Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

MotoGP Race Results:

1. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, 19 laps, 38:11.831
2. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, -0.456 seconds
3. Marco MELANDRI, Yamaha, -9.909 seconds
4. Max BIAGGI, Honda, -10.183 seconds
5. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, -10.300 seconds
6. Colin EDWARDS, Honda, -10.801 seconds
7. Ruben XAUS, Ducati, -13.705 seconds
8. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, -14.091 seconds
9. Carlos CHECA, Yamaha, -15.159 seconds
10. Neil HODGSON, Ducati, -34.066 seconds
11. Norick ABE, Yamaha, -34.414 seconds
12. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, -39.186 seconds
13. Alex HOFMANN, Kawasaki, -41.506 seconds
14. John HOPKINS, Suzuki, -54.569 seconds
15. Jeremy McWILLIAMS, Aprilia, -64.761 seconds
16. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, -82.266 seconds
17. Chris BURNS, Harris WCM, -120.469 seconds
18. Troy BAYLISS, Ducati, -2 laps, DNF, mechanical
19. Alex BARROS, Honda, -9 laps, DNF, crash
20. Shane BYRNE, Aprilia, -11 laps, DNF, mechanical
21. Shinya NAKANO, Kawasaki, -12 laps, DNF, mechanical
22. Nobuatsu AOKI, Proton, -12 laps, DNF, mechanical
23. Kurtis ROBERTS, Proton, -14 laps, DNF, mechanical
24. Michel FABRIZIO, Harris WCM, -15 laps, DNF, crash


MotoGP World Championship Point Standings:

1. TIE, ROSSI/GIBERNAU, 126 points
3. BIAGGI, 93 points
4. CHECA, 56 points
5. TIE, MELANDRI/EDWARDS, 54 points
7. BARROS, 48 points
8. CAPIROSSI, 42 points
9. HAYDEN, 38 points
10. ABE, 33 points
11. XAUS, 32 points
12. BAYLISS, 23 points
13. NAKANO, 20 points
14. TAMADA, 19 points
15. HODGSON, 15 points
16. HOFMANN, 13 points
17. ROBERTS, Kenny, 12 points
18. BYRNE, 10 points
19. FABRIZIO, 7 points
20. TIE, AOKI/HOPKINS, 6 points
22. McWILLIAMS, 4 points
23. PITT, 2 points
24. ROBERTS, Kurtis, 1 points


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

DUCATI MARLBORO MEN ON THE PACE WITH TWIN-PULSE DUKE

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss came close to scoring a double top ten finish at Assen today in their first race with the squad’s new twin-pulse Desmosedici engine. Capirossi fought his way to an eighth-place finish and Bayliss had also been inside the top ten when a problem with the gearbox bearing put him out with just two laps to go.

Nonetheless the Ducati Marlboro Team leaves Assen in optimistic mood, Capirossi having crossed the finish line just four seconds outside a podium finish, proving that the squad is getting back on course after a difficult few races. The pair’s performance was particularly good considering rain had disrupted much of the two days of Dutch TT practice, leaving them minimal dry track time to work on setting up the new engine.

“I’m very happy with today because this is the closest we’ve been to the front since the start of the season,” said Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli. “For much of the race Loris was running the same pace as the guys fighting for third place. This weekend definitely told us that the twin-pulse motor is better than the four-pulse, so this is the direction in which we will continue to work.”

CAPIROSSI DELIGHTED WITH FIRST TWIN-PULSE RACE

Loris Capirossi was delighted with an eighth-place finish from his first race with the twin-pulse Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici. The Italian used this engine – which uses different firing intervals to deliver more corner-exit traction – through much of the weather-hit practice but still lacked race experience with it.

“I’m really, really happy,” said Capirossi who fought an intense battle in the closing stages with Nicky Hayden, Colin Edwards and Ruben Xaus. “Eighth place isn’t the greatest but it’s a very positive result considering that we had so little dry track time during practice. Without doubt the twin-pulse is a very important and positive step forward for us. I had a few chatter problems during the race but that’s no real surprise considering we had so little time to work on set-up.”

BAYLISS IN TOP TEN UNTIL GREMLINS STRIKE

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Troy Bayliss was running strong in the top ten during the latter stages of the race but his luck deserted him with just two laps to go. The Aussie had started steadily, slipping to 14th in the early stages because, unlike Capirossi, he had spent much of practice riding his four-pulse Desmosedici, but as the race went on he worked his way into the top ten.

