After the Chinese water-torture that was Shanghai, the teams returned this weekend to the more familiar surroundings of the technical Le Mans Bugatti circuit in France for the fourth round of the 2005 championship.

After injuring his wrist at Estoril nearly a month ago, Makoto Tamada had been pronounced fit to race earlier in the week, but after only seven laps into the first practice session, his team pulled him out after he began to experience severe pain from the wrist injury. This meant that his seat on the Konica Minolta Honda was once again filled by the Dutch rider Jurgen van den Goorbergh.

The first free practice session on Friday morning on a cool but dry track, saw Colin Edwards on the Yamaha topping the time sheets, ahead of Gibernau and Barros, who both needed to do well here to make up for a disastrous last race in China. Next up was Edwards' team mate Rossi, 0.366 seconds behind Colin, and ahead of the Ducati of Carlos Checa in fifth. Biaggi was back in seventh place, another rider with a lot to prove, and Melandri and Jacque could only manage twelfth and sixteenth respectively. Obviously, their teams sacrifices to the French Rain Gods hadn't taken effect yet, but if you could believe the met guys, then they might be alright come the race on Sunday.

The Friday afternoon practice session saw Barros move to the top of the timings with a lap of 1:34.171, ahead of Gibernau, with Biaggi third, while Rossi faired poorly and dropped to thirteenth. Colin Edwards was unable to improve on his time in the morning and ended up fourth fastest. Van den Goorbergh got his first chance to sling a leg over the saddle of ex-Tamada Konica Minolta Honda, but was obviously struggling with a lack of set up time in the variable conditions, and finished second to last ahead of Shaky Byrne on the Proton, whose new-spec KTM V4 engine cut out in the opening minutes of the session and had to be abandoned on the circuit. However, the Rain Gods seemed to be listening to Melandri and Jacque, as after only twenty two minutes the rain arrived, signalled by Ruben Xaus sliding off on his Fortuna Yamaha in spectacular fashion. This was followed immediately by a dash to the pitlane for everyone except Valentino Rossi, who stayed out for one more lap, probably to assess the wet-grip levels if the rain arrives as forecast on Sunday. With twenty minutes of the session remaining, the rain stopped and everyone came out to play again, but with a semi-wet circuit and a wet setup, the best times were twelve seconds off the earlier pace. With more rain forecast, would we see the first wet qualifying session of the season?

Saturday dawned with the main gossip in the paddock revolving around claim and counter-claim about whether Valentino Rossi would be driving an F1 car in 2007. But with nothing resolved, apart from the fact that Rossi's current contract with Yamaha runs to the end of 2006, the team would like to extend the deal further, and Valentino would like to drive a racing car sometime in the future - what's new you might ask? - it was time to get back the the serious business of bike racing.

The third and final practice session saw the rain descend once more on the Bugatti circuit and Melandri move to the top of the timesheet, closely followed by Barros and Gibernau with Rossi in fourth place. Olivier Jacque made steady progress up to seventh, but the biggest upset was Colin Edwards who dropped down to thirteenth. However, a few hours later and the rain clouds had blown away in time for qualifying, and with the increasingly sunny conditions and a dry track it was time for yet more setup changes.

Qualifying got off to a bad start once again for Shane Byrne, when the KTM V4 engine on his Proton KR cut out for the second time in 24 hours on its out lap, forcing Shakey once again to abandon the machine out on the circuit and leg it back to the pits. If there was an award for resolve in the face of adversity then Shakey would win by a country mile! Also in early trouble were the two Gauloise Yamahas, with Edwards being kicked forcibly out of the saddle and Rossi running wide and taking an unexpected detour through the gravel. While all this was going on, it was Nicky Hayden who put down the marker with a lap of 1:34.406 after the first ten minutes of the session, going almost 0.9 seconds faster than his best Friday practice time. Behind him, the pressure was mounting from Rossi, Melandri and Edwards, but it was Melandri who broke through to the top rung after twenty six minutes, taking fastest time by a mere fifteen thousandths of a second.

Halfway through the session and Marco still had the time to beat, although the top ten were now only separated by 0.693 secs. While all this action was going on, Gibernau and Biaggi were having a torrid time of things, languishing in eleventh and twelfth place in the standings, with Sete missing his braking point on one lap and having to take a ride through the gravel as a result. In fact it wasn't until there was just twenty minutes remaining, that Melandri was finally ousted from top spot by Colin Edwards who put in an absolute scorcher of a lap to lead the pack by 0.281 seconds. Next to strike was Nakano on the Kawasaki, but then things were briefly halted when Franco Battaini lost the Blata WCM big time through the very fast Turn One, tumbling through the gravel trap and into the straw bales, and then thankfully walking away uninjured.

With now less than ten minutes to go, things were getting frantic at the front of the field. In a matter of seconds pole first went back to Hayden and then to Edwards, while the Ducatis of Checa and Capirossi moved into third and fourth. Then Shinya Nakano staged a comeback, launching the green machine briefly into third place, before being pushed back to fourth by Gibernau claiming second spot between pole-man Edwards and Hayden. While all this was going on, Rossi and Melandri were down in seventh and tenth, but things were about to change yet again as Marco first jumped up to fifth and then to second, just 0.016 secs behind Colin, and Rossi was relegated to eighth. And then, on his penultimate lap Valentino struck with a last gasp effort, taking pole from Edwards by 0.223 seconds.

In the final minutes of the session, both Edwards and Nakano made one last attempt at pole, but failed to improve on their earlier times, leaving Rossi and Edwards in the top spots and Melandri the best RCV rider on the outside of the front row, with Gibernau, Hayden and Nakano on row two.

The Camel Hondas of Barros and Bayliss both had problems getting their qualifying tyres to work although the team believe they both have a good race setup. However, their lowly grid positions will mean a lot of work to do in order for either of them to get onto the podium. Local hero Olivier Jacque will start from thirteenth, while a fuming Max Biaggi will start from eighth after his team fitted the wrong front tyre in the closing minutes of the qualifying session.

Of all the riders, Rossi was the only one to beat Gibernau's 2004 pole time, while the top eight all qualified within 0.5secs of pole suggesting that things could be very close come raceday. However, the biggest factor in what could happen when the lights go out tomorrow is still expected to be the weather. With reports that some riders were questioning the safety of the circuit during and after heavy rain, both race control and the riders safety committee were expected to be monitoring the situation closely. The problem appeared to be around circuit drainage, leaving standing water at the end of the main straight, and soil being washed onto the racing line at turns seven and eight.

What would Sunday bring?

Well, for the morning warm-up session it bought a dry, cool track - much to everyone's relief. Carlos Checa on the Ducati headed the timesheet, ahead of John Hopkins on the Suzuki and Nicky Hayden on the Repsol Honda. Hopkins' team mate Kenny Roberts slotted into fourth, with Rossi and Edwards in fifth and eighth places respectively, although all the times were well down on yesterday's qualifying and free practice sessions.

However, halfway through the session Max Biaggi crashed out and was carried away on a stretcher by paramedics. By the time the session ended his condition was still unknown, and so remained a doubtful starter for the afternoon's race.

But when the grid formed up for the race, Max was back on the Repsol Honda in his third row slot, having suffered nothing more (nothing?) than severe bruising to his lower back.

And then with the race start just 15 minutes away - it started to rain! Only a light drizzle, and not enough to warrant a change from slicks (sorry OJ), but enough for the organisers to declare it a wet race. So when the lights went out there was going to be no stopping until the chequered flag, irrespective of what the weather would throw at the track.

When the red lights did go out, the rain had stopped and it was Hayden who got the best start into the flat-out first corner, but Edwards on the wider line went round the outside and into the lead, while Rossi and Gibernau went backwards. At the first chicane Rolfo and Checa had a coming together when Biaggi had to pick the bike up mid-corner, that resulted in an early bath for Carlos, although Roberto managed to remount and continue. Capirossi also got an excellent start from the third row and slotted into third place behind Hayden. But Hopkins was into the pits at the end of the warm-up lap with a fault on the engine management control unit, changed bikes, and started the race from the pitlane, taking him out of contention as far as the race was concerned. The first lap was also the last for Shakey Byrne, who was stretchered off the circuit after losing the Proton KR.

At the end of the second lap as they crossed the line, it was Edwards followed by Hayden and Capirossi, then a small gap to the next three bikes of Melandri, Nakano and Rossi, with Valentino really in hurry-up mode to get past, probably because he knew that Gibernau was not that far away from his back wheel.

