2003 German motorcycle Grand Prix

Round of the MotoGP Championship German Germany Sachsenring Cinzano Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschlandhttps://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/races/2003-british-motogp 2003 British MotoGP 13 June 2017 Motorsportmagazine.com 16 May 2018http://www.progcovers.com/motor/sachsenring.html Sachsenring - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project Malcolm Mitchell Progcovers.com 16 May 2018 2.281 3.671 9 16 27 July 2003 Sachsenring (Schaltung).svg Max Biaggi Italy Honda 1:23.734 Max Biaggi Italy Honda 1:24.630 on lap 8 Sete Gibernau Spain Honda Valentino Rossi Italy Honda Troy Bayliss Australia Ducati Sebastián Porto Argentina Honda 1:25.728 Fonsi Nieto Spain Aprilia 1:26.469 on lap 16 Roberto Rolfo Italy Honda Fonsi Nieto Spain Aprilia Randy de Puniet France Aprilia Stefano Perugini Italy 1:27.717 Aprilia Pablo Nieto Spain Aprilia 1:28.490 on lap 7 Stefano Perugini Italy Aprilia Casey Stoner Australia Aprilia Alex de Angelis San Marino Aprilia The 2003 German motorcycle Grand Prix was the ninth round of the 2003 MotoGP Championship. It took place on the weekend of 25–27 July 2003 at the Sachsenring. MotoGP race report This race was most notable for the titanic battle between Valentino Rossi and Sete Gibernau, with the Spaniard narrowly winning after a dramatic finale. Valentino Rossi leads the standings with 187 points, followed by Sete Gibernau with 158 and Max Biaggi with 130 points. Max Biaggi took pole position on Saturday - his second of the season - with Jeremy McWilliams only +0.002 seconds behind him in second. Loris Capirossi lined up third and Valentino Rossi in fourth, who suffered from a cold as well as tyre problems. Sete Gibernau took fifth place, with Troy Bayliss lining up in sixth, Carlos Checa in seventh and Tohru Ukawa in eighth place.https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2003/07/26/biaggi-takes-second-straight-pole/135109 Biaggi takes second straight pole MotoGP Dorna Sports www.motogp.comhttps://www.crash.net/motogp/news/72809/1/biaggi-tames-mcwilliams-for-sachsenring-pole Biaggi tames McWilliams for Sachsenring pole. July 26, 2003 Crashhttps://www.arabnews.com/node/234869 Biaggi Takes Pole at German Grand Prix July 27, 2003 Arab News Chris Burns will not be taking part in the race, after being declared unfit due to his collarbone fracture after a crash in the previous British race two weeks ago.https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/72790/1/battered-burns-withdraws-from-german-gp Battered Burns withdraws from German GP. July 25, 2003 Crash The pack make their way back to their respective starting positions and as the lights go out, Rossi makes a great start and moves up into the lead at Turn 1, followed by the two Ducati's of Capirossi and Bayliss. Gibernau moved up one spot to take fourth, Melandri moved from twelfth to fifth. McWilliams and pole sitter Biaggi had terrible starts, dropping from second to sixth and from first to ninth.https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/72823/1/gibernau-defeats-rossi-in-photo-finish Gibernau defeats Rossi in photo finish. July 27, 2003 Crash At Turn 13, Gibernau dives down the inside of Bayliss to take third from him. Olivier Jacque did likewise and overtook both Biaggi and Nobuatsu Aoki by going side by side with them at the short straight before Turn 13, finalising the move at the entrance after Biaggi went wide. As lap two begins, Bayliss tries to use the superior Ducati top speed to pass Gibernau at the start/finish straight, almost bumping into him as a result. He isn't able to finalise the move and stays behind for the time being. The top six is as follows: Rossi, Capirossi, Gibernau, Bayliss, Melandri and McWilliams. Going down into Turn 