Good and bad luck for Repsol riders at the Rio Grand Prix.
Third place for Hayden and fifth for Barros in MotoGP; mechanical failures leave Porto out of the points.
Due to audience reasons, the race that opened the race day in Brazil was the MotoGP class, offering a very intense race with a very surprising winner. The race began with Biaggi in the lead setting a high pace, immediately causing a selection of possible podium candidates: Max Biaggi, Kenny Roberts, Nicky Hayden, Alex Barros, Sete Gibernau, Valentino Rossi and Makoto Tamada were going to fight for the top three places. But the surprises began to show up as the race went on. First it was Gibernau who ruled himself out after coming off the track, only a bit, but enough to touch some bumps that took him to crash in lap four. A couple of laps later the leader of the overall standings and reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi, experienced a similar situation and crashed as well.
In the front, Biaggi, Hayden and Tamada were the ones who finally fought for the podium, while Alex Barros, with tyre problems, lost terrain until crossing the finish line in fifth position after having been passed by Capirossi and his Ducati. Hayden finally wasn’t able to join the fight for the victory and had to settle for third place. The winner of the race was Japanese rider Tamada, who took his first victory in this class. Rubén Xaus, who hasn’t felt comfortable on his bike throughout the weekend on the Brazilian track, finished twelfth.
In the 250, bad luck for Sebastián Porto and the Repsol Aspar Team. After taking the pole yesterday and proving to be one of the firmest candidates for victory, a mechanical failure of his Aprilia hindered him from taking the first place and any chance to even score points that might become especially valuable at the end of the season. The race started with Pedrosa in the lead, setting a very fast pace, Sebastián Porto seventh and Fonsi Nieto eighth. Between the leader of the race and the Argentinean rider, Poggiali, Elias, De Puniet, West and Rolfo were following Pedrosa’s slipstream. Porto patiently began overtaking rivals until putting himself third, one second behind the leaders, Poggiali and Pedrosa. With four laps to go and while he was scratching tenths out of the clock trying to close the gap to the leaders, a failure in the engine of his Aprilia left Sebastián Porto out of the race. Fonsi Nieto, with tyre problems, finished fifth with no options at all to get involved in the fight for the victory. The race winner was Aprilia rider Manuel Poggiali.
Luck wasn’t at the side of the Repsol riders in the minor class either. Sergio Gadea disappeared of the scene in the first corner due to a light crash, while Pablo Nieto, who started from tenth position, could not get closer to the leading group. Once he had managed to overtake the second group and open a gap to contact the leading pack, the three seconds difference were already too much. He finally had to settle for the seventh position. Aprilia rider Hector Barbera took the victory of this race.
