IRTA
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1.
Losail
2. Jerez
3. Istanbul
4. Shanghai
5. Le
Mans
6. Mugello
7.
Catalunya
8.
Donington
9. Assen
10. Sachsenring
11.
Laguna Seca
12. Brno
13. Misano
14. Estoril
15. Motegi
16. Phillip Island
17. Sepang
18. Valencia
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News 27/05/07
Round 5. France
: Le Mans
Skider takes his second victory of the season in wet conditions at Le
Mans.
Skider was the winner of a breathtakingly unpredictable Alice Grand
Prix de France at the historic Le Mans circuit. The race was an
incredible display of the competitive nature of MotoGP, and provided
fans with the sight of a number of first time leaders as the riders
negotiated the changeable weather conditions and tyre change choises.
Some semblance of order was established when all the riders got their
tyres warm up, with Skider and Vouks making the best of the situation
to lead the race until the last laps when Skider made the decisive move
and went ahead to win the race.
Vouks had an outstanding race, he maintained a small gap over third
placed rider Seby, who kept his nerve and saved himself from crashes in
a tremendous display of his mastery on the M1.
The opening laps saw proud moments for DavyB and Thunder, who led the
race with amazing starts. They showed no fear amongst former winners
and World Champions, and the sight of DavyB at the head of the field on
his own merit was a memorable one for the Ilmor team. Unfortunately the
lack of experience showed and he wasn't able to hold on to the top spot
until the end of the race, crossing the line in a respectable 4th place.
Thunder could only manage to fight for the top spot in the starting
laps but later in the race he progressively lost ground until the
chequered flag, finishing in fifth place, almost 8 seconds behind the
race winner, whilst Biggie came home in a lonely sixth.
SFW and Guishermo hit the deck before the was a chance for them to warm
up their tyres, and a chaotic pair of laps followed as the pack
rearranged themselves.
SFW saw himself in the grass before the end of the race as a result
from the battle he had with Vouks. He kept his head down and rounded
off the top seven, ahead of British veteran, Dolz.
Kaiser7K and Inara also joined in the skirmish with Dolz before
eventually crossing the line in ninth and tenth respectively.
Skider Oasics NoGrip Racing Team
(winner, 17:11.737):
"Congratulations to poleman Vouks for 2nd (3 consecutive podiums) and
Seby for 3rd. I'm so glad to see my team mate Thunder getting
confidence with himself and doing his best result of the season, well
done. And surprised to see Ilmor doing well in wet conditions, gg DavyB.
I didn't expect this result indeed, because I didn't have too much time
to practice in these difficult conditions and I couldn't ride
constantly under 33's during the trainings.
Lucky or unlucky I could find the way and stay in the bike on the
official race, I tried some modifications on my setup just before the
qualifying and was not so bad (I've asked Vermeulen for that lol). I
made also my pb lap in the qualifying.
Race: I was scared because my game freezes sometimes (basically at the
beginning of the race) during few thousands of a second and you dont
know what you are doing in that time, then maybe you are in the gravel.
This time wasn't an exception, I made an amazing start, the best of my
life I think lol and I had some gap in front of Vouks and SFW, but
swiflty, my game started to go slow and I lost the advantage just
before the first corner. After that I lost some time with the
leaders Vouks & SFW doing a great battle. My strategy was to stay
with them at the beginning and attack at the end with my harder tyres.
Vouks could have scaped because his race rhytm was faster, but the
dutchman put pressure on him making him do mistakes, well done mate. I
thought it was the moment to give my best and close down the gap. When
I almost cought them, unfortunatelly SFW made a mistake and crashed and
just 1 lap after I could pass Vouks and try to scape, I did it and open
some gap enough to ride safely at the last lap. My front tyre was
loosing grip quite fast and almost went on the gravel at the last lap
entering the dunlop chicane, but fortunatelly the tyre kept the grip
with the tarmac. See u all at Mugello!"
Vouks MotoGP Greece Racing Team
(2nd, 17:12.776):
"Hi all, 44 wet riders!
Of course GG to all who raced in these difficult conditions...
Also GG to Davy and Thunder 4th and 5th, well done mates!
The other story I look from very near is: Yvos-Dolz 1-4, GG Dolz and
weak up Yvos!
Also I am a bit sorry for SFW who was in a good race pace (same room
SFW ,Skideros, Trans and me) but he crashed.
That's all, see you all in wet Mugello! ok ok maybe wet..."
Seby Lords Of
Shadow (3rd, 17:13.942):
"Well, you did good Skid, congrats to you and Vouks.
But the real hero of the day was DavyB without a doubt, very good
performance in the wet, congratulations m8. This is the whole idea of
wet races, to have a bit different results.
GG to all who raced, nice race Luke, with a bit more practice u can do
a top result.
My race was much harder than I expected, I had the same racing strategy
as Skider, I had soft-hard while the rest of the top guys had soft-med.
I raced with Guishermo and Biggie and I wish I could have been in SFW's
room because I didn't have any fights in my room, Biggie was a bit
slower and Guishermo fell in the first lap. I did a solo race and I
didn't know if I should push harder or not, pretty boring.
