above: Valentino Rossi in 2004 - photo © www.SportsPics.co.za

Traditionally, the Malaysian event provides some of the toughest conditions, what with the heat and humidity. In recent times, it has been seen that high temperatures play into the hands of the Bridgestone tyre runners - Ducati, Suzuki and Kawasaki - as opposed to the Michelin shod Honda and Yamaha motorcycles. It certainly proved the case on this occasion.

The Sepang circuit, situated near Kuala Lumpur, is one of the most modern venues on the calendar. Elevation changes are minimal, but it provides a wide open arena, with several flowing and rapid corners. In addition are the three straights leading to heavy braking hairpin turns, which provide the best passing opportunities. The longest pair are linked by the final turn fifteen left-hander, with the pit straight leading into a right-hander.

The combination of Loris Capirossi, the Ducati Desmosedici and Bridgestone rubber emerged fastest in qualifying for the second race in a row, with number two rider Carlos Checa, a place better than at Motegi, in eighth. Two of the Honda RCVs made it onto the first two rows, with MoviStar rider Sete Gibernau second and Repsol man Nicky Hayden sixth.

A trio of Bridgestone competitors followed Gibernau, with the Suzukis of John Hopkins (third) and Kenny Roberts (fifth) split by the leading Kawasaki of Shin’ya Nakano. Reserve rider Olivier Jacque piloted the other ZX-RR to 13th, with Alex Hofmann out injured after his Japanese crash with Roberto Rolfo. Rossi was ‘only’ seventh, in his second worst outing of the year to date, but his Gauloises Yamaha was still five slots ahead of Biaggi’s second Repsol Honda.

Behind Checa, Marco Melandri rode to ninth, still with his right foot injury in the aftermath of the Motegi clash with Rossi. Between the MoviStar and Repsol bikes came Edwards (Yamaha) and Barros (Honda), and Jacque was followed by Elías, Tamada, Xaus, Rolfo, Shane Byrne (taking over as Troy Bayliss’ Camel Honda substitute), Battaini and Ellison - the last man also still afflicted with a tendon injury.

Race day temperatures were marginally less than during practice, and Capirossi converted pole to the first corner lead. In the pack there was some jostling through the tight looping right and left turns one and two, with Gibernau clipped by team-mate Melandri and pushed wide at the first of these. Marco emerged second, soon to lose this to Nakano, with Hayden, Roberts, Gibernau, Rossi, Checa, Biaggi and Barros following on.

Gibernau made short work of relegating former team-mate Roberts, and Rossi made a pass on the American at turn nine, a tight left with uphill exit running back to the right. The Italian’s rapid progress soon took him past Sete, although not permanently, whilst Melandri regained second from Nakano the next time into turn one. Capirossi was already looking to pull a gap on the field, with Melandri and Nakano now followed by Gibernau, Hayden, Rossi, Roberts, Checa, Biaggi and Barros.

The leading picture changed early on as two men made their exit. Gibernau went for the inside of Nakano at the final hairpin, but too late. The number 15 Honda tipped down on braking, pushing the Kawasaki off on the outside of the corner. Both riders were out, and Jacque soon joined Nakano in the Kawasaki pit, making a bad outcome for the team on a promising day. Capirossi was now clear in front of Melandri, who was quickly caught by Hayden and Rossi as the rest dropped away.

Hayden was the man on the move now, passing Melandri at the last corner, then setting fastest lap as he caught up to Capirossi. Rossi got ahead of his hampered countryman at turn nine, and was soon sitting just off the back of the two leaders. Melandri kept on in a solitary fourth, but the effect of his injury surely contributed to his ultimately dropping away, even as Checa emulated Capirossi’s form and closed in.

After the chaotic early moments, the race now settled into its three-way rhythm. The two on Michelins were on medium compound tyres, while Capirossi’s Bridgestone mix included a harder front. A wide moment for Hayden allowed Rossi right onto his tail, but he then managed to lose some of this ground at the last turn. Almost immediately Hayden moved to attack Capirossi at turn one, but ran wide on the brakes, albeit without the loss of a place to Rossi.

Loris therefore regained a slight margin over the other two, but this changed when Valentino took over in second at around a third distance. This occurred when Nicky went too wide out of the final hairpin. The Honda rider kept it together to stay with the Italian pair, but began to lose time to them as they joined in battle for the lead. As Hayden started to fall behind, so Checa, having dealt with Melandri, rapidly closed in.

Rossi took over in front when he passed Capirossi through the rapid left-hand curve of turn twelve. The order was quickly reversed, but ‘the Doctor’ again made it by at turn one. These two continued to move clear of Hayden and Checa, now together, with Loris ahead again after another move on the inside at turn one. The laps ticked down, and Capirossi was running strongly to take a 0.8s advantage with four to go. This went beyond a second as Rossi had to settle for the points, even as the next man got closer again.

With Capirossi making it two in a row, the latter stages had seen team-mate Checa set about Hayden for third. An attempt at the final hairpin ended with the Spaniard braking late and going wide, so that Nicky could resume in front. Carlos got it right on the inside at turn nine and, with a couple of laps remaining, had started to home in on Rossi. The gap came down, but Valentino was just ahead at the flag, and Hayden was on his own as he secured fourth.

Melandri held onto fifth, but by the finish had been reeled in by the next group. Biaggi had caught and passed Roberts to lead the bunch, and they were tailed home by Alex Barros, Hopkins and Colin Edwards. Positions for the remaining runners had stayed much the same throughout the race, with Toní Elías eleventh, from Makoto Tamada, Rolfo, Byrne and Rubén Xaus. James Ellison was a non-finisher, so that WCM team-mate Franco Battaini came in sixteenth.

Nominally, the day belonged to Ducati. Loris Capirossi had taken his third MotoGP class win, and for the first time in the premier class he had recorded more than one victory during a season. On top of that, Carlos Checa had given the team a one-three finish, their best GP performance to date. For the Spaniard, it was his only his second podium result in three seasons, an overdue reward for the switch from Yamaha.

But in truth, this occasion belonged to the newly confirmed 2005 World Champion, Valentino Rossi. As ever, the Italian had a post-race celebration all lined up. This one involved a white helmet and T-shirt bearing the number 7, and more visibly the presence of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Each of the seven represented one of his Grand Prix titles - one each in the 125cc, 250cc and 500cc classes, and now four in a row in the four-stroke 990cc MotoGP category.

Sete Gibernau’s difficult year continued with him dropping to eighth overall, and he might well have cost Shin’ya Nakano and Kawasaki a highly creditable result; whilst Capirossi’s recent run now brought him up to third, heading a close battle in behind Max Biaggi. Sixth on the day for the Roman put him third of the Honda runners, but it was actually the first time since July 2001, in Germany, that a Honda rider had not made the rostrum - an amazing 67 race streak!

Standings after twelve races: Rossi 281; Biaggi 159; Capirossi 142; Edwards 139; Melandri 137; Hayden 134; Barros 122; Gibernau 115; Checa 88; Nakano 69; Tamada 68; Roberts 58.

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