1, Melandri takes fourth by going up his inside at the end of the start/finish straight. Jacque has also made up ten places on the opening lap, going from eighteenth to eighth place. Rossi opens up a gap to Capirossi during the lap. Rossi's teammate and rookie Nicky Hayden tries to pass Aoki at Turn 14 but runs the bike too deep, allowing the Japanese rider to make the cutback and retake twelfth position. Lap three and Bayliss has a big moment as he brakes for Turn 1, almost going sideways as a result. Gibernau and Melandri put some serious pressure on Capirossi, who is struggling a bit. Just as Gibernau makes his move going down at the short straight before Turn 13, Melandri does the same, overtaking both Gibernau and Capirossi and moving from fourth to second, with Gibernau also taking third from Capirossi. Gibernau then takes second at the braking zone at Turn 14, moving up into second place as a result. As lap four begins, Melandri goes side by side with Gibernau, taking second back from the Spaniard after he outbraked him. Right behind the duo, Bayliss closes up and tries to take fourth place from his teammate Capirossi around the outside of Turn 1, but goes wide and has to slow back behind him. This fighting has allowed Rossi to ride away, creating a huge gap to the second rider. Gibernau is still all over the back of Melandri, with the Telefónica Movistar Honda rider overtaking Melandri at the left-hand kink at Turn 9 for second.Biaggi meanwhile has passed Jacque for eighth place further back, then taking McWilliams for seventh before the entrance of Turn 13. At Turn 14, Bayliss overtakes Capirossi and moves up into fourth position as he goes down his inside. On lap five, Gibernau slowly starts to ride away from Melandri. Biaggi - who has been slowly making up the lost ground - is now right behind his Camel Pramac Pons teammate Ukawa and overtakes him at the fast right-handed Turn 12 effortlessly, moving him up to sixth. Bayliss also takes third spot from Melandri by going up his inside at Turn 14. Lap six and Melandri tries to get back at the Australian by trying a very late lunge down his inside, only narrowly avoiding the Ducati rider as they go down into Turn 1. Exiting Turn 4, it looks like Melandri managed to grab the position back, but Bayliss still managed to stay in front after he went a bit wide. Biaggi also takes fifth position from Capirossi at Turn 13. Hayden passes McWilliams for eleventh at Turn 14 by going up the inside of the Northern Irishman before the climb back up to the start/finish straight. On lap seven, Biaggi quickly catches up to Melandri. He takes third from him as he outbreaks the Italian going into Turn 13. Going into lap eight, Rossi leads Gibernau by +1.827 seconds. Going into the fast Turn 12, Gibernau had a bit of a wobble but no harm is done. No overtakes happen at the front. Lap nine and the top six is as follows: Rossi, Gibernau, Bayliss, Biaggi, Melandri and Capirossi. Noriyuki Haga has crashed out at the last corner on the last lap, his bike losing grip going into Turn 14 and sliding out of contention at high speed. The Japanese rider is then seen running onto the track in a dangerous manner, with one of the marshalls trying to stop him but failing to do so. Biaggi meanwhile is closing up on Bayliss at the front. On lap ten, Biaggi has caught Bayliss for third but is unable to make a move so far. Lap eleven and the gap Gibernau has to Rossi has been brought down - from +1.827 seconds on lap eight to +1.495 at the beginning of this lap. Biaggi tries to pass Bayliss by going side by side at the straight before Turn 13, then it looked like he had passed him but the Italian ran a bit too wide, allowing Bayliss to dive down the inside at the uphill Turn 14, blocking his way and retaking third place. As lap twelve