I'm not too happy with my race becase I made some mistakes at the start
of the race, 38.1 and 34.2 in the first 2 laps while in practice 37.3
and 33.1. I also had a very scary moment in the second lap when I
touched the grass while accelerating out of a corner and the bike had a
big shock, very shaky for a moment and I thought I was going to fall. I
was very lucky I could keep the bike on the tarmac but I knew I lost
the chance to win so I did my best and tried to catch
up, I did low 33s in the rest of the race, hoping to be on the podium
and so it happend. What I regret most is taking 2 calming pills before
the race instaid of 1 pill, that way I was too calm at the start of the
race and made mistakes, I didn't concentrate enough.
As for the next race, Mugello is not one of my favourites so I don't
expect to fight for the win but I hope to be up there, after that there
will be many tracks I like so I'm a bit happy even if i wont do so well
in Mugello.
When 2 ppl fight, the 3rd wins, so far I've been taking points from
Vouks and vice versa, that allowed Skider to escape in the standings."
SFW Kawasaki Racing (7th, 17:23.085):
"Congratulation to Skider for the win and Vouks and Seby for the podium
in this diffucult wet race. I had a nice race with Skider and Vouks and
I felt very comfortable during the race and was able to put some
pressure on Vouks for some time, I could see vouks making some small
mistakes and going a bit wide and I could also see Skider closing down
on us so I wanted to pick up my pace and overtake Vouks and pull a gap
to Skider (you don't want to fight with Skider in the last 2 laps
because you will lose the battle) but then a short lack of
concentration made me go too fast to the last corner and I crashed like
an amature. After my crash I didn't want to risk any more crashes so I
slowed a bit down and bring the bike home.
The sad misfortune has hit our team with accident of darkJr who wasn't
able to participate this race and we hope that he will recover well and
soon be able to race again.
I guess the only positive thing this race was the preformance of our
new Kawasaki racing member, Akos Daroczi. Akos did a great race and
specially becose it's his first wet race and for sure well deserved
championchip points.
Next race Mugello I hope it will be dry this time and watch out for the
green kawas!"
Guishermo
Hurricane Miu Racing Team (12th, 17:28.872):
"Congratulations to Skider, very good race mate, to Vouks for his
really good results in the last races, to Seby because of the podium
despite some mistakes at the beginning of the race and to everybody who
took part of this race!
My race was over in the first lap, I highsided in the second chicane
because of too much throttle (it´s the first time it happens to me and
probably the last) with wet surface and cold tyres. Since the crash I
tried not to crash again and I could keep a good pace, I lost around 13
seconds in the crash, I suppose I could have finished 4º or 5º, but
that´s my fault so let´s hope in the next race I can return to the
podium, I miss it!"
Gaz&Slide Arkos Froggy's
Connection (14th, 17:31.688):
"GG SkiDer! Once again, a victory by a slight gap but, once again, we
will only remember the name of the winner.
Behind the top guys (Vouks & Seby), it's nice to see some new
faces: DavyB & Thunder did very good here, at Le Mans.
About my race, I just made 1 big mistake in the first part of the race.
A little bit wide at La Chapelle corner (that cost me 2 seconds) when
CrazyBoy crashed in front of me but my pace was not so bad. Finishing
14th and 20 seconds behind the winner at my home GP is not a great
performance especially after the 5th spot in Phillip Island in the same
wet conditions. Maybe I haven't got the best setup for the race 'cos I
struggled a lot in the double apex corner (Garage Vert, Raccordement).
Anyway, I bring some points at home after such a difficult begining of
the season, so I shall content myself with it.
Next race @ Mugello: one of my favourite track so I'll try to do as
good as possible. Last year, I finished 7th and I'll try to improve
that rank."
Yvos Arkos Froggy's Connection
(15th, 17:31.961):
"GG Skider, Vouks and Seby, well done!
GG Davy who was very fast and consistant in those wet conditions!
About my home race , I am very disapointed... I made little mistake in
the first lap and Dolz escaped... it took me 7 laps to catch him with 2
laps to go , but then I did big mistakes, losing control 2 times at the
"garage vert" corner, especially in the last lap when I lost about 6
secs in the gravel...
That was a top 10 in my hands but I wasted all alone... and Dolz had
the last say once again.
OK, many races to do yet, I'll be back!
Thanks to all who participated, good result for Gaz&slide, and cya
all in Mugello, a track I like!"
With this victory, Skider extended his lead at the top of the standings
to 25 points ahead of Seby and 26 ahead of Vouks. Guishermo remained on
the 4th place, 44 points behind Skider.
Biggie, SFW, Kaiser7K, Dolz, Transalp and Thunder complete the top 10.
Oasics NoGrip Racing moved to the top of the Team Standings after
Skider's victory in France, with 187 points. Lords Of Shadow slipped
back to second, 22 points behind the Spanish team. Nitram Racing is
3rd, 53 points behind Oasics. MotoGP Greece Racing and Hurricane Miu
Racing complete the top 5.
Suzuki is first in the Constructors Standings, 13 points in front of
Yamaha and 44 points in front of Moriwaki. Kawasaki and Honda complete
the top 5.
In the Qualifying Award, Seby has a relaxing lead after 6 qualifying
sessions. Skider is 2nd, 0.3 behind Seby with Vouks 3rd, 0.6 adrift of
the leader.
In the Hot Lap Award Skider moved up to first place, just 0.298 in
front of Guishermo.
Skider is also the leader of the Total Time Award, over 11 seconds to
Seby after only 5 races.
Join us in 3 week's time for the MotoGP500online Grand Prix of Italy
at Mugello.
Report by Seby
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