Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

MotoGP Race Results:

1. Valentino Rossi, Honda, 22 laps, 44:18.907
2. Sete Gibernau, Honda, -0.042 second
3. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, -0.668 second
4. Carlos Checa, Yamaha, -5.390 seconds
5. Max Biaggi, Honda, -8.729 seconds
6. Nicky Hayden, Honda, -11.043 seconds
7. Alex Barros, Yamaha, -11.439 seconds
8. Tohru Ukawa, Honda, -13.574 seconds
9. Makoto Tamada, Honda, -23.273 seconds
10. Marco Melandri, Yamaha, -26.404 seconds
11. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha, -26.685 seconds
12. Colin Edwards, Aprilia, -30.728 seconds
13. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia, -39.531 seconds
14. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha, -41.240 seconds
15. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, -44.623 seconds
16. Andrew Pitt, Kawasaki, -55.499 seconds
17. John Hopkins, Suzuki, -55.677 seconds
18. Garry McCoy, Kawasaki, -60.700 seconds
19. Alex Hofmann, Kawasaki, -68.130 seconds
20. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki, -74.524 seconds
21. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, -3 laps, DNF, mechanical
22. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton, -10 laps, DNF, mechanical
23. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton, -11 laps, DNF, mechanical
24. Chris Burns, ROC Yamaha, -13 laps, DNF, mechanical
25. David De Gea, ROC Yamaha, DNS

MotoGP World Championship Point Standings:

1. Rossi, 212
2. Gibernau, 178
3. Baiggi, 141
4. Capirossi, 97
5. Bayliss, 96
6. Checa, 78
7. Ukawa, 74
8. Barros, 71
9. Hayden, 67
10. Nakano, 65
11. Jacque, 55
12. Tamada, 47
13. Edwards, 46
14. Haga, 33
15. Norick Abe, 24
16. Hopkins, 22
17. McWilliams, 18
18. Aoki, 17
19. Melandri, 15
20. Kiyonari, 14
21. McCoy/Hofmann, TIE, 8
23. Roberts, 7
24. Yukio Kagayama, 4
25. Pitt, 3


More, from a press release issued by Alice Aprilia Racing Press Information:

SCORE ZONE FOR COLIN AND NORI

After a complicate week end due to some chattering problems, the Alice Aprilia Racing Team found again the competitiveness during the race and both riders reached the score zone. The solution of the chattering problem has been found during the sessions and it has not been possible to work for the result. This race has been positive anyway for the points and the experience.

COLIN EDWARDS: “I made a good race probably the best of my career in MotoGP class. I do not feel satisfied about the final position but for the first 25 laps I had a good pace and a good feeling with the bike as well. There were a lot of riders to overtake but I did my best. In the end I had the same chattering problem again because the fuel tank was almost empty and the distribution of the weights changed so I lost some positions. Next days I will travel to Texas for a short holiday to recharge the batteries”.

NORIYUKI HAGA: “It was difficult to end the race: I have a big headache since yesterday. Moreover I made a mistake in the start so I had to recover many positions. Although the bike was jumping again in the end of the race I have been able to get many positions”.

GIGI DALL’IGNA (Project Leader): “As explained yesterday we worked in the warm up obtaining a good solution about the chattering problem. All my technicians and the Michelin staff made a good work. We feel satisfied about it even if we did not set up the bike for the race: we concentrated our efforts on that problem so we lost time. Checking the lap times of our riders we understood that they had a good pace and they lost time to overtake the others but this race has been helpful for us in order to get more information for the future”.


More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha:

CHECA CHALKS UP A BRILLIANT FOURTH IN BRNO GP SCORCHER

In one of the closest and most unpredictable races so far this season, Fortuna Yamaha Team rider Carlos Checa produced a brilliantly consistent 22-lap performance to finish fourth at today’s Czech Grand Prix. Checa was elated with his result, having started from the second row of the grid for today’s main event. The top five riders were covered by just 1.171 seconds at mid-race distance and the race win claimed by a mere 0.042 seconds by Valentino Rossi (Honda) from in-form Spaniard Sete Gibernau (Honda). With tactics thrown out the window from the outset – except for the desire to win – the leading pack put on a show where positions changed not only every lap but virtually every corner.