starts, Biaggi is still trying to get past Bayliss. At Turn 1, he takes a much shorter inside line and goes side by side with Bayliss exiting the turn, but still doesn't finalise the move going into Turn 2. Biaggi is still hounding the Australian all throughout the lap. On lap thirteen, Biaggi tries the same move down at Turn 1 but still isn't able to get through. At Turn 4 however, Bayliss goes a bit wide, with the Italian now finally able to pass him by going down his inside, taking third spot from Bayliss. Lap fourteen and Gibernau is slowly starting to catch Rossi, with the gap on the last lap being +1.165 seconds. At the fast Turn 9, Biaggi loses his bike and crashes out by sliding into the gravel, ending his good comeback. Distraught, he walks off as the marshalls remove the bike from the gravel. This now means that Bayliss has pretty much secured third position. The gap to Rossi has meanwhile been shrinking and is now only +0.873 seconds. On lap fifteen, Melandri is now forming a train behind him consisting of Capirossi, Checa, Ukawa and - further back - Hayden. Gauloises Yamaha rider Alex Barros is out of the race, crashing out at the end of Turn 1 after fighting with McWilliams for tenth place. The rider is unhurt and walks away in a disappointing manner. At Turn 13, Ukawa tries to make a move but isn't able to but with Checa going wide, he can get side by side with the Spaniard, positioning his Camel Pramac Pons Honda at his inside at Turn 14 and making the move, moving up to sixth place. As lap sixteen begins, Hayden is now eyeing Checa as well. He looks to be making a move at Turn 1 but instead stays behind for now. At the front, the gap Gibernau has to Rossi has decreased even further and is now only +0.478, which then increases to +0.480 seconds. Lap seventeen and the gap to Rossi has increased to +0.706, then decreased again to +0.621 seconds. On lap eighteen, the gap is once again cut and now is only +0.591 seconds, then decreasing again slightly to +0.511 seconds. Lap nineteen and Gibernau just puts the fastest lap of the race with a 1:24.8. The gap is +0.364 seconds but halfway into the lap, he has caught Rossi and is all over the back of him. As lap twenty begins, the Spaniard goes side by side with the Repsol Honda rider, even looking at him as they blast down the start/finish straight, with Gibernau taking over the lead at the end of the straight.https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2003/07/27/gibernau-defeats-rossi-in-sizzling-german-duel/135121 Gibernau defeats Rossi in sizzling German duel MotoGP Dorna Sports www.motogp.com Rossi tries to fight back but eventually decides to stay behind in second position. Rossi then shadows Gibernau for half the lap, then tries to dive down the inside at Turn 13 with the Spaniard closing the door on him. On lap twenty-one, Rossi is still all over the back of Gibernau but does not try to make a move. Both riders now start to slide around a bit as the tyres start to wear off. Lap twenty-two and Rossi looks to be making a move at the downhill Turn 1 hairpin, but thinks better of it and stays behind Gibernau. The Italian is still shadowing Gibernau, maybe trying to pressure him into a mistake. On lap twenty-three, Rossi is still right behind Gibernau, eyeing him but not making a move yet. Lap twenty-four and the top six is now as follows: Gibernau, Rossi, Bayliss, Capirossi, Hayden and Ukawa. The top two encounter some backmarkers - who get out of the way causing no problems and Melandri has also crashed out from fourth place. Suzuki Grand Prix Team rider John Hopkins is also standing still in the gravel due to engine problems, coming to a standstill in the gravel in a cloud of expensive smoke. On lap twenty-five, Hayden is catching the Marlboro Ducati of Capirossi in fourth