“It’s a real shame we had the problem because there wasn’t long to go,” said Bayliss. “The engine went quite well, the feeling I had with it was good and I was going okay. But after all the rain in practice we were missing something in set-up and we had a little chatter. Anyway, we learned a few things this weekend and we go to Rio aiming to get a result.”


More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team:

HOFMANN MAKES BRAVE CHARGE AT ASSEN AS NAKANO RETIRES EARLY

German rider Alex Hofmann was the sole finisher for the Fuchs Kawasaki Racing Team, with a determined charge through the field to thirteenth place in today’s Dutch TT.

Hofmann was rewarded with two championship points for his exhausting effort, making up time from 18th place at the end of lap one.

Japanese teammate, Shinya Nakano, failed to finish the 19 lap sixth round of the MotoGP Championship, after retiring his Ninja ZX-RR with a mechanical problem on lap eight. Prior to stopping Nakano had raced with the Honda of Nicky Hayden and the Suzuki of John Hopkins.

Both Nakano and Hofmann suffered from poor acceleration off the start line and lost valuable places in heavy traffic on the tight confines of the flowing Assen circuit.

Nakano dropped from fifth on the grid to tenth at the end of the first lap, while Hofmann lost seven positions to cross the line at the end of the opening lap in 18th place.

For the next 18 laps Hofmann raced hard, and in the latter stages of the race was poised to challenge for a top ten finish with a group of riders that included Neil Hodgson, Norick Abe and Hopkins.

But Hofmann’s efforts were spoiled when he lost time with a passing move on Hopkins, running wide at the first chicane as a result.

The Dutch TT, a classic race on the MotoGP calendar, was watched by just over 90,000 spectators.

Alex Hofmann: 13th
“That was hard work, especially after losing so many places from the start. The first lap was a disaster, and it was the same for Shinya. Hopefully we can find a solution, because it’s difficult to overtake and run at your own pace when you lose time like this. Otherwise I was a happy to do full race distance, and I had a lot fun racing the other guys. I was with the Hodgson and Abe group challenging for the top ten, but I lost the tow and some pace when I passed Hopkins and ran onto the grass at the chicane. But my race speed was good, despite a lack of time to test tyres on a dry track.”

Shinya Nakano: DNF
“At the end of the back straight I heard some noise from the motor and then the rear end locked up suddenly, so I knew the race was over. I’m really disappointed after qualifying fifth; this is a day to forget for me. For sure we need better acceleration, especially on a track like Assen with everyone racing away from the start. But it’s over now and I just want to think about going to the next race in Rio.”

Harald Eckl: Team Manager
“After a good qualifying performance yesterday, this result is disappointing, especially for Shinya, who suffered an engine problem that ended his race early. Alex made the best of his situation and never gave up on track, where the race was run at high speed and you need strong acceleration. The start is something we have to look at. We need to make it easier for the riders to launch off the line, by changing slightly the power characteristics of the engine. The good side is that Alex scored some points and we have a lot of information to move forward with for the coming races.”


More, from a press release issued by Galouises Fortuna Yamaha:

ROSSI TAKES THIRD SENSATIONAL WIN IN A ROW

Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha rider and reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi once more demonstrated his full repertoire of racecraft by winning his third race in a row, after a last lap of epic skill and determination. Yamaha Tech 3 pilot Marco Melandri also secured a podium, taking third behind second place rider Sete Gibernau (Honda). Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha rider Carlos Checa, who started brightly, slipped down the order to finish ninth, fighting against a lack of rear traction.

Rossi was fastest in the sunshine of morning warm-up but it was Checa who took the early advantage in the overcast race conditions, leading into the first turn from Gibernau and Rossi. After Gibernau hit the lead and attempted an escape Rossi followed the Spaniard, with Checa and Alex Barros (Honda) close behind.

As Checa started a slow but inevitable slide back to ninth, despite his best efforts to repel each new challenger, Rossi was involved in a race-long contest with Gibernau, with most others proving unable to match their lap record breaking pace. With ten laps to go Barros swept past Rossi on the main straight, taking second place temporarily, but after another pass from Rossi and a repass from Barros, he fell, ruling himself out of the contest.

The inexorable speed of Rossi and Gibernau pushed them way ahead of the rest, leaving an eventual nine-second gap back to Melandri at the flag. Rossi’s intense desire to win his third race in a row, and his fourth of the year, saw him set the new lap record on lap 18 of the 19, with a time of 1:59.472.

