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Column – “It’s not an excuse, I made a mistake at the start” – Alex Barros
4/13/2005
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The race.
The first Free Practices in Jerez showed us that things were not going to be as good as in the tests 2 weeks before and we worked hard to try and find a solution that would improve our suspensions, but it was not very easy.
We had to lap at tleast half a second faster but our rear suspension became very hard as the tyre wore out. The wind was also a factor that made our work even harder, but it was the same for everyone so it does not count, really.
Continuing about the suspension – we tried working with a softer rear suspension, but with a new tyre it was too soft, it went down a lot and if the rear is low the front tends to lift more and this takes away the support from the front end and the strong wind helped to worsen this situation. We tried finding a way out but we were not very successful.
In the warm up I did a lap behind Sete and his rear suspension was perfect, so we gave up in trying to find a better setting and used the best one we had. I knew that I had to get off to a good start, administrate the situation and finish in the best position possible. But there was another factor that worried me – the fuel consumption.
Only Sete and I use an electronic injection system that when the engine break is used he continues to inject fuel into the engine. As you all know, this year the fuel tank has 22 liters instead of 24 like last year, so I was riding with an exact amount of fuel. I finished the race with half a liter in the tank.
We are also working in the setting of this electronic injection to make it more efficient, but before the race, one of the Honda employees told me to go slow in the first two laps so to avoid having to abandon the race because of lack of fuel.
Can you imagine the amount of things that go through my mind before a start? Well, with one more important thing to worry about I forgot to press the electronic starting system, which helps the bike to traction better at the start. It has to be pressed 5 seconds before the green lights and I only remembered to press it when the green flag passed. And than you know what happened. I got off to a bad start, had to save up on fuel and the tires too longer to reach the ideal temperature.
With all these problems I fell down to 13th position and started trying to recover all that I had lost. I made a mistake when I passed Tamada, the TV did not show it, and I almost went off the track. I had fun passing Edwards and Hoffman because I passed them both in one strong break. It took me a while to pass Troy and then I went after my positions.
My race pace would have only been enough to be fighting for 3rd place with Melandri had I not started off so badly. It is not an excuse, just facts that need to be improved.
My recovery was good, the team was happy but I can’t say I was satisfied. I wanted to have finished the race fighting for the lead and not more than 20 seconds behind Melandri.
Sito said that due to the conditions and the rhythm we had during the race I was able to correct the mistake I made at the beginning, but it won’t happen again.
For the Portuguese GP I am very confident and thirsty for good results. The biggest difference there will be the front tire, like I explained in the last column, and I think we will have another great race and who knows with a different end.
See you all on Sunday and may God be with all of you,
Alex Barros
Davvero interessante, soprattutto la parte sul consumo (anche se non sembra che Gibernau sia andato molto cauto nei primi giri)
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