above: Valentino Rossi on the 2004 Gauloises Yamaha - photo by Elliot Doering

Qatar’s modern Losail circuit is in the middle of the desert, and therefore subject to sandy conditions as well as the heat. In addition, riders had to contend with strong winds on race day, as the local terrain provided no kind of shelter. The track itself, new last season, is almost totally level. It comprises a long main straight, which then leads to a series of turns switching back and forth on one another.

The 2004 race had been controversial, with both Rossi and Max Biaggi sent to the back of the grid when their teams had tried to improve grip at their qualifying slots. Rossi’s progress had been rapid, yet he had managed to crash trying to get on terms with leader Sete Gibernau. The fact that the Italian blamed his rival for the penalty didn’t help his mood. Sete hadn’t won a race since, and that was the way Rossi liked it.

This year’s recent qualifying trend continued with Loris Capirossi securing pole position on the Marlboro Ducati Desmosedici. It was his third in a row, and this time partner Carlos Checa was five slots back, continuing his own recent form. Gibernau kept up a good run of front row starts with second on the MoviStar Honda, while Rossi was third and returned to the front rank after four meetings further back.

He was followed by team-mate Colin Edwards, the runner-up here last year, and lap record holder. Marco Melandri, still not fully mended from his Motegi injury, slotted in between Edwards and Checa with the second Honda. The other RCV men appeared at intervals, with Nicky Hayden eighth, Makoto Tamada tenth, Max Biaggi 13th, Alex Barros 14th and Shane Byrne 17th on his second and final Camel Pons outing. The Englishman had suffered a fall in race day warm-up, which perhaps didn’t help his chances to impress. The bike is said to be going to Chris Vermeulen for the last three races.

Seventh man Shin’ya Nakano was the lone Kawasaki rider this time out, with Olivier Jacque not selected to fill in for Alex Hofmann on this occasion. Behind Hayden, Toní Elías made his best showing since round three, when the circuit had been new to everyone, and this put him seven slots ahead of team-mate Rubén Xaus, third in the 2004 race. Kenny Roberts and John Hopkins had their Suzukis between Tamada and Biaggi, with Roberto Rolfo (15th), James Ellison (18th) and Franco Battaini (19th) in the other positions.

The race started with Capirossi going into the lead and building a minimal lead, with Hayden briefly up to second before Gibernau and Rossi forced him back. Melandri was fifth, from Edwards, Checa, Rolfo, Biaggi and Nakano. Early moves saw Rolfo past Checa for seventh, an impressive gain from his start position; and Nakano passed when Biaggi ran wide.

Capirossi’s spell up front ended when Gibernau passed on the inside at turn one, and from there he looked to be in trouble. As the first six moved clear of Rolfo and the rest, so Rossi and Hayden quickly moved ahead of the Ducati. Edwards was next, going through on the right along the main straight, and he was soon joined by Melandri as Loris dropped into a lonely sixth.

Rossi set the fastest lap so far, but this wasn’t enough to prevent Gibernau building a lead of 0.8 seconds, while the Italian came under attack from Hayden, with Edwards and Melandri in tow. Colin now improved on his team leader’s lap time, but again it didn’t prevent a pass by Melandri. The Yamaha rider squeezed back through, but didn’t stay ahead for long.

The picture changed a bit more when Hayden, after attacking Rossi on the straight, made a mistake and let Melandri through. This was the cue for Marco to go on the offensive, and he twice broke the lap record as he pressured Rossi, even looking like he was being delayed. The pace took these two away from the American pair and closer to Gibernau, with the margin reducing more as Rossi engaged in some very late braking.

Behind the leaders, Capirossi’s sixth went astray when the Italian went off track for the loss of six places as he extricated the bike from the gravel. Not long afterwards, Biaggi pulled into the pits. Apparent electronics problems had seen him fall to 14th, and he was not getting the power he needed. Hopkins was another troubled man, and soon stopped for a new rear Bridgestone tyre.

The three leaders became four again, Hayden shaking off Edwards with a new fastest lap and joining the group. He was in time to join on behind Rossi, who had gone wide through a right-hand curve and let Melandri up to second. At half race distance this was reversed as Valentino passed Marco easily along the straight. Gibernau’s lead had gone out from 0.5s to 1.2s, but now it came down again, fluctuating between about 0.6s and 0.4s - even as Melandri attacked and Hayden tried to stay with them.

The first three were fully together when Melandri got by Rossi on the inside for a right-hander, such that the champion then had to go wide to avoid the Honda, whereupon Hayden was on the attack. The MoviStar pair now had 1.2s in hand over Valentino with five laps to go, but then they got into their own battle. Gibernau may have been the number one rider in name and experience, but Melandri was best placed in the points table. He went for the lead on the inside through a left-hander, but was wide on the way out and fell behind again.

This helped Rossi close up again, and he had a grandstand seat for the next drama. Melandri went to the inside for the first of two right-handers, but left room for the next one. Gibernau went back to the inside but was going in way too hot and sent himself onwards to the gravel. We now had just the two men at the front, with Sete rejoining fifth, twelve seconds from the lead and out of touch with Edwards.

Melandri had his chance at a first MotoGP win, and seemed to have the measure of Rossi when first he went on the attack for turn one. But the Yamaha had the grunt necessary, so that Valentino could power ahead to the left along the main straight, and this time reach the corner first. There were only a couple of tenths in it and, starting the penultimate circuit, the Honda rider tried to slipstream and go back in front, to no avail. He tried one more time to pass through a right-hander, but could not get the machine turned and ended up clipping the grass beyond the track’s edge.

Rossi therefore beat Melandri home by 1.6s, whilst third place man Hayden was well clear of Edwards. Gibernau was a disappointed fifth, still not having broken his 2005 jinx. Capirossi’s excursion had left sixth for team-mate Checa, and Nakano had passed Rolfo early on and was now seventh. The Italian class rookie had fallen victim to four more riders - Elías, Barros, Capirossi and Roberts - and just held on from Byrne for twelfth. Xaus, Ellison, Battaini and Hopkins also made it home, with Tamada the second non-finisher from running P13.

‘Posso dirlo’ was the winner’s hand held message, which seemingly means ‘I can say it.’ Whatever he meant, Valentino Rossi’s thirteenth podium of the year was also his 78th in the top class, putting him level with the great Eddie Lawson. But again it was the race to be second that was most affected by the day’s events. Max Biaggi’s non-finish let Marco Melandri, Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden close in, while Loris Capirossi was still there but now at the tail of the group. Sete Gibernau is not out of touch, but this race had seen another good opportunity go begging.

Standings after twelve races: Rossi 306; Biaggi 159; Melandri 157; Edwards 152; Hayden 150; Capirossi 148; Barros 129; Gibernau 126; Checa 98; Nakano 78; Tamada 68; Roberts 63.

In other Grand Prix news: Nicky Hayden has been confirmed as staying on with the Repsol Honda team for a fourth term, into next season. Dani Pedrosa has already been suggested as a possible team-mate, and its now being rumoured that Max Biaggi will move over and take Kenny Roberts’ Suzuki ride, quite possibly bringing the Camel sponsorship that currently adorns the Pons Hondas. If Pedrosa arrives, the Repsol squad will surely be looking to him for more regular victories. Aside from Rossi’s dominant two years, Hayden’s US success was only the third for their riders in six years.

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