Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Winn e r Biaggi, who tu rn ed 30 just da ys before th e race , was e late d . "I fee l like I am rid ing a t the top of my fo rm - m y be st ever, " he said . "Also , we have im prove d the s etup of the b ik e ov er the last two o r three ra ces." Rossi blamed fear of ra in for losing t he le a d he h ad j u st ga ined fr o m Bia g g i, but sa id later: "1 think they could have le t it run a couple more laps: But Ca pirossi wa s more d istresse d . "Ma x and Va le were ridin g dange rous ly a nd I saw t h em make so me m ist a ke s . I wa s wa iting fo r a chanc e , and I a m s u re I c o u ld have g ot it , be c au s e we we re rid ing a s e cond bel o w th e poss ibil ities o f the tir es. I wa s waiti ng fo r t h e last laps - b u t they ne ve r came: The pace was a couple of s e con ds off t he record -breaking q ualifying and slow e no ug h for GP racing 's old est lap re c ord to survive inta ct. T he fastest la p went to Rossi , but it was a couple of tenths off Kevin Schwantz's epic 1991 lap re cord, which will stand in perpetu ity wh en the tra c k is a ltered at th e en d of th is se a son . In fa ct, the ra in did not am ount to much , a nd th e y proba bly could ha ve gone a little further. Few c ould critic ize race mana ge m e nt , ho wever, for errin g on the side of caut io n at the fastest a s well as the longes t track of the year, wh ich had a lre ady cla imed severa l victims in practice and in the wet earlier races... with no less than 19 crashes in th e op en ing 125cc round , a tall y that requ ired at le a s t two of th em to fall off twice. Th e 5 0 0 c c class fell far sh ort of that figur e , but Assen did take its toll on the rac e. With Garry McCoy pulling out, his wris t not hea led , S hell Advanc e Ho n d a rid e r Chri s Walker was eli minated in a fa st a nd s pe cta cu la r 135 mph prang the d a y be fo re th e ra ce . Nor iyuki Haga was lucky to limp a way fro m a s im ila r c ra s h la ter that da y , b ut the Red Bu ll Ya maha rider ra ce d on to ta ke l Oth. E a r lie r , 37 - y e a r -o ld U1sterman Jere m y McWillia ms ha d gr a bbed his s lic e of Asse n h istory with a m assive Jr. ended up sixth, as he continue s to struggle In the defense of h is Worfd Championship. The race came down t o a battle betwee n Ro ssi and Blaggl. Ro ss i le d briefly, then B laggi took it back, le adin g across the stripe when It mattered m o st - on the lap prior to the red flag that was brought out w hen rain swept t h rou g h the area. 250cc win on the MS Aprilia , on e of on ly a handfu l of riders to re a d th e cond itio ns right a nd fit inte rm e d ia te tires on a drying track - a last-minute move that meant he start ed th e warm -up lap from pit lane. He wa s in control from the first lap , pullin g awa y to becom e the firs t British GP w inn er si n ce Ia n McC onna ch ie in 1986, and th e first in the 250cc cla s s since Alan Ca rter in 19 83 . "It's be en 18 yea rs s ince a Britis h ra ce win in the cla ss , a nd it feels to me as though I've bee n tr ying to win one for 18 ye ars ," sa id McWilliams. "It' s only in the last two I've had a m oto rcycle capa ble of winning : T e le fo n ic a Mo viS ta r Hond a ' s Emilio Alzamora had fitted s licks and finished a lon ely second. Anten a 3 Ya m a ha -mo unte d Da vid de Gea was third , nearl y c a ught at the finish b y French pri vate er S ylva in Gu intol i. Both had hand -cut sl ick tires . Da ijiro Kat oh was 11th , his wor stever finish, fad ing throughout on wets fro n t and re ar. T itl e rival Tetsuya Harada , s im ilarl y shod , was e ve n slower, a nd pitted for a tire change to finish 24th, out of th e points , with th e consolati on of the fastest lap. As Dunlo p race chief J er emy Fe rgu son sa id : "It was a cla ssic case of the cha m pio ns h ip c o n tende rs all ma king sure they had the same tire s as each othe r, a nd other ride rs being in a position to take a risk." Fast -rid in g 125c c s tar Ton i Elia s claimed a fine win in a crash-strewn wet 125 race, defe a tin g French man Arnaud Vincent's Aprilia after a ride of sustained m a turity be yo nd h is 18 ye a rs . It was the