Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128102
W o rl d C h a m p io n s h ip R o a d Race Series R o u n d 2 : South African Grand Prix The three factory Aprilias were in format ion beh ind , Harada moving ahead on lap four, with Lo catelli right behind Melan dri. Fo ur lap s later Mel andri got pa st ag ain , and he and Harad a st a r t e d to pull cl ear o f Locatelli , wh ose tires we re fading. It wa s on lap 16 th at th ing s started to look interesting . Melandri had been ch ipping away at th e lead, and now for th e first t ime it w as below four seconds again. With 10 laps left, he st ill had a job on hi s hands. Unl ess Katoh had a problem. Katoh did hav e a problem. "In the first half of the race I cou ld keep a good pace , but then my lap tim es got worse. If you said it was my fr on t t ire, it would be a good guess, " the taci turn rider said later. Now the chase was on. Melandri ga in ed another fou r tenths next ti me around - Harad a no w dropping back after his motor suffered a part ial seizure and lost power. " It was typ ica l of m y engine - all weekend it has given trouble ," Harada said . IAbove) Youichl UI (41) leads yo ung Spaniard Toni Elias (24) and Manuel Pogglali (54) In the 125cc Gra nd Prix of South Africa. (Left) The win went to UI, who now leads the World Ch ampionship points standings after two rounds. On e lap m ore and it was 2.8 sec onds ; next tim e 2.6 as Melandri broke the reco rd for th e fir st time . Katoh res p ond e d . th en Melandri started inching closer again: 2 .1 sec onds on lap 21 , th en 1.7 for th e next two after another record . I t wa s now that th ey caught a small group o f b ac k markers , and n o w t h a t Me lan dr i lost th e ra ce becau se he go t the worst o f it, and especially from Barr os. " I ca n ' t bl ame h im - I d idn 't see an y blu e fla gs ," said Melandri. That lap he closed up on ly by two tenths, and a little bit mo re next tim e around after more bad break s in traffic. "T he backmarkers were no problem for me ,· said Katoh later. They st ar t e d the f ina l l ap w ith Melandri 1. 1 seconds adrift, and the task looked hopeless. But the Italian had his dander up , and set yet anoth er record in an inspi red fi nal circu it . He fin ally caught Katoh on the wa y into the last co rne r, and made a des p er at e attem pt to o ve rtake on th e ex it. He faile d by less tha n a tenth of a second. "A week ago, if I' d kno wn I would be second , I'd have b een ha ppy," Melandri said . "Today I am d i sap pointed - be cause I saw th at I can rid e as fast as Katoh, an d sometimes even fast er . I'm looking fo rw ard t o the next race.· H ar a d a h ad b een caug ht by Lo c at ell i as he dro pped ba c k , bu t 12 MAV 2 , 2001 • D UD • e neVIl' s m an a g ed t o take anot he r seco nd back o ver the lin e. A lm ost 20 seconds beh in d , Nie to comple ted h i s best r id e yet. He 'd been with the grou p fighting fo r the pla ce ea rlie r in the rac e. but ran off th e tra ck bri efl y and seem ed to ha ve lost touch. But he managed to close up again and lead them over the line, with McWilliams , Porto , Rolfo and Matsudo hard up behind. Katoh also has a perfect 50 points in the c h am p i o n sh ip, with Harada next with 36, then Melandri ( 3 0 ). Locatelli ( 2 9), Matsudo ( 2 0 ) and Ro l f o (19) , one poin t ahead of Mc Willia ms. 1 2 S c c GRAND PRIX Ui' s win lo oked easy , but th e Derb i rid er ins isted that it hadn 't been . " E ven when I had a five-second lead I thought it would be d ifficult, because my tires were finished, and I remembered losing the r ac e on the last comer at Sepang in the same circumstances last year," he said . No such problem th is time, howev er , and though the gap had dropped to less than 1.5 seconds at the end , it was enough. From the st a r t , young Spani sh r ide r T on i Elia s and h is T el efon ic a MoviStar Hond a had gon e with U i , j oini ng his ear ly break aw ay and sti cking wi th h im im p ressi ve ly. He h ad lo st tou ch afte r four laps, whe n Pog giali caught him, but it took the Gil era ri der thre e attempts before he managed to get pas t . From then on , Poggiali was a lonely second. "I prefer to race with other people it was hard to be alo ne," Poggiali said. It was a com plic at ed race as the fast guys cl o sed up in a big fight fo r