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/127786
won a race from th e po le positi on, as well as setting the fastest lap in the race. "Of course here in front of my patria, it's great to win he re," the 24-year -ol d Roman said af te r beating 31-year-o ld Aprilia tes t rider Marcellino Lucchi. "W hen 1 was in the fron t of the pit on the last lap it was like Jap a n, maybe more here because it some special victo. ry for me . Also I was ha ppy to see behind me (Marcellino) Lucchi. Second ยท place is, I think, the best for him an d for my championship." Lucchi mo ved into second on the second lap and stayed there the entire race, though it wasn' t until the fifth lap that he broke free and established the spot. Then, on the sixth lap, HB Honda German y's Ral f Wa ldmann m ov ed in to third, Chesterfield Elf Tech 3's Oliv ier Jacque right with him and keeping him in sigh t to the end. Waldmann finished abou t 11 seconds b eh ind Lucchi w it h Jacque 0.311 behind in fourth. "I kn ow he (jacque) was every time behind me and I ha d brillian t setup for th e race an d could d o good lap tim es an d co ul d push harder on last lap," Waldman n said. "Also m y bike fas ter on the straigh t. I win th e H ond a cup and I am happy," the first Ho nda finish eradded . The ba ttle for fifth went to th e line, with Wald mann's t ea mm ate Jurgen Fu ch s na rrowly in fro n t of th e la techarging Tetsuya Har ad a, on the Marlboro Rainey Yamaha, and Ch esterfield Elf Tech 3's [ean -Philippe Ruggia, who lost the spot to the Japanese rider on the fina l lap and later com p lained tha t h is bike was "s low on the straight" and that he was ham pered by a recently broken foot. In winning his 19th career 250cc race, Biaggi establis hed a new race recor d of 40 m inut es, 36.299 seconds at an ave rage speed of 101.137 m ph, for th e 21-lap, 68.44-mile eve nt. He n ow h o ld s a co m ma n di ng 45 p oint lea d, 120-75, over Harada, aft er five of 14 races . Waldmann an d Jacqu e are tied for thi rd at 56. Ear ly on, the 125cc race was a thro w- ba ck to earlier years, th e to p 16 rider s covered b y 3.566 seconds. Th en Ma rlboro Aprilia Eckl's Peter Oettl got serious. The 31-year-old German set a new lap record on the I l th lap and opene d up a 0.73D-second lead. He dropped the lap reco rd each of the next two laps an d by the end of the 14th had 2.874 secon ds in hand. At the en d he was 1.520 in front, but that was becau se the battle for second had closed right down on him. Decided at the line, in a frantic four-way draft and weave, t h e nod wen t to Rheas Mo le naar Raci n g ' s World Champion Haruchika Aoki in a photo finish over Tea m Krona-Apri lia's Kazu to Saka ta, Scuderia AGV's Valen tino Rossi, and Docshop Racing's Akira Saito. The 17yea r-old Rossi had held th e spot much of the race, swapping it with Aoki from th e 15th lap on an d get ti ng d ropped back to fourth in the serum at the end . Ao ki was 0.037 in fro n t of Sa ka ta, wit h Rossi another 0.078 back, and Saito coming in 0.037 later. Sixth to 13th we re covered by less than two seconds . In w in ni ng hi s first 125cc GP since San Mari no in 1991, Oettl completed the 20-l ap, 65.18- mile race in a new race record 40 minutes, 56.454 seconds at an ave rage speed of 95.530 m ph. By finish in g second for the fourth time out of five races, Aoki extended his cha mpionship points lead to 30 points, 105-75, over Masaki Tokudorne, 14t h tod ay. Oettl m oved in to th ird wi th 62 points. Yamaha Belgard a' s Massimo Meregalli led every lap of the Th u nderbike Trophy even t to easily out ru n second place. That position was deci ded on the final lap when Honda Fran ce's William Cos tes went by Team Yves Briguet's Yves Brigu et. Fourth, fro m lap two to the end, w as Yamaha Mot or France's Eric Mahe with DC Racing Team' s Stephane Me rtens fifth. After tw o of nine races, Costes leads Briguet, 45-32, wit h Meregalli, who was a wild- card entry for the Italian round, thi rd at 25. (Opposite page) Michael Doohan (1) leads Alex Crlv ille (4) In the ir race-long bailie In the Italian SOOcc Grand Prix. (Above) Luca Cadalo ra (3) ended up th ird , hol din g off th e late-race charge of Dary l Beallie (2). (Right) Kenny Roberts Jr. lea ds Shlnich i Itoh in the SOOcc GP. Roberts Jr. faded with t ire troub les to an even tual 1Oth. 7