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a n d Lo ca tel l i, w it h a ll thre e cl o s e eno ug h to link ha nd s, crossing the line wit hin less than half a second. Anothe r eig ht seconds away ca me anoth er g a ng, fighting a mo ng th emselves so as to slow the ir pace and keep the m fro m ca tch ing th e lead ers. Thi s saw wild ly changing fortu nes and so me extremely forceful rid in g by Sp ania rd Emili o Alzamora , by d in t of which he led them across the line, wi th the Apri lia of Gia nlu ig i Scalvin i a nd th e Der bi of You chi Vi leading the pack still right on his heel s. Six th pl ace fell sh ort of th e br and -n ew Derb is ea r li e r fo u rth in Jap an , but won in a hard race a t a d ry Asse n, it was worth at leas t as mu ch. The re was a nge r fro m Ma rc o M el a n d r i, wh o finished b eh ind Bar celon a GP winn er Arnaud Vin cent in eighth. Melandri was raci ng in spite of breaking five bo nes in his left foot in a heav y practice crash the day befor e, and hit ou t at Alza mo ra' s rou gh -riding tactics - which he said had been respon sible for takin g him ou t of the lead of the grou p and away fro m a ch an ce a t th e rostrum. Azu rna 's fou rth win o f th e year let him regain the lead on point s, 122-111, over Alzarnor a, with Locat ell i third on CN 87 poi nts. ~ . (To p left) The sta rt of the 250cc Gran d Pri x - Ied by Tohru Uk awa (4). (Left) Loris Capirossi (1) ended up win ning a great ba ttle over Val entino Rossi (46). (Above) Masao Az uma was a happy 125cc Grand Prix winner. Circuit van Drenthe Assen, Holland Results: J un e 26, 1999 (Round 7 of 15) 125 cc QU ALI FYING : 1. Lucio C e cc h ine llo (2 :12. 853 ); 2. M as e c Azurna (2: 12. 85 2); 3. Ma r co Meland ri (2:13.392); 4. Cia nlu igi Scalvini (2:13.440); 5. Noboru Ueda (2:13.708); 6. Arnaud Vincen t (2:13.742); 7. Robe rto Locate 1Ii (2:13.795); 8. Gino Borsoi (2:14.%7> 9. ; Ka zuto Sakata (2 :14. 028 ); 10 . Ra ndy De Pu nie t (2:14.141); 11. Em ilio Alza mora (2:114.167); 12. Simo ne Sa n na (2:14.556); 13. Yoichi Vi (2:14.556); 14. Fred eric r e t it (2:14 .556 ); 15 . Mirka Gia ns a n ti (2:14.795); 16. Jeronimo Vid a l (2:14.95 1); 17. Alessand ro Brannctt t (2 :15 .035 ); 18 . Pablo Ni eto (2:15 .057 ); 19. Iva n Cui (2:15.184); 20. Bern hard Abs meier (2:15.273); 21. Ang el Nieto Jr. (2:16.4640); 22. Manuel Poggia li (2:16.595); 23. Rein hard Stolz (2:17.379); 24. Han s Koopman (2:21.049); . - Wil Hartog and his 1977 n -winning RG500 Suzuki we re surprise visito rs to the Suzuki p it on the secon d morning of practice. withKen ny Roberts spending some time blipping the throttle of the fo rerunner to his current twin -crank V-four factory bike.' " tt felt pretty sharp." he said. Mark W illis stuck with ih ree cylinders but changed brands for a first Assen outing - the Australian stepping on to the Modenas triple vacated by Jean -Mic hel Bayle. off sick again afte r wrenc hing his shoulder in his last-lap get-off at Catalunya., W illis is entered on the New Zea land BSL triple. but the machine' s continued absence with reliability problems has left Wi llis kicking his heels for most of the season . BSL chief B ill Buck l ey was at Assert, even though his new machines ';"ere not . and team boss Dave Stewart gave firm assurances that the cur- · rent teething trou bies had only strengthened their determination to develop a cornpetitfve GP bike. Problems with broken crankshafts sidelined the bike in the early races . and