MotoGP Rd 2: Gibernau crashes, Barros/Honda win, Rossi extends title lead

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Barros celebrates after the event

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April 17, 2005 A Honda won the Portugeuse Grand Prix today with World Champion Valentino Rossi second, but it was the Honda of Alex Barros that greeted the chequered flag first not the expected Honda of Sete Gibernau. Gibernau crashed out in light rain while leading the race at mid distance in the first MotoGP race run under the new rain rules which do not allow for race restarts due to rain during the race. Barros’ win was not entirely unexpected. He was the fastest rider in all sessions throughout the weekend, fastest qualifier and appears to have regained the form he last showed at the end of 2002 when he beat Valentino Rossi several times on equal machinery.

For Gibernau, the fact he was leading the race was his downfall. Braking from 330 kmh to a second gear corner, he was the first rider in the field to encounter the heavy rain and subsequent wet track and it caught him out. Sadly, Gibernau had ridden a great race to that point having grabbed the hole shot and pulled out a big lead in the next few laps while the field sorted itself out.

In the first few laps Rossi, Biaggi and finally Barross all fought over second, while Gibernau escaped. By the second lap when Alex Barros had established himself as a clear second, Gibernau was over five seconds in front and going away. As the field began to spread out, Rossi finally pushed past Biaggi for third place, with Rossi’s Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards in fifth, Marco Melandri (Honda) sixth, Suzuki’s John Hopkins in seventh, Ducati’s Carlos Checa in eighth and Troy Bayliss’ Honda in ninth.

The two leading Hondas were clearly in a class of their own – Rossi was not up to staying with Gibernau or Barros today and his main concern for the race was to be Max Biaggi, who stalked him from the early laps until the final laps.

Throughout the Portugal weekend rain was never far away. In previous years during a MotoGP race, with an entire field on slick tyres suddenly confronted with rain, the race was invariably stopped by the riders. New rules for this year though made for some interesting viewing.

Once rain begins to fall on the circuit, under the new rules the marshals put out the white flag, indicating that riders can now call in for a NEW BIKE, shod with whatever tryes they choose. Interestingly, though rain began to fall lightly on the tenth lap, with the white flag being waved around the circuit, no-one called in for rain tyres, electing to continue on slicks in the light rain rather than give up hard won race position. It is ironic that a rule designed for safety should actually cause the opposite as no-one was prepared to sacrifice the 20 seconds required for a bike change. If the rain had been heavier, no doubt it would have become worthwhile.

With a change of bike taking up too much time in conditions that did not warrant full wet tyres, riders had to cope with the slippery surface on slick tyres – and it proved too much for six riders, the most high profile faller being Gibernau.

Gibernau was the first to crash, with Team Suzuki rider Hopkins the second unlucky victim of the downpour. While Gibernau saw his championship hopes severely dinted by his fall, Hopkins was equally devastated as he saw his first real chance for a big result go with the fall. Hopkins has been “the man most likely” for the last few practice and race meetings, and had qualified on the fourth row of the grid and had ridden into a strong seventh place he slid off just past the halfway stage.

So with half the race still to go, Barros had a massive lead over Rossi, with Biaggi close to Rossi in third, and a race long duel between Marco Melandri and Colin Edwards elevated to the battle for fourth place. Ducati’s Carlos Checa was in sixth, Bayliss was seventh and Nicky Hayden eighth.

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