ROSSI''S TENTH VICTORY SECURES TEAM TITLE FOR GAULOISES YAMAHA
01 October 2005 - Yamaha Racing

Just six days after lifting the MotoGP title with Valentino Rossi in Malaysia, the Gauloises Yamaha Team were celebrating again today as Valentino Rossi''s record-breaking tenth victory of the season secured the Teams'' World Championship at the Qatar Grand Prix.

Rossi became the first Yamaha rider ever to take his win total for a single season into double figures after an exhilarating last-lap battle with Marco Melandri (Honda), whilst his team-mate Colin Edwards boosted the team''s points tally to unbeatable status with a determined ride to fourth place.

Rossi''s 79th victory of his career came after 22 dramatic laps of the Losail International Circuit, with Loris Capirossi (Ducati) taking an early lead from pole position before Sete Gibernau (Honda) took over. The Spaniard had built up a solid advantage by the halfway stage but he was eventually reeled in by the chasing pack and made a critical error with five laps remaining, running into the gravel when trying to repel an attack from Melandri. With Nicky Hayden (Honda) in close attendance, Rossi closed in on Melandri and the two Italians went head to head in a gripping finale, Rossi taking the lead with three laps remaining and holding off one last attempt from Melandri just two corners from the end to secure victory. With the riders'' and teams'' titles now in the bag, Yamaha needs to be just 50 points clear after Phillip Island to clinch the Manufactures'' Championship.

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 1st
''What a race! For me that was the best of the season, it was so much fun. I had bad memories from this circuit from last year so I really wanted to win and after practice yesterday I knew it was not impossible. I had two great rivals and all three of us showed that we were in very good shape until the end. We gave more than 100% and had a fantastic battle from the beginning to the end. I have to thank Yamaha and my whole team because my bike was very fast over the final few laps, which it needed to be because Marco Melandri was very strong and we had a great battle. He tried to pass me on the last lap but I was able to hold on and win - my tenth of the season. I am very, very happy.''

Colin Edwards (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 4th
''I felt we had the pace yesterday but we were looking for a little bit more rear grip to take that extra step and went with a different tyre this morning. It was the same as the other guys were using but my bike was set up around the tyre we had yesterday and I couldn''t turn the thing. It was pushing the front a lot in the corners and I kept having to run it straight. We need to figure out why that was and take the lesson to Phillip Island in a couple of weeks. I''m disappointed for my team today because I was confident I could be up there fighting for the win and in the end it just didn''t happen. On the up-side, my points today contributed to the teams'' championship, so that''s a good thing to take away from here.''

Davide Brivio - Gauloises Yamaha Team director
''Today we saw a fantastic race, scored another victory and won another title so of course we are delighted. Valentino clearly wanted to win the race after what happened last year and he came out on top of another incredible battle, so congratulations to him. Colin finished in fourth place, which is not what he had hoped for, but he scored some important points and closed the gap to second in the championship so we are happy for him. The team have worked extremely well since Thursday, finding the right set-up for both bikes early in the weekend and then just fine-tuning for the race. We''ve won the Teams'' Championship today and both riders have contributed to this, so congratulations to everybody. Both Valentino and Colin like Phillip Island so now we all looking forward to going to Australia in two weeks.''

Toni Elias (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 8th
''I''m not satisfied. This weekend has been good, because we got off to a good start, but there''s a moment where all the others advance more than I do. We need to find a better set-up for the first few laps when the tank is full. When it empties, I can start to go quicker and catch up those ahead, but then it''s already too late. Gradually I think we''ll get it sorted though.''

Ruben Xaus (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 14th
''Today I had problems with the front tyre. We chose a harder compound and even though it wore out less, I couldn''t lean the bike as much as I wanted. If I went past the tyre''s limit, the bike moved around too much. My lap times were not improving when I was pushing hard so I decided to just bring the bike home.''

