FOUR VICTORIES FOR DUNLOP AT DONINGTON AS ANDREWS AND YAMAHA TAKE SUPERSPORT WIN.
25 July 2004 - Dunlop

Race day dawned grey, chilly and damp. The prognosis for the weather was sporadic rain all day so qualifying might bear little or no resemblance to the race situation.Wet or damp conditions are a great leveller in terms of machine differential as well as exposing those riders who have reputations as “rain experts”.The new Donington surface is also an unknown quantity in damp conditions but the reputation of Dunlop wet tyres is very high.However, a combination of the stiff breeze and lighter skies dictated that the World Championship races were run in dry conditions.

125cc
The twenty-five lap race began in true 125cc hectic fashion with two of the leading contenders crashing out on lap one. Third and fifth respectively in the title chase Hector Barbera and Pablo Nieto tangled and fell whilst in the leading pack.

This left a three-man scrap at the front between Championship leader Andrea Dovizioso, Roberto Locatelli and ninth qualifier Alvaro Bautista.

The all–Dunlop entry reeled off lap after lap at incredibly consistent speeds
and at the half-way stage Dovizioso had a three-second cushion.

British wild-card entry Christian Elkin was putting in an impressive performance in twenty-fourth place ahead of many Grand Prix regulars.

With three laps remaining, Locatelli hit the “kitty litter” on the exit from Coppice corner and his day was over.

Dovizioso had a clear run to the flag but the scrap for second place went down to the wire.

Race Result
1 – Andrea Dovizioso ITA Kopron Team Scot Honda
2 – Alvaro Bautista SPA Seedorf Racing Aprilia
3 – Jorge Lorenzo SPA Caja Madrid Derbi
4 – Mika Kallio FIN Red Bull KTM
5 – Simone Corsi ITA Kopron Team Scot Honda
6 – Steve Jenkner GER Rauch Bravo Aprilia

Championship Standings
Dovizioso 163 Points
Locatelli 131
Barbera 129
Stoner 104
Nieto 88
Lorenzo 82

250cc
Since the earlier race began the track temperature rose four degrees to twenty-two degrees.

This may not seem much but even a shift of these proportions can affect tyre performance and therefore selection.

Spaniard and series leader Daniel Pedrosa made the running in the early stages and with three wins thus far, he was intent on making it four.

He was chased hard by Argentinian Sebastian Porto. He, in turn had a four-man freight train behind his Repsol Aprilia.

The consistency and reliability of the Dunlop race slicks made for a very close affair and after ten laps just eight seconds split the top six.

Pedrosa’s pit crew gave him the “hurry up” and he responded. At half-distance he was six seconds clear and going away.

Into the final quarter and the field had been reduced by crashes and incidents to just twenty-two runners, the last of which was British wild card Lee Dickinson. Fellow Briton and Grand Prix regular Chas Davies had crashed and remounted in the early laps only to retire on lap six.

Barring earthquake or tempest the race was Pedrosa’s and that is the way it finished.

Dunlop’s domination and virtual monopoly of this class continues with another rostrum filled with yellow caps !

Race Result
1 – Daniel Pedrosa SP Telefonica Movistar Honda
2 – Sebastial Porto ARG Repsol Aprilia
3 – Randy de Puniet FRA Safilo Carrera Aprilia
4 – Alex de Angelis RSM Aprilia Racing
5 – Fonsi Nieto SPA Repsol Aprilia
6 – Anthony West AUS Freesoul Abruzzo Aprilia

Championship Standings
Pedrosa 180 Points
De Puniet 146
Porto 128
Nieto 94
De Angelis 93
Elias 86

Moto GP
Clouds had gathered and there were spots of rain in the wind when the “big boys came out to play''

The race was declared dry however and pole position man Valentino Rossi set about his task with gusto.

He lead from the first lap and with a championship lead of just one point, he needed to.

Second in the standings, Max Biaggi was having a torrid time by his standards and was languishing in thirteenth place by lap nine.

Young Michel Fabrizio on the Dunlop shod WCM machine gave a good display early on but later in the race found himself embroiled in a scrap with the factory Kawasaki of Alex Hofmann.

Back at the front, the World Champion gave a devastating display of riding technique to demolish the opposition.

To add to his delight, championship rival Max Biaggi could do no better than thirteenth place.

Race Result
1 – Valentino Rossi ITA Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha
2 – Colin Edwards USA Telefonica Movistar Honda
3 – Sete Gibernau SPA Telefonica Movistar Honda
4 – Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda
5 – Troy Bayliss AUS Marlboro Ducati
6 – Carlos Checa SPA Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha

18 – Nobuatsu Aoki JAP Proton Team KR
20 – Michel Fabrizio ITA WCM

Championship Standings
Rossi 164 Points
Gibernau 142
Biaggi 141
Edwards 95
Barros 86
Hayden 83

Supersports
Within minutes of the end of the Moto GP race, the skies darkened and rain fell.
The twenty-three lap Supersport race got under way in full wet conditions and local man Jay Vincent made the most of his front row start to grab the lead. He fought tooth and nail with Simon Andrews on the Piranha Racing Yamaha and lost out on lap four.

