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ROAD RACE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROAD RACE SERIES By Michael Scott Photos by Gold & Goose JOHOR BAHRU, MALAYSIA, APR. 19 he name at the top of the results of today's Malaysian Grand Prix was that of four-time World Champion Mick Ooohan. That should mean it was business as usual. That was anything but the case at the first GP ever held at the southern circuit of johor Bahru. It was a conventional finish to an extraordinary race, with only 13 finishers and plenty of excitement along the way. All t.he preseason promise of close 500cc racing was fulfilled as the leaders moved together rather than apart in the middle stages of the race, by which tune there had already been plenty of action for the 35,000 fans who had braved blazing sunshine and 98-degree heat. The first lap alone accounted for three works bikes, and even the dominant Repsol Honda rider was not immune. He only narrowly escaped involvement in a controversial secondlap crash, which the victim accused him of having caused. Yamaha replacement rider Kyoji Nanba had the early lead, and was second as they pulled onto the straight. He said he was tucked behind the bubble in fifth gear when he was hit from behind, and Yamaha spokesmen 'said his on- T 00 ~ ,...... board data-logging equipment backed up his account. But Ooohan said he had only hit the back of Nanba's bike after he had completely lost control. He almost fell himself, and afterward looked over the front of his fairing "to check if 1still had two brake discs." MoviStar Honda's Carlos Checa was second, and Max Biaggi was third after leading for most of th~ race. He later blamed a bad gearing choice for not being able to hold on to the lead, but he had the consolation of retaining the title lead. Second Repsol Honda rider Alex Criville was fourth, after an appalling performance in practice; and World Superbike Champion John Kocinski was a close but disappointed fifth, after running fastest in pre-race warmup. "I had a misfire all through the race, and it was real hard to ride," Kocinski said. "1 wouldn't say 1 could have won, bo t I'd have been on the rostrum for sure." . Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki's latest replacement for the injured Katsuaki Fujiwara, was sixth after making a big impression all weekend. But his teammate obuatsu Aoki was one of many crash victims. Others to taste the Johor Bahru dust included Repsol Honda's Tadayuki Okada, Red Bull Yamaha's Simon Crafar and Gresini Honda's Alex Barros - on the first lap alone. Rainey Yamaha's Norifumi Abe went out after seizing while running with the leaders, and works V-twin Repsol Honda rider Sete Gibernau was another to suffer an engine seizure. A thrilling 250cc Grand Prix came to an even more thrilling climax when Nastro Azzurro Aprilia's Valentino Rossi crashed spectacularly on the very last corner rather than relinquish the lead to Aprilia rider Tetsuya Harada. This handed second place to Tohru Vkawa, whose blue Benetton Honda had led for much of the race, and third to Chesterfield Honda rider Olivier Jac.que. The Frenchman had long since lost touch with the leaders. Harada's first win of the year gave him the ti tle lead. Givi Honda's Noboru Veda showed his class by winning the first race of the day, holding his place as a five-man group of 125cc chargers was whittled down to three. He then pulled out everything on the last lap to lead earlier leader Mirko Giansanti and his OXS Honda and VGT Honda's Tomomi Manako past the flag for.an aU-Honda rostrum. Masao Azuma had been set for third, but a spectacular crash on the last corner within sight of the flag left the Mac Motors 'Honda rider lucky to remount and take ninth. Kyojl Nanba (21) grabbed the early lead In the 500cc Malaysian Grand Prix, leading Max Blaggl (6), Mlck Doohan (1), Carlos Chaca (8), Nobuatsu Aoki (3) and the rest. SOOcc GRAND PRIX For a second race, a Yamaha took the lead. This time it was Nanba's bike in Team Rainey colors, and he stayed there for just one lap before Biaggi nipped past after the Japanese rider made a mistake' exiting the last corner that cost him speed all down the front straight. Nanba only lasted yards after the first corner. On the way out he had the controversial crash tha t he remains convinced was caused by Ooohan. (To be honest, on television it looked as though he'd done it all by himself.) Thus it was Ooohan in second by the end of lap two, with Abe on his heels, and this trio opened up a bit of a gap. Abe crashed out of his strong position on lap seven after his motor seized. All the while, Ooohan was crawling all over Biaggi's back wheel. A little way behind, Kocinski led another trio, with Checa and fast-starting Criville packed up close. But though the American closed a little on the leaders, he was already in trouble, and Checa moved past just before Ol;te-thirddistance to take up the chase and close