First victory of the season for Sebastian Porto, with Pedrosa and Lorenzo joining him on a Repsol rostrum in the 250 c.c.
Héctor Faubel second in the 125cc; Nicky Hayden fourth and Max Biaggi sixth in MotoGP.
Seventh round of the 2005 season and the Motorcycle World Championship moves on. After the Dutch Grand Prix held today on the mythic track of Assen, the 2005 World Championship will leave Europe again, this time to head for the USA, to contest round eight of the season, although only with the MotoGP riders. As regards the three races staged today, the highlight were the 125cc and 250cc races, with Repsol riders playing important roles.
The morning started with the 250cc race that fortunately, as all other races, was staged on a dry track, despite the black clouds covering the sky over the Dutch track. After the start Jorge Lorenzo, technically supported by Repsol, took the lead of the pack, closely followed by Porto, Stoner, Pedrosa, De Angelis, Barberá, Dovizioso and Aoyama. This group remained like this until halfway the race. Lap after lap nothing happened until only a few laps before the finish, when Lorenzo began pushing harder and escaped from the rest joined by Porto and Pedrosa. With an advantage of a bit more than a second, this trio of Repsol riders spend the time carefully watching each other, waiting for the last and final lap. A few laps before the finish, Pedrosa launched his attack: he overtook Porto and went for Lorenzo. However, Lorenzo knew very well how to defend the lead and everything looked as if the young Repsol rider would be clinching his first victory. With to laps to go, and Lorenzo leading the race, with Pedrosa second and Porto third, the latter made a superb braking manoeuvre, jumping from third to first in only an instant.
From that moment on, the Argentinean rider focussed on defending his place until the chequered flag, euphorically celebrating his first victory of the season. Dani Pedrosa was second and Jorge Lorenzo was finally third. Randy De Puniet, finished eighth after a hard weekend. In the premier class, discreet performance of the Repsol Honda Team riders, in a race where Valentino Rossi had control over the situation from start to finish. After the start it was Melandri who took the lead of the pack, closely followed by Gibernau, Hayden, Nakano, Rossi and Edwards. Further in the back was Max Biaggi, eleventh after the first lap. The fast pace set by Valentino after taking the lead broke up the group, being Melandri the only one capable of following the Italian star, although almost one second behind. With the two first podium places already allocated, it was about waiting to see if Hayden, who had been second at the beginning of the race, would manage to get Edwards, third, and get a place on the rostrum. But there wasn’t much of a history in the race, Edwards finished third in solitary, Hayden was fourth, Gibernau fifth and Max Biaggi sixth.
The 125cc race offered a much bigger show. As usual on this circuit, it’s been a race that will be hard to forget, with a large group of riders making impossible overtaking manoeuvres and fighting side by side for the victory. Among them was Repsol rider Héctor Faubel, who made a very intelligent race today. He kept himself in the group of the top ten, watchful, waiting for successive cuts to overtake the slowest riders and keep his chances for the end. With four laps to go, Kallio, one of the main aspirants to the victory, crashed out. Meanwhile, Luthi, Simoncelli, Talmacsi, Bautista and Faubel had an intense fight for the victory. Simoncelli began pushing harder and seemed to be going directly to what would have been his second victory of the season, but an incident with Luthi took both riders out of the track, crash of Simoncelli included.
In a last heart-stopping lap, Talmacsi was able to leave those fights behind and clinch his second victory of the season. Faubel, following his intelligent plan, knew how to make good use of his chance to take the final second place. Third was Pasini; Sergio Gadea crossed the finish line ninth, while Joan Olivé finished thirteenth.
Repsol rider´s comments :
MotoGP. Nicky Hayden
4th, 3851.936:
Its been a tough weekend really especially with the weather. This morning the track was so different so in the race we had to gamble a little. We changed the fork springs and it all felt pretty good at the start. The tyre really came in over the first few laps and I was able to make some passes. Then Rossi and Edwards came by and I had to regroup a little and in the end I got past Gibernau for a pretty lonely fourth. I know its the best finish this season but I really want to move on to the next group and for the whole race, not just a bit of it. I really looking forward to putting on a good show for all the fans at Laguna in the next race.
MotoGP. Max Biaggi
6th, 3903.383:
I had no grip since the start of the race and couldnt really get into the turns and open the throttle like I wanted to. I lost immediately too much ground and could only fight for the lower positions. We need to work harder and we need a result soon hopefully by the next race because we have the potential to express ourselves. This is not the level that I or the team should be working at. We can do much better because we have to.