The endgame came down to a pass at the 12th corner, as Rossi dived inside Gibernau and made good his move with a final half lap of intense concentration and speed. Gibernau and Rossi made contact as Rossi almost lost the front and the chasing Gibernau had nowhere to go, clanging his front mudguard into the rear of Rossi’s machine.

Rossi’s latest win puts both he and Gibernau on 126 points, although Rossi leads due to his better win ratio. Checa’s points for ninth were enough to keep him fourth in the championship. The Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha Team leads the teams’ championship, and Yamaha also leads the manufacturers’ table after the latest successes.


VALENTINO ROSSI (1st)
“I stayed quite easily behind Sete at the start but after the tyres started sliding it was not so easy. There were points where I was a little bit faster and it made for a great, great battle. I lost a bit of time with Barros, and with two or three laps to go I made a mistake in the long straight after my foot slipped off the peg, and Sete went away. I tried to not give up and made a very good time before the last lap and had a hard battle of braking with Sete as I tried to overtake. After I got by him, at the next corner I almost lost the front and I thought I would crash. It was a fantastic race for everybody. I think Sete will be a little bit angry but it was a great race between us.”


CARLOS CHECA (9th)
“I didn’t get rear traction, or stability or grip. When I opened the throttle I did not have any contact, that was the main problem. At the beginning I was able to follow a little bit but after three or four laps I started losing more and more. I changed my riding style a little bit but I was not able to fight with the other riders. We need to consider this problem and try to fix for the next race in Rio. We need to work in that area of rear grip because that was our limitation today. I maintained fourth in the championship but we need to work because I want to fight for the podiums, stay in front and I thought here we would have a good chance. Rio should be a good track for us and we have to see if we are able to make it work well there.”

DAVIDE BRIVIO, GAULOISES FORTUNA YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR
“It’s another victory for us but Valentino is able to make every victory different. This time it was a great overtake from him on the last lap. Each time is something new, a new emotion. Here we are with four wins in six races, we now share the points lead with Gibernau, but we lead the constructors’ and team’s classifications, which is great for everyone in this project, because we really put in all our effort and energy for this. Unfortunately we could not continue that success with Carlos, who had some problems with the settings. So we have to work even harder to put Carlos back on the podium as soon as possible.”


JEREMY BURGESS, VALENTINO ROSSI’S CREW CHIEF
“I guess we made the bike good enough to win but with only an hour and 20 minutes in the dry everybody was a little bit below what they could have been, however, Valentino set the fastest lap of the race one lap from the end. On the last two sections of the racetrack Valentino was very good and he had to wait to attack, which is what he did.”


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

Dissapointing day for Proton KR pair at Assen

Nobuatsu Aoki: Did Not Finish
Kurtis Roberts: Did Not Finish

Proton Team KR riders Nobuatsu Aoki and Kurtis Roberts both found misfortune in today’s Dutch TT, with neither finishing the race, round 19 laps of the classic 6.027km Assen circuit.

Kurtis pulled out with 14 laps remaining, a broken crankshaft putting paid to his hopes of gaining another race finish in his rookie MotoGP season.

Nobu lasted two more laps before he was forced to retire. An oil leak was causing his clutch to slip.

The double disappointment came after the team had overcome several problems in two days of mainly wet practice, and had high hopes of adding a double finish to their record with the new-this-year Proton KR V5, which had so far had at least one finisher in every race except the first.

Race day was dry, with 90,000 fans flocking to the circuit in the north of Holland. It was won by defending champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), his third victory in succession, with long-time race leader Sete Gibernau (Honda) a close second.

The next round is the Rio GP in Brazil next weekend, before a return to the European season at the German GP three weeks from now.

Nobuatsu Aoki
It was quite a short afternoon for me. It seems that the bike was leaking oil, and some got onto the clutch, so automatically it started to slip. It was impossible for me to continue. We have had the same trouble with the clutch oil seal a few times this weekend already. We definitely need to improve something in the engine in this area.

Kurtis Roberts
I had problems from the start – I already raised my hand as we were accelerating away, when it wouldn’t go into gear properly. I had more shifting problems over the next laps, and the engine response was never normal. Finally it stopped running. It turned out that the end of the crankshaft had snapped so the generator wasn’t running, and we didn’t have power for the gear-shift or engine electronic functions. I’m not happy. I don’t know these tracks, and I’m not getting many laps on them. We have to figure out some of these problems. At the moment, everybody’s effort is much higher than the results. We need to get some reward for our effort.

