Mugello
is a fabulous place. Nestled deep in the Tuscany mountains, it's
got all the ingredients needed for great racing - complex corners,
elevation changes, outbraking opportunities, the fastest straight
in Europe and an atmosphere to die for, thanks mainly to the incredibly
passionate local crowd. The last few years have seen some fantastic
scraps here, with Valentino Rossi victorious in all the last few
years' visits. But this year, so far at least, things haven't
been going at all according to plan for The Doctor, with an unprecedented
pair of DNFs in the last two races dropping him right down to
eighth in the table. Ducati, celebrating their eightieth birthday
at their local circuit, had a new paint scheme on the Desmosedici
and a pair of riders with lots to prove. Valentino Rossi had a
mountain to climb which, before his bike failed in France, he
looked able to do. But that mountain has grown by another eleven
points now so he was going to have to work hard. Marco Melandri
has tasted victory and was surely keen to try it again. And Nicky
Hayden, sitting at the top of the table with just one off-rostrum
finish this season, would be happy to go away with another win
in the bag. So the stage was set for what we all expected to be
a truly magnificent race.
Practice and qualifying were made interesting
by some unseasonal weather, offering cooler than usual track temperatures
and rain to spice things up. Gibernau and Capirossi made the running
for Ducati with Rossi up there as well, showing that the return
to last year's frame may well have been the cure to the chatter
problems that have beset the team this year. A dry qualifying
session saw Sete Gibernau blitz the opposition to take pole from
his team-mate and demolish the lap record at the same time. Valentino
Rossi got his first front row start of the season in an excellent
morning's work while Nicky Hayden had to content himself with
heading up the second row, ahead of Shinya Nakano and Marco Melandri.
Nakano still holds the rather dubious honour of having the fastest
ever motorcycle crash right here at Mugello a couple of years
ago, and he still races just as hard as he did before. That's
serious courage. Row three, anyway, comprised John Hopkins, Dani
Pedrosa and Casey Stoner, Hopper continuing his run of strong
qualifying performances on the Suzuki. All the top nine riders
were within a second of pole, while Makoto Tamada fell just outside
to round out the top ten.
Race
day dawned dry, clear and warm, promising to remain so
all day and leaving us to anticipate a gripping race.
Warm-up showed that the overnight changes the team had made to
Colin Edwards' Yamaha had worked (put the old frame in his, too)
as he was way faster than his lowly qualifying while Nicky Hayden
sought to stamp his authority on proceedings by running at the
head of the pack.
But warm-up isn't the race, and when the lights changed it was
Sete Gibernau who made the break from Rossi, while Capirossi made
an appalling start and dropped back through the field to eighth
at the end of the first lap. At the front, Rossi wasted no time
at all in muscling past Gibernau and attempting to make the break.
But he failed to do so as the Spaniard showed that he hasn't completely
lost his touch and stuck firmly to Rossi's coat tails. Behind
them (and I mean just behind them) Melandri, Nakano,
Stoner, Pedrosa and Hayden formed a freight train with barely
any air between any of the bikes and regular position changes.
In fact, the action at the front of the field was so frantic that
it was more like a club race than a GP, and it played right into
Capirossi's hands as the constant overtakes, blocking passes and
defensive lines slowed the leading pack down and allowed him to
close back up again.
Up at the front, Gibernau managed to retake
the lead after just one lap, with Melandri mugging Rossi two laps
later to relegate the champion to third in a firm but fair overtake
- one of rather a lot of rather robust passes that the young Italian
executed during the race. Next lap saw Rossi back at the front
with Melandri down in fourth and young Casey Stoner pushing hard
in third. Too hard, it seemed, as on the eighth lap the young
Australian got on the power a little too hard while the front
was still airborne over the bumps that characterise some of the
track and launched himself and the bike off into the gravel in
a huge and spectacular cartwheel of destruction that happily left
the rider unhurt. And all the time Capirossi was closing in.