position, with Ukawa being a distant sixth. The duo up front is still very close to each other, Rossi eyeing Gibernau as both begin to slide around the circuit. Rossi looks to be making a move at Turn 13 but still does not finalise it and sticks behind Gibernau. Lap twenty-six and no overtakes happened at the front. Rossi is still right on the tail of Gibernau, shadowing his every move. On lap twenty-seven, the top six is as follows: Gibernau, Rossi, Bayliss, Capirossi, Hayden and Ukawa. Rossi is still eyeing Gibernau, looking up his inside at Turn 9 but still staying behind. Lap twenty-eight - the penultimate lap - and Rossi is still waiting for the right moment to pass. He's all over the back of Gibernau, but still does not make a move. On the final lap - lap twenty-nine - Gibernau opens a slight gap to Rossi at the start/finish straight after the Italian made a small error exiting Turn 14. Rossi however almost immediately catches back up to him and, after a lot of waiting lap after lap, he finally overtakes Gibernau exiting Turn 12, going side by side with him at the straight and finalising the pass going into Turn 13. Many thought that Rossi had secured the race win, but as he closed off the inside to prevent Gibernau from making a final move, the Spaniard instead took a very wide line going into Turn 14. Using the superior traction and exit speed, he blasted past Rossi - just enough to win the race by a mere +0.060 seconds.https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2003/jul/28/motorcycling.motogp Gibernau compounds Rossi misery with last-corner pass Erik Kirschbaum at Sachsenring The Guardian July 27, 2003 www.theguardian.com Just as Rossi wanted to start the celebrations, he sees that Gibernau pipped him on the line, with the Spaniard erupting into joy as he just realised he won the race, with his pit wall doing likewise. Bayliss came home in a lonely third, doing a wheelie in the process, Capirossi in fourth, Hayden in fifth and Ukawa in sixth. This win was Gibernau's fourth and last of the season, and Rossi's second place now meant that he has a winless streak of four races. On the parade lap back to parc-fermé, he stops at the edge of the track next to the pits, with two of his pit crew members coming up to him to celebrate his victory. The Repsol Honda pitwall meanwhile, looked on in disbelief as to what just happened. As Gibernau celebrates in absolute glee, Rossi is unhappy and does not wave at the celebrating marshalls or the crowd, choosing to immediately ride back to parc-fermé. At parc-fermé, Bayliss gets a hug from one of the Ducati crewmembers, with a disappointed Rossi looking down and probably thinking to himself what just happened. As Gibernau arrives, he gets a lot of hugs from his team as he celebrates on, still hardly believing he just beat Rossi. Bayliss is already being interviewed by the press meanwhile. The trio is announced, with Troy Bayliss the first to step onto the podium, followed by a bitterly disappointed Rossi and a jubilant Gibernau, with the audience applauding both Rossi and Gibernau. On the podium, Rossi shakes hands with Bayliss, with Gibernau doing likewise to Rossi and Bayliss as he comes onto it. The important figures hand out the trophies - with the fans of Gibernau wildly celebrating as he receives his trophy - and dedicates his victory to the Japanese rider Daijiro Kato, who died after a freak accident in the opening round in Japan. The Spanish national anthem plays and the riders spray the champagne on the podium once the grid girls hand them the bottles, Rossi cheekily spraying one of the girls before spraying the rest of the podium finishers. The trio then bunches up for the group photo.