ASSEN, Netherlands, 26 June 2005 — Italy’s world MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi held off compatriot Marco Melandri to win the Dutch TT yesterday for his fifth successive victory this season.
Rossi’s Yamaha teammate Colin Edwards of the United States finished third over seven seconds behind him.
The Italian has won six of the year’s seven races and is on course for a fifth consecutive world title with a 63-point lead over Melandri in the standings. “It was very difficult. It rained a lot overnight and the surface had changed, so it was hard to take your rhythm,” Rossi said.
Rossi, winner at Assen last year, started on pole but dropped to sixth on the opening lap as Spain’s Sete Gibernau briefly led before falling behind his Honda teammate Melandri.
Melandri was in front for nine of the 19 laps on the narrow, technically demanding 5.997km circuit and then stayed close to Rossi, pushing hard for his best MotoGP finish.
The 22-year-old started the final lap barely 0.5 seconds behind, but lost another second to his rival’s masterful display as Rossi ended with the fastest lap of the race, two minutes 0.991 seconds.
American Nicky Hayden was fourth, passing the fading Gibernau in the closing stages.
Overnight rain cleared up for the race, and 90,000 fans crowded the banks and grandstands of the Circuit van Drenthe which was holding the 75th running of the Dutch TT, and the last on the current track. From next year, a shorter and slower version of the circuit will be used.