Chuck Aksland – Team Manager
It was a disastrous end to a difficult weekend. Kurtis’s crankshaft failure was really unfortunate. Nobu had a clutch seal go, the third or fourth this weekend. That is a problem that we need to sort out urgently . it will be difficult to re-engineer it for Rio, but certainly we will for Germany. Just as you think you’re getting somewhere you take a step backwards. We’ll keep on working, and I’m confident we’ll get things right again.


More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki:


Hopkins takes points at Assen

Assen, Holland, Saturday, June 26, 2004: Team Suzuki MotoGP rider John Hopkins finished 14th in today’s Dutch TT, overcoming grip problems to add to his points score for the first time in three races.

Team-mate Kenny Roberts Jr. finished 16th, just missing out on points after a race in which his strong qualifying position was of little help, after he ran into mystery engine problems that robbed him of power and speed.

Hopkins made a flying start from tenth on the grid, and for the first few laps was well up in the top ten, and fighting hard. After six of 19 laps of the 6.027km circuit, however, a gamble on tyre choice went sour, and he lost grip both into and out of the corners. Unable to defend his position, he dropped out of the top ten, but kept going to take the advantage of his strong start, maintaining a points-scoring position.

Roberts was seventh on the grid and had been seventh-fastest in the morning warm-up, but was in trouble from the start of the race, with an as-yet unidentified problem with his new-spec engine, which has a revised firing order. This robbed him of acceleration and speed. The 2000 World Champion kept circulating steadily, and finished one place out of the points.

Race day was dry and warm after persistent rain over two days of practice, meaning that all competitors were short of crucial set-up and tyre testing time for the race, the sixth of 16 in the MotoGP season.

The race was won by defending champion Valentino Rossi, his third victory in a row.

Next weekend the GP circus moves to Brazil for the Rio GP.


John hopkins – 14th position
I got a great start – that’s one thing that’s going well right now. For the first six laps it was good and I could race and hold my place. We didn’t have a lot of dry practice time, and we took a big gamble on tyre choice. I wouldn’t say it was the wrong tyre, but we could have had one that lasted longer and worked better. But Bridgestone have improved from Barcelona, and if progress continues that’s all we can ask. At least in the early stages I could prove that the bike is competitive. My first flying lap was about seven tenths faster than my qualifying time! After six laps, the tyre performance dropped off, and I was sliding even going into the corners. I saw I was in the points, so I stayed out there and nursed it back. I haven’t had points for a while.

Kenny Roberts Jr. – 16th position
There’s not much to say from the standpoint of finishing position, but we had some issues come up in the race with some performance stuff. We have to find out what it was, and learn from it. There’s not a lot I can say. I just rode to try to finish the race. The tyres stayed consistent . okay for grip. Sure, we need to improve in that area. But from where we were at this morning, we lost some things, I think electronically. I don’t know exactly, because I’m not a computer.

Garry Taylor – Team Manager
It was a tough weekend, and a tough race. John made a really good start, and made the most of what he had, so it’s good to see him in the points again. We’re not yet sure what happened to Kenny’s engine, but he was clearly down on top speed, and it was not performing well. We will investigate the reasons fully.


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

HOPKINS EARNS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AT ASSEN

ASSEN, Netherlands (June 26, 2004) – John Hopkins rode his factory Suzuki GSV-R to a 14th-place finish at the Dutch TT Motorcycle Grand Prix in Assen on Saturday. He scored the result despite having his tires go off in the latter stages of the race. Hopkins ran in the lead pack for a few laps early in the race and said he is happy overall with the progress the team is making.

“I got off the line pretty well,” said Hopkins, who finished 15th at the Dutch TT last year. “I work my way up to eighth place on the first lap and hung around with the lead group for three or four laps. Then I started to run into a bit of a dilemma with my tires. We weren’t sure what compound to go with since we had so little dry time yesterday. The one thing I don’t think we really expected was the pace of the race early on. The majority of my early laps in the race were faster than my qualifying time and as a result it did in the tires pretty quickly.”

Hopkins’ fastest lap was, in fact, the second lap of the race when he turned a 2:00.919, which was nearly 7-10ths of a second faster than his qualifying time of 2:01.593.

“Once the tires went off a bit it seemed to level off and I could deal with it,” Hopkins added. “But in the late laps they totally went away and I was just trying to stay out of the other riders’ way.”