Nakano, suffering from a lack of outright speed on the Kawasaki,
was gradually falling back after a brilliant start, and was passed
by Capirossi for seventh on lap five. Lap eight saw the Ducati
rider slip past Pedrosa while Stoner's departure elevated him
to fifth. Two more laps saw him pass Melandri, another two to
despatch Hayden and two more saw him in the lead when a great
game of late braking chicken of riders at the end of the main
straight saw a rare mistake by Rossi which dropped him back to
fifth with a whole lot of work to do.
What
happened next was possibly the most exciting motorcycle racing
I have ever seen. Marco Melandri rode like a man possessed, dicing
with Nicky Hayden and making some of the most audacious overtaking
moves ever while staying clean. He even waved an apology to Hayden
while diving underneath on a corner as the move was a little firm.
But it all went pear shaped as the Italian went in to a corner
too hot, ran wide, touched the grass and had to back right off
to avoid a crash. Sete Gibernau, who had been going so well, dropped
off the pace for a while as one of his toe sliders had come detached
and his boot was now wearing through. Followed by his little toe...
A rally towards the end of the race was too late to salvage a
podium after a strong and spirited ride spoiled by yet more bad
luck. Rossi in the meantime was simply on another level. Not once
but twice he made a brilliant overtake on Casanova Curve - a downhill
complex that just isn't a viable overtaking spot - and was soon
back up with Capirossi. Then it really got exciting as the two
friendly rivals duked it out as hard as possible while remaining
utterly fair. Hayden stayed in close behind to pick up the pieces
if it all went wrong, though he was so close sometimes that it
looked as though if it went wrong he'd be ramming the pieces,
rather than picking them up. Three times Rossi tried to outbrake
the Ducati at the end of the straight and each time Capirossi
was able to get turned in and pointing in the right direction,
despite being notionally disadvantaged, quicker than the Yamaha.
Then, on the last lap, Rossi's patience finally ran out and he
stuffed the Yamaha down the inside on the same bend and just tapped
the power on enough to get in the way and stop the Ducati rider
from pulling the same stunt. Then it was all over as The Doctor
extended a half second lead within a few corners. Capirossi had
no reply as Rossi excelled at doing what he does so well - getting
the best from completely shot tyres.
Further
back, Dani Pedrosa cruised in ahead of Sete Gibernau
who deserved so much better, with Marco Melandri a victim of his
own exuberance in a distant sixth. Tony Elias finished a neat
seventh, holding off Kenny Roberts Jnr who got the best ever result
for the KR211V in a solid eighth. Makoto Tamada and John Hopkins
rounded out the top ten with Shinya Nakano just edged out. Colin
Edwards started so well but went grasstracking early in the race
and ended up last, working his way back to twelfth, a massive
thirty seconds from the front.
So Valentino Rossi got back to the top of the podium for a desperately
needed twenty five points. Capirossi, whose post race congratulations
with Rossi showed just how high a regard the two riders have for
each other, takes the lead in the championship from Hayden who
has the same number of points from fewer wins. Rossi jumps from
eighth to joint fifth and has reduced the gap to thirty four points.
Big but not unbeatable. Next stop, in two weeks, sees us in Catalunya.
Rossi has a brilliant track record there, Gibernau may be threatening
but maybe team orders will come into play and he'll have to yield
to Capirossi. Personally I doubt it, partly because I don't think
Gibernau would listen, partly because I don't think Capirossi
would accept it but mainly because I don't think it will be an
issue.
Whatever happens, though, it's going to be a
cracker...
Results
1 V Rossi, Yamaha
2 L Capirossi, Ducati
3 N Hayden, Honda
4 D Pedrosa, Honda
5 S Gibernau, Ducati
6 M Melandri, Honda
7 T Elias, Honda
8 K Roberts Jnr, KR211V
9 M Tamada, Honda
10 J Hopkins, Suzuki
Championship Standing after 5 rounds
99 L Capirossi
99 N Hayden
89 M Melandri
86 D Pedrosa
65 V Rossi
65 C Stoner
53 T Elias
49 C Edwards
44 S Gibernau
40 M Tamada
SB