250. Sebastián Porto
1st, 3802.148:
I am very happy because after recent races where we have not had any luck, we are back at the top. The bike was very competitive this weekend, it was a difficult race, especially in the first part because the Hondas werent going badly at all. I spent the whole race studying Lorenzo to see how I could pass him. I knew I was quicker at T3 and T4 and once I had got past Dani I tried to get past him immediately. Pedrosa always gives his all on the last lap and if I had not done it at that moment I would have lost all chance of getting past him. I worked well and I passed both on the chicane. I am very happy and want to thank Repsol, Aprilia and the whole Aspar team.
250. Dani Pedrosa2nd,
3802.529:
It’s been a hard race. I didn’t make a good start, I was hoping to do better, the others closed the gap in front of me and I had to get off the throttle. When I wanted to be with those in the front I was overtaken by De Angelis and Barberá and stayed a bit behind. I lost some positions while Lorenzo and Porto were pushing hard. I overtook them again and tried to catch-up with those in the lead. I had some problems with the front tyre, the bike skidded a lot in the front and didn’t feel very comfortable in some of the turns; I didn’t want to crash. The bike didn’t push as hard as it usually does today, but we were able to make up the difference. In the end I tried to get to the front and managed to pass Porto, but then, Lorenzo had some problems with a gear or Porto forced him to go wide in the last chicane. I had to slow down to avoid hitting him and Sebas took the advantage to pass us both. Second place is a good result, especially considering that it could have been raining and the result would have been much worse. I want to thank the team for all the work they’ve done.
250. Randy De Puniet
8th, 3816.083:
It was a very difficult weekend because I had gone two races without scoring and had suffered various falls. I set out with the aim of finishing the race and getting my rhythm back, and that was how it was. The race was difficult as the bike felt heavy and it was difficult to turn. We are going to Brno next week to do a test and I hope to get the data to allow me to get back on the pace and get back towards the front in every Grand Prix.
125. Héctor Faubel
2nd, 3810.144:
The race has been incredible, with seven or eight riders fighting for the lead. It’s been quite hard; it’s the first time I raced in such a large and fluid group. I’m not very happy because I lacked a bit of decision when it came to pass the other riders. I was being faster than them and I should have been riding ahead of them. But, never mind, we have to be happy with the result. I want to thank Aprilia and the team for the work they have done. I don’t want to think about the Championship, I prefer going race by race, although we’ve managed to score very important points today and we’ve been able to close the gap to Kallio, Simoncelli, Luthi and Lai. I’m sure that we’ll be able to fight for the victory in the coming races. Now we’re going to Donington, a circuit I like, but where Y have the handicap of never having been there on a 125cc.
Track conditions:
- Air: 19º
- Asphalt: 22º
- Humidity: 32%
- Wind: 5 Km/h
Standings:
MotoGP
- V.Rossi (Yamaha) 38’41.808
- M.Melandri (Honda) 38’43.391
- C.Edwards (Yamaha) 38’49.451
- N.Hayden (Honda) 38’51.936
- S.Gibernau (Honda) 38’56.603
- M.Biaggi (Honda) 39’03.383
World Championship
- V.Rossi, 170 puntos.
- M. Melandri, 107.
- M.Biaggi, 87.
- S.Gibernau, 84
- A.Barros, 74
- N.Hayden, 60.
250
- S.Porto (Aprilia) 38’02.148
- D.Pedrosa (Honda) 38’02.529
- J.Lorenzo (Honda) 38’03.380
- H.Aoyama (Honda) 38’13.905
8. R.de Puniet (Aprilia) 38’16.083
World Championship
- D.Pedrosa, 143 points
- C.Stoner, 106.
- A.Dovizioso, 102
- S.Porto, 74
- H.Aoyama, 71
- R.de Puniet, 54.
125
- G.Talmcasi (KTM) 38’09.487
- H.Faubel (Aprilia) 38’10.144
- M.Pasini (Aprilia) 38’10.288
- A.Bautista (Honda) 38’10.334
- A.Masbou (Honda) 38’10.890
9. S.Gadea (Aprilia) 38’13.979
World Championship
- M.Pasini, 100 points.
- GTalmacsi, 100.
- T.Luthi, 89
- M.Kallio, 82
- M.Simoncelli, 72
Tyre´s choice:
- Héctor Faubel: Medium – Medium
- Joan Olivé: Medium – Medium
- Sebastián Porto: Medium – Medium
- Randy De Puniet: Medium – Medium
- Dani Pedrosa: Medium – Medium
- Max Biaggi: Medium – Medium
- Nicky Hayden: Medium – Soft