Even though the race, which started with so much promise, ended poorly for Hopkins he was still optimistic about the coming rounds.

“The tires were better today than they were earlier so Bridgestone is making progress. It’s only going to get better so I move on and look ahead to the rest of the season.”

With the two points earned today Hopkins moved up one spot in the standings into a tie for 20th in the world championship standings.

The series moves next week to South America for the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday, July 4.


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

Max takes an important fourth place

Max Biaggi today finished fourth in the crucial Assen race, fighting for the podium right up to the very end, and missing out bya hair’s breadth. On the day of his 33rd birthday, and his 100th premier-class GP, Max rode with determination and pride on every single one of the 19 laps of the Assen track, tenaciously overcoming the difficulties that had struck him throughout the two practice days. Thanks to his talent and his yellow Camel Honda RC211V, Max also became the first ever rider in MotoGP to go under the significant 2-minute barrier. Some satisfaction then, having set the time on the seventh lap of today’s race.

Sito Pons – Camel Honda (Team Principal)
“it was an important race today, with not to bad a result if we think about the difficulties we had in the first two days. We have since got the biek set-up so Max could pick up a good pace in the race, and I’m happy that up until the last few metres of the race we were still in the hunt for a podium. The data we’ve collected in this race will allow us ultimately to improve before the Rio race, which takes place next weekend, where we will try our best to get Max into a position where he can be fighting for the podium.”

Max Biaggi – Camel Honda (Michelin Tyres) – 4th – 38:22.014
“this morning we managed to improve the situation and although the times may not have shown it, I knew that i could ride faster. I have to thank Honda, we worked with them to resolve the problems. I believed in our capabilities and gave everything in the race, getting a good start from the last of the places on the fourth row, and then fighting and taking risks, like when I went onto the grass with both wheels at 270 Kmh. After the two practice days, fourth place is a positive result, and I hope to be able to fight for victory in the Rio race next week.”

Gianluca Montiron – Camel Honda – (Makoto Tamada Team Manager)
“We didn’t have sufficient time to get the right set-up of the bike and to get it dialled in to the new material that Bridgestone have prepared for us. We knew that we weren’t in the best shape, but it was nonetheless important to finish the race to collect important information which will help us to make progress. Makoto gave his all, and has contributed massively to getting the necessary information to make a jump in quality. We knew there was a lot of work to do and we are still putting all our efforts in, especially looking forward to the Brazil race where last year Makoto went so well.”

Makoto Tamada – Camel Honda (Bridgestone Tyres) –12th – 38:51.017
“I had lots of vibrations in the rear tyre and it was also spinning up, throughout nearly the entire race. We will analyse the data to get some better information, but I’m convinced that it was important we finished the race to get an exact idea of our current situation as regards the tyres. Now I want to do well in Rio, because I like the track a lot, and because I have some good memories from there, and so we will do our best to go well there.”


More, from a press release issued by MS Aprilia:


McWilliams grabs point as Byrne retires

MS Aprilia Racing’s Jeremy McWilliams took a hard earned 15th place finish in front of 90,000 fans at today’s Dutch TT.

The experienced British rider, who started from 19th place on the grid for the 19-lap race at Assen, produced a typically battling performance and was finally rewarded when he broke into the points on the penultimate lap. McWilliams said: “I am not totally satisfied because 15th position is not where I want to finish.”

With the amount of dry track time available seriously restricted by poor weather that had dogged the opening two days of qualifying, McWilliams and his team opted to run a revised rear suspension set-up during this morning’s 20-minute warm-up session. But while it improved the performance of the Cube three-cylinder, the result didn’t transfer into the race. “We tried a different set-up and it really improved the feeling of the bike this morning. But it just didn’t seem to have the same impact in the race. A point is a point though,”said McWilliams.

Team-mate Shane Byrne had a disappointing day as he was forced to retire his Cube having completed eight laps. The reigning British superbike champion was plagued by a front end problem from the start of the race, and though he tried to continue he opted to retire. “I don’t like pulling in but I didn’t really have any choice. I always give 100 per cent whenever I’m on the bike, but it was virtually impossible to control, particularly through the fast sections. It was a very strange feeling and a pity because I felt like I was getting to grips with the circuit. This was my first time at Assen and it is not an easy track to learn, and was made even harder by the fact we had so much rain. I’ll sit down with my engineers and analyse the data to see if we can find out what happened,”said Byrne.

