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A sixth 2005 win for Valentino Rossi at Assen

pic: Elliot Doering
By Dan Moakes June 26 2005
With a 58-point lead in the MotoGP World Championship, and five wins from six races, Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi was clearly the man to beat heading into round seven. Honda’s leading riders were the men aiming to do just that, especially consistent rival Sete Gibernau.

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

The Dutch Grand Prix, also known as the TT, takes place on the historic Circuit van Drenthe at Assen, and this is the only venue to have hosted a GP every year since 1949. A ‘cathedral of speed’, Assen is a long, cambered, bikes-only track originally consisting of public roads, and with a succession of flowing curves and some tighter corners. Sections of the course had been amended for this year’s race, whilst the character of the circuit was maintained, but significant alterations are planned for 2006.

Qualifying for the GP saw the usual front runners emerge, but also involved a degree of conflict. Honda rivals Max Biaggi and Marco Melandri clashed acrimoniously when the former slowed down, apparently to try an illegal practice start, and succeeded in blocking the latter on a fast lap. Aggression spilled over in the pitlane when an uncle of Biaggi’s confronted Melandri, and the whole affair led to a fine for Max.

The front row of the grid had the same trio of riders as at Barcelona, but with Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha) leading Gibernau and Melandri (both MoviStar Honda). Valentino’s 29th pole in the top class equalled the tally of long term Suzuki hero Kevin Schwantz. Fourth place was the best yet for the 2005 Kawasaki ZX-RR, ridden by Shin’ya Nakano, with Repsol Honda’s Nicky Hayden next, from Rossi’s team-mate Colin Edwards.

Loris Capirossi headed row three for Ducati, joined by the Hondas of Alex Barros and Biaggi. Then came the second Kawasaki of Alex Hofmann, and then Makoto Tamada, John Hopkins, Carlos Checa, Troy Bayliss, Kenny Roberts, Rubén Xaus, David Checa, Roberto Rolfo, Shane Byrne, James Ellison and Franco Battaini, the last of whom had been collected by Biaggi after an off-track incident.

The warm-up session took place in wet conditions, but by race time it was dry, and the start saw the leading Honda men get the better of Rossi, with Gibernau ahead of Melandri and Hayden. The last of these engaged in some place-swapping with a determined looking Nakano, whilst Rossi was pushed back to sixth by Capirossi, ahead of Edwards and Hofmann, then Barros, Hopkins, Biaggi, Bayliss, Roberts, Checa and Rolfo.

Melandri quickly moved into the lead, and with Hayden soon joining him ahead of Gibernau. Rossi and Capirossi traded places behind Nakano as the first nine riders broke away from the rest, who were led by Biaggi and Hopkins. As ever, Rossi wasn’t going to settle for running in a lowly sixth, and he passed Capirossi on the inside at a right-hander towards the end of the lap, then did the same to Nakano at turn one, the Haarbocht right-hander.

Hayden set the fastest lap as the first two looked to be starting to stretch a lead over Gibernau, whilst Rossi chased up to his Spanish rival. Meanwhile, Edwards relegated Nakano to sixth over the start-finish line, with Capirossi, Barros and Hofmann next in line. As the race progressed, Melandri, Hayden, Gibernau and Rossi moved into a four-way lead group, with Edwards speeding up to get clear of the rest.

Gibernau jammed his bike through inside Hayden’s at the looping De Strubben left-hander, which also allowed Rossi to move up. This dropped Nicky into Edwards’ clutches as the first three pulled away. Colin overtook the Honda man as he tried to join the men ahead, and Rossi moved up to second by going in tight through a right-hander to pass Gibernau. Soon the lead resolved with Melandri and Rossi together, then Gibernau and Edwards, and Hayden dropping back.

Rossi went on the attack as Melandri continued to lead, and he made his move at De Strubben. Marco upped the pace to stay with Valentino, and the younger man improved on the fastest lap more than once. At one stage a mistake almost resulted in the Honda colliding with the Yamaha, but Melandri held things under control and continued. Meanwhile, Gibernau used the familiar Strubben pass on Edwards, but soon lost out again. Sete then faded back to Hayden, who ultimately got the better of him and moved out of reach.

Rossi set the fastest lap in the closing stages, only for Melandri to improve on this again as they dropped Edwards. With two laps remaining, Marco was faster again, but Valentino got his head down to pull out an advantage of 1.6 seconds by the final flag. The next three men were each running alone by now, finishing with Edwards third, then Hayden, then Gibernau.

The battle behind had seen plenty of action throughout the race. Nakano’s early spell in the lead group had been short lived as faster machines asserted themselves over the Kawasaki. After Edwards had pushed the green machine to sixth, Shin’ya had progressively lost out to Capirossi, Barros and Biaggi, whilst team-mate Hofmann dropped off the back of the group and would end up the only retirement.

Biaggi had taken some time to close in on the contest ahead but, with Capirossi also fading to tenth, behind team-mate Checa, it was Max and Alex Barros that would dispute P6. The Italian moved ahead, but his experienced rival stayed in touch as they finished in that order. Nakano, Checa and Capirossi were next, with Bayliss eleventh, and Xaus moving through from 17th for the next slot, from Hopkins, Tamada, David Checa, Roberts, Byrne, Rolfo, Ellison and Battaini.

It had been another Valentino Rossi master class, but this time Marco Melandri had almost been equal to the champion. The 22-year-old had put on a display superior to the more experienced Honda pilots, gaining his best MotoGP class finish, whilst Colin Edwards again showed the form that gave him third in France. Relatively lacklustre showings from Gibernau, Biaggi and Barros dropped them away in the points battle, leaving the consistent Melandri as the main challenger to Rossi, albeit 63 points down. ‘The Doctor’ and the Yamaha are looking unbeatable already.

Standings after seven races: Rossi 170; Melandri 107; Biaggi 87; Gibernau 84; Barros 74; Edwards 73; Hayden 60; Capirossi 49; Nakano 48; Checa 40; Bayliss 37; Xaus 28.


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