Checa’s start placed his Fortuna Yamaha YZR-M1 sixth into turn one, before the top seven set a pace that saw a gap build over the remaining MotoGP field. Then, as the intensity grew, ‘El Toro’ took the bull by the horns and, lap by lap, closed in on a podium result. He powered by Max Biaggi (Honda) on lap 12 and went by Loris Capirossi’s floundering Ducati as he retired with two laps remaining. Checa could not quite get close enough to strike at third-placed Australian Troy Bayliss, but claimed an excellent fourth on the day, and sixth place in the championship standings.

“Today had a taste of victory,” said Checa. “We have worked well all weekend and today was a successful day. My practice went quite well this morning, during the race I got some great lap times, and it was one of the best races ever. I was able to overtake Biaggi but only to follow the others. I made a small mistake at one point, when I went in too hard on the brakes, and lost a bit of time. I tried to catch the others but it was impossible. It’s the first race where I have been able to follow the leading group and ride consistently fast all race. Hopefully this is just the start of a confidence in set-up that will last me for the rest of the season and I’ll be looking to be on the podium next time.”

In what is becoming Marco Melandri’s forte, the Fortuna Yamaha Team rider made yet another lightning start to pounce from 17th on the grid to ninth by turn one. After a difficult qualifying performance it was just what the Italian needed. The 20-year-old MotoGP rookie then found himself in a scrap with Makoto Tamada (Honda) and Olivier Jacque (Gauloises Yamaha Team) until half race distance before securing a respectable tenth place.

“I just haven’t had a good feeling all weekend so this morning we lowered the geometry of the bike and it felt better,” explained Melandri, who celebrated his 21st birthday last week. “I trusted Fiorenzo (Fanali, Marco’s crew chief) and our Michelin man Daniel Croispine on tyre choice and settings for the race. I started well but just couldn’t really keep the pace in the early stages. Once the fuel load had gone down a bit I started going better and managed to get past Jacque, but Tamada was already too far ahead. Today our objective was to finish the race and get a better feeling from the bike after the terrible qualifying, so I think this was a pretty good result. I’m now looking forward to an extra day here for testing.”

Team Director Davide Brivio was happy with the team’s progress this weekend: “Congratulations to Carlos, he produced a good race. His pace was very consistent and it was as fast as the top riders, which was very important for us. We now need to move to the podium, but this race has given us some more confidence for the end of the season.

“Marco’s final position was tenth but we are very glad that he managed to finish the race and come out well from a very difficult weekend. He has faced many difficulties getting comfortable on the bike so he did well to finish with a solid result. I think this has been a good experience for him, to know that he can work his way through the difficulties and improve gradually. This weekend has been very demanding for the team and Yamaha, there has been a lot of extra work on set-up, so thanks to them.”


More, from a press release issued by Pramac Honda:

MAKOTO TAMADA MAKES TOP TEN IN FANTASTIC MID-AUGUST RACE

Makoto Tamada ended ninth in a race that was an important test-bed for gaining further experience. Makoto showed that he can put on a consistent performance and maintain the same pace from beginning to end. A bad start unfortunately meant he lost a number of places right at the beginning. This is a crucial moment in the race and one that the Japanese rider for the Pramac Honda Team must sort out as quickly as possible to make sure he no longer builds up a ten-second gap that is then very difficult to claw back. This is not a technical problem but is just due to the rider’s lack of experience.

During the race, Makoto had a lack of traction when coming out of the corners, and this often meant he was not able to make the most efficient use of the throttle. This was why the talented Japanese rider’s attempts to overtake when braking were often not successful: Makoto was simply not able to be aggressive enough when accelerating.

Every effort will be made to find the right settings for the rear of Makoto’ s bike during the circuit tests that the Pramac Honda Team will be carrying out tomorrow, here in Brno, in the sessions that have been on the books for some time now.

Makoto Tamada (Pramac Honda Team): 9th – 44:42.180

“There’s no doubt about it: I’ve just got to improve my start. I slip back and then it’s very hard to make up lost ground. Then I had the problem of a lack of grip at the rear when coming out of the corners, as I had to wait till the bike was not leaning down so much before opening up the throttle. When it’s like this, I can’t be as aggressive as I’d like. It means I lose all the advantage I gain when braking. I’m not satisfied with ninth place in today’s race. I wanted to do better, especially here in Brno, as it’s a track I really like. We’ll be working hard tomorrow to solve this problem: we’ve just got to find a way to deliver all the power of my RC211V’s engine down to the ground.”


