MotoGP - 2003

[wari]

This is going to be a hell of a year for the GP ...

Ducati have done an amazing job to create a new bike and have it performing so exceptionally well  ... personally I want to see Barros take it out ... but with so much talent on the track and such competitive machinery, I wont be holding my breath.

 

This is the results of the lap testing at Catalunya on the weekend...

 

1		Loris Capirossi (ITA)	Marlboro Ducati	1:43.634
2		Alex Barros (BRA)	Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3	1:44.154
3		Valentino Rossi (ITA)	Repsol Honda	1:44.324
4		Max Biaggi (ITA)	Camel Pramac Pons	1:44.326
5		Tohru Ukawa (JPN)	Camel Pramac Pons	1:44.487
6		Daijiro Kato (JPN)	Telefonica Honda Gresini	1:44.496
7		Sete Gibernau (ESP)	Telefonica Honda Gresini	1:44.655
8		Marco Melandri (ITA)	Fortuna Yamaha	1:44.922
9		Carlos Checa (ESP)	Fortuna Yamaha	1:44.992
10		Troy Bayliss (AUS)	Marlboro Ducati	1:45.076
11		Shinya Nakano (JPN)	Yamaha D'Antin	1:45.108
12		Olivier Jacque (FRA)	Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3	1:45.263
13		John  Hopkins (USA)	Suzuki	1:45.624
14		Nicky Hayden (USA)	Repsol Honda	1:45.626
15		Jeremy McWilliams (GBR)	Proton Team KR	1:45.709
16		Norick Abe (JPN)	Yamaha Racing Team	1:45.887
17		Garry McCoy (AUS)	Kawasaki Racing	1:45.961
18		Nobuatsu Aoki (JPN)	Proton Team KR	1:46.034
19		Alex Hofmann (GER)	Kawasaki Racing	1:46.125
20		Kenny Roberts (USA)	Suzuki	1:46.552

[SPman]

Top ten times from Suzuka

Pos.	Rider	Team	Bike	Time
1	Valentino Rossi	Repsol Honda	Honda	2:04.170
2	Tohru Ukawa	Camel Pramac Pons	Honda	2:04.359
3	Max Biaggi	Camel Pramac Pons	Honda	2:04.567
4	Alex Barros	Gauloises Yamaha Team	Yamaha	2:04.605
5	Sete Gibernau	Telefonica Movistar Honda	Honda	2:04.616
6	Daijiro Kato	Telefonica Movistar Honda	Honda	2:04.629
7	Colin Edwards II	Alice Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	2:04.846
8	Loris Capirossi	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati	2:04.889
9	Carlos Checa	Fortuna Yamaha Team	Yamaha	2:04.908
10	Noriyuki Haga	Alice Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	2:05.193

Looks like Rossi is still ahead of the pack...........

[SPman]

Well , as expected, Rossi and the Hondas were on to it. Ducati however were more on to it than anyone expected with a 3rd and 5th in their first race! And Edwards on the Aprilia with a 7th!

Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki were way off pace,however.

The race was pretty exciting apart from the apalling accident to Kato, who is still in a coma with a 15% chance of recovery....

Capirossi leading in the Dukes first race was an eyeopener, as was Rossi's powersliding getting past! Roll on more GP's

And the last of the old - Proton - thelast of the 2 strokes (their V5 four stroke is still on the test bench)

[Coldkiwi]

I missed the race (bugger!)

What happened to Kato?

[SPman]

