MCNEWS.COM.AU - The ultimate in motorcycle news MotoGP 2005 - Round 3 - Shanghai
Ducati Race Report
May 1st, 2005

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Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa had a miserable day at rain-lashed Shanghai today, recording a 12th-place finish and a DNF. The results were an unfair reward for the tireless work put in by the entire team, which showed real promise during qualifying when Capirossi and Checa scored impressive first- and third-row starts.

Rain affected all three days of the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix at the spectacular Shanghai circuit but instead of the light rain and drizzle that dampened the track on Friday and Saturday, today's action was dominated by monsoon-like downpours, first during morning warm-up and then again during this today's race which was won by Valentino Rossi ahead of Olivier Jacque.

"Of course we can't be happy with today's result," said Ducati MotoGP project manager Livio Suppo. "We were going okay in the dry but the rain didn't help us at all. We know that the Bridgestone rain tyres worked well, thanks to Jacque's amazing result, but we weren't able to put together a good race ourselves. Wet races like today's can always be a bit of a lottery."

Loris Capirossi scored a dogged 12th-place finish after 22 waterlogged laps of the Shanghai circuit. The Ducati Marlboro Team man had been looking forward to a much better result after qualifying third fastest in yesterday's dry qualifying session.

"The track was badly flooded in warm-up, so we ended up choosing quite a soft rear tyre for the race, too soft as it turned out," said the Italian. "There was less water on the track during the race, so things got difficult for me. Overall the machine worked pretty well but I still had some problems in the lower gears."

After qualifying just off row two, Carlos Checa had high expectations for today, especially since his practice pace on race tyres had been impressive. But the torrential rain changed everything for the Ducati Marlboro Team rider who fell on lap five while starting to make forward progress.

"There was a lot of standing water, some areas were really bad, other areas I could catch people," explained the Spaniard. "In warm-up I didn't feel too confident, so I took my time in the race. I was beginning to build confidence when I lost the front at turn 16, maybe I used a little too much brake with a little too much angle. I guess I found the limit."

 

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