Photographs courtesy of Dorna - click to enlarge

The form book got a bit of a shakeup last week as the fancied (and home) Japanese teams were forced to yield to a determined and very fast Loris Capirossi on board the big Ducati Desmosedici. So they had lots to prove when they arrived in a hot, humid Sepang for the second of three rounds coming a week apart. Practice showed several things. It showed that Bridgestone tyres were certainly able to hold their own against the Michelin opposition. It showed that Yamaha were still struggling with grip and handling, as they were last week. And it showed that Loris Capirossi had lost none of his speed. In fact the diminutive Italian dominated practice and qualifying virtually all weekend, and when the times were settled the Ducati rider was firmly in pole position. Marco Melandri showed true grit, riding as hard as possible with thirty five stitches in his right foot closing the injury he received last week in his coming together with Rossi. For once his team-mate out qualified him, Gibernau managing to take advantage of the situation to secure second place on the grid. The Suzuki boys, no doubt helped by the way their Bridgestone tyres were working, managed a pair of season bests with Hopkins taking third place on the grid and former world champion Kenny Roberts Jnr taking fifth. Shinya Nakano also had a spectacular qualifying, putting the big green Kawasaki in fourth place while Nicky Hayden continued to out perform his team-mate, qualifying a solid sixth. Back on the third row, Valentino Rossi's torrid time continued with even his considerable talent unable to wrestle the recalcitrant Yamaha above seventh place, just ahead of Carlos Checa on the second Ducati. Melandri took ninth while the top ten was rounded out by Colin Edwards.

Now it's worth bearing in mind that Max Biaggi is the only rider with even a theoretical chance of taking the title from Rossi, and he needed to finish at least thirteen points ahead to keep that hope alive. So if he won, Rossi would have to finish no higher than fifth. No doubt Max was seeking to provide the maximum possible excitement for the crowd while he carved through the field for a spectacular (and, sadly, rather unlikely) victory. Why else would he have allowed himself to qualify back in twelfth place at the back of the fourth row?

Troy Bayliss is off injured after his practice tumble in Brno and his seat is being filled by the affable British Superbike champion Shane Byrne, conveniently available after the withdrawal of KTM from the scene. Alex Hoffman is also injured, his place again being taken by Olivier Jacques, keen to repeat his stunning performance in China earlier in the season.

But enough background. On with the racing. Race day dawned a little cooler than practice, which boded well for the Michelin shod bikes. Or at least reduced the advantage enjoyed by the Bridgestone riders. Now the starting grid at Sepang is on the main straight. Nothing unusual there, except that the main straight here has a hairpin left at the end of it, and that usually makes for some interesting experiences when the lights go out. And today was no exception. Marco Melandri got a spectacular start, haring up the inside to challenge for a podium spot by the first corner. Unfortunately he also occupied the same piece of track as Sete Gibernau and the resulting collision, while not unseating anyone, knocked Gibernau very wide and forced him down the field. At the very front, Loris Capirossi took full advantage of being ahead of the carnage and got his head down, opening something of a gap over Shinya Nakano on the Kawasaki and the pursuing Hondas of Marco Melandri and Nicky Hayden. Further back, Valentino Rossi, having made his by now customary poor start, was showing just why his crew chief Jerry Burgess had seemed a little coy on the grid, slicing up through the field as though it was going backwards. Which is exactly what John Hopkins was doing, the young American spectacularly failing to capitalise on his excellent qualifying position. Sete Gibernau, meanwhile, had recovered from his first lap shenanigans and was setting about getting some points back. In a textbook rookie mistake, though, the Spaniard screwed up the last corner, leaving his braking far too late and skittling the luckless Shinya Nakano into the gravel and out of a promising ride. The expression on Fausto Gresini's face as he watched the monitors from the pit wall suggested that there would be words exchanged with Mr Gibernau later. And they would be neither kind nor gentle. And not without reason - 2005 should have been the Spaniard's year, as indeed should 2004. He is arguably on the best bike with probably the most professional team on the grid and yet he has consistently failed to deliver, being regularly outridden by his young team-mate and making error after mistake after cock-up and failing to finish in nearly half this season's races.

Melandri made a brief challenge for the lead before wilting and falling back, being passed first by Hayden and then Rossi, who made no mistakes in a series of clinical and utterly clean moves on his way to second place by lap eight. A couple of laps later and Rossi, who only had to finish within five positions of Biaggi to lift the title, was in the lead and pushing hard. But the Ducati was on song and Capirossi took the lead back after just two laps, extending the clear air between him and Rossi to nearly two seconds to take his second victory on the trot. A little further back, Carlos Checa was a man on a mission as well, swallowing up Melandri and Hayden before reeling in Rossi to close within a few hundredths of a second but running out of time. So Ducati got their best ever result, first and third, while Rossi lifted the MotoGP crown for the fifth time, his seventh world title altogether in just ten years. Fourth place went to Nicky Hayden while Melandri took a well deserved fifth, ahead of a thoroughly beaten Max Biaggi. Kenny Roberts Jnr brought the Suzuki in half a second later in seventh, followed by Barros and Hopkins while Colin Edwards rounded off the top ten. Olivier Jacques sadly failed to finish, the Kawasaki expiring, perhaps in sympathy, a few seconds after Nakano's enforced departure, while Shane Byrne managed a respectable fourteenth in his first outing on a GP Honda which is very different to his steeds of late - it actually goes when he opens the throttle for a start...

There are four rounds still to go, and though Rossi could spend the rest of the season on the beach and still win there's still plenty to play for elsewhere in the championship. Any of the next ten riders could theoretically take second place, though it would take some extraordinary turnarounds in fortune for that to happen. Even discounting the unlikely prospect of Gibernau getting his act together this year, any of the top half dozen could certainly run with the number two plate next year. But the next four rounds are more about showing their team-bosses that they really are worth employing again. Which usually makes for some rather entertaining racing.

See you in Qatar next week...

Results

1 L Capirossi, Ducati
2 V Rossi, Yamaha
3 C Checa, Ducati
4 N Hayden, Honda
5 M Melandri, Honda
6 M Biaggi, Honda
7 K Roberts, Suzuki
8 A Barros, Honda
9 J Hopkins, Suzuki
10 C Edwards, Yamaha


Championship Standing after 13 rounds

281 V Rossi (World Champion 2005)
159 M Biaggi
142 L Capirossi
139 C Edwards
137 M Melandri
134 N Hayden
122 A Barros
115 S Gibernau
88 C Checa
69 S Nakano

SB