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpEzOjjEjgc 2003 #GermanGP Vintage MotoGP YouTube 2020-04-03 2020-04-08 Gibernau's win now meant that he is still in the championship hunt. Rossi still leads with 187 points, followed by Gibernau with 158 (29 points behind) and Max Biaggi with a now distant 130 points (57 points behind). MotoGP classification Pos. No. Rider Team Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 15 ESP Sete Gibernau Telefónica Movistar Honda Honda 30 42:41.180 5 25 2 46 ITA Valentino Rossi Repsol Honda Honda 30 +0.060 4 20 3 12 AUS Troy Bayliss Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 30 +13.207 6 16 4 65 ITA Loris Capirossi Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 30 +16.521 3 13 5 69 USA Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda Honda 30 +16.563 15 11 6 11 JPN Tohru Ukawa Camel Pramac Pons Honda 30 +18.743 8 10 7 56 JPN Shinya Nakano d'Antín Yamaha Team Yamaha 30 +18.885 10 9 8 7 ESP Carlos Checa Fortuna Yamaha Team Yamaha 30 +26.165 7 8 9 19 FRA Olivier Jacque Gauloises Yamaha Team Yamaha 30 +28.281 18 7 10 17 JPN Norifumi Abe Yamaha Racing Team Yamaha 30 +29.159 16 6 11 9 JPN Nobuatsu Aoki Proton Team KR Proton KR 30 +29.316 9 5 12 99 GBR Jeremy McWilliams Proton Team KR Proton KR 30 +30.427 2 4 13 6 JPN Makoto Tamada Pramac Honda Honda 30 +49.580 19 3 14 45 USA Colin Edwards Alice Aprilia Racing Aprilia 30 +53.444 13 2 15 10 USA Kenny Roberts Jr. Suzuki Grand Prix Team Suzuki 30 +57.512 14 1 16 8 AUS Garry McCoy Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 30 +59.580 20 17 66 DEU Alex Hofmann Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 30 +1:05.240 21 18 23 JPN Ryuichi Kiyonari Telefónica Movistar Honda Honda 30 +1:05.348 23 19 88 AUS Andrew Pitt Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 29 +1 lap 24 20 52 ESP David de Gea WCM Sabre V4 29 +1 lap 25 Ret 33 ITA Marco Melandri Fortuna Yamaha Team Yamaha 23 Accident 12 Ret 21 USA John Hopkins Suzuki Grand Prix Team Suzuki 23 Retirement 22 Ret 4 BRA Alex Barros Gauloises Yamaha Team Yamaha 15 Accident 11 Ret 3 ITA Max Biaggi Camel Pramac Pons Honda 13 Accident 1 Ret 41 JPN Noriyuki Haga Alice Aprilia Racing Aprilia 7 Accident 17 WD 35 GBR Chris Burns WCM ROC Yamaha Withdrew Sources:https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/races/2003-german-motogp 2003 German MotoGP - Motor Sport Magazine Database 13 June 2017 Motorsportmagazine.com 5 August 2018http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/2003/MotoGP/GER/RAC/classification.pdf Cinzano Motorrad GP Deutschland – MotoGP – Race Classification Motogp.com Dorna Sports 27 July 2003 2 May 2018http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics/2003/GER/MotoGP/RAC GERMAN GRAND PRIX · MotoGP Race Classification 2003 Motogp.com 5 August 2018 5 August 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180805203135/http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics/2003/GER/MotoGP/RAC dead 250 cc classification Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 3 ITA Roberto Rolfo Honda 29 42:06.199 2 25 2 10 ESP Fonsi Nieto Aprilia 29 +0.150 4 20 3 7 FRA Randy de Puniet Aprilia 29 +0.287 5 16 4 5 ARG Sebastián Porto Honda 29 +5.305 1 13 5 21 ITA Franco Battaini Aprilia 29 +13.097 3 11 6 14 AUS Anthony West Aprilia 29 +18.289 10 10 7 24 ESP Toni Elías Aprilia 29 +20.881 9 9 8 54 SMR Manuel Poggiali Aprilia 29 +20.927 6 8 9 6 ESP Alex Debón Honda 29 +45.171 13 7 10 26 ITA Alex Baldolini Aprilia 29 +48.701 12 6 11 28 DEU Dirk Heidolf Aprilia 29 +57.078 18 5 12 57 GBR Chaz Davies Aprilia 29 +57.268 17 4 13 96 CZE Jakub Smrž Honda 29 +57.459 19 3 14 36 FRA Erwan Nigon Aprilia 29 +1:17.467 14 2 15 62 DEU Max Neukirchner Honda 29 +1:29.139 22 1 16 52 CZE Lukáš Pešek Yamaha 29 +1:29.338 23 17 11 ESP Joan Olivé Aprilia 28 +1 lap 11 18 98 DEU Katja Poensgen Honda 28 +1 lap 29 19 66 FIN Vesa Kallio Yamaha 28 +1 lap 27 