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ROAD RACE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROAD RACE SERIES Round 10: Czech Republic Grand Prix _.- • By Michael Scott Photos by Gold & Goose BRNO, CZECH REPUBUC, AUG. 23 h e r e are m a n y le ss on s to b e learned fro m racin g. Th e most im po rt a n t is: Nev er tak e a nything for gra nted . The tea ch er o n thi s occasion wa s d efend ing Wor ld C ha m p ion M ic k Dooh an, and his tutorial came befor e he'd completed even one lap . Starting . fro m a h ard -w on pol e p osition a fter chas ing a good setu p for two days' and cha rg ing to pin d own fast starter Ma x Biaggi, the Au stralian was caug ht ou t by one of the complex Brno circu it's tricky d ow n hill Corners a n d h is Re p sol Hon da's treacherous fro nt end . Do wn h e we n t, a n d though h e rem ounted bravely in last place to tr y and salvage some poin ts, it was to no avail. Th e race, in his absence, w as clo se a nd te n se, w ith three ri d ers chasin g Biaggi's Marlboro Ho nda to the finish. In the end , the Ita lian claime d his seco nd win of the season - celebrating across the li n e wit h an e xt ravaga n t fi fth -gea r wheelie that almost took him right ove r backward in fro nt of the pits at 120 mph. With Repsol Hond a ' s Alex Criville s neak ing p a s t A lex Barros's G res ini Hon da o n th e fi nal lap , a n d hi s returned-from -injury teamma te Tad ayuki Okada a close fourth , it wa s a fine race for the 70,000 fans. T A r2J a ~ 6 It w as also a brillia nt result for the World Ch ampionship, throwi ng the battle wide open aga in as Biaggi once again took the points lead and Criv ille moved to secon d , w it h n onscorer Doohan a close third. With five races left, jus t 13 poin ts cover the trio. "My team showed me Dooh an was out, but I did n't thin k about that ," said Biaggi, w ho is (wi th Criville) one of the only tw o riders to score point s at every round this year. "I jus t go t on with my ow n race." He led from sta rt to fini sh but was never more than a few feet ahead of his ' rivals. A littl e way be h ind , Rainey Yam aha's orifum i Abe just managed to hold off a flyi ng Sete Gib ern au , who ha d qualified hi s V-twin Repsol Hon d a a lowly 16th, bu t he was transformed in the race as he passed one V-fou r after another. Then came a heroic Carlos Checa and his MoviStar Honda, back afte r his seri ous injuries in Brit ain and still visibly weak . He was two seconds a hea d of (Top) The Czech Republic 500cc Grand Prix gets un der way wi th Norick Abe (5), Alex Cr iville (4), Jean-Mic hel Bayle (12), Alex Bar ros (9), Max Biaggi (6) and Mic k Doohan (1) leading the charge. (Right) Biaggi won for the second t ime th is year, taking over the lead in the 500cc World Cham pionship in the process.