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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127748
steady pace, preserving and even slightly stretching his lead as the others shuffled the pack beltind him. Ooohan is a charger, born and bred, and he forced his way rapidly through the fast company, not always waiting for an invitation. '1 had to stuff a couple of people," he admitted later: his best lap was his fourth. He started in fifth and finished in third, having blasted by both Criville and Capirossi. Even as he crossed the line he was lining up to power past Cadalora to take second. The crucial battle didn't last a lot ·longer. The Honda was quickly on the Suzuki's back wheel, by lap seven, and it was clearly only a matter of time. "1 thought I'd sit beltind him for a bit and see what would happen, but he seemed to slow down a bit so he obviously wasn't going to play that game," said Doohan later. So he moved firmly past (Right) Max Biaggi (1) leads JeanPhilippe Ruggia (6) early in the 250Cc Grand Prix. (Below) Blagglwon 1he Argentinian GP. topping Tetsuya Harada in a close battle. new lap record - on the 25th lap, before finally accepting defeat. The pair had gradually outdistanced Cadalora, who had switched to a Michelin front tire and had his hands full for most of the race distance with CrivilJe, until the Spaniard faded in the closing stages. Cadalora said later: "The machine felt a little different today from qualifying. Third was the best we could expect today." Criville, meanwhile, said he felt he could have beaten the Italian, but for losing time with a braking error. More than 10 seconds back came another battle: Capirossi, who had clutch trouble, had lost ground while at the same time Abe was charging through from 12th on the first lap after selecting third instead of second gear on the line. The Italian managed to fend him off in spite of a major attack at the last chicane, and to claim fifth by less than half a second. Carles Checa lost touch with this pair in seventh; Alex Barros was some way back in eighth, with his hands full with Shinichi Itoh, who nosed ahead once briefly, and finished just over a 10th of a second adrift. Hodgson was another 12 seconds away. "The problem is I'm just not strong enough to run lap after lap at a good speed," he admitted. "Then 1 found the more 1 tried the slower I went, so 1 just had to settle down." He only narrowly fended offJuan Borja's ROC in 11th. A long way back came Bernard Gar- down the front straight at the start of the lOth lap, under power and brakes for the first turn, and quickly opened the gap to more than a second, and then 1.5 seconds. It fluctuated around that figure, but the World Champion elect was clearly in control, watching the gap and opening it up again every time it closed, as Beattie confirmed. "When he caught me 1 tried to go faster, but it just seemed to make me slower, so I thought it would be better to' take it a bit easier and see what happened. He got past, and then when 1 felt more comfortable and could speed up again, every time I caught up he'd move away again." So it went until the finish, with Beattie giving one last kick - and claiming a (Right) Jean-Michel Bayle earned his firstever pole position for the 250cc GP. but the hardluck rider was forced out of the race by a sticking throttle. cia's ROC in 12th, with British pair James Haydon and Sean Emmett finishing in that order, but only two-tenths apart on their Team Harris machines in 13th and 14th. With teammate Christiano Migliorati 20th after crashing and remounting, it was the first-ever time all three finished. Adrien Bosshard claimed the last point. Reggiani's Aprilia wa among five non-finishers. He crashed out unhurt from 10th after five laps. Scott Gray did not start after a major engine blowup on Friday. Thus the first four places were settled: Doohan on 235 points; Beattie on 204; Cadalora on 176 and CriviUe on 141. Itoh has 107, Puig 99, Barros 94, Capirossi 92 and Abe 81; with Borja 10th on 52. 250Cc GRAND PRIX A jubilant performance by new World Champion Max Biaggi took time to develop; but Bayle's day of glory was soon O'l(er. Among the front group for the first three laps, he ran straight at one of the circuit's several escape roads with his throttle stuck open, earning a rather . superfluous black flag for his trouble. Leader off the line was Olivier Jacque, with Biaggi mixed up in the front pack along with Harada, Ruggia, Bayle and Romboni. Biaggi took the lead the second time round and directly started to pull away rapidly, to take a gap of almost five seconds after 10 laps while the battle raged behind him for second.