Telefo nic a MoviStar Honda Jun ior Teamster 's first win , after th ird in France and second two weeks ago . Ge rm an yo ungste r Ste ve Jenkn e r (UGT Aprilia ) wa s third , h is first -e ve r ro s t ru m, wit h No b b ie Ueda (T S R Honda ) a steady fourth. Th e race saw ma ny fan cied run ne rs contribute to a po s s ib le record tota l of 19 c rashes. Victims incl uded points leader Manuel Pogg iali (Gile ra) a nd An ge l Niet o J r. (De rb i), who both remounted on ly to fall of a ga in . Yo ui c hi Ui ( De r b i ), Masao Azuma (Honda ) and e rstwhile race leader Gino Borsoi (Aprilia) also cra s he d , the las t-n am ed remounting to fin is h s ixth among th e race s u rvivor s s tru ng out a round th e track . 500c c GRAND PRI X Afte r two wet races, the track wa s still dark with moisture for the 500 s , with more clouds loom ing . Bu t the rac ing line was d ry and the imm ed iat e prospects brighte r, and the race s ta rt e d o n time , Biagg i tak in g t he early lea d fro m Ab e , on ly for Barros to pu s h past both of th em befo re the end o f t he first la p . Ca p iro ssi wa s fourth, then Rossi, Kenny Roberts J r., Carlos Che c a , Haga a nd the rest, all p iled up close. Over the next couple o f laps , a pattern e stablished , Capi ro s s i push ing hard to take the lead for the first time on la p fo ur , from Ba rros , Bia gg i, Ross i a nd Roberts , wit h a ga p of a co uple of seconds to the ne xt bra wling group . Roberts was half-a -s econd off, howe ver , a sure sig n that he wa s running into famil ia r tro uble. "Whe n the t ire gr ip goes aw a y a nd you ne ed more th rottl e c o nt rol , o u r e ng ine slows m e down . It's th e level we 'r e at right now," he sa id la te r; a nd s u re e n o u g h, h e los t to uc h rapi dly fro m then o n. Up fro nt , th e re m ai n in g q u art et was hard at it. On lap s even Bia g gi pu sh ed through to th e lead wi t h a cue I e brave move at the e nd of th e back strai g ht, with Ba rros fo llo wing past Ca piro ssi. At th is point, Ro ss i wa s h an g ing back fractio nally, both e red by a little wheelsp in. "When th e others started to have the sa me problem . then I c ould come back at them ," he said . Bia gg i wa s in front and e ve n now and then ga inin g a little fra ctiona l gap fro m now un til th e prem a ture fin is h. Ross i started to m ov e forwa rd from la p I I , looking ver y thr eatening as he nipped p a st Barros , the n surged past Cap iros s i in t o t h e s e co n d c orne r. Now he wa;; loo mi ng o ve r Biaggi, a nd he lo o ke d ve ry strong a nd c o m fo rta ble . But Biagg i was n ' t giving him any in vita tio ns . Th e mo ve , which seemed in ev ita b le , c a me on lap 16 , a lso a t T urn Two - a ma ximum -risk d ive that put the yellow Hond a up fro nt for th e fir st t im e , Biagg i c ra w lin g a ll o ve r him and even forced to slow as Ross i battle d to get the bik e ba c k o n the c rucia l line. His le a d la ste d unt il the end of th at lap, when Biaggi s aw his chance a t the difficult and extremely fa st righ t sw erve be fo re the looping left that leads into the chicane. It wa s a n o d d pla c e fo r a pass , and Ross i s a id later: "I fe lt a litt le ra in, a nd at s uc h a fast corner I fe lt a little fear." So Biagg i led lap 16 , too, bu t none of that m attered because th e red fla gs came o ut a t once, a nd the ra ce had in fac t already been over whe n Rossi did get ahead . Bia'ggi carried on racing , all a lone, for some distance. "I wanted to be sure about the red flag - I thought it m ight have been a s p ecta tor. When I saw the red lights I k new it wa s off icia l a nd I had won ," Biaggi said. Ba rro s was a close fourth , a dm itting th at he ha dn 't be en as strong a s h e hop ed a fter c rashi ng hi s b ett e r bike in morn ing wa rm- up , and be ing oblige d to us e his spare instea d. The next gro up had dr opped ba c k fro m th e s t a rt , th e d iv is ion m a d e when No rick Abe was hit from beh ind by fellow Yamaha rider Carlos Ch ec a on the th ird lap . Both went fly in g , Abe was ta ken a way o n a stretcher n e .... S • J ULY 11 , 2001 21

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