these tumed out more complex than was first thought . Now they are aw ait ing a co mple te ly redesig ned crankshaft; meanwhile. tests after the French GP had been promising. but had also been cut short when the primary d rive gears suddenly stripped completely. "W e·re taking a bit of break. until we get new part s that mean we can have rnachines that are 100-percent ready to go ." said Stewart . who had given his blessing for Willis to ride fo r other.teams in the meantime. "We will not go to Donington. and there's a chance we may be 'at the Sachsenring. Realistically, it may be Brno before we haveour problems solved.This is a phase of development . and we remain fully committed to the wh~le project ,- . a The Su zuk i"s perfo rm ance over the past fo ur reces fro m hero to st rugg ler - is a clear demo ns tr atio n of the knife-edg e of race development , and the' ret urn .to fro nt-row and rost rum for m wa swelcom ed as a new dawn by rider Kenny Rob e rts Jr•. - W e kind of lost our way wi th sus pe nsio n se tt ings over the last cou ple of rac es. and o nce yo u go in a wron g dir ec tion. it can be quite hard to get back . " he. said. It wa s all. 'explained t eam tec hnicai -c hie f Warren Wi ll ing. to' do w it h ' damping, specifica lly an eso ter ic area to do with ' rates of change and th e spee'd s of th e transit ionary forces . Anyw ay. ·a lo ng sess ion with compute r man Alfred W Hlike a s well as team and Showa suspensio n techni c ians see med to have se t them back on the right course. " Now at leas t I can .ride th e bike again. " Robert s said. aft er finishing second . > Max B iaggi celebrated his 28th birthday at Assen. with Marlboro host. ing celebrations on race eve when he was presented with a pair 'of Dutch . clogs and a motor.scoot e;. . . . S i m o n e r af a ... ·dumped by Red Bull Yamaha afte r poor resuli s this . season. is expe. ted to re sume his 500cc career afte r missing just"tw.o c 25. Ha rold de Haan (2:21.172); 26. Pa tri ck Lakerveld (2:21.305); 27. Ronni e Tim mer (2:22.133). 125cc GRA ND rRIX: 1. M asuo Az u ma (Hon ): 2. No bor u Ueda (Hun); 3. Roberto Locat elli (Ap r); 4. Emilio Alzamora (lion); 5. Gia nlu igi Scalv ini (Apr); 6. Yoic hi Ui (De r): 7. Arna ud Vincen t (Ap r); 8. Ma rco Melandri (Hen): 9. Gino Borsoi (Ap r); 10. Kazu to Saka ta (Hen): 11. Ivan Coi {H on): 12. Mirko C iansan ti (Apr); 13. Manu el Poggia l! (Ap r); 14. Simone S anna (Hon) : 15. Frederic Pl.'tit (Apr); 16. Pabl o Nieto (Ocr); 17. Jeronimo Vid al (A pr); 18. Pa tr ick La ke rvel d (Han); 19. Han s Koo p m a n (Ha n); 20. Ronn ie Timm er (Hen). Tim e: 38 min., 09.395 St."C'. D istance: 17 laps , 63.76 mi les Ave rage Speed: 100.25 mph Ma rgin of victo ry; 0.317 St'C. Pasetes la p: Noboru Ueda , 2:13.22. l63 .455 km.Jap 7 V U See WO RLD C'SHIP POI NT STAN DINGS (After 7 of 15 rounds); I. Masao Azuma (122/ 4 win.~); 2 Emilo races. His rescuers are expe cted to be M uZ W eber. as they are underst ood to have split with star rider Luca Cadalora. Cra far will return on the ever -improving all-Europe an V -four racer at the Brit ish GP . where last year he. won :the race for the Red Bull team. Cr afar has been in the doldrums ever since the team switched from Dunlop to M ichelin tires this year. and he was un expecte d ly drop ped o n t he ev e of th e Barcelona GP; the weekend be fore Assen. This was greeted with surprise. because bo th Assen and the British GP ve nue Donington Park are esp ecia lly" good t racks for