More, from a press release issued by John Hopkins’ publicist:

HOPKINS SUFFERS SUB PAR DAY IN CZECH GRAND PRIX

BRNO, Czech Republic (Aug. 17, 2003) – John Hopkins experienced an off day in the Czech Grand Prix Sunday. The 20-year-old factory Suzuki rider finished a disheartening 17th despite riding as hard as he could on the final lap of the race in a futile attempt to pass Kawasaki’s Andrew Pitt. It marked the fourth time this season that Hopkins finished out of the points. Hopper finished 55 seconds behind winner Valentino Rossi.

Hopkins got a mediocre start in the race but managed to run in the points early before falling off the pace in the 22 lap Grand Prix. He ran his fastest lap around the 5.4 kilometer Brno Circuit on the second go around and somehow managed to find the speed to push his factory Suzuki GSV-R to his third fastest lap time on the final circuit during his chase of Pitt.

“It wasn’t a real good day,” said Hopkins, who at least improved on his DNF in the Czech event last year. “Kenny and I battled early on before he fell off the pace. I tried the best I could to hang on to the second Telefonica rider (Ryuichi) Kiyonari for a few laps but then the front end started pushing really bad and I couldn’t hold a line through the turns. We were really working the front end here.”

Hopkins spent most of the race in a frenetic effort to keep his ill-handling machine from running off the track exiting corners, but late in the race he was sparked by the goal of catching the Kawasaki factory machines. He battled and passed Garry McCoy with three laps to go and then tried to chase down McCoy’s teammate Pitt.

“On the last lap I decided I was going to either catch Andrew (Pitt) or crash trying,” Hopkins said with a grin. “I rode on the edge the entire lap and got right up to him, but every time I tried to get a good drive out of the corners the rear was just spinning.”

Hopkins said the team has exhausted all possible settings on the GSV-R and added the crew feels it will take a complete redesign to make the bike competitive.

“Right now we need to start looking to next year,” Hopkins conceded. “I’ll do my best the rest of this season and hopefully things will go our way a time or two, but the biggest factor will be what Suzuki does in the off-season to give us the major improvements we need to be competitive.”

Even though Hopkins scored no world championship points in Brno he remains 16th in the MotoGP standings. He will next race in Estoril, Portugal, in round 11 of the 16-race championship, on September 7.


More, from a press release issued by Harris WCM:

CZECH REPUBLIC GP

RACE DAY

David de Gea – DNS
“Many problems with the bike during warm-up today and big problems with the gearbox so I was not able to start the race. I am looking forward to testing the 4 stroke tomorrow and to the next race in Portugal.”

Chris Burns ­ DNF
“I am yet to finish a GP and I pulled into the garage after 9 laps today after the bike lost power lap after lap. We put in new pistons this morning so the bike would be stronger for the race, but I just got slower and slower each lap. The bike was worse then ever, unbelievably slow. All I can say is I hope for better things and I am really looking forward to Portugal.”

Peter Clifford ­ Team Manager
“Unfortunately David’s motorbike blew up in a big way in this morning’s warm up and in the race Chris’s bike suffered a mystery ailment. Unfortunately its not the best way to end our stop-gap run on the 2 strokes.”


More, from a press release issued by Proton Team KR:

Tough Race at Brno
Forward step but no result for Proton KR pair


Jeremy McWilliams: Did Not Finish
Nobuatsu Aoki: Did Not Finish

Team Proton KR will mark the Czech Republic GP as a step forward in the all-too-public development programme of their radical new V5 four-stroke prototype MotoGP bike. But a double non-finish at the fast and sweeping Brno circuit was a poor reward for riders and engineers, after weeks of flat-out work had yielded a marked overall improvement for the GP infant.

Nobuatsu Aoki retired after 11 laps of the race, round 22 laps of the 5.403km track; and team-mate Jeremy McWilliams lasted just one more lap before he also pulled into the pits. Aoki had a fuel delivery problems, and McWilliams was suffering a loss of rear grip.

But while the team was licking its wounds, engineers were also measuring data that showed not only what had gone wrong, but also what had got better, with a comprehensive round of improvements covering engine durability, power output and engine-braking management. Proton KR is testing more than racing, explained team owner Kenny Roberts, and each fresh race takes the project further along the road towards turning the five-race-old prototype into a fully fledged competitive challenger.

The race was a thriller, narrowly won by defending champion Valentino Rossi from Sete Gibernau (both Honda), avenging the defeat the defending champion suffered at Gibernau’s hands three weeks ago in Germany.

There are now two more weekends off before the next round at Estoril in Portugal, by when Proton KR expect to have consolidated the latest improvements, and added still more.

