|
2006 MotoGP Championship - Round 14 - Phillip Island, Australia - September 14/15/16/17 - Coverage by MCNEWS.COM.AU |
|
|
|
2006 MotoGP Championship - Round 14 - Phillip Island, Australia - September 14/15/16/17 - Coverage by MCNEWS.COM.AU |
|
|
|
Dorna Day 3 Report |
| In what will go down as one of the
most unpredictable races in premier class history, Marco Melandri
took victory at the GMC Australian Grand Prix today. Twenty-six laps
of breathtaking action saw the first appearance of the ‘new’ wet
weather rule which was introduced last year; Phillip Island finally
seeing some of the predicted rainfall just after the start of the
MotoGP race. After a delayed start, Shinya Nakano stormed out of the blocks and commanded an early lead. From pole, Nicky Hayden had dropped down to sixteenth after an atrocious start, although the World Championship leader would have a second chance to redeem himself. Colin Edwards and Sete Gibernau could only watch as the Kawasaki rider put a fair distance between himself and the other riders. However, the Japanese rider was the last to come in as the white flag with diagonal red cross was held by the marshals signalling rainfall, and after the rest of the field had made their permitted change of bikes, he would come back out onto track with his advantage wiped away. After the restart, the race was turned completely on its head. Gibernau, Chris Vermeulen Carlos Checa and Nicky Hayden were the early beneficiaries, but a later gamble by Checa proved not to be so opportune as he crashed out after a second change. It was Marco Melandri who proved the king of the mixed conditions however, judging his race to perfection as he first lost places in the wet, but began to pick them up with alarming speed as he lapped two seconds quicker than anyone else on track. Melandri took the lead from Gibernau on lap 16, and never looked back as he managed his lead wisely, crossing the line nearly ten seconds ahead of his nearest challenger. There was delight for Vermeulen at his home Grand Prix, as he took both his and Rizla Suzuki’s first MotoGP podium with an awe-inspiring ride into second. Having seen mechanical problems rob the Australian of a rostrum place in America, there were plenty of anxious faces in the Suzuki garage as the last laps came round with Sete Gibernau hot on Vermeulen’s heels after being passed by the Brisbane racer previously. However, fans weren’t to be denied a home rider on the podium as he guided his GSV-R home. The title fight between Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi had been a tantalizing encounter midway through the race, but eventually the Italian gained another 5 points on his rival when he made a last-gasp move on Gibernau to snatch third from his old adversary whilst the Kentucky Kid was unable to do the same. Casey Stoner put two home riders in the top six, ahead of Loris Capirossi and a dejected Shinya Nakano. Toni Elias and Makoto Tamada completed the top ten. Way back in 15th place, Dani Pedrosa’s inexperience on a MotoGP bike in wet weather conditions may have ended his title contendership. He now sits in fourth place in the series, level on 193 points with Melandri, but having won fewer races. Rossi moves up to second, 21 points behind Hayden who has 225. Jorge Lorenzo made it eight 250cc wins so far this season as he extended his World Championship lead to 24 points over Andrea Dovizioso. Victory for the Spaniard came after an awful start from pole, where he dropped down to sixth on the first lap. However, the Fortuna Aprilia rider’s dominant performances over the weekend weren’t merely coincidence, and Lorenzo quickly became embroiled in a four way battle with Dovizioso, Alex de Angelis and Hiroshi Aoyama. Towards the end, it was Lorenzo and de Angelis who broke away and made it a straight dogfight for quarter litre glory, and as the San Marino native tried a classic Philip Island final straight move on the World Championship leader. Lorenzo held out by just 0.009 to take the win, whilst Hiroshi Aoyama completed the podium places ahead of his home Grand Prix next weekend. Andrea Dovizioso lost ground in his quest for the 2006 title as he came in fourth, and will need to add to his only win of the season at Catalunya before the end of the season to keep his chances in his own hands. Shuhei Aoyama joined his brother in the top six, ahead of Hector Barbera, Roberto Locatelli and Jakub Smrz. Home rider Anthony West pushed his Kiefer BOS bike to the fullest to take ninth, ahead of Marco Simoncelli. Alvaro Bautista sealed the 125cc World Championship with a win at the GMC Australian Grand Prix in the first race of the day. The 21 year old Spaniard never looked in danger as he took off from the start of the shortened 15 lap race. An early crash involving Sergio Gadea and Joey Litjens amongst others, caused the red flag to be waved by the Australian marshals. When the light went out for the second time, Bautista was unstoppable in his pursuit of a third consecutive victory. Taking his seventh win of the season in the lower cylinder class, Bautista celebrated at the side of the track before returning to the pits to be greeted by his elated Master MVA Aspar team led by former World Champion Jorge Martinez ‘Aspar’. Bautista only needed to finish ahead of Mika Kallio to take the title, and the Finn did his part to try and draw out the seemingly inevitable. Battling as part of the trailing pack, the Red Bull KTM rider finished second at Phillip Island, ahead of Mattia Pasini who was gifted a second chance to race by the enforced restart. As a new champion was crowned, now-ex World Champion Thomas Luthi was pipped to a podium place by Pasini. Julian Simon, Lukas Pesek, Raffaele De Rosa, Fabrizio Lai, Gabor Talmacsi and Joan Olive completed the top ten. 1st place - Marco Melandri - Honda "It was so difficult, but I had nothing to lose in the championship which perhaps gave me the room to try things. I decided to stop at the same time as everyone else, and when I started again it was very difficult, because the tyres were new. I saw Vermeulen going fast and thought “maybe I could go faster than I’m doing now”. When I saw that there were 11 laps to go after I took the lead I knew that I just had to keep riding smoothly. It’s been..not easy but good fun." 2nd place - Chris Vermeulen - Suzuki "I might have been robbed in Laguna by mechanical problems but today made up for it, at home it is so special. The track was getting more and more slippery, so it was difficult to know how slow to go. The team gave me great bike to bring it home with." 3rd place - Valentino Rossi - Yamaha "It was a very important move at the end. I am happy because I caught Sete when I was 7 seconds behind. Unfortunately I lost too much when started on the rain tyre, when my Michelin tyres had been going well in the dry and after coming into the pits I had to take things step by step by step instead of at the pace I had been going before. On the last corner I took the podium, and 5 points and second place in championship makes things interesting for Japan."
|
|
|
