MotoGP Japan: Rossi crashes, Ducati wins
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MotoGP Japan: Rossi crashes, Ducati wins
Image Gallery ( 28 images )September 18, 2005 Loris Capirossi took the Ducati Desmosedici to its second Grand Prix win at Motegi here today, winning at Honda’s own circuit, and relegating the Honda RC211Vs of Max Biaggi (Repsol) and Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta) into second and third place in front of 68,000 fans. The race was one of massive attrition with nine of the 20 starters failing to finish, among them championship leader Valentino Rossi, and leading contenders Marco Melandri, Alex Barros, Sete Gibernau and Shinya Nakano.
For Capirossi, it was a dream weekend – he qualified on pole, half a second faster than anyone else in the field, and a full 1.2 seconds faster than Rossi, prompting the champion elect to pay the ultimate compliment to his friend and countryman when he said after practice, “I think all the riders can only dream about the pace Capirossi had today.” In the race, Capirossi and the Ducati were the best combination on the day and unlike his prior win where he was clearly not as quick as Rossi, this time he would have won the race regardless of Rossi's crash. Congratulations to Loris and Ducati.
It was Ducati's second win in MotoGP, and Capirossi's tenth podium finish on a Ducati in MotoGP. It was also the first MotoGP win for an Italian rider on an Italian bike in Japan. Such was Capirossi's early pace that he broke the previous lap record at the second attempt, then again on lap three, dipping under the magic 1'48 bracket to record a new lap record of 1'47.968. His desire to lead took him inside Marco Melandri on lap 10 but he pushed the front too hard on the final left of the lap and almost fell, recovering to rejoin third. He regained second on lap seven, and took the lead on lap 19, to enjoy a final margin of victory of 1.479 seconds.
"It's fantastic for everyone involved in the team," said Livio Suppo, Ducati MotoGP Project Manager. "It was especially satisfying to win here in Japan. A win is a win, but here it is even better. We must thank Loris first of all, because he rode perfectly the whole weekend, then Bridgestone, because the tyres worked well all weekend, and of course the guys who have been working on the bikes, both here and back in Italy. It's not just the tyre and the rider; it is also the machine. It is a dream that has come true. Carlos also made a good race, and even if a lot of people crashed he was still not far away. A good team result and very good for our morale, with the next races coming up so soon."
Loris Capirossi took the jump from 2005 podium finisher to race winner at Motegi, fighting hard in the early laps with Marco Melandri and Max Biaggi, but easing away in the final laps to score a clear win. He earned himself sixth place in the championship standings, as well as his victory.
“It's great to take the win today, but it has not just been about today," stated Capirossi. "From Friday to Saturday to the race it has been good for Ducati Marlboro, for Bridgestone, for the team. Bridgestone made a great job here at Motegi and the tyres have been working well; we did a lot of consecutive laps in practice at high speed. I had good rhythm in the race but sometimes when I tried to overtake I was past the limit. When I went into the lead I knew I was faster than Max and then I knew it would be my race. It's great to win for Ducati and Bridgestone in Japan."
The stop-start Motegi circuit had caused considerable set-up problems for both GauloisesYamaha M1s, and putting Rossi in his lowest qualifying position since he qualified 11th at the German GP in 2001. Last year at Qatar, he was relegated to the rear of the grid due to the now infamous Gibernau team protest, but had actually qualified higher. Rossi’s remarks were to prove ominous. “The last time I was so far back on the grid was at Qatar last year but I made a lot of positions up over the first four laps so I will try to do that again, only this time finish the race!”
Indeed, Rossi made a blinding start from eleventh on the grid and passed seven riders by the fourth lap. Seven laps later he suddenly came together with Marco Melandri (Honda) as they pitched into the notorious turn ten and collided into the gravel, leaving Max Biaggi (Honda) and Loris Capirossi (Ducati) clear at the front. The race was eventually won by Capirossi, who passed Biaggi six laps from the end and opened up a 1.4 second advantage to claim his first win of the season.
This was a fast-paced race with a close grid determined to get through the difficult turn one without incident. The field managed to negotiate the corner successfully and it was Marco Melandri (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) who hit the front from the off.
