World Championship Road Race Series
Round 1 1 : Portuguese Grand Prix
By MICHAEL SCOTT
PHOTOS BY GOLