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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127964
ed , looking for d ifferent lines and ways
of brakin g ever later and later.
Abe started to drop back on lap 14,
his effort' spent a n d h is ti res sliding
badly. Cra far got to second place on lap
20, after a cou ple of false s ta rts. Once
there, his Du nlop- shod Yamaha slow ly
moved away to be almo st two seconds
clear at the fin ish , with the s lo w in g
Doohan firml y in his sigh ts.
"1 really like this track, and the tires ·
worked well," Crafar said.
Aft e r half-distance, he a ba nd one d
hopes of conserving the rubber .
"I realized I had to wring its neck ,"
he said.
The quest thereafter netted him th e
fastest lap , and a new lap record.
This Jeft Cri ville a nd Barros goi ng
back anaforth, as at a nu mber of recent
races. Th e Brazilian ha s gaine d a new
level of maturity in his rid ing , but eve n
so th e Spa nia rd was just in front over
the line.
.
"I made a bad start," said Crivi lle. "I
tried to catch Mick, but my tires w er e
getting wo rn a nd I couldn't match his
pace. At least I am second in the World
Championship, and I'll try to keep that
po sition at the next race."
In the early laps, Laconi , Tadayu ki
O ka d a a n d Aoki h ad b een w ith the
gro u p, with Okad a d ropping back with
suspension troubles after only three laps.
The other two lost touch after about nin e
lap s and continued scrapp ing as Biaggi
fell back into th eir clu tches on lap 16.
Th at tri o ca rried on sc ra p pi ng all the
way to the line, wi th Aoki taking sixth,
inches ahead of Laconi and Biaggi.
" My a dva ntage was th a t I co u ld
come ou t of the last corner faster," said
Aoki, who had sw itched back to the pre- .
season tes t chassis for the race, an d he
ad mitted tha t he wis hed he'd don e so
much earlier.
.
Okada was way back in ninth, 22 seconds b ehind; another seven secon d s
ba ck came Roberts, who ha d experimen ted with a narrow rear rim.
"The bike turned better," he said . But
the three-cyli nde r engine still wasn't fast
enoug h.
For mu ch o f th e race Robe rt s h ad
been pressed by va n den Goorbergh,
until the Dutchm an's V-twin also sta rted slid ing around an d he dropped aw ay
by eight seco nds. Even so, he was st ill
well clear of the enig matic Kocinski, so
fast in practice but so slow in the race.
"1 do n ' t wa n t to say a ny thi ng ,"
Kocinski said . "1 wa s willing to do well
here, but it d idn't happen."
Matt Wa it was just over a seco nd
beh ind in 13th o n th e FCC V-twin
Honda after closing d own and passing
second Suzu ki rid er Ma rk Willis, in a
one-off ou ting on the injured Fu jiwara's
bike . The Aus tralian Superb ike rid er
made a goo d imp ress ion throu ghou t the
w eeke n d and hung on to Wait ' s back
wh eel to take 14th, earning points in not
only his first GP , but his first- ever race
on a two-stroke - and on Michelin tir es.
A d istant Scott Smart took th e las t
poi nt, w ith the even mor e remo te Juan
Borja the only oth er finisher.
Sete Gib ernau a nd Ralf Waldmann
both crashed o u t, th e fo rmer on the
third lap and Waldmann .four laps later
in a sp ectacular tumble against the barrier from w hich he wa s lucky to emerge
unhurt.
"I w as trying to catch Okada a nd 1
lost the fron t," he exp lained .
Other nonfinishers inclu de d Garry
McCoy (riding his Shell Ad van ce Honda
with a broken leg just for show and for
just four laps) and his temporary wi ldca rd teammate Craig Connell, wh o pit ted wi th mechanical problems.
(Right) This one was all about
Mick Doohan. The Australian
easily won the race , though his
celebrations in the late stages of
the race made the f inal outcome
closer than it sho uld have been.
With the win , Doohan earned his
fi ft h str aight 500cc Wor ld
Champ ions hip.
(Below) Alex Criv llle (4), Alex
Barros (8), Max Biaggi (6) and
Simon Crafar (11) batt le for
second early on.
Protests notwithstandi ng, the poin ts
wi th one race left give Doohan an un assaila ble lead of 235 p oints to Criville's
198 and Biaggi' s 197. Checa, who di d
not start after his practice crash, has 131
po ints; Bar ros has 122 and Cra far sits on
116, displa cing Abe and his 115.
250cc GRAND PRIX
Force o f habit took Shinya Nakano
and his Yamaha to take up pole position
at the start ; only to be mov ed down the
grid. Perha ps it wa s also force of habit
that saw him lead the ope ning two laps,
w ith Stefano Perugini 's and Ha ruchika
Aoki's Hondas am ong the three Aprilias
in pursuit.
No rmal order was gra d ually establis he d ove r th e n e xt fe w la p s, w it h
Naka no back in fifth by lap five. Ahead
o f him, an extraord inarily determined
Jacqu e had joined the Aprilias whil e his
fello w NSR riders d roppe d back . Th e
Fre n ch H onda rider s tayed w ith the
Ap rilias, expending superhuman effort
on th e corners to make u p for a h uge
speed difference down the straight.
" It was like surfi ng," he said later. "I
was slid ing so much in the corners to
keep in tou ch. It was an incredible race good for my heart."
He never d id lead , however. It was
Capirossi who di splaced Na kano, bu t
Rossi came through from a slow start to
take over on lap four.
The batt le raged in rath er more serio us
fashion than at some earlier races, wit h
. Harada and Capirossi sw appin g back
and forth, and Jacque in am ong them all
the time. Rossi even looked as though he
might break away at about haIf-