"This is a sad sad day for motorcycling. Kato had a daughter just 10 days ago, and would be 26 tomorrow.
Here's the information I have been able to gather from the Italian press (I'm italian).
Kato's condition is very serious. He is now in deep coma. Dr Costa says there is only ONE hope of saving him... Costa says Kato has a 15% chance of survival. But the real bad news is that there was a problem between his first and second vertebrae and even if he does survive he will have lost the use of his legs, arms and even breathing.. he won't be able to breathe by himself and will need a respirator at all times. He will be paralyzed from the neck down.
About his crash not much is known. There is no video. Gibernau is the only pilot to see him. Here's what he had to say:
"I broke something on my bike at the start and stopped at the pits to fix it. When I got back in the track I found myself behind Kato. I was right behind him and I was going about 250kph and I saw him start his braking and change gears. In that place all riders follow the same line, right left right. Kato instead suddenly went left. I don't know why and even the telemetry doesn't say anything. I could not believe my eyes. I saw him go suddenly left and crash into the wall at more than 200kph and I think in 4th gear. I've never seen anything like this.
It's crazy to crash into a wall in 2003 as has happened to Melandri, Barros, Poggiali and Ukawa.. Cecchinello was lucky but he got really close to the guardrail at full speed in the straight. We can no longer race here at Suzuka and everyone has to understand this. I don't want to race here again. it would be crazy".

Also what we know is that Kato's helmet was broken in two places and he has blood at the base of his brain.
Dr Costa also said that when kato got there he had no heartbeat and wasn't breathing. They reanimated him and put him on a respirator. He was then airlifted to the hospital.
He also said that Kato's life depends on the next few hours. he had a "catetere" (I don't know the english translation for that) apllied to his leg artery to try and lower the blood temperature to 32-33 C° and thus avoid the risks of an "edema" (again don't know how to traslate it) that could be fatal.
The doctors also said he has multiple wounds all over his body and probably has more damaged bones although so far they have only been trying to take care of his head/brain and neck and the rest will come later if he survives.

Costa also said that Kato will indergo a therapy of "barbiturici" (again no translation) to reduce his brain activity and not stress the brain, and hypothermia.

And lastly about how this happened, but it's not confirmed yet... it appears some photographer noticed that his right front brake disc had the carbonium braking strip missing while the brake pump and left disc appeared to have no damage. So his brake was probably working on the left side only which mighy explain why he suddenly went left during braking. The bike in now in the custody of Dorna officials who will investigate the crash."

[Coldkiwi]

man, that is nasty   Sounds like a 1 in a 1000 chance that could happen to any racer

I agree... racing on circuits with walls that close in corners isn't a great idea.Why didn't they have the air bag barriers out like Brands Hatch did last year in SBK??

[merv]

It seems Rossi toyed with them a bit, winning at will. As for the Ducatis what a great effort first time out. Its something about V4 power plants us VFR riders think, but then how come Suzuki can't find the magic? I am also pleased for Colin on the Aprilia but he admits he goofed the start kind of overwhelmed by the speed the others took off at so he was playing catch up. By the way Colin was 6th not 7th as that is the position Hayden managed.

All the same the former superbike boys didn't have such a bad day against the GP regulars.

[wari]

I reckon Barros woulda been more on the pace if he hadn't hurt the ligaments in his knee on the day of the race ... we'll see how well he does next time.

[Coldkiwi]

"Rossi seemed to be just toying with them"

 

yeah... that was rossi's view of life last year too wasn't it!! Good on him tho.. he's a seriously classy rider (sliding the bike on BOTH wheels out of a high speed corner) and seems to be a pretty likeable guy. Good on him... but I still want to see Edwards and Haga kick his butt (I live in hope if not the real world!)

[wari]

Yeah ... thats shitty news !!! ... wonder if they had to pull the plug on his life support .

[bluninja]

Sad news....

Kato dies from crash injuries

[SPman]

Well, any doubts about Bayliss's ability could be well laid to rest after his ride yesterday. Leading for a quarter of the race and then taking it to Rossi like he did.....rivetting stuff. Congratulations to Sete Gibernau for his win. That should cheer the team up a bit, after losing Katoh  :bigthumb:

Gibernau leads Rossi over the line

[wari]

Le Mans this weekend ... no excuses for missing it (for me at least (not working ))

[merv]

Yeah Le Mans this weekend - go Honda. Do you think the Ducs will put on another good show and do you think Colin Edwards can ever sort the Aprilia out? Colin should be up there dicing with Bayliss like we were used to when they were in superbikes.

[Coldkiwi]

Bloody oath he should! They only ever give commentary or decent coverage on the top 5 at best and I wanna know how the RS 3 is doing! I'd like to see haga and Rossi backing bikes into and out of corners at the same time too