MotoGP 2005

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Carlos Checa and Loris Capirossi were an impressive fifth and sixth in this afternoon's rain-lashed, crash-strewn British GP, coming back from a tough two days of practice and qualifying to score one of the team's best results of the year. Despite starting from the fifth and fourth rows of the grid, both Checa and Capirossi moved through the pack, maintaining control on the flooded track, while many of their rivals slid off. At one stage during the second half of the race no one was faster than the Ducati Marlboro men.

"This result is another world from where we were yesterday," said Ducati MotoGP project manager Livio Suppo, referring to his riders' performance in yesterday's dry qualifying session. "The final positions still aren't fantastic, but both riders rode great races, coming back from a difficult first few laps to run the same rhythm as the leading group, even riding faster than them at one point. The Bridgestone rain tyres worked really well, so our thanks go to Bridgestone for their hard work. Their tyres are now great in the wet, and I'm sure that by continuing to work hard we can reach the same level in the dry. It has been a difficult weekend but it has ended pretty well, so we are really looking forward to the next race next weekend."

75,000 fans braved today's miserable conditions to watch World Championship leader Valentino Rossi win ahead of former champ Kenny Roberts Junior and Alex Barros.

Carlos Checa rode the third fastest lap of today's race on his way to fifth place. It was an amazing performance from the Ducati Marlboro Team rider who had qualified 13th and completed the first lap down in 17th position, after suffering wheelspin as he roared away from the soaking grid.

"That wasn't an easy race but we got a good result, which gives the whole team a chance to breathe," said Checa, who had given some indication of his potential by placing fourth in this morning's damp warm-up session. "I got a lot of wheelspin at the start, then I wanted to get the feeling with the tyres before I began to push. A lot of guys were crashing and I couldn't see much, so it took me a while to feel confident. I was trying not to be too aggressive because it was so easy to fall. Considering where we were yesterday, fifth and sixth is a good result for the whole team."

Like his team-mate, Loris Capirossi started from a lowly grid position and had a poor start, ending lap one in 16th place. But the Ducati Marlboro Team man kept his head in the tricky conditions, steadily moving forward as he gained confidence in the atrocious conditions, setting the fifth fastest lap of the race in the process.

"Thank God it rained," smiled a sodden Capirossi. "We were pretty fast in the damp warm-up, so I was hoping for a wet race and that's what we got. At the beginning I had an engine glitch, maybe some rain got in an ignition coil, which lost me contact with the front group. If I hadn't had that problem and I'd got a better start, maybe I could have made the podium. The track was very dangerous, flooded and with small rivers everywhere, plus visibility was really bad. In these conditions I prefer to get sixth, rather than lose everything with a crash. Today's race showed that the bike and tyre package worked well - Bridgestone has made great progress with its rain tyres. A difficult weekend, but I'm finally satisfied."

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