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ROAD RACE WR C O LD HAMPIONSHIP ROADRACE SERIES Round 12: Grand Prix of Catalunya By Michael Sco tt Photos by Gold & Goose 6 MONTMELO, SPAIN, SEPT. 20 ebacle, shambles and traves ty? Or good, ho nest uphold ing of the ru les? Opinions at Catalunya were sharply divided af ter an extra ordinary Grand Prix, where a record crowd of the 85,000 fans who poured into the Montmelo ci rcuit outside Barcelon a were left wondering just what kind of a farce the y had paid good money to see. The fans saw their hero, Alex Criville, knocked out in a first-eomer crash, severely denting his best-ever chance of a World Champ ionship win. They ~w Max Biagg i cross the line ahea d of the rest of the field - but lose the race . They saw erstwhile lead er Alex Barros throwaway his chances by pulling into the pits . The y saw race officials' instruc tions to a rid er contemptuously ignored. Th ey saw an a mbu la nce containing an injured rider pelted with rocks . And they also saw Mick Doohan win the race , regain the title lead , and tak e an im po rtant step toward a fifth consecutive World Championship. Of course, these results ar e all subject to appeal, w hich will be hea rd in th e com ing weeks. Confused ? Not as much as those pr esent at Ca talu nya, where the argument s ra ged late into th e ni ght , whil e th e appeals will last a good deal longer. Th e probl em s w ere trig g ered b y Su zuki rid er Kat suaki Fujiwa ra, w ho braked too late for the first comer and fell und er th e w heels of Jean-M ich el Bayle 's Rainey Yamah a. He in tum fell into Cri ville, and all thr ee tumbled into the gravel. The race went on , bu t the next time around Biaggi briefly go t ahea d of Barros in tum one, only to be rep assed on the way ou t. At the time, Bayle was still ly ing prone in th e g rave l, receiving treatment , and yellow flags were shown at the corner. lt took offici als u ntil after ha lf-distan ce to decide that both s ho u ld be called in for a stop-and -go p enalty , wh ich is wh en thin g s sta r te d to go crazy. Dooh an' s vict or y proba b ly wou ld h a ve happen ed a ny way , b u t it w a s never put to the test. He was abo u t to catch up to Barros and Biaggi when the la tter was signaled to visit the pits for his penalty. H e e lec te d to ignore th e flags , and thr ee laps lat er he was autorna tically disqualified . He carried on racing a ny w ay . Th en it was Barros' s turn, and he d id stop in the pits. Once Doohan realized that Biaggi was effectively not in the race, he was ab le to follow the Italian home for victory. "We needed a bit of luck, and it came tod av," he said . Th e win not only gave him the title lead , but by a hand som e ad va n tage of 21 points. Second we n t to his teamm ate (Top) Alex Barros (8) leads Norick Abe (5), M Blaggl (6), Mick Doohan (1) and the ax rest of the 500cc pack. All hell is,about to break loos e behind them, however, as Katsuaki Fujiwara cras hes Into Jean Michel Bayle. (Above) Alex Criville (4) ended up crashing in the first corner, along with Bayle and Fujiwara. Tadayuki Ok ad a , tw o second s adrift, with Rain ey Yamaha's Norifumi Ab e co u n ti n g himsel f lucky to take th ir d a fte r dropping ba ck from the lead in g group.