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/128104
Kenny Roberts Jr. (1) struggled all weekend at Jerez. After qualifying e ighth, he could only m ana ge t o get his Suz uk i up to seventh at the finish. Alex Barros (4) an d Loris Capirossl (6 5) also had poor re sults - with Barros fi nishing Just ahead of Roberts, and Capirossi just beh ind In eighth. "When I tried to make a gap in the early laps I co ul d not drop Ab e - I thought we could do better la p times , it was imposs ible due to the lack of grip ," Rossi sa id. "Luckily for me , the other riders had made basically the same tire choice, and had the same grip problems.' The race pace was nonetheless 23 seconds faster than th e fastest -ever race her e , in 19 9 9 (i t rai ne d la st yea r) , a nd Ross i cl aimed a new la p reco rd . Th e records we re broken in the oth e r cla sses too. The popu la r Ita lia n wh iz kid was ba ck to his old tricks afte r th e race sta nding on the foot pegs a nd g iving a for ma l bow a s he crossed the finish line , slowing so that Abe co uld watch the perfo rma nce as he ca me o ut of th e last h a irpin in s e c on d . The n Rossi, who nowadays st yle s him s elf "t h e Doctor ,' p icked u p a fr iend dressed as a nurse for the slow -down lap - only for tra ckside police to pull his passenger off again . That was not th e only moment of uninte ntional comedy at th e race , wa tched the usu a l huge an d p as s ionate cr owd of Spa nish fa ns , wit h 13 6 ,000 turni n g up o n race day. The 250 c c G P h a d to b e del a y ed and sh ort e n ed b y a lap after t he BMW Safet y Ca r, fo llow ing the pack around on the warm -up lap, crash ed comp rehens ively in to a tracks id e barrie r. Abe was lucky to hang on to sec ond , in a good d a y for a n apparently revived Ale x Crivllle o n th e Reps o l Honda . Th e for mer Wo rld Cha m pion was q uite lik e h is o ld s e lf a s he picked his way thr ou gh from a third row start to finish bar e ly three tenths beh ind Abe . A no ther la p , and he m ight have been a head. Fr on t-row starter Sh inya Na kano and h is Gaul o ises Yamaha was fourth after yet anot her strong rook ie ride , with fellow roo kie Tohru Ukaw a on the second Repsol Honda less tha n two seconds beh ind . West Ho nda ' s Ale x Ba rros was close beh ind him in sixth. All had batt led past th e barr ie r im po sed by Kenn y Roberts Jr. , whose Te le fon ic a Mov iSta r Suzuk i la cke d the power he ne eded to ov ertake any bod y. As at the race before , howeve r, Roberts ca n ma ke it very difficult for a ny bo dy to pass him , a nd he held the pu rsu it back for mu ch of the race in an obdu ra te fift h place . Se venth at the e nd , the d isappointed defend ing c hamp ion said later: "We ' re getting tr ampled over right now . We 've had an eng ine deficit for a couple of years now , and we ca n' t hide it an y more: West Honda 's Loris Capirossi was eig hth, after run ning o ff t he tr ack c y c le wh ile lying third and trying to close on the leaders in the ea rly stages. He headed a four -strong pack, with Red Bull Yamaha's Garry McCoy, Telefonica MoviStar Suzuk i's Sete Gibernau a nd Ma rlboro Yamaha 's Max Biaggi right in his tracks . J u rge n va n den Goorbergh was a di s a p po inte d 13th , s lowed by han dling p ro ble m s o n the Proton KR3 after taking a brillian t start in fou rth place. Aus tral ia n An tho ny We s t , in his second 500cc GP, was the first twin home, clai ming o ne po int fo r 15 t h place. Ea rlier , Da ijiro Katoh had made it three ou t of three in th e 250cc class as we ll. Tetsuya Ha rad a 's MS Aprilia had heade d the Tel efo nica MoviStar Honda rider briefly in the race , but by the e nd the forme r ch a mp ion was more than 10 second s adrift. Marco Me landri was gifted third b y Aprilia teammate and one -ra c e w ild card rid er Mar ce llino Lucchi. Fonsi Nieto wa s fift h on anothe r Apr il ia a fter another strong ride fro m the ris ing nephew of form e r multiple ch ampion Angel Nieto. He he aded a close trio, with Em ilio Alzamora sixth, pleasing his home crowd with his best-ever 250cc result, a nd Robe rto Rolfo close behind. Rolfe's ride through the field had been on e of the hig h poin ts of a ra ther dour race . The 125cc GP c ame a live in the clo sing s ta ge s , as the m embers of a one-time five -strong leadi ng g roup met their va r ious end s . Erstwhile po ints leader Youich i Ui cr a s hed his Derbi with four laps to go . The n Stefano Perugini, a serious candidate for Alex Crivllle (2 8 ) finally got ba ck on track at Jerez, fi nishing on the podium after starting 12th on th e gri d. n e _ S • MAY 16, 2001 23