Race classification MotoGP
Round: 14 - Qatar MotoGP
Circuit: Losail Circuit
Circuit Length: 5380
Lap Record: 1'' 57.903 (Nicky Hayden, 2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'' 56.917 (Loris Capirossi, 2005)

Race: 22 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 43'' 33.759
2 M. Melandri Honda ITA +1.670
3 N. Hayden Honda USA +5.536
4 C. Edwards Yamaha USA +14.737
5 S. Gibernau Honda ESP +20.431
6 C. Checa Ducati ESP +31.432
7 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN +32.983
8 T. Elias Yamaha ESP +39.888
9 A. Barros Honda BRA +41.792
10 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA +44.252
11 K. Roberts Suzuki USA +48.745
12 R. Rolfo Ducati ITA +1'' 1.991
13 S. Byrne Honda GBR +1'' 4.805
14 R. Xaus Yamaha ESP +1'' 13.824
15 J. Ellison Blata WCM GBR +2'' 8.642
16 F. Battaini Blata WCM ITA +1 lap(s)
17 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA +1 lap(s)

Fastest Race Lap:
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 N. Hayden Honda USA 1'' 57.903

Championship standings MotoGP

Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 306
2 Max Biaggi Honda ITA 159
3 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 157
4 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 152
5 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 150
6 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 148
7 Alex Barros Honda BRA 129
8 Sete Gibernau Honda ESP 126
9 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 98
10 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 78
11 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 68
12 Kenny Roberts Suzuki USA 63
13 Troy Bayliss Honda AUS 54
14 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 53
15 Toni Elias Yamaha ESP 51
16 Ruben Xaus Yamaha ESP 45


Manufacturers standings MotoGP

Pos. Manufacturer Points
1 Yamaha 320
2 Honda 271
3 Ducati 162
4 Kawasaki 106
5 Suzuki 90
6 Blata WCM 11
7 Proton KR 1
8 Moriwaki 1


Team standings MotoGP
Pos. Team Points
1 Gauloises Yamaha Team 458
2 Repsol Honda Team 309
3 Team Movistar Honda MotoGP 283
4 Ducati Marlboro Team 246
5 Honda Camel 188
6 Kawasaki Racing Team 125
7 Team Suzuki MotoGP 116
8 Fortuna Yamaha Team 100
9 Konica Minolta Honda 80
10 D''Antin MotoGP 22
11 Blata WCM 11
12 Team Roberts KR 1

Race classification GP250
Round: 13 - Qatar GP250
Circuit: Losail Circuit
Circuit Length: 5380
Lap Record: 2'' 3.015 (Alex de Angelis, 2004)
Fastest Lap Ever: 2'' 2.154 (Jorge Lorenzo, 2005)

Race: 20 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 C. Stoner Aprilia AUS 41'' 22.628
2 J. Lorenzo Honda ESP +1.566
3 A. Dovizioso Honda ITA +2.603
4 D. Pedrosa Honda ESP +2.659
5 S. Porto Aprilia ARG +4.867
6 H. Aoyama Honda JPN +29.971
7 H. Barbera Honda ESP +32.708
8 Y. Takahashi Honda JPN +46.470
9 S. Guintoli Aprilia FRA +46.849
10 T. Sekiguchi Aprilia JPN +1'' 1.682
11 A. Debon Honda ESP +1'' 1.696
12 M. Giansanti Aprilia ITA +1'' 1.780
13 M. Cardenas Aprilia COL +1'' 2.795
14 S. Jenkner Aprilia GER +1'' 3.952
15 A. Ballerini Aprilia ITA +1'' 4.917

Fastest Race Lap:
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 D. Pedrosa Honda ESP 2'' 3.301


Championship standings GP250

Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 239
2 Casey Stoner Aprilia AUS 213
3 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 160
4 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 144
5 Sebastian Porto Aprilia ARG 132
6 Alex de Angelis Aprilia SMR 129
7 Randy de Puniet Aprilia FRA 121
8 Jorge Lorenzo Honda ESP 118
9 Hector Barbera Honda ESP 86
10 Sylvain Guintoli Aprilia FRA 69
11 Yuki Takahashi Honda JPN 68
12 Simone Corsi Aprilia ITA 59
13 Alex Debon Honda ESP 51
14 Roberto Locatelli Aprilia ITA 39
15 Mirko Giansanti Aprilia ITA 34

Manufacturers standings GP250

Pos. Manufacturer Points
1 Honda 279
2 Aprilia 278
3 KTM 30

www.yamaha-racing.com

More News
  For October 2005
  From Yamaha Racing
  For Moto GP
  Biker247.com Home Page