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MotoGP June 8, 2003 |
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MotoGP World Championship Grand Prix Round 5
Italy GP, Mugello, Italy
ROSSI on Top After Three-Way Domestic Incident |
A sun-baked crowd of 73,000 race fans lined the Tuscan hills of the majestic Mugello
track to see Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda RC211V) reign supreme in a thrilling race
that was typical of the superb action this 5.245km track usually provides. Loris
Capirossi (Ducati) was second and Max Biaggi (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) third.
Temperatures rocketed into the 35-degree range and the track tarmac was scorched to
47 degrees by the beating heat as the grid lined up for a race where the sense of
anticipation was palpable. With the three Italian main men on the front row headed by
Rossi, and joined by Yamaha interloper Shinya Nakano, the first turn action was
intense.
It was Capirossi who launched his Ducati off the line best and he emerged from turn one
in the lead from Biaggi and the flying Nakano. Rossi was down in seventh but in typical
fashion he scythed his way through to fourth in the space of the first lap.
By lap five Nakano had been dispensed with by the home trio and the stage was set for
some epic encounters along Mugello's undulating series of off-camber turns and blind
approaches. Biaggi went through to lead when Capirossi drifted wide at turn one, now
approached at at least 328km/h (200mph) by the top men.
Then Rossi squeezed past Capirossi and the three knew they were in for a fight. The
crowd knew it too and every time a move was pulled the crowd went berserk - this was
epic stuff. So intense was the battle that no rider could accept being overtaken without
coming straight back at the overtaker - to the extent that Biaggi and Capirossi were
side by side bashing fairings for at least half of lap 16.
Eventually Rossi pulled clear but Capirossi hounded him all the way to the line, and
Rossi's 1.4 second winning margin at the flag hardly reflects the effort he had to put in
to achieve it, or the pressure he was under from two riders that never gave up the chase.
Rossi's 53rd career win and his third this season was hard-earned. "That was a great
show for everybody," he said. "We were all three at the front and we had a great fight for
the win. I would like to congratulate Max and Loris because they rode very well. At
about half way through the race Max and Loris were fighting and it was possible to take
some advantage. And at the end I just concentrated and kept my rhythm."
Biaggi knew he'd made a major contribution to a storming race. "Third is a decent result
but I really want to win," he said. "I made a good start and I tried my best to hang on to
the front but then Rossi came and then Loris passed me at the end of the straight. We
passed and re-passed each other many times and had a good fight. Nobody crashed and
I think we put on a great show for the fans."
Another rider who never gave up was fourth-placed rookie Makoto Tamada (Pramac
Honda RC211V) who got an appalling start from the third row of the grid and charged
through the field respecting neither reputations nor conventional corner lines as he
bulldozed his way through.
"I had a terrible, terrible, terrible start," he said. "And that was a terribly,
terribly, terribly tough race. I knew what the tyres could do and I knew
I'd made the right choice for the race. There was lots of overtaking but
no strategy from me. You don't wonder whether to squeeze past on the brakes
or whatever - you just think about stepping on it and pushing forward."
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MotoGP World Championship Grand Prix Round 5
Italy GP, Mugello, Italy
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MotoGP
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| 1 |
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Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda Team) |
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| 2 |
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Loris Capirossi (Ducati Marlboro Team) |
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| 3 |
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Max Biaggi (Camel Pramac Pons) |
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| 4 |
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Makoto Tamada (Pramac Honda Team) |
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| 5 |
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Shinya Nakano (d'Antin Yamaha Team) |
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| 6 |
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Tohru Ukawa (Camel Pramac Pons) |
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| 7 |
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Sete Gibernau (Team Telefonica Movistar Honda) |
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| 8 |
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Carlos Checa (Fortuna Yamaha Team) |
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| 9 |
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Colin Edwards (Alice Aprilia Racing) |
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| 10 |
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Olivier Jacque (Gauloises Yamaha Team) |
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| 12 |
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Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team) |
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| 13 |
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Ryuichi Kiyonari (Team Telefonica Movistar Honda) |
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V.ROSSI
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250cc
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| 1 |
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Manuel Poggiali (MS Aprilia Team) |
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| 2 |
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Fonsi Nieto (Team Repsol Telefonica Movistar) |
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| 3 |
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Franco Battaini (Campetella Racing) |
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| 4 |
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Roberto Rolfo (Fortuna Honda) |
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| 5 |
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Sylvain Guintoli (Campetella Racing) |
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| 6 |
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Antonio Elias (Team Repsol Telefonica Movistar) |
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| 7 |
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Naoki Matsudo (Yamaha Kurz) |
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| 8 |
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Sebastian Porto (Telefonica Movistar jnr Team) |
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| 9 |
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Anthony West (Team Zoppini Abruzzo) |
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| 10 |
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Joan Olive (Aspar Junior Team) |
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125cc
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| 1 |
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Lucio Cecchinello (Safilo Oxydo-LCR) |
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| 2 |
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Daniel Pedrosa (Telefonica Movistar jnr Team) |
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| 3 |
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Pablo Nieto (Master-MXOnda-Aspar Team) |
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| 4 |
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Andrea Dovizioso (Team Scot) |
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| 5 |
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Alex De Angelis (Globet.com Racing) |
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| 6 |
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Youichi Ui (Sterilgarda Racing) |
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| 7 |
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Stefano Perugini (Abruzzo Racing Team) |
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| 8 |
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Gino Borsoi (Globet.com Racing) |
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| 9 |
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Hector Barbera (Master-MXOnda-Aspar Team) |
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| 10 |
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Gioele Pellino (Sterilgarda Racing) |
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