Ret 63 SWE Tomas Palander Honda 28 Accident 25 Ret 18 NLD Henk vd Lagemaat Honda 27 Accident 26 Ret 65 DEU Norman Rank Honda 25 Retirement 28 Ret 34 FRA Eric Bataille Honda 24 Accident 21 Ret 50 FRA Sylvain Guintoli Aprilia 21 Accident 8 Ret 16 SWE Johan Stigefelt Aprilia 9 Accident 20 Ret 9 FRA Hugo Marchand Aprilia 3 Retirement 16 Ret 15 DEU Christian Gemmel Honda 0 Accident 24 Ret 33 ESP Héctor Faubel Aprilia 0 Accident 15 Ret 8 JPN Naoki Matsudo Yamaha 0 Accident 7 DNQ 64 DEU Nico Kehrer Honda Did not qualify Source:http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/2003/250cc/GER/RAC/classification.pdf Cinzano Motorrad GP Deutschland – 250cc – Race Classification Motogp.com Dorna Sports 27 July 2003 2 May 2018 125 cc classification Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 7 ITA Stefano Perugini Aprilia 27 40:11.124 1 25 2 27 AUS Casey Stoner Aprilia 27 +0.212 5 20 3 15 SMR Alex de Angelis Aprilia 27 +0.375 2 16 4 3 ESP Daniel Pedrosa Honda 27 +0.774 7 13 5 22 ESP Pablo Nieto Aprilia 27 +5.877 13 11 6 79 HUN Gábor Talmácsi Aprilia 27 +11.791 17 10 7 34 ITA Andrea Dovizioso Honda 27 +12.070 6 9 8 4 ITA Lucio Cecchinello Aprilia 27 +12.212 4 8 9 24 ITA Simone Corsi Honda 27 +12.645 10 7 10 36 FIN Mika Kallio Honda 27 +16.369 12 6 11 6 ITA Mirko Giansanti Aprilia 27 +16.370 11 5 12 58 ITA Marco Simoncelli Aprilia 27 +16.825 20 4 13 42 ITA Gioele Pellino Aprilia 27 +21.622 16 3 14 80 ESP Héctor Barberá Aprilia 27 +27.161 3 2 15 32 ITA Fabrizio Lai Malaguti 27 +41.028 18 1 16 88 DNK Robbin Harms Aprilia 27 +45.131 21 17 23 ITA Gino Borsoi Aprilia 27 +45.377 8 18 10 ITA Roberto Locatelli KTM 27 +54.576 22 19 90 DEU Dario Giuseppetti Honda 27 +55.177 29 20 31 ESP Julián Simón Malaguti 27 +1:11.657 25 21 48 ESP Jorge Lorenzo Derbi 27 +1:22.753 19 22 78 HUN Péter Lénárt Honda 27 +1:36.455 37 23 21 GBR Leon Camier Honda 26 +1 lap 36 Ret 19 ESP Álvaro Bautista Aprilia 25 Accident 23 Ret 12 CHE Thomas Lüthi Honda 25 Accident 15 Ret 41 JPN Youichi Ui Aprilia 23 Accident 14 Ret 54 DEU Patrick Unger Honda 18 Retirement 35 Ret 17 DEU Steve Jenkner Aprilia 17 Accident 9 Ret 8 JPN Masao Azuma Honda 14 Accident 32 Ret 52 DEU Jarno Müller Honda 14 Retirement 34 Ret 91 DEU Jascha Büch Honda 12 Accident 30 Ret 33 ITA Stefano Bianco Gilera 11 Retirement 33 Ret 1 FRA Arnaud Vincent KTM 9 Accident 24 Ret 53 DEU Manuel Mickan Honda 7 Accident 27 Ret 26 ESP Emilio Alzamora Derbi 7 Retirement 28 Ret 63 FRA Mike Di Meglio Aprilia 2 Accident 31 Ret 25 HUN Imre Tóth Honda 2 Retirement 26 DNS 11 ITA Max Sabbatani Aprilia Did not start Source:http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/2003/125cc/GER/RAC/classification.pdf Cinzano Motorrad GP Deutschland – 125cc – Race Classification MotoGP.com Dorna Sports 27 July 2003 2 May 2018 Championship standings after the race (MotoGP) Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round nine has concluded.https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/72833/1/world-championship-standings World Championship standings. July 27, 2003 Crashhttps://resources.motogp.com/files/results/2003/MotoGP/GER/world+standing.pdf?v1_96143780 Standings 2003 resources.motogp.com PDF 2019-08-22 Riders' Championship standings Pos. Position Rider Points 1 ITA Valentino Rossi 187 2 SPA Sete Gibernau 158 3 ITA Max Biaggi 130 4 ITA Loris Capirossi 97 5 AUS Troy Bayliss 80 Constructors' Championship standings Pos. Position Constructor Points 1 JPN Honda 220 2 ITA Ducati 129 3 JPN Yamaha 102 4 ITA Aprilia 54 5 MYS/USA Proton KR 27 Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. References German motorcycle Grand Prix 2003 2003 British Grand Prix 2003 Czech Republic Grand Prix 2002 German Grand Prix 2004 German Grand Prix Category:German motorcycle Grand Prix German Motorcycle Grand Prix Motorcycle Grand Prix