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Road Race Round 6: Catalunyan Grand Prix WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROAD RACE SERIES Pole starter Jurgen van den Goorbergh on the MuZ Weber was eighth after a steady race, with fourth place down to John Kocinski in ninth place covered by less than four seconds. But there were only 14 finishers; crashers included Movistar Honda's Alex Barros and Modenas' Jean-Michel Bayle. Aprilia's Valen lino Rossi cla imed his third 250cc-class win of the year after a desperate battle with a persistent Tohru Ukawa on the Shell Advance Honda. Ukawa, however, retained the title points lead. Italian semiprivateer Franco Battaini prevailed in a fierce battle with Shinya akano's factory Chesterfield Yamaha for third, with the pair changing places twice in the last comers. Arnaud Vincent won a 125cc Grand Prix of typical tactics and persistence, the Aprilia rider taking his first-ever win and the first French victory in the class' in .18 vears. Local hero Emilio Alzamora was second after leading into the final corners, with Marco Melandri a close third. Masao Azuma broke down 8IId lost the points lead to Alzamora asa result. 500cc GRAND PRIX By Michael Scott Photos by Gold & Goose o : ยง ..., 18 CATALUNYA, SPAIN, JUNE 20 f motorcycle Grand Prix racing has any function as a promotional tool for the spon.sors, sales of Repsol gasoline will be rocketing in Spain this week. Even in the continued absence of King Mick, the official factory Honda team was completely dominant, their three remaining riders finishing first, second and third in a crash-strewn Catalunyan GP, the second of three rounds in Spain. Racing in front of a huge crowd of 83,000 fans, in perfectly sunny conditions, it was also a fourth successive win for the 500cc-class leader by default, Alex Criville. This feat put him in select company. He is the first rider other than Doohan to win four in a row since Eddie Lawson in 1986, and only nine riders have ever won four or more in a row: Agostini, Hailwood, Surtees, Duke, Hocking, Spencer, Lawson, Doohan and now Criville. After the race, for a second successive meeting, the crowd invaded the track on the slow-down lap, bringing a swift response from the FIM, who threatened to withhold homologation unless the trackside enclosures can be properly secured. Criville's win came after a race with two other leaders - first Marlboro Yamaha's Max Biaggi, who crashed out before half-distance while lying third, and Tadayuki Okada, who led the Repsol train until the last comers of the last lap. Later, Criville revealed why he had left his cru- cial overtaking move so late - catching up almost a second on the last lap. "My on-board lap counter was giving trouble, so I wasn't sure what lap I was on," Criville said. "But I decided to believe what my team was signaling, and I started to push hard in the last two laps." Okada was second, with Sete Gibernau third in only his second race on Doohan's vacant V-four, and Tetsuya Harada's Aprilia V-twin fourth. Early (Top) Max Blaggl (2) leads the Catalunyan Grand Prix over Alex Criville (3), Sete Gibernau (hidden) and Tadayuki Okada (8) as Alex Barros crashes out of the race in the background. (Right) Criville (3) attempts to hold off his rejuvenated teammate Sete Gibernau (15), Biaggi (2) and Okada. title leader Kenny Roberts Jr. could manage no better than sixth, beaten back again on the last lap by Juan Borja's Honda. Meanwhile, only one of the four Yamahas finished - that of Carlos Checa, who rode to a safe and steady seventh. All the others had crashed out for the same reason, after the front wheel had slid away, with Norick Abe and Regis Laconi following Biaggi's example. Biaggi burst off the line, tailed by Abe and Barros, with Criville lying fourth, moving through to second by lap three as Abe dropped back. Meanwhile, Gibernau and Okada moved up to join the leading gang. Barros was the first to go, falling at the downhill hairpin - the slowest corner on the track - after eight laps. He was not too disappointed. "I had a problem with my glove and the twist-grip - that's why I fell," he said later. "But I am fast again, and my confidence is back." . The Brazilian had switched to a 1998 machine for this meeting after struggling with the new bike. Soon afterward, Criville put a decisive pass on Biaggi - the classic Catalunyan move under braking at the end of the long pit straight. He moved past cleanly - only for a clearly inspired Gibernau to follow him through one