, who had set the fastest time and who gradually let go of De Puniet and Pedrosa. Nieto 5th saw De Angelis return past 6th ahead of Debon, Aoyama, West, Poggiali and Rolfo a few lengths away. Aoyama too optimistic goes out in the gravel but takes the track again. On lap 4, as Elias nibbled away from Porto, Pedrosa seemed unable to keep pace with the start of the race. Bataille is 13th, Guintoli 15th. De Angelis takes 4th place ahead of Nieto, who returns but widens, the Italian then settling ahead of the Spaniard.

Photo Jean-Marc LISSE

In the 5th lap, Elias always returns to Porto. De Puniet fails to follow him, as does Pedrosa. De Angelis left behind Nieto who sees Debon and West return to his wheel, Poggiali a few lengths behind them. Rolfo, Battaini and Faubel then Bataille, Olive, Aoyama and Guintoli form two groups still further afield. Debon passes Nieto at the cost of superb braking, quickly imitated by West, then shortly after by Poggiali: Nieto is adrift! In the lead on the 7th lap, Elias, once again with the fastest lap, returned to the wheel of Porto. On the 8th lap, the positions in front of him remain unchanged. Randy is 1.6s behind Elias, De Angelis improves his times and drops even more West who overtook Debon.

It was in the 10th lap that Elias, at the cost of a constant attack, managed to take the lead of the race in Porto, who took advantage of the suction to come back but Elias immediately redoubled thanks to a better exit. turn. Randy is at 2.5 s, Pedrosa at 5 s, De Angelis at 7 s, West at 13 s, Debon and Poggiali at 14 s, Rolfo, Battaini and Faubel at 22 s, Aoyama who returns after his gardening at 25 s, Olive and Davies at 31 s. Guintoli is 20th. In the lead, Elias, who was faster in the first part of the circuit, took some distance from Porto. But the Argentinian is faster in the 2nd part! He came back on himself at the entrance to the finish line and took the lead on the 11th lap. De Angelis came back less than 2 seconds behind Pedrosa. On lap 13, Elias, who as usual turns around, sees that he has managed to take a few steps ahead of Porto in this lap: 0.5 seconds between the two men. Battle which has demoted is 19th, Guintoli 20th, Marchand 21st, Nigon 22nd, Leblanc 26th. On lap 14, Porto, at the cost of their personal best, returned to Elias’s wheel. The fight is further on: Rolfo, Nieto, Faubel and Aoyama who has just passed Battaini are fighting for 9th place. Bataille took 18th place at Sekiguchi and Stigefelt took 22nd at Nigon. Aoyama passes Faubel. Battle which just had its best lap passes 16th ahead of Olive.

Photo Jean-Marc LISSE

On lap 16, Elias managed to keep Porto behind him. De Puniet lost ground. Pedrosa improves his times and De Angelis does not take anything back. Elias warmed up to the acceleration, Porto taking the opportunity to get back on the heels of the Honda again. On the 17th lap, Elias saw Porto come up to him at the end of the straight line, without success at first, but further on, Porto made a decisive attack and took the lead! On the 19th lap, Elias made the fastest lap in the race and stayed on Porto’s heels. Bataille came back 15th ahead of Olive. Elias passed Porto but widened in sliding, Porto immediately taking the lead. Randy De Puniet lost a second in this lap !

On lap 20, Pedrosa was just 1.4s behind De Puniet as De Angelis could no longer keep up with the little Spaniard. Porto takes the lead again, Elias passing again at the cost of a somewhat risky braking in sliding, which Porto will not fail to point out to him with force signs "knock, knock, knock" on the helmet while rising to his height in the 21st straight line ! But far from worrying about it, Elias maintains his place at the cost of new braking in sliding! Pedrosa accelerates again and comes back within a second of De Puniet! On lap 22, Porto was still in Elias’s wheel and Pedrosa almost got back on Randy. Victim of a technical problem, Nieto gives up. On the next lap, Pedrosa was only 0.3s behind Randy De Puniet! With two laps to go, while Elias managed to contain Porto, De Puniet managed to regain another 0.2s advantage over Pedrosa. At the start of the last lap, Pedrosa came back on the Frenchman’s heels. Guintoli gives up, victim of too much pain. Elias, who turns again, manages to keep a few steps ahead of Porto. Pedrosa attacks De Puniet who resists and retains his 3rd place. Elias resisted until the end and won in front of Porto, De Puniet entered the straight line with Pedrosa in his wheel, the Spaniard climbed back up, dislocated before the finish line, but failed by nothing (7 / 1000ths)! De Angelis is 5th, West once again first private 6th, Poggiali 7th, Debon 8th, Aoyama 9th, Rolfo 10th, Faubel 11th, Battaini 12th, Bataille 13th, Smrz 14th and Heidolf 15th. Marchand is 19th, Nigon 21st and Leblanc 22nd.

Photo Jean-Marc LISSE

In the championship, a good deal for Porto, Pedrosa still being the provisional leader with 209 points. Randy De Puniet who grabbed him 3 points is 2nd with 182 points and Porto who took 7 from the Spanish comes back to 173. Elias is 4th with 122 points, De Angelis 104 passes 5th provisionally in front of Nieto 94, West coming back just behind him with 88, Aoyama 87, Rolfo 83 and Poggiali more and more outgoing champion 79. As in 125, the positions are tightening in the head and above all, Pedrosa was not dominating in the dry as it was so often the case in the first part of the season: enough to fuel the wishes of Randy De Puniet and Porto !

MotoGP

Surprise: Tamada polishes the favorites by taking the 1st pole of his young career in MotoGP, with a superb time on Saturday. Neither Rossi 2nd nor Gibernau 3rd improved their times on Friday. The Italian genius says he could have improved if he had not been corked in his fastest lap, but will have to be satisfied with good tests, including in the rain and in mixed conditions, which suggests good tussles at the end of the season! In 2nd row, Biaggi, Barros and Hopkins who are aiming for the podium are in ambush. The championship leaders are again at the forefront! Melandri dressed in the colors of Spiderman, Edwards and Kenny Roberts form the 3rd row. Checa, Capirossi and Nakano are in 4th, Bayliss, Abe and Hogdson in 5th. In the warm up, Rossi confirms his excellent tests by setting the best time of the morning ahead of Kenny Roberts, Gibernau, Biaggi, Hopkins, Capirossi, Tamada, Edwards, Barros, Checa, Abe, Bayliss and Melandri.

Departure

It was Capirossi, emerging from his 10th position on the grid, who made the hole shot! Biaggi, Tamada, Rossi, Melandri, Gibernau, Barros, Hopkins and Edwards follow. From the first corner, Rossi passes Tamada, then Biaggi in the next corner! Rossi unsuccessfully attacked Capirossi while Gibernau tried unsuccessfully to take 5th place from Melandri. On the contrary, it was Barros who passed Gibernau at the next bend: it started very strong !

At the entrance to the chicane, Rossi takes the lead in front of Capirossi. Seeing Capirossi move away, Biaggi rather optimistically tries to pass too but realizing too late of his excess, he tries to brake to avoid Capirossi at the cost of a big stop, but hits the rear wheel of the Ducati and fall. Capirossi, unbalanced but remaining on his wheels, got out of the way and saw the majority of the pilots pass in front of him, losing all the benefit of his excellent start….

Biaggi tries to raise his bike but does not succeed alone and his engine stalls when the marshals rushed to help him straighten it: abandonment in the first lap for the Roman…

Thus, on the 1st lap, Rossi goes well ahead of Tamada, Melandri, Barros, Gibernau, Hopkins who overtook Checa, Kenny Roberts and Edwards. Capirossi is in 20th place behind Ellison and the WCM! Barros attacks and passes Melandri. Gibernau, in force, also passes the young Italian.

