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/127946
Tetsuya Harada won·another allAprilia 250cc GP from teammates Valentino Rossi and Loris Capirossi - an extraordinary race in which the Japanese rider deliberately slowed right down midrace to let the other two ahead, then upped the pace again to win by sixtenths of a second. It was his second win of the season, and regained him the title lead from Capirossi. Chesterfield rider Olivier Jacque was a distant fourth and top Honda, after an extremely courageous ride. He was on crutches after surgery to his ankle, but still managed to defeat fellow Honda riders Stefano Perugini and Haruchika Aoki. Victory in a.close 125cc race went to Kazuto Sakata, who beat 16-year-old Marco Melandri and Masao Azurna. 500cc GRAND PRIX .After rain during morning warmup, conditions were dry and sunny as DoohaI1 blasted off into the lead, ahead of Criville and Checa. Alex Barros was in fourth, but the front-runners did not make any esca'pe. Quite the contrary. By the third lap, another five were locked on behind: Biaggi, Cadalora, Kocinski, Abe and Aoki, in close formation line astern. Overtaking is notoriously difficult at . this one-line circuit with only two lefthanders, where a trip onto the dirty part of the circuit generally precipitates a crash. But u.p front, Criville was pushing hard as his hard tires gained temperature, showing Doohan his front wheel a cou.ple of times before taking the lead on lap four. Like most of.the passing moves, it came at the famous Courbe de Signes, an almost flat-out' right-hander at the end of the long Mistral Straight. lt was a surprise to see Doohan bested in this way, but he had problems that nobody could notice. "1 think it was carburetion," he said. "My bike was bogging down out of the slow turns." All the same, he did get back in front at the same place four laps later, only for Criville to return the compliment the next time through the spectacular corner. But Checa was right there, fending off Biaggi, and just before half-distance he started to move forward. He passed Doohan on lap 13, then pulled the Signes move on Criville to take the lead on lap 16. And there the blue bike stayed, the three leaders holding station, until there were just'three laps to go. Meanwhile, Kocinski was coming up, too, having picked his ay in to fifth past the fading but still troublesome Barros on lap 11. He quickly closed the small gap, then found his hands full with Biaggi. Both are former cl1ampions and hard riders. Thus it was that when Kocinski first slipped past into the last corner, Biaggi fought back, the two bikes veering togetl1er; then the Italian jabbed the American with his elbow as he came back past on the pit straight. Kocinski stayed behind another three laps, then pulled fue same move in the SaIne place. Now his timing Was better, and he had the chance to pull deliberately across on Biaggi, returning the compliment. Afterward, he said, "It was nothing - just racing," but off the record he admitted, "He did it to me deliberately, but 1 know about that stuff, so I did it back." It was enough to decide the battle, and now came fue prospect of Kocinski actually fighting for the lead for the first time since his return. The pace at this stage was not especially fast (the lap record remained unbroken, by a tenth), and for the next six laps he was right on .J.L.._.....::S~iZ::. ...'-_-----~r-- ..._.. ."1 (Above) Criville managed to hold off the advances of both Doohan and Checa to win his second 500cc GP of the season. In the process, Criville took over at the top of the 500cc World Championship. (Left) The top three celebrate _ ....- - - . ; Qoohan, Criville, Checa. (Below) Valentino Rossi (46) leads Loris Capirossi (65) and Tetsuya Harada (31) in the It 250cc Grand Prix. Harada won with Rossi second and Capirossi third. F AN Doohan's tail. Then, with five laps to go, Kocinski's challenge was over. He was reluctant to comment after the race, preferring to leave it to his engineer, Antonio Cobas, who said, "He was attacking well; then the suspension started to chatter, and his tires were ruined." He dropped back gradually, although still safe in fourth. Biaggi had already lost touch, with chatter problems of his own (a consequence, said team boss Erv Kanemoto, of his extreme lean angles), as well as pain and suffering from his practice crash. "My finger was sore, but my hip was, worse, and I could hardly move on the bike," Biaggi said la ter. The stage was set for the final drama as, on lap 29, Checa left his braking just a little too late into fue slow first corner. He ran wide, and Criville di ved past. But there wasn't room for Doohan to do the same, and Checa was able to pull away from the Australian again as they ran into the Mistral a few yards later. Then he went past Criville to lead again.