Andrews then lead under leaden skies with his Dunlops looking very sure-footed.
Karl Harris was down in fifth but working well on the Red Bull Honda CBR600RR. Tom Sykes on the TAS Suzuki was spoiling a Dunlop rout but Vincent was fighting him off.

By lap ten, Andrews was three seconds clear, Harris had slotted past Sykes into second and Jay Vincent was “on Sykes’s case” as was Cal Crutchlow.

It was looking as though the Sykes/Crutchlow battle was going to end in tears and that is exactly what happened.

Too much braking at the Esses - a “coming together” - and they were both on the deck.

It rapidly became a race of attrition but the superb wet grip offered by the D208 RR’s stood Andrews and Harris in good stead. They steadily stretched the gap and into the closing third it was Andrews, Harris with a watching brief and Leon Camier replacing Vincent in third.

Into the closing stages and Adrian Coates on another of the TAS Suzuki’s began to threaten.

He got the better of Leon Camier and that is how it finished but it was four Dunlop shod machines in the first six.

Race Result
1 – Simon Andrews Piranha Yamaha
2 – Karl Harris Red Bull Honda
3 – Adrian Coates TAS Suzuki
4 – Leon Camier Padgett’s Honda
5 – Danny Beaumont LHW Design Honda
6 – Michael Laverty Monstermob Ducati

Virgin Mobile Yamaha R6 Cup
Race One
With two races on the programme and a brand-new Yamaha R6 as the main prize, these were always going to be fiercely contested races.

The Virgin Mobile Yamaha R6 series has proved to be a perfect proving ground for young riders wishing to register their abilities and make the move into top line racing.

The Donington races are separate events outside of the R6 Cup series which runs alongside the British Superbike Championship and do not score points for the series.

Race one on Saturday afternoon was an all-action affair from the word go.
The identical, Dunlop D209Race Replica shod R6’s provided great entertainment and as predicted, at least one rider got inside the one minute-forty second barrier.
This was Championship leader Richard Wren who missed out on the victory by four tenths of a second.

Wren’s record for consistency is good and he might well have considered the runner-up spot to be good enough with one more race on Sunday’s programme.
Saturday’s race was littered with incidents and one of the notable victims was the pole position man Victor Cox.

The main problem seemed to be typically “high-side related”. This type of crash occurs when the riders apply too much power too early before the machine is in a straight line.

The youthful exuberance of the riders certainly provides huge value although it does tend to lead them “to the edge” from time to time to time.

Young Ollie Bridewell gave a mature display and fought off the challenge from Richard Wren.

Result
1 – Ollie Bridewell Wayside Racing 25 Points
2 – Richard Wren JB Riney 20
3 – Gareth Glynn Salvation Racing Team 16
4 – Guy Sanders Rye by Post Ltd. 13
5 – Mark Pollock Mark Pollock Racing 11
6 – Adam Jenkinson Kenmore Construction 10
7 – Jon Boy Lee Astro Van Centre 9

Race Two
Twenty-four hours after the first outing the weather conditions were very different. Torrential rain had fallen and the circuit was very, very wet indeed.

Undeterred, the young R6 hopefuls embarked on the twelve-lap race having waited all day for the privilege.

Again, fallers were plentiful and the conditions claimed a few.

With the tantalising prize of a brand new Yamaha R6 to the aggregate winner of the two races, the boys were trying hard.

Add to this a paddock scooter for runner-up and a new set of Joe Rocket Virgin Mobile Yamaha leathers for third and the chips were down.

James Hillier was one of the main casualties as he fell on lap six but he remounted and fought back bravely to collect fifth place at the flag.

The weather was appalling throughout the race at young Ollie Bridewell was unable to repeat his first race success in the rain.

Race Result
1 – Jon Boy Lee 25 Points
2 – Mark Pollock 20
3 – Patrick McDougall 16
4 – Sean Conway 13
5 – James Hillier 11
6 – Simon Gardner 10

Aggregate Result
1 – Jon Boy Lee 34 Points (Shortest Aggregate Time)
2 – Ollie Bridewell 34
3 – Mark Pollock 31
4 – Sean Conway 17

Jon Boy Lee won the new Yamaha courtesy of the increased time differential he held over Ollie Bridewell in the second race.

It goes without saying that the machine is fitted with Dunlop D208 race Replica tyres.

The Dunlop D208 Race Replica is the control tyre for the Virgin Mobile Yamaha R6 Cup and is available for sale now over the counter at all reputable tyre and motorcycle dealers.

ENDS - For more information please contact: Barry Nutley on 07977 937757

www.dunloptyres.co.uk

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