Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

--"'~I - - "I '--' ! ! ~ <' - l-- World Championship Road Race Series - -~j I .. road race " Round 1 : Japanese Grand Prix ~ -~---~ 250cc GRAND PRIX The race would have been even less exciting if Katoh had not got off the line a little slowly. Brave Melandri, riding virtually one-armed, led into the first corner, with Harada on his tail and Katoh third. By the end of the lap, Katoh had picked them off without difficulty, and proceeded to run away as though he was in a different race. Which was exactly what second-placed Harada said after the finish. He ended up 18.7 massive seconds behind the leader. "I didn't know until after the race that it was Honda's 499th win, so there was no pressure on me. It's harder to go by yourself than when you are fighting," Katoh said. It made for a rather dour race, Melandri gradually losing places so that, by the end of the second lap, Harada and Locatelli were disputing DIIQIro KaIDh crushed the opposition In the 250cc l'IICe, winning by _ 18 . - c i s In a c .... thIIt normllily .... c~ finishes. By the end of the lap, Rossi was in the lead, with the rest shuffling back and forth as they ran five abreast into the chicane. He never looked back, managing to pull away steadily until he had a three-second lead after eight more laps. "J knew then I couJd control the race," Rossi said. The five behind him were still hard at it, shuffling back and forth, with Ukawa moving through impressively. He was second on lap 14, but third again behind McCoy when he fell on the way out of the chicane. McCoy still had plenty of pressure, as Abe, Biaggi and Nakano battled on his back wheel, but he managed to stay ahead to the flag. Abe lost third to Biaggi on the final lap, with the quartet still close at the finish, Nakano in fifth barely two seconds behind Biaggi in his first 500cc GP. Barros had lost touch, his bike balance affected as the fuel load lightened; Roberts cruised around doggedly behind him - in fact, his. race time was marginally faster than last year, when he was second to Abe, but his complaints about a 10 APRIL 18. 2001 • cue I • lack of winter development by Suzuki ran true. Sete Gibernau was behind him when he fell, his rhythm ruined (he explained) because he kept finding neutral instead of second out of the chicane, and was over-riding the bike to try and make up for it. Capirossi was fading behind him, while Alex Criville was picking his way through from the back after an early run onto the grass at the Spoon Curve. For a while, after he'd been overtaken, Jurgen van den Goorbergh stayed with him in his first race on the Proton KR3. "I was happy that the three-cylinder was able to stay with the Honda on the. straight but, when I lost the draft, I was alone again," the Dutchman said. Having missed out on the all-Japanese three-day pre-season test here, "we were trying to catch up on settings all weekend," he said. Leon Haslam, another 20 seconds back, had been battling with Aoki, and even leading him - only to lose out by three tenths on the run to the line. "It was a great race - and scoring points in my first time on a 500 is a dream," said the son of Rocket Ron. Johan Stigefelt (Sabre V4) retired after calling in at the pits for a stop-andgo penalty for a jumped start; Dutch privateer Barry Veneman also retired. n _ vv s second. Not that it was much of a fight. Harada didn't try and resist when Locatelli nipped past just before half-distance, content to follow him to attack on the last time through the chicane. The former 250 champion almost failed, however, as the reigning 125 champion ran in tight and fast to the slow combination corner. That, however, meant he was a little off line and slow on the exit, giving Harada just enough daylight to pull alongside and beat him by less than a tenth of a second. Battaini had been near the front, but he dropped back behind the fading Melandri, and both were caught by Matsudo's Yamaha. Melandri managed to stay with the Japanese rider, but Battaini continued to lose ground. McWilliams (Apr) had earlier closed on this group, but was also losing ground, "Leave the settings. Just change the tires, and then watch the screen." With these words to his team, Loris Caplrossi prepared to go out in the closing minutes of the final session. They were not the only ones watching the screen, as the Itlliian rider scorched around Suzuka at quite an extrllordinllry pllce, and fully two seconds faster than the previous lap record. "It's incredible," the West Hondll Pons rider sllid after hllving c1llimed his second Cllreer pole position in the 500<:c clllSS by the highly impressive margin of eight tenths. "Everything Is fine with the bike, and I pushed really hard, especially over the last section with the fast comers. But I didn't expect such II good time." EqUlllly unexpected, for rider and spectators, was the identity of the man he dispillced - Shinya Nllkano, in his first race on the 500cc class, who had smoothed lind coaxed his (JlluJoises Yamllha round the complex circuit's sweeps and comer combinations. "I know this track well, and I like it. But I didn't expect to be in this position," Nakllno said. Third went to Max Blaggi, who had taken pole lind went on to win the rlIce in 1998, in his first 500cc-class outing. He had been fastest the day before and looked strong throughout, though he complained of a stomach bug on the second day that had kept him awake the whole night before, Pole times were 10 fast that It spoBed the dose qualifying record of the 5005, but from second to tenth was covered by one second, and the first 11 riders were aD inside the lap record. Last man up front was Ciany McCoy, who moved up the order only in the final session. "J was in the right place at the right time," McCoy said. "We've been struggling, and yesterday it was hard to get on a roll. I felt a lot better today." Tohru Ukawa led row two, llI10lher dasa rookie who was fast throughout practice, with former double Suzuka winner rtorick Abe's Yamaha alongside the Honda, a bare threethousandths slower. "My time was good and my bike is good - but the position is disappointing. So many people are fast this year,. Abe said. Never a good qUlllificr, his previous wins here have both been from similar or worse grid positions. Valentino Rossi was alongside, suffering worse (it seemed) than the other riders from chatter. He might have been higher but for a misfire on his best lap, he said. Barros completed row two. There were some threatening riders just behind. Kenny Roberts Jr. had trouble throughout practice, suffering. he said, from Suzuki's cumulative problems during testing which left the team behind. "The other guys are out·fasting me; rll have to try and out-ride them tomorrow. Just like last year, only this time the gap is bigger," the defending champion said. He had Noriyuki Haga alongside, the bullish newcomer charging hard and shoWing no respect for famous names out on the track. But he also crashed three times, evidence of how hard he was trying, and was lucky to escape serious injury in the third tumble approaching the hairpin on Saturday afternoon, when the bike bounced high in the air, and landed close enough to the sliding rider to SCfIltch his helmet. Alex Crivllie WIlS next, then his countryman Carlos Checa, who was battling a "flu-like gastric infection" thllt left him struggling. Jose-Luis Cardoso's Yamaha led Sete Gibemau·s Suzuki on row five· two others who had crashed without injury; with Suzuki-mounted Wild Card Akira Ryo (a front· row qualifi· er last year) next, struggling to overcome the almost universal chatter problem from the 16.5-inch rear tires. Nonetheless, Jurgen van den Goorbergh, next up on the Proton, switched to those tires for the better side grip in the turns. The Proton's disappointing position, compared with preseason testing, was a reflection of the fact that the Japanese teams tested here for three dllys two weeks ago. "We had to try and catch up in only four hours." said the Dutchman. Haru Aoki's V-twin led row six from V·four newcomers Chris Walker (another faller) and Olivier Jacque, who was struggling with his wrist injury, and was a doubtful starter. Leon Haslam completed the row. The back row saw the Pulse riders Jay Vincent and Mark Willis, suffering seriously from hardly any testing. Stigefelt's bltsa Sabre Yamaha WIlS between them; Veneman's Vtwin the last of 24 qualifiers, with Mllrcus Payten's V·twin failing to make the qualifying cut by more thlln two seconds.

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