Jeremy McWilliams
I was using my second-best engine, and I don’t really know what happened. It was losing some power, and I wasn’t really racing, just riding around in 22nd position. I was going slower and slower each lap. Lack of rear grip was my biggest problem, and I wasn’t sure of the reason. I thought it might be that there was a bit of oil getting to the rear tyre, which is always a bit of a worry. In the end, I really didn’t see much point in carrying on.

Nobuatsu Aoki
I pulled into the pits after the sighting lap, but that was a scheduled stop. The team wanted to check something with a new engine management map they had fitted. When the race started, I was having fuel pump problems from the very first lap. I was wondering whether I should pull into the pits, but I decided to carry on for a while, but the power was dropping away, so in the end I pitted. That was after the rear wheel locked going into one of the corners and I ran off the track.

Chuck Aksland- Team Manager
It wasn’t a good result for the weekend, but some positive things have come out of it. We had a lot of new components to try to push development forward, and we learned a lot. The engine braking situation is a lot better. We need to increase the power again, but we’re making steps towards building a decent race bike. We did take a step this weekend, and that shouldn’t go unnoticed by everyone involved, including the riders.


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Mixed feelings for dynamic Ducati Marlboro duo

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi played a starring role in this afternoon’s breathtaking Czech GP, Bayliss taking a brilliant third-place finish, Capirossi in the thick of the battle for victory until his bike stopped three laps from the finish.

“We have mixed feelings today,” said Ducati Marlboro Team director Livio Suppo. “In one way we can consider this our best race so far, because both our riders were fighting for the win and we thought that they could both finish on the podium for the first time, which shows that the bike is very good and getting better. Troy rode an unbelievable race, the improvement in his pace since Friday has been incredible. Of course we feel very sorry for Loris, he looked good, like he was waiting to attack on the last lap. We’re not yet sure what happened to his machine, but maybe it was an electrical fault. This is our first season in MotoGP, so it’s inevitable that we’ll have the occasional little problem. As always I’d like to thank everyone involved in the team and at the factory.”

Bayliss and Capirossi raced with the new frame they tried for the first time on Friday, the new unit’s efficacy proving the effectiveness of Ducati’s MotoGP test team. The pair also used new fairings, designed to boost engine performance and improve rider comfort. Both men will take part in a full day’s testing here tomorrow, when they will focus all their efforts on improving the new chassis still further.

Bayliss leads at Brno, finishes 0,668 seconds off victory

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Troy Bayliss rode his best race of his rookie MotoGP season at Brno today. Although the hard-riding Aussie had previously taken third in May’s Spanish GP and last month’s German GP, this is the closest he’s finished to the front since he joined the MotoGP circus. Bayliss led the first ten laps, then got stuck into several skirmishes with team-mate Loris Capirossi and Honda rivals Valentino Rossi and Sete Gibernau. As ever, he never gave in without a fight, finally crossing the line just 0.668 seconds down on winner Rossi.

“Loris and I have always had good starts this year, so I was hoping to be at the pointy end by turn one,” said ‘Baylisstic’, who used his Desmosedici’s awesome power to grab the holeshot from the second row of the grid. “I felt comfortable out front, I wasn’t pushing over the top, and I knew they’d come by some time, though when they did I was surprised they didn’t have more left in them. Maybe I should’ve had some more self-belief! This is a learning year for us, things are coming together slowly. Today I felt more comfortable on the bike than I’ve done for some while, and up front is where I think I should always be.”

Capirossi runs with leaders until minor fault ends his race

Loris Capirossi also rode a great race today, running with the leaders and waiting for the final laps to make his attack. But it wasn’t to be. Two and a half laps from the flag his Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici stopped with a suspected electrical fault. At the time Capirossi had been in third place, less than a second behind the leader.

“In the early stages I wanted to take things steady and conserve my tyres,” said the Italian who had qualified fourth fastest and ran fifth until half-distance when he overtook Max Biaggi (Honda). “I lost some time behind Max, but after I overtook him I was able to catch the three guys out front. I passed Troy and then I was waiting to unleash my challenge in the last lap or two – anything was possible in those final laps. Then the bike suddenly stopped. It’s a pity because we lost the chance of scoring another victory, but these things happen in racing. The main thing is that the bike is working really well, the new chassis is great and we know we should be able to fight for the win next time out.”


More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

Both Suzukis finish at Brno

Brno, Czech Republic – Sunday, August 17, 2003: Team Suzuki riders John Hopkins and Kenny Roberts Jr. finished today’s Czech Republic GP in 17th and 20th positions, after a difficult afternoon dashed their hopes of claiming more World Championship points in the tenth round of the season.

