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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127992
on lap five or so, Roberts was more than two seconds dear of Abe, and Ooohan was a similar distance behind the japanese Yamaha rider. Roberts kept on stretching away until he was better than eight seconds dear by half-distance. But Ooohan didn't seem to be able to do anything about Abe, who was riding as well as he seems able to in japan, in spite of his avowed dislike of racing in the rain. At this point Ooohan did pass him, only to be repassed under acceleration. It took him another lap to get by once and for all, with a forceful move through the fast chicane. "As the race wore on, I started to get a better feel from the bike," said Ooohan, who now embarked on one of those vengeful and remorseless pursuits that are generally the undoing of his would-be rivals. As Roberts made a mistake on lap 1:'j, his time dropping into the 2:05 bracJset, Ooohan was slashing his own times running 2:03s and then, on lap 19, a blistering 2:02. The gap shrank in jumps of up to a second. With six laps left and a gap of only 2.9 seconds between them, the outcome seemed inevitable: Ooohan would catch his young challenger and then redouble the pressure, and Roberts would either succumb or fall off - easily done in the conditions. It was not to be. Roberts was getting good signals, and he was able to respond, cutting his own time little by little, lap by lap, to slow the rate of Ooohan's catching up and then finally, amazingly, to reverse the trend as he first 250cc win of the season and Yamaha's first since lndonesia in 1996, leading the crash-strewn race almost from start to finish as the rain eased off and then redoubled. Tohru Ukawa, riding' the Shell Advance Honda, was second, overtaking defending champion ElfAxo Honda's Loris Capirossi in the closing stages to pull away, with pole-starting privateer Franco Battaini a career-best fourth on his FGF Aprilia. Valentino Rossi, slow in qualifying in the unfamiliar wet conditions, rode a steady race to finish seventh, behind wild-card riders Oaijiro Katoh (last year's winner) and Tatsuya Yamaguchi, both riding Castrol Hondas. Anthony West had another impressive ride on the Shell Advance Honda, finishing 10th with a yawning gap of more than 15 seconds to the next man. Playlife Honda's Masao Azuma claimed a second successive win in a 125cc race of attrition, joining the leaders after five laps and !.hen keeping hi head as they slithered off all about him. Wild card Hideyuki Nakajo, riding the jha Honda, was a distant second, with Via Oigitale Honda's Emilio Alzamora another 10 seconds behind in third. SOOcc GRAND PRIX Laconi had a moment of glory, riding round the outside of Roberts at the first turn - but it only lasted 50 'yards or so, and his' next move was a very lucky escape, running off the track on the back straight on lap two while in second, flying off as he hit the mud, and escaping by inches - being thrown onto the Armco barrier. By now Roberts was already making the most of the dear track and working on building up a cushion. At the same time, Abe squeaked past Ooohan to run away in second while the Australian was busy fending off Checa's apparently faster Yamaha. By the time he got free (Above) Kenny Roberts Jr. started strong and withstood race-long pressure from the master himself, Mick Doohan, to win his second straight 500Cc Grand Prix. (Right) Norifumi Abe-had a great outing, finishing third on his Yamaha despite wearing out his rain tire early in the race.