Photo Jean-Marc LISSE

In the second lap, Rossi, who is putting on the gas and doing the best lap, took a few lengths on Tamada, Barros even further followed by Gibernau 2s behind Dottore. Melandri is 5th ahead of Hopkins, Checa and Edwards. Checa passes Hopkins under braking at the end of the straight. Capirossi goes back to 17th place.

On lap 3, Tamada had the fastest lap, but he did not catch Rossi much. Gibernau is already 2.6s from the Italian! Checa passed Melandri on braking but pulled away, letting him pass. On the 4th lap, Rossi set the best time again, gradually setting off as in the good old days … Checa again passed Melandri under braking, but the Italian who had anticipated the maneuver returned to acceleration, the two men having taken a comfortable lead over Hopkins and his Suzuki. On the 6th lap, Rossi further increased his lead. Only Capirossi changed the positions with a fantastic comeback: for his 100th grand prix in the premier category, he ran in the fastest lap times, except Rossi.

Photo Jean-Marc LISSE

On the 6th lap, Melandri who goes down his lap returns to Gibernau with a big attack, his bike moving a lot. The young Italian who had to force too much brakes on the white dirt-covered line, loses the front and falls heavily, luckily without physical damage. The same cannot be said of his motorbike, totally destroyed by an impressive series of barrels. Gibernau gradually came back on Barros’ heels but in the following laps, Rossi drove the point home and rolled 2 to 3 / 10ths faster than his direct opponents: 3 s in front of Tamada and almost 5 seconds in front of Barros … After his passage at Yam, will we have to give a WCM to the incredible Dottore so that its competitors have a little glimmer of hope? ?

Photo Jean-Marc LISSE

On the 10th lap, Rossi, Tamada, Barros and Gibernau maintained their positions. The very domineering Rossi looks like he could not be worried about today. Checa 5th and Hopkins 6th are far behind the four leaders. On lap 11, Edwards passed Bayliss for 7th place. Capirossi passes 10th ahead of Xaus. On the next lap, it was again Bayliss who passed Edwards. The positions of the first are frozen and the large gaps mean that there are very few overtaking. On lap 12, Capirossi 9th came back within range of Edwards, the Desmosedici seeming to have to escape him at any moment because the little Italian attacked! On the 14th lap, Gibernau was 2 lengths behind Barros and Capirossi passed Edwards in the straight line: he was 8th! On the 15th lap, Rossi was 3.3 s ahead of Tamada who had just gained 0.5 s, 6.5 s on Barros followed by Gibernau whose motorcycle moved more and more, 13.8 s on Checa , 15.6 s on Hopkins, 17.5 s on Bayliss, 18.2 s on Capirossi which swoops down on the Australian, 18.9 s on Edwards, 20.4 s on Abe and 23 s on Xaus and Roberts. Only Tamada seems able to worry Valentino a little. Nakano 15th entered the points.

On the 16th lap, Rossi, who sensed Tamada’s return, rolled again 1 / 10th faster than the Japanese and managed his gap royally. Victim of a technical problem with his Ducati, Hogdson shoots straight ahead and almost drag Mac Williams into the gravel pit. On the next lap, Tamada, who accelerated again, again reduced her delay over Rossi by 2 / 10th. Meanwhile, Capirossi took 8th place ahead of teammate Bayliss and Nakano moved up to 13th ahead of Mac Williams. Gibernau does not really manage to pick up Barros who continue to protect themselves from the attacks of the Spaniard. On lap 17, Hopkins came within a second of Checa, Capirossi continuing his comeback behind him. On lap 18 Tamada on the attack regained another 2 / 10th from Rossi, the gap being just 2.7sec. Xaus in turn got into trouble with his Ducati and gave up.