Hopkins and 2000 World Champion Roberts had qualified on the fourth row of the grid, with Hopkins in particular hoping for a good finish at a favourite circuit.

The race brought bad fortune instead, with both riders caught up in the close pack from the start, and battling to regain ground. Then Roberts ran into an engine management glitch that prevented him from fighting for position, while tyre wear left Hopkins fighting a close but losing battle with his nearest rivals.

The 22-lap race, run in sunny conditions in front of a crowd of 44,000 fans at the spectacular 5.403km Brno circuit, was won by defending champion Valentino Rossi.

The Suzuki team are staying on at Brno for two days of testing, where French motorcycle racing hero and Suzuki Endurance Racing Team rider Jean Michel Bayle will be joining Roberts and Hopkins, to help with the task of taking the 990cc V4 GSV-R racing prototype’s closer to its full competitive potential.


John Hopkins– 17th Position
It was a bit iffy from the start, and I had a couple of close moments, which meant I didn’t get the start I wanted. After a few laps I got right behind Kenny, and when a couple of people came past us I tried to stay with them. We fixed the rear grip problem for the race, but the front was pushing and sliding all the way. The rear kinda dropped off to about half distance, then stayed consistent. Then with five or six laps to go the front really went away. In the last lap I really worked to get in front of Andrew Pitt – there weren’t any points in it, but I wanted to beat him anyway. I gave it everything I could, but made a couple of mistakes, and I just didn’t make it.

Kenny Roberts Jr. – 20th Position
The race went pretty much as I expected for the first few laps, then I got some sort of engine management problem that made it really erratic through and out of the corners. I don’t know the technical reason, but it just felt inconsistent, and it was very difficult to ride. Towards the end it seemed to fix itself and I was able to pick up my pace a bit, but then in the last laps the problem came back.


Garry Taylor – Team Manager
A bad day at the office. With all the work and effort the riders put in, as well as the team and the factory engineers, we really deserve better results. We have to keep focused, and concentrate on improving our situation.

“With all the work and effort the riders put in, as well as the team and the factory engineers, we really deserve better results. We have to keep focused, and concentrate on improving our situation.”


More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing:

Checa closing in on championship leaders

In one of the closest races and the most unpredictable this season so far – with the top five covered by only 1.171 seconds at mid race distance and the race win claimed by a mere 0.042 seconds – Fortuna Yamaha Team rider Carlos Checa produced a brilliantly consistent 22-lap performance to finish fourth at today’s Czech Grand Prix. The 30-year-old was elated with the result following a difficult start to the weekend, which placed the Spaniard on the second row of the grid for today’s main event. With tactics thrown out the window from the outset, except for the desire to win, the leading pack put on a show that saw positions changing not only every lap, but virtually every corner. This was a race run on the edge of out-of-control, and to survive was equal to a race win.

Checa’s start placed the factory YZR-M1 sixth into turn one, before the top seven set a pace that saw a gap build over the remaining MotoGP field. Then, as the intensity grew, ‘El Toro’ literally took the bull by the horns and, lap by lap, closed in on a podium result – powering past Max Biaggi (Honda) on lap 12, before taking advantage of Loris Capirossi’s floundering Ducati. The latter retiring with two laps remaining, leaving Checa to claim fourth on the day, and sixth place in the championship standings.

Although Valentino Rossi (Honda) took his fourth win of the year it has become increasingly clear the Italian will have to work hard to defend his MotoGP World Championship title this season after a determined effort by Sete Gibernau (Honda) – who has also claimed four wins this season – and third placed Troy Bayliss (Ducati).

Alex Barros (Gauloises Yamaha Team) completed the tenth round of the 2003 season with an admirable seventh place after tough qualifying sessions, during which he crashed on his final hot lap, and was left with a less than ideal start position. The Brazilian currently lies eighth in the championship, behind Tohru Ukawa (Honda) and Checa.

In what is becoming Marco Melandri’s forte, the Fortuna Yamaha Team rider made yet another lightening start to pounce from 17th on the grid to ninth by turn one. After a difficult qualifying performance it was just what the Italian needed. The 20-year-old MotoGP rookie then found himself in a scrap with Makoto Tamada (Honda) and Olivier Jacque (Gauloises Yamaha Team) until half race distance before securing a respectable tenth place.

