A penalty imposed on Rossi hinders the Repsol rider from achieving a triple victory at the British GP.
After Valentino Rossi’s victory in MotoGP, a ten seconds penalty for overtaking during yellow flag sets him back to the third position. Nieto wins in 250 and Barberá in 125.
What could have been a great day for the Repsol riders at the British Grand Prix, with a triple victory starred by Rossi, Nieto and Barberá, ended up with a double victory of Fonsi Nieto and Héctor Barberá. After winning the race, the organisation imposed a ten seconds penalty on the Repsol rider Valentino Rossi. They consider that he overtook another rider with yellow flags being waved at the circuit, while the assistances were retiring Ukawa’s bike after his crash in the second lap. With regard to the race as such, Rossi didn’t want any surprise today and despite a bad start, it took him only three laps to put himself second right behind Biaggi. Max had set a very fast past since the race start, what made him, Rossi and Gibernau open a gap leaving the rest of the pack behind. Some laps later, Gibernau was no longer able to keep up settling for a third place he didn’t loose until taking the chequered flag. It seemed as if the race would be a fight between Biaggi and Rossi, but Biaggi made a mistake in the chicane that made him loose the leading position, setting him back to second behind Rossi. With three top places decided, the emotion focussed on the fight for the intermediate positions, where Nicky Hayden has been fighting hard on a circuit had visited for the first time this weekend. Having to face much more experienced riders than him, such as Jacque, Haga, Checa and Edwards, Hayden finally managed to take the eighth position.
In the 250 GP the race has been a contest between Fonsi Nieto and Manuel Poggiali, although it was Toni Elias who had been fighting with the San Marino rider at the beginning of the race. Unfortunately, he went off the track after half of the race, what made him loose contact with the leading pack. Despite Poggiali’s pressure, Nieto has been able to keep concentrated and a very fast pace hindering the leader of the overall standings to even try to pass him in the last lap. Elias, who was overtaken by the Australian rider West in the penultimate lap, tried to get his place back in the last corner of the last lap, but failed, having to settle for the final fourth position. Sebastián Porto, with several set-up problems throughout the weekend, had a solitary race finishing sixth. Joan Olivé crashed while lapping on tenth position and his team-mate Héctor Faubel managed to finish twelfth. Donington lived an exciting race in the minor category today. The race began with Dovizioso in the lead, setting a fast pace that only four riders, Héctor Barberá, Lucio Cecchinello, Dani Pedrosa and Stefano Perugini, were able to keep up with. In the back, Pablo Nieto was making up positions after a bad start until putting himself among the top ten.
A few laps before the end, the leading pack began to make their moves, and while Cecchinello crashed out, Dovizioso, Perugini and Barberá, where constantly swapping places, fighting for the lead. With two laps to go, Pedrosa, who until then had been keeping himself at the back of the pack to wait and see, decided to improve positions and to clinch the victory. In the last lap, with Barbera heading for his debut championship victory, Dovizioso entered a corner wide open, forcing Pedrosa to open his line as well, who collided with Perugini and crashed out. Barberá finally took his first victory after the third place in Holland, Dovizioso took second and third Perugini. Pedrosa couldn’t finish the race, thus loosing a good chance to increase his advantage in the overall standings. Pablo Nieto, after making up positions during the race, finished in sixth position.