Straightaway Rossi went around the outside of Nakano, outbraking him into the chicane, and then immediately was onto Melandri’s back wheel, making the inside pass a few corners later and then setting off after the leading three. James Ellison was the second faller in the race, walking away uninjured and leaving the marshals the job of retrieving the Blata WCM from the gravel trap.

It now appeared to be a case of when rather than if Rossi would catch the leading pack, as lap after lap the gap from the Gauloise Yamaha to the rear wheel of Melandri’s Honda RCV11 gradually narrowed. Meanwhile Gibernau appeared to be stuck in seventh place in the mid-field pack with Barros breathing heavily on his back wheel. Then on lap 5 he made a late attack on Nakano into the chicane, but carried too much speed into the corner, running over the kerb and almost collecting Shinya’s Kawasaki as he re-joined the track. This allowed Barros to pounce, demoting Sete to eighth. Not a good move for the Spaniard.

As the leaders crossed the line to start the sixth lap, Edwards had begun to open a small but useful gap over Hayden in second place, but Capirossi in third was about to get the Rossi treatment. We didn’t have long to wait, with the expected pass coming two corners from the end of the lap and Valentino breaking the lap record in the process. Further back down the field, Gibernau had collected everything together after his earlier track excursion, re-taking seventh place from Barros, who was then quickly demoted to ninth by a Biaggi who seemed to have recovered well from his earlier heavy fall in qualifying. While Rossi was moving inexorably onto the back of Haydon’s Repsol Honda, Gibernau was swiftly past Nakano and all over his team mate Melandri, who made him work hard for the pass. At the same Rossi took Hayden on the inside to move into second place, but it was Gibernau who was the man on a mission.

Twelve laps completed, and it was a Yamaha one-two with Edwards leading from Rossi, the pair opening a gap to Nicky Hayden, who in turn had a comfortable lead over Capirossi. But behind him, Gibernau was closing fast and breaking the lap record in the process. Four laps later and Sete was past the Ducati of Capirossi and setting his sights on Haydon in third. But then it all went wrong for Barros on lap thirteen when he fell heavily at Garage and had to be stretchered off the circuit. Meanwhile Biaggi was making good steady progress in the mid-field and had moved ahead of Melandri into sixth, but it was obvious that Marco was not going to give up the place willingly and a good old scrap developed over the next few laps. Both of them then got past Capirossi when he made a mistake at the chicane and ran over the kerbs, and further up the field Gibernau had closed and passed Hayden and was now taking off after Rossi, who really needed to get past Edwards and use the Texan as a buffer for the fast approaching Spaniard.

Rossi made his move on lap eighteen around the back of the circuit, forcing Colin to run wide and then cut back in in order to retain the lead. Rossi had no option but to back off slightly and Gibernau seized the moment to take Valentino up the inside and with it second place. The battle was on.

With nine laps to go it was a three-bike train, with Gibernau looking for a way past Edwards and Rossi all over the back of the Movistar Honda and obviously fuming at his mistake that gave the place away. Although it seemed that Sete had the pace on Edwards, it was Rossi who made the move on Gibernau around the back of the circuit, and retook second place.

The next lap Rossi finally made the move on his team mate that took him into first place, but Edwards was baulked slightly by the pass and left a gap that was just big enough for Gibernau to squeeze through into second place. It was now a two bike race to the chequered flag, as Edwards was unable to respond from third place and was soon gapped, but never threatened by Biaggi and Melandri who had both passed Nicky Haydon on lap twenty.

Gibernau now threw everything he had at the Gauloise Yamaha, but no matter what he tried Rossi had all the lines covered and still appeared to have something in reserve, crossing the line 0.382 seconds ahead of the Spaniard and breaking the lap record (again) in the process on the final lap. Further back down the field, Melandri had retaken Biaggi and bought the second Movistar Honda home in fourth place, an excellent result as he was suffering from a stomach bug, but disappointing considering his front row start. By the end Hayden had slipped all the way down to sixth from his earlier second place and Capirossi bought the Ducati home in seventh.

With three wins from four starts and a thirty seven point lead over Melandri in second place, it would be a brave person who'd bet against Rossi not picking up the championship again this year. But who really knows? Motorsport's a funny old business and there's still thirteen races to go. The next round's at Mugello - see you there?

DH