Fortuna Yamaha Team
Carlos Checa 4th: “Today had a taste of victory. It was a successful day – my practice went quite well this morning, during the race I got some great lap times, and it was one of the best races ever. I was able to follow the others, but at a distance, and to overtake Biaggi. I made a small mistake at one point, when I went in too hard on the brakes, and lost a bit of time. I tried to catch the others but it was impossible. As I said, it’s a bit like a victory for us, as it’s the first race where I have been able to follow the leading group. Hopefully this is just the start of a confidence in set-up that will last for the rest of the season.”

Marco Melandri 10th:”I just haven’t had a good feeling all weekend so this morning we lowered the geometry of the bike and it felt better. I trusted Fiorenzo (Fanali, Marco’s crew chief) and our Michelin man (Daniel Croispine) on tyre choice and settings for the race. I started well but just couldn’t really keep the pace in the early stages. Once the fuel load had gone down a bit I started going better and managed to get past Jacque, but Tamada was already too far ahead. Today our objective was to finish the race and get a better feeling from the bike after the terrible qualifying, so I think this was a pretty good result. I’m now looking forward to an extra day here for testing.”

Gauloises Yamaha Team
Alex Barros 7th: “I made an OK start but seemed to spend a lot of the race behind Ukawa, watching Hayden pull away! Then three laps from the end I finally got past him for good and, if I had one more lap, I’m sure I could have overtaken Hayden. A couple more again and I would have taken Max. Still it was my fault; I should have woken up earlier in the race. In spite of that I feel pretty happy with how everything has gone. It was good to finally make it all the way to the finish line and feel comfortable on the bike. For that I have to thank my team and Michelin for the excellent work they did this weekend. Now I have another ‘mini-break’ during which I will be able to work on my fitness. Hopefully I’ll go to Portugal in top form and rearing to go.”

Olivier Jacque 11th: “I didn’t really enjoy myself much out there today. Straight away I could see that I lacked acceleration compared with the other Yamaha riders. That, combined with the fact that we never managed to solve our front-end chatter problem, meant that the race was pretty hard work.”

D’Antin Yamaha Team
Shinya Nakano 14th: “It was a difficult race for me, but I’m very happy to finish and take two points,” said Nakano. “I didn’t see my crash, yet, but I want to. During the race it was difficult to open the throttle in the turn where I crashed. It’s a pity because I was very confident for this race and I expected to get a good result. Now I’m going home to Barcelona for two weeks. I will have a rest to ensure I will be 100% at Estoril.”


More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Press Information:

Rossi scores Brno win after classic race

Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda RC211V) had to ride at lap record pace to secure the win in a breathtaking Brno GP, and kept his absolute fastest lap for the very last. His new record of 1:59.966 even involved passing another rider, his race long companion and rival Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V).

Troy Bayliss (Ducati) was third after leading for the first ten laps, ending his race only 0.668 seconds behind Rossi.

For Rossi himself the race was a vindication of his self-belief after some relatively lowly results of late. “That was one of the best races of the year,” said the Italian. “For the first time we fought without tactics. Sometimes this year we have thought too much about the moves. Today there were four or five really fast guys who all wanted to be at the front. We pushed the bikes very hard and I made some mistakes. Sete made some and I crossed the line first. It was very special.”

Gibernau was full of praise for his rival, even in defeat. “Every race we have this year seems to be better than the other ones,” smiled Gibernau. “We are battling very hard and we tried 100% from the start. Congratulations to Valentino, he deserves it. Today he was the best – I tried my best to win, but he won. I heard that Valentino was in a crisis – I hoped he was in a crisis. If this is his crisis I do not want to know about it when he is not having a crisis!”

Having run with the leading bunch in the early laps, Brno specialist Max Biaggi (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) slid down the order to finish fifth after experiencing turn in problems, running wide and almost losing the front. Biaggi was one place behind the Yamaha of Carlos Checa.

“This is certainly not a good result,” said Biaggi. “I did not enjoy riding and this has been a terrible race because I know I can go much faster at this track. At one stage I nearly fell but I jolted the handlebar with my left hand and that miraculously redressed the balance – but by that time Checa had overtaken me. I think the three hours we had in practice were not enough to set-up the bike correctly.”

The unhappy Biaggi was three seconds ahead of the quick learning Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) who held off the unwanted attentions of Alex Barros (Yamaha).

Another weekend of progress for Nicky Hayden was not enough to satisfy the young American’s hunger for success.
“Generally a positive weekend,” he acknowledged. “It was good being up the front in qualifying but this weekend I wanted a little more. I just seemed to be missing a little bit – me and t