Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127778
Round·1: MalaysianGrand Prix (Left) Carles Checa (24) battles with Scott Russell (11) In the second portion of the 500cc GP; Norifu mi Abe (9) gives chase. (Below) Russell ended up fini shing fourth his best-ever 500cc Grand Prix result. "My best bik e had engine tro ubl e," he said .:" H is te am m a te Norifume Ab e was eighth behind Alberto Pu ig after running off the track in the first leg, but he p assed Russell on the. las t lap to lead across th e lin e . Th e Elf-ROC of Juan Borja was 10th behind French privateer Fred Protat. Sean Emm ett, on the Harris-Yam aha, was delighted with 11th . "We' ve been playing catch-up all weekend," he said . "Th e new Yamaha engine goes reall y .we ll." He'd been batt ling with WCMROC's James Haydon until his compatriot slipped off on the last corner of the second-to-last lap , remounting to claim 15th. He'd been passed by ROC Yam ah a' s Lucio Ped ercini, Laurent N aveau and Jerem y McWill iams, who ran both legs on only th ree cylinders. 250cc GRAND PRIX ..... l-; c, < 8 De fending World Champion Max Biaggi didn' t get a check ered flag at the fin i sh of th e M a lay si an G P. Bu t h e didn't need one for everybody to know that he'd won by a country mile. For the th ird year in succession, the b lack Apri lia just ran awa y. Mag ic Max . started from pole and brok e his own lap record as he stretched his lead to almost 20 seconds at midrace. Then he slowed slight ly, haunted ·by imaginary en gine n oises. Even so, he still won by 14.745 seconds, after a confusing fini sh when Malaysian official s negl ected to tell the rid er s th at the race was over, and they ' continued for an extra lap . "I had two choices - u se hard tires and start slowly, or soft tires and try to run away. I took the second, and by the time my rear tire sta rted slid ing after 10 laps I could see I had enough of a gap to win ," th e d efending double-ch ampion said . "After that, I just had fun ." Hi s stra tegy and enjoyment were h el p e d b y Hara da 's problems . Th e Japanese rider had fuel-starv ation prob- lem s from the sta rt; getting away sixth . "O ut of the last comer, I cou ld only get 8000 rpm," he explaine d . It was never righ t, but improved eno ugh so he could move to second on the fifth of 31 laps. After that, th e 1993 cha m p io n wa s unchallenged . . Once th e pursuit group h ad sorte d th emse lve s out, it was a processi onal race, with d 'Antin dropping grad u ally away in third, w ell clear of the Fren ch pair Olivier Jacque and [ ean-Philippe Ruggia. Former winner Nobuat so Aoki and hi s Ari e Mo lenaar H ond a fought th ro u gh to sixth; hi s last victim bei ng works-bike first-timer Jurgen Fu chs, the sol e HB H ond a rider a fter the w it hd rawal of injured star teammate Waldm ann. Fuchs h ad cras hed in practi ce, and said later, "I was so stiff and so re I w as happy when the race w as ove r." Aoki had to find h is way th rou gh a stro ng gro u p pa ck ed w ith privateers, includin g Itali an n e w com er Lu ca Boscoscuro, Du tchma n Jurgen van den Goo rbergh , Ar g enti n ia n Seb a s tia n Porco, Eski l Suter a nd Briton Jam ie Rob in son on th e ex -Niall Mackenzi e Docsho p Ap rilia, all chasing seve nth position . . The group br oke up when Porco fell under Rob inson' s front wheel, takin g the Briton off onto the grass. He rejoined in 16th, and moved back through to an eventual 10th. This reshuffle left van den Goorbergh to e igh th, top pri v at e e r, ahead of Bosc oscuro an d Aprili a rid er Robe rto Locatelli. Suter retired with engine tr ouble; Gianluigi Scalvini pitted in agon y after br ea king his heel in a practice tumble; Spaniard Sete Gibemau and Venezue lan Jose Barresi crashed out. 125cc GRAND PRIX Aprilia rid er Stefa no Peru gin i earn ed a glas s of his sponsor's product on Sun-