The MotoGP circus now moves to South America for the Rio GP in Brazil in eight days time.


More, from a press release issued by Telefonica Movistar Honda/Gresini Racing:

Sete Gibernau maintained his status as the only rider to make the podium in each and every one of the opening six rounds of the MotoGP World Championship after finishing second at Assen today. The Telefónica MoviStar Honda MotoGP rider once again gave 120% in a race which was decided on the final lap, just metres from the chequered flag. Victory went to his great rival Valentino Rossi but Sete once again demonstrated that he is the only man out there who can challenge the Italian. Gibernau dominated the race until the last lap, when Valentino squeezed past and the riders touched. Sete returned to parc fermé with a broken front mudguard, exhausted after a race contested to the absolute limit. Colin Edwards put in a good performance, finishing sixth after starting from the fifth row of the grid.

SETE GIBERNAU (2nd): “We’ve made another good race and aside from the fact that I am obviously annoyed because I wanted to win, I understand that we were a! t our limit again today. I had a good chance right until the end but we touched on the last lap – Valentino explained that he almost fell and, if that’s the case, then there’s nothing for me to say. These things happen in racing. We had a good battle in another great race”.

COLIN EDWARDS (6th): “It was always going to be difficult from the fifth row but I got a good start and rode aggresively over the first three laps to pass a lot of riders. Once I got up behind Nicky Hayden I just stuck there, it was impossible for me to pass him because he was quicker in the corner exits. I rode to the limit of the bike and it wasn’t a bad race, but I need to do better in qualifying to give myself more of a chance on a Sunday.”

FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager): “It was a tough but very exciting race and I think Valentino was studying Sete for 18 laps. When he got past him the two touched and Sete was unable to recover the vital tenths that he lost because ther! e was only half a lap left. We lost a good opportunity to win but Sete was superb once again.”


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

GIBERNAU AND ROSSI TIED AFTER ASSEN DUEL

A crowd of 90,000 passionate Dutch race fans watched Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) win his third consecutive race of the season and go level on points with Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) who was second. Marco Melandri (Yamaha) was third.

The bad weather that had caused such problems for riders over the two days of qualifying stayed at bay for race day and although clouds threatened to spoil the party, all three races remained dry today. Many riders were forced to gamble with set-up and not all those gambles paid off.

After a prolonged start procedure after the warm-up lap it was Carlos Checa (Yamaha) who made a super-fast getaway from the grid. He was chased into turn one by Gibernau who then shot past him to lead the pack past the packed grandstands for lap two.

Alex Barros (Repsol Honda RC211V) was back to something resembling his best form and was third on lap two and chasing Gibernau who was now joined by Rossi. Max Biaggi (Camel Honda RC211V) was running fourth but a trip into the dirt on the fast back section detuned him and he began to slip back.

Gibernau and Rossi were exchanging fastest laps as each sought to break the deadlock early and perhaps make a break. But this evenly matched pair would remain locked in combat for all 19 laps of the 6.027km track.

Marco Melandri (Yamaha) was now making inroads on the leaders and by lap eight, the recuperating Italian, who had surgery on his forearm to cure ‘arm pump’ ten days ago, was lying fourth.

He would soon inherit third on lap 11 when Barros crashed out at turn one. Melandri too would have a big moment at the chicane on the next lap as he tried to close in on the leading duo. He lost time, but could have lost more.

This was now a straight race between the two title protagonists. In the closing laps the pair again exchanged lap records, with Gibernau managing a 1m 59.473s lap and Rossi a 1m 59.473 as they duelled.

The pair touched as the fight intensified, Gibernau finished the race with a smashed front mudguard after Rossi had run out of brakes and used Gibernau as a buffer. Rossi then waited until the last lap before he pounced. Try as Sete might, there was little time for him to reply.

“Right now we’re doing what we can,” said Gibernau. “We need to work a bit more and try to get over our problems. I tried to really push hard three laps from the end but ran into chatter problems. He won well and congratulations to Valentino. That must have been a good show for everyone but it’s up to us to keep working.”

Max was upbeat about his fourth. “We were in much better condition for this race,” he said. “Even if the lap times weren’t so good. Thanks to Honda we solved some problems and gave 100% even if I was only fourth. I took risks and being on the grass at 270km/h was a sign of those efforts.”

Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) finished fifth. “A tough, fun race,” he said. “I could see the guys in front and I was catching them but wasn’t quite close enough to make a move. I’m just happy to have