On lap 20, the gap between the two leaders was only 2.4 seconds and Tamada on his Bridgestones was the fastest on the track. Barros and Gibernau are 8.2 s behind Vale, Checa at 16.7 s, Hopkins at 17.5 s, Capirossi at 20.7 s, Bayliss at 22.3 s, Edwards at 23.2 s and Abe at 23 , 6 s. On the next lap, Tamada gives back his hand a little and his gap with Rossi goes back to 2.8 seconds. On the 22nd lap, Rossi increased his lead to 3.2 s. Gibernau, glued to the wheel of Barros, does not manage to really worry the Brazilian who confirms his reputation as a big brakeman. On lap 23, as Nakano passed Kenny Roberts and Rossi was again 4s ahead of Tamada, Hopkins got back into Checa’s wheel. On lap 25, Rossi further increased his lead over Tamada, bringing it to 4.3 s. Barros and Gibernau were at 10.2 seconds and Checa at 19.3 seconds managed to keep Hopkins 0.5 seconds behind him. Capirossi at 24.1 s, is 1 s ahead of Bayliss. Rossi takes a ride on Ellison.

With two laps to go, Rossi is 4.4 seconds ahead. Tamada assures and Gibernau does his best to get past Barros. The Honda of the two men move more and more but the Brazilian still contains the attacks of the Spaniard. At the start of the last lap, Rossi was 4.7 seconds ahead of Tamada who relaxed in order to settle for a very nice 2nd place. Barros and Gibernau are still on maximum attack, the brakes of the Brazilian blocking any attempt by the Catalan entering the curve. Entering the straight, Rossi, after turning around to secure his lead, wheeled the finish straight away, imitated shortly after by Tamada. A few seconds later, Barros and Gibernau come out wheel after wheel. Gibernau trying to accelerate harder out of a corner outside the Brazilian, going into the dirt beyond the curb, but to no avail. Barros passes 3rd, Gibernau 4th.

This is the first time this season that Gibernau has finished a race without reaching the podium: a sign? Checa 5th also managed to contain the assaults of Hopkins 6th. Capirossi 7th after a fantastic race must bitterly regret Biaggi’s fault, which probably cost him a podium. Bayliss is 8th, Edwards 9th, Abe 10th, Nakano 11th, Mac Williams 12th, Hofmann 13th, Kenny Roberts 14th and Aoki 15th. The only one to finish the race without a point is Ellison, who is also the only one to have taken a lap.

Photo Jean-Marc LISSE

In the drivers’ championship, it is obviously Rossi who makes the big deal, consolidating his 1st provisional place with 209 points, or 29 ahead of Gibernau 2nd at 180, and especially 51 over Biaggi 3rd, stuck at 158 ​​after his big mistake in the first round ! Edwards 4th with 111 points is now the only driver to have scored points in all races this season, but Barros 5th with 102 returns to his basques … Checa, 6th with 93 points, sees Tamada and his 89 points to him. already allowed to take 7th place in Capirossi. Hayden 9th remains at 83 points after two scoreless races.

On the constructors side, Honda still leads with 245 points ahead of Yamaha 2nd, which takes 5 points with 224, ahead of Ducati 102, Suzuki 58 and Kawasaki 51. Finally, on the teams side, Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha with 302 points takes the lead ahead of Telefonica Movistar 291 and Camel Honda 247. The official Honda team is still losing ground, 4th with 185 having lost 12 points from its lead over Ducati Marlboro (126).

Photo Jean-Marc LISSE

What if Rossi had definitely pushed the competition down, he who did not start as a favorite on a circuit supposed to be bad for him? MotoGP is in any case the only category where the leader has consolidated his lead, but it should be surprising when Rossi, for his 135th start in Grand Prix, takes his 65th victory, the 39th in the premier class and the 6th of the season in 11 races? Whether he finishes champion or not, he has already left his mark on motorcycle racing history … And who would complain, apart from those who have neither Eurosport nor Moto-Net, of course ? See you on Sunday September 19 at Motegi !

J. ARSOUILLE

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