above: Rossi on the 2004 Gauloises Yamaha - photo © Elliot L Doering

The Le Mans Bugatti circuit uses only the main straight of the classic 24-Hour race course, with the 185mph right-hand kink at turn one the fastest corner on the GP calendar. The remaining sections are predominantly tight and twisty, with two chicanes and three hairpins turning back on one another. Top speed would be a factor, but agile handling would be the key.

Gauloises Yamaha seemed to have unlocked this formula in qualifying, as Rossi took his second pole position of this season, and with team-mate Colin Edwards in a best ever second place. The Fausto Gresini-run MoviStar Honda pair was next, but with Marco Melandri ahead of partner Gibernau for the first time, putting the Spaniard onto row two.

Fifth man Nicky Hayden was once again the first of the works Repsol Honda riders, three places in front of Max Biaggi, but with the Camel machines of Alex Barros (eleventh) and Troy Bayliss (fifteenth) some way back, and Jürgen van den Goorbergh on the final row with the JIR Honda. Shin’ya Nakano completed row two for Kawasaki, with local man Olivier Jacque thirteenth.

John Hopkins continued to be the lead Suzuki man in seventh, with Kenny Roberts twice as far from the front, and behind Biaggi came the Ducatis of Carlos Checa and Loris Capirossi. Toní Elías was twelfth, and Rubén Xaus led row six, from Shane Byrne, Roberto Rolfo, Goorbergh, James Ellison and Franco Battaini. Byrne and the Proton team were back, trying out a revised KTM V4 engine, but opted to race the original version.

The race morning warm-up had seen a crash for Biaggi, with the rider stretchered away, but he returned from the hospital with nothing worse than bruising to his back, and would race. Meanwhile, Melandri was feeling somewhat unwell, but would also take the start.

Of more concern to some was the prospect of rain, which arrived in a very small way before the race, and added a touch of dampness to the track. A wet race was declared, invoking the new flag-to-flag pit stop rules, but all riders went to the grid with dry weather tyres, and in fact the rain stayed away thereafter. All riders except Hopkins, that is, who had to go for the pitlane and switch to his second bike, still on slicks, and was late into the race as a result.

Edwards apparently made the best start, but with countryman Hayden pulling ahead to lead. However, Colin moved to his outside round turn one, and was in front at the immediate braking zone for the left-right Dunlop chicane. Capirossi, Melandri, Rossi, Nakano, Gibernau, Barros and Biaggi were next, but with the rear of the Roman’s Honda clipping across the front of Checa’s Ducati in the chicane, bringing down Checa and involving the following Rolfo, who was at least able to continue.

Nakano was in determined form early on, passing Rossi and attacking Melandri, but these three were in the second group, as Edwards threatened to get clear of Hayden and Capirossi up front. Rossi was quick to limit the damage, going by Nakano on the outside into the first chicane, and not taking long to get by Melandri on the inside through a right-hander. He then proceeded to chase after the first three, and was soon clear of the men behind him.

Edwards’ slight advantage was reduced by Hayden and Capirossi, with the Italian setting fastest lap, but his time was then improved on more than once by Rossi, breaking the lap record as he joined the group. With the gaps between these riders starting to grow again, Rossi made his way past Capirossi into third, and the Ducati soon began to fall away from Edwards, Hayden and Rossi.

Rossi was soon right on the tail of Hayden, and the Honda man’s wider line around the looping left-handed Musée hairpin was enough for ‘the Doctor’ to go past on the inside. The race now evolved into a two man affair, between the Gauloises duo, as Rossi closed up to Edwards, the others spacing out behind. However, the early battle for fifth had thrown up another challenger, with Gibernau turning quick times as he moved forward.

Sete had run third in the group with Melandri and Nakano ahead, and Barros behind, then ran in too fast at the first chicane, cutting across and losing out to Barros. From here, Gibernau was only to move forward. Barros was overtaken at a right-hander, and Nakano was the next victim. Gibernau now pushed team-mate Melandri, who put up a good defence. But soon enough Sete was through to fifth place, and setting a hot pace as he chased up to Capirossi, and three seconds behind Rossi.

Gibernau passed Capirossi on the inside at Musée, moving up towards Hayden as he cut the gap to Rossi back to 2.4s. Sete then went on to take Nicky on the inside run from Chapelle hairpin to Musée, consistently turning the quickest laps of anyone out there, and reducing the gap ahead to 1.7s. Gibernau’s arrival spurred Rossi to push Edwards for an opening to take the lead, as his rival closed to under a second.

We now had a three-way tussle for victory, and Rossi moved to the inside of Edwards along the back straight, into the chicane at Chemin aux Boeufs. This time it was Valentino’s turn to run over the kerbing, letting Colin regain the lead, and also allowing Sete to run past into the following right-hander. The trio continued to push the pace as each looked for an advantage, with Rossi regaining second from Gibernau.

With the laps available starting to run out, Rossi passed Edwards on the inside at Garage Vert, the third of the hairpins and a right-hander, and Gibernau got into the gap to follow him past. Edwards’ chance was gone, as he now fell back while the two leading riders of the day kept up a pace he could not match. Rossi and Gibernau remained almost tied together, and on the last lap Sete was as close as he could be at Musée. However, he was not quite close enough to attempt a pass around the rest of the lap, and in fact Rossi’s final tour actually improved the lap record even further.

Edwards claimed a solitary third place in his best Yamaha outing to date, with Honda riders completing the top six. But the order behind him had been changing. Biaggi had followed Gibernau up to and past Melandri, and these two had moved up when Capirossi cut the chicane exit and emerged behind them both. Then they had caught and passed Hayden, whose pace appeared to drop off, whilst continuing their own battle. Melandri had made a late move going into Chemin aux Boeufs, which he held to the end even in his weakened state.

Capirossi finished seventh, from Nakano, with Elías inherting a deserved ninth after Barros slid out. Bayliss was next, with Jacque a good eleventh, from Xaus, Roberts, van den Goorbergh, Rolfo, Hopkins and Battaini. British riders Byrne and Ellison had crashed out early in the race, with ‘Shakey’ knocked out temporarily, but later recovering to report that he didn’t recall what had actually happened.

A nice touch after the finish came when Valentino Rossi offered a hand to Sete Gibernau, who accepted the gesture with the customary handshake. In a clean but well fought race, this seemed like a possible end to the warring between the two, dating back to Qatar last season. Either way, Sete had got his title challenge back on track, moving into a close third in the points, albeit with Valentino’s lead now out to 37 over Marco Melandri.

Colin Edwards was happy to have been involved in the leading action, even if he couldn’t hang on right to the finish, whilst Marco Melandri had kept up a consistent record to maintain his excellent runner-up status. He was no doubt content to finish ahead of Max Biaggi’s work Honda for the third time in four outings. With four races down, it is already looking like Rossi will take a fifth consecutive crown. But things can always change, and it looks like being another good battle all the way.

Standings after four races: Rossi 95; Melandri 58; Gibernau 53; Biaggi 47; Barros 43; Edwards 41; Nakano 27; Hayden 26; Jacque 25; Capirossi 23; Bayliss 21; Checa 17.

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