DONINGTON MOTOGP RACE REPORT
24 July 2005 - Yamaha Racing

Gauloises Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi extended his advantage at the top of the MotoGP World Championship to 104 points, with his seventh victory from nine races this season in the British Grand Prix today.

The Italian splashed his way through several centimetres of standing water and lashings of torrential rain to clinch his fourth MotoGP win at Donington Park after a treacherous race that saw no fewer than eleven riders crash.

Rossi didn''t get the best of starts as he dropped from pole position to seventh but fought his way back to the front by the fourth lap. A slight mistake at the midway point saw him lose ground on the lead group but two fast laps brought him back into contention. Another burst from the Italian seven laps from the end shaved over 2 seconds from the fastest lap of the race up to that point and left Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) and Alex Barros (Honda) trailing in his wake. Rossi''s Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards joined in the battle for a top three finish but settled with fourth place at the end of the intense race, another solid points haul moving him up to third in the championship, just one point behind Marco Melandri (Honda), who crashed out of the race.

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 1st
''That was one of the most difficult races of my career - the conditions were incredible. It was very, very cold and the track was very slippery. At the beginning I was lucky because I made a mistake on the start and spun the tyre but after that I came back fast to the front. Biaggi crashed in front of me, then Gibernau. there were a lot of people making mistakes, also me, so I preferred to wait. Alex had a good rhythm so I stayed behind him but I made a mistake at the chicane when I was fighting with Kenny and locked the brakes. Today was not like riding a bike, it was like riding a boat because there was a lot of water between the wheels and the track - always spinning the rear and locking the front. I tried to understand the points where I could push more and said to myself: ''Now I try and we see what happens!'' I was able to go a lot faster and keep the advantage. It was a great job by the team because the bike worked well even though we only had 20 minutes this morning to find the wet-weather set-up. Yesterday when I looked at my best lap time I thought it was like a symphony of violins - perfect, so I decided that if I won I would do this celebration across the finish line!''

Colin Edwards (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 4th
''After the warm-up I was a bit down because it wasn''t great. We made some changes to the spring settings but we weren''t really sure whether it was the right option. Anyway, I got out on the warm-up lap and the balance of the bike was awesome. The race was basically a case of survival. My start wasn''t as good as it might have looked and the pace felt really slow to start with, but then it picked up and it was a pretty eventful first few laps. Then the front locked when I was braking in a straight line and I almost ended up in the dirt! I caught up very quickly but about 12 laps from the end I had another scary moment and the bike spat me up out of my seat, so I thought about the situation and decided to wait and see what happened in front of me. Towards the end I was keeping an eye on Checa behind me because he was quite close. The points are really important; it''s great to have moved into third place and to be so close to Melandri. It wasn''t the result we wanted, but I''m really pleased with what we''ve achieved this weekend.''

Toni Elias (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 9th
''Although I did not get a good start, and Hopkins hit me from behind, I felt comfortable and was able to pass a few riders in the opening stages. But I soon saw there was hardly any grip and the bike kept skidding at the front leaving me aquaplaning all the time. After a few scares I tried to follow Checa and Capirossi and just get a finish - that was the most important thing, to score more points. My injury responded well to the conditions and now I am looking forward to Germany as I am getting better all the time.''

Ruben Xaus (Fortuna Yamaha Team), DNF
''It was a shame because I was lapping with the top ten riders. I lost a good opportunity but I could see hardly anything out on the track. It was a very difficult race because of the conditions, but we will keep working as we have done up to now.''

Race classification MotoGP
Round: 9 - British MotoGP
Circuit: Donington
Circuit Length: 4023
Lap Record: 1'' 29.973 (Colin Edwards, 2004)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'' 27.897 (Valentino Rossi, 2005)

Race: 29 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 52'' 58.675
2 K. Roberts Suzuki USA +3.169
3 A. Barros Honda BRA +4.006
4 C. Edwards Yamaha USA +10.292
5 C. Checa Ducati ESP +13.020
6 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA +23.321
7 M. Tamada Honda JPN +37.833
8 A. Hofman Kawasaki GER +44.617
9 T. Elias Yamaha ESP +1 lap(s)
10 R. Rolfo Ducati ITA +1 lap(s)
11 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA +1 lap(s)

Fastest Race Lap:
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'' 45.377

Championship standings MotoGP
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 211
2 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 107
3 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 106
4 Max Biaggi Honda ITA 100
5 Sete Gibernau Honda ESP 95
6 Alex Barros Honda BRA 90
7 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 85
8 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 65
9 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 55
10 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 51
11 Troy Bayliss Honda AUS 47
12 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 36
13 Ruben Xaus Yamaha ESP 33
14 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 32
15 Kenny Roberts Suzuki USA 31
17 Toni Elias Yamaha ESP 25
21 David Checa Yamaha ESP 4


Manufacturers standings MotoGP
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1 Yamaha 215
2 Honda 182
3 Kawasaki 83
4 Ducati 75
5 Suzuki 55
6 Blata WCM 4
7 Proton KR 1
7 Moriwaki 1


Team standings MotoGP
Pos. Team Points
1 Gauloises Yamaha Team 317
2 Team Movistar Honda MotoGP 202
3 Repsol Honda Team 185
4 Honda Camel 137
5 Ducati Marlboro Team 116
6 Kawasaki Racing Team 101
7 Team Suzuki MotoGP 63
8 Fortuna Yamaha Team 62
9 Konica Minolta Honda 48
10 D''Antin MotoGP 13
11 Blata WCM 4
12 Team Roberts KR 1

Race classification GP250
Round: 8 - British Grand Prix
Circuit: Donington
Circuit Length: 4023
Lap Record: 1'' 33.217 (Daniel Pedrosa, 2004)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'' 33.217 (Daniel Pedrosa, 2004)

Race: 27 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 R. de Puniet Aprilia FRA 49'' 11.337
2 A. West KTM AUS +1.236
3 C. Stoner Aprilia AUS +16.740
4 D. Pedrosa Honda ESP +47.825
5 S. Porto Aprilia ARG +1'' 3.449
6 S. Corsi Aprilia ITA +1'' 32.437
7 A. Dovizioso Honda ITA +1'' 34.560
8 J. Lorenzo Honda ESP +1'' 45.964
9 S. Guintoli Aprilia FRA +1 lap(s)
10 A. Ballerini Aprilia ITA +1 lap(s)
11 M. Giansanti Aprilia ITA +1 lap(s)
12 R. Locatelli Aprilia ITA +1 lap(s)
13 A. Baldolini Aprilia ITA +1 lap(s)
14 G. Leblanc Aprilia FRA +1 lap(s)
15 R. Rous Honda CZE +1 lap(s)

Fastest Race Lap:
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 A. West KTM AUS 1'' 47.025

Championship standings GP250
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 156
2 Casey Stoner Aprilia AUS 122
3 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 111
4 Sebastian Porto Aprilia ARG 85
5 Randy de Puniet Aprilia FRA 79
6 Jorge Lorenzo Honda ESP 78
7 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 71
8 Alex de Angelis Aprilia SMR 67
9 Simone Corsi Aprilia ITA 54
10 Hector Barbera Honda ESP 51
11 Sylvain Guintoli Aprilia FRA 38
12 Alex Debon Honda ESP 32
13 Yuki Takahashi Honda JPN 31
14 Roberto Locatelli Aprilia ITA 24
15 Mirko Giansanti Aprilia ITA 24

Manufacturers standings GP250
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1 Aprilia 176
2 Honda 173

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