khusus buat pemerhati motogp, yg gak suka motogp silakan delete langsung! ;-)
Weather and tyre issues brought about an
end to Valentino Rossi's slim title
chances today, as he finished 13th in
Motegi despite a heroic ride which saw
him lead the race at one point.
His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards
suffered similar problems in what was an
extraordinary race, finishing one place
behind Rossi in 14th.
With the asphalt still wet after a
morning of light rain, the riders
started with wet-weather tyres on a
fast-drying track. Rossi got a poor
start from second on the grid and
crossed the line for the first time in
seventh place, with Edwards behind him
in eighth. An outstanding ride from the
seven-time World Champion then saw him
fight his way back to the front, making
up five seconds on the leaders and
taking the lead on lap 14. The racing
line by now was almost completely dry
however, and behind him most riders had
already opted to pit and change onto
their second bikes with slick tyres.
When Rossi eventually came in to change
one lap later he had built up such a
lead that he was able to re-join the
race in second place, behind eventual
winner Loris Capirossi, but Yamaha's
jubilation was short-lived as Rossi
immediately ran into serious issues with
his front tyre and was forced to pit
again. He rejoined the race in 15th but
was able to make up only two places to
the finish as he struggled with grip.
Edwards, who was in third place when
Rossi came in for the first time,
rejoined in eighth but had similar tyre
problems and also dropped back through
the field to cross the line two seconds
behind his team-mate.
Casey Stoner took sixth place, which was
enough to secure him the World
Championship title. Rossi remains second
and 26 points clear of Dani Pedrosa, who
failed to finish the race, while Edwards
drops two places down the standings to
ninth, with three races remaining.
Valentino Rossi
It's a great pity for us how everything
has turned out this weekend, because in
the dry we were faster than Stoner and
we could have had a good chance. The
first problem today was the weather this
morning, but actually we were able to
find a good setting for the bike and
when the race started we were quite hopeful.
I got a bad start but on the drying
track I had the fastest pace and I was
able to make up five seconds to the
leaders. After I passed Melandri I came
into the box to change and maybe this
was one lap too late, but our strategy
was more or less okay because I was able
to come back into the race with only
Loris in front of me. We had an
intermediate front tyre, a slick cut
which is normal in these situations, but
the bike was almost impossible for me to
ride and turn and it felt like there was
something seriously wrong. I came back
in but my mechanics could see there was
nothing wrong so I went straight out
again, and by then it was too late; the
race was over for me and the
championship was gone. After four or
five laps the tyre began to work better
and I was able to keep going to the end,
but without this problem it would have
been possible for me to be on the podium
or even to fight for the win with Loris.
The conditions were very unfortunate.
However this is racing and now we have
three more races and we will do our best
to find a way to win and end the season
on a high note. I'm really sorry for my
fans and for everyone in the team.
Congratulations to Loris but especially
to Casey on becoming world champion. I
am very flattered that he made a
dedication to me on his victory t-shirt,
if someone else has to win then I am
glad it's one of my fans! He is a great
rival and I hope that we can continue
this rivalry into the future.
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