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/127950
ROAD RACE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROAD RACE SERIES .".,.-:. ". " ..,". By Michael S c ott Photos by Gold & Goose ASSEN, HOLLAND, JUNE 27 ick Doo han rein stated his authority on the World Championship at Assen. Rising clear of some determined oppositi on and di spla ying total control of the race, he won for a fifth time at a track he di slikes, com ing close also to taking the championship lead for the first time this year in spite of two nonfinishcs in the seven races. a tu ra lly e no ug h , this win s e t record s. It wa s hi s 49th win, and h is 88 th rost r u m appearan ce , equaling Gia como Agostini's tally o f top-three finis hes . More to the point, the top four in the ch ampionship closed up even more, with just 12 points covering Ma x Biaggi, Doohan, Alex Criville and Ca rlos Checa . Doohan 's win - in mercifu ll y d ry conditions in front of a crowd of 95,000 faithf ul Asse n fans - came at the perfect time to re mi nd his upst art rivals th at wh ile they ma y be ab le to race close to the Repsol rid er, beati ng him is ano ther matt er. There we re two main cand ida tes for the ho nor. The first was Biaggi, whose Marlb oro Honda finish ed jus t a half-second behind af ter 20 laps and 75 miles of th e class ic Dut ch TT ci rc ui t. Bia g gi regained the title lead in the process. Th e other contender was a su rp rise: M 4 (Top) Mick Doohan (1) leads Norick Abe (5), Alex Barros (9), Simon Crafar (11) , Max Biaggi (6) and Carlos Checa (8) on the open ing lap of the Dutch 500cc Grand Prix in Assen . (Above) Doohan leads a s liding Crafar and Biaggl in their run to the flag. Doohan won, with Blaggl second and Crafar a career third. Simon Crafar, who was the on ly person! to get ahead of Doohan, albeit on ly for a lap. This mad e the Kiwi Yam aha rid er mo re of a dark horse than a Red Bull, in his first 500cc sea so n. Crafar had cha llenged for pol e in practice, and he wa s just the same in the race, usin g Dunlop tires that not only stuc k well in the early laps, in the familiar way, but also lasted th e d istance to claim their first V-four 500cc podium since 1994. Gresini Honda 's Alex Barros was fourth, after harrying the lead ing group. for part of the race; MoviStar Honda's! Carlos Checa was just unable to close up after a mediocre start . Then came Alex Criville, the Repsol Honda rider off his form at one of his favorite tracks. Lu ca Cadal or a ' s Su zuki d ebut was' blocked by Cri ville and ended in disaster when th e Italian cra shed trying to. ge t past. Cad al ora , on th e Su zuki for two races after swi tching from his substitu te role with Yamaha, had qua lified on the second row af ter a s haky start. After the r ace, ho wever, he q ui t th e team and w ill not race the bike at th e nex t round. This left seventh to his Suzuki team'::; mat e Nobuatsu Ao ki, riding heroically in considerable pain after a heavy p ractic e cr as h but mana ging to over ta ke co u ntry man Tad ayuki Ok ad a a nd th e Repsol Honda, who was in a similar conditi on . Making his come back after breaking his wris t in Italy, Okada had crashed again in practice and su ffered ankle fractures which left him furth er debilitated.