I
er was a mercy, since the tra ck was .once
. gai n so slipper y that ra in migh t easil y
ave ma de it unraceable. Luckily, that
as o ne potent ia l problein th at
ema ined in abeyance.
(Above) Doohan leads Alex Barros (9), Sete Gibernau (15) and the rest in the opening laps of the 500cc Grand Prix .
(Below) Max Blaggi (6), Reg is Laconi (55) and Jean-Mic hel Bayle (hid den) were part of a four-way race for f ift h place In the Grand Prix .
500cc GRAND PRIX
O vertaking being, if not impossible,
then ex tre me ly difficult, th e start was
.ru clal. Dooh an is not known for hi s
igh t n ing g etaw ay s - ex ce p t w h en
they' re vital , a nd for a second rac e in
urcc essi on he mana ged to ge t awa y
u ick en oug h to sweep in to th e lea d
around the first corn er.
Doo ha n was never headed as he kep t
the pr essu re on all the way to the end .
"The only problem was so me cha tter
rom ' the rear tire , but apart fro m tha t it
as perfect," Doo han"sa id . "I had th e
oal of wi nn ing the last race to u pset the
ertd -of-season s peci a lis ts . I' ve neve r
one that before."
Barro s s tayed with him for the first
six or seven lap s, but he couldn' t stand
he p ressure and start ed to drop back at
110re than a second per lap .
Behind them th ere had been so me
o r ting ou t among the o the r Repsol
ondas . Sete Gibernau's twin had sta rtsd well and he'd held thi rd for five lap s,
ut under cons iderable pressure on both
he back and fron t straights. Then Criville and Okada bot h pa ssed him, and so
id Regis Laconi on the Red Bull Yamata - with he and Gibernau th en droping back as the V-four Hondas moved
ff together. Okada then displaced Criville on lap nine as they gradually closed
pon Barros.
They ca ught him by half-dis ta n ce,
nd O kada - on a major charge - promptly passed him and started to pull away,
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