the New Zealan d rider. The split with Cadalo ra is underst ood to have happene d at Assen. after a 'season in which the erratic Italian former Wo rld Champion had already unexpectedly skippe d one race (in Japan) and fin ished tw ic e. wi th a best of eighth in Spain. Cadal ora did not make the start . blaming injuries from a . relative ly minor spill in practice. . Injured Yamaha 250cc rider 'O l iv i e r J acque hopes to r~turri In time for the Sachsenring after a lengthy absence recovering from a repeat of serious ankle injuries when he cras hed at the start of the European season at Jerez . The Frenchman still has his right foot in plaster. but this will be removed on July 9. with the German race on July 18. If not. lie will wait until after t he long summer break . . . Briton ..Jar~'aie Rob in son 'is to get anoth er one-off chance at resurninq his GP career' riding the factory 250cc Yamaha at his home GP at Don1ngto Park , Robinson is the latest in a line of replacements for the injured n J acq ue . and his pre decessors have been tll-Ia ted . To shiko Ho nma : crashed in practice in France. though he raced and sco red points. crashed again in practi ce in Italy. and was ·then vic tim of the' start-line co llision involving Lor is Capi rossi and M arcellin o Lucchi. 'He was replaced in Catalunya by yo ungs ter Naoki Matsudo. wh o cras hed in pract ice but raced to eighth. thencrashed again in practice at Assen. injuring his 'ankle too badly to .race.. L oris Capirossi was in a subdued mood on h is return to Assen after his one·race suspension. deflecting questions about the affair by saying. - This has been a difficult time for me. and what is past I don ·t want to talk abo ut any mo re . - But ev,," bef o re hi s exe mplary rac e win. h e w as expressing optimism. "The championship is not over for me yet. It is not even haifway. and with the latest Honda mot or. the bike is getti ng very good now .- A ft er the race he lay fourth overall. 52 points shy of Ukaw a·s total. Marcellino Lucchi was knocked off on the start line at Mugello. and cr ashed out of a 'st rong positio n at the next race. Now he so ught to change his luck by drop ping the purple livery mot if of his D6cS hop sponsors and racing instead with his factory. Aprilia all. in white . No change of luck - he retired with engine failure. • Parts broke. That happens when you are testing new parts for Aprilia. which is my job .·- he said. ". Alzamora (111); 3. Roberto Locate lli (87/2); 4. Arnaud Vincen t (84/1) ; 5. No bo ru Ueda (68 ); 6 . Gia n luig i Sca lvini (59); 7. Ma rco Melandrt (54); 8. (TIE) Lucio Cecchtne llo / Simonc Sanna (48); to. Kazu to Saka ta (45); 1 J. Gino Borso! (30 ); 12 Jeronimo Vida l (27); 13. Youichi Ui (26); 14. Mirko Giansa nti (24); 15. Ivan Cui (22). 250cc QUALIFYIN G: J. Valentino Rossi (2:05.018); 2. Jer em y McWi11i a m s (2:05 .259); 3. Ralf Waldma nn (2:05.382); 4. Lori s Capirossi (2:05.494); 5. Marcellino Lucero 12:05 .618); 6. Shinya Nakano (2:05.978); 7. Stefano Pe rugini (2:06.049); 8. Franco Battai ni (2:06.129); 9. Tohru Ukawa (2:06.380); 10. Jason Vincent (2:07.476); 1J. Alex Hofman n (2:07.486); 12. Sebas tian Porto (2:07.895); 13. Tomomi Manak o (2:07.989); 14. Masa ki To kudo me (2:07.992); 15. ja rn o Jan ssen (2:0g,079); 16. An thon y West (2:08.217); I i . Roberto Rolfo (2:08.293); 18. Jul ie n Allemand (2:08.857); 19. LucaBosccscuro (2:09Jlh8); 20. joh an Stigefelt (2:09.262); 21. Na oki Matsudo (2:03.3&1 ); 22. Mau r ice Bo lwerk (2:09 .5 15); 23 . Arno Visscher (2:10.035); 24. Da v id Ca rcia (2:10.101); 25. Fons i Nieto (2:10.572 ); '26. Lu ca s O liv er (2:10. 624); 27 . Rud ie Markink (2:12.022); 28. And re Rome in (2:t 2.887); 29. M . Rics (2:13.228); 30. Hcn k vd Lagema at (1:13.517). 250"" GRAND PRI X: 1. Loris Ce p lrossi (Hen): 2. ams (Ap r); 4. Valenti no Rossi (Apr); 3. Jere my Mcwilli.. Tnhru Ukawa (He n): 5. Shinya Nakano (Yam); 6. Ralf Wal dmann (Apr ); 7. Fra nco Battaini (Ap r); 8. Stefano Perugi ni (Hon ): 9. J"50n Vince nt (He n ): 10. Anthony west (Ho n); 11. Alex Hofm an n (Hen): 12. Sebastian Porto (Ya m); 13. Tomumi Mauako (Ya m ); 14. Masa ki Tok udome (H e n ): 15. Jarn o Ia nsse n (Hen): 16. Luca Boscoscur o (He n): 17. Iohan Stigcfclt (Yarn): 18. julien Alle m a nd (Ho n): 19. Fon s i N ie to (Yam ); 20. Lu cas Oli ve r (Yam ); 21. Da v id Ga rcia (Ya m ); 22. Rudie Ma rkink (Apr) ; 23. Arn o Visscher (Apr ); 24. Hcnk vd Lagemaat (Hen) . Time: 38 min ., 04.730 sec. Distanc e: 18 laps, 6; .51 mill'S Average spee d: 106.37 mph Marg in of vict ory : 0.180 sec Fas tesl lap: Valentin o Rossi, 2:05.696/ 107,41 mph, lap 11 250cc WOR LD CSHI P POINT STANDINGS (A ft. r 7 of 15 r o u nd s ): 1. Tobru Uka wa (34) 1 win ); 2. Valent ino Rossi (115/ 3); 3. Shinya Nakan o (96/ 1); 4. Loris Capiros si (8212); 5. Franco Battaini (71); 6. Jeremy McWill ia ms (62 ); 7. Stefano Pe ru g in i (5 6); 8. RaH Waldma nn (53); 9. Jason Vin cent (36); 10. Sebastia n Porto (32); 11. Marcellino Lucchi (29); 12. Roberto Rolfo (28) ; 13 . Lu ca Bos cos curo (25) ; 14 . (T IE ) Naoki Mal..ud o / Anthon y west (21). SOOcc Q UA LIFYING : 1. Tada vuk i Oka d" (2;01.564); 2. John Kocin ski (2:01. 856); 3. Kenny Rob e rt s Jr . (2:01.082); 4. Alex Cri ville (2:02.131) ; 5. Max Biag gi (2:02.308); 6. Sete Gibemau (2:02.393); 7. Alex Barro s (2:02.458 ); 8. Norick Abe (2:02.630); 9. Carlos C heca (2:02.765); 10. Nobuatsu Aoki (2:02.890); 11. Juan Borja (2:02.909); 12. Tetsuya Harada (2:02.938); 13. Iurgen van den Coorbergh (2:03.189); 14. Regis Lacc ni (2:03.5oq); 15. Ja m ie Wh itham (2:03 .6 13 ); 16. Lu ea Cad a lo ra (2:04.143); 17. Jose Luis Ca rdoso (2:04 .180) ; 18 . Harueh ika Aoki (22:04.327); 1Q. Sebast ien Gimbc r t (2;OS.207); 20. Ca rry McCoy (2:05.714); 21. Mark Willis (2:06.279) ; 22. Matkus O bc r (2:06. 796); 23. Micha el RuttL (2:08.249). 'r 500cr G RAND PRI X, 1. Tada yuki Okada (Ho o); 2. Ke nny Robl' rt s Jr. (Su z) ; 3. Se te Gi be r nau (Ho n); 4, Nobu,lts u Ao ki (Suz) ; 6. No Tick Abe (Y.lm); 7. Joh n Kucinski (Ha n); 8. Juan Borja (Hon); 9. Ha ruehika Aoki (Hon); 10. Alex Barrus (Ha n); 11. Tt..1:suya Harada (Apr); ' 12. Regi S Laconi (Y,lm ); 13. JurgL van den Goo rbergh "fl (MuZ); 14. Sebaslien Gimbcrt (Ho n); 15. Garry McCoy (Yam ); 16. Jose Luis Cardoso (Hon); 17. Mark Willis (Mod). Tim e: 41 min., 12.732 sec. Dis tance: 20 la ps, 75.01 m iles Aver.age speed : 109.20 mp h Ma rgin of victory; 7.316 sec. Fastest lap : Tildayu ki Okada , 21l2.471/1 10.24 mph, lap 9 soncc WORLD CSIIIP POINT STANDINGS (Aft.r 7 of lS round s): I. Alex Crivi llt" 0 29/ 4 wins); 2. Kt"nny ki Robe rts Jr. (94/2); 3. Tadayu O kada (93/1); 4. Sde Gibc mau (88); 5. CarJOl' Checa (65); 6. Max Biaggi (58); 7. Ju a n Borja (55); 8. John Kocin sk i (54 ); 9. Te tsu ya Harad a (SO); 10. Notick Abc (47); 11. Mid. Doohan (33); 12. Nobua tsu Aok i (31); 13. (TIE) R£"gi s Laconi/ Alex Barros (30); 15. Haru chika Aoki (26)' f. "1' !!!Ii IIiii III ~ 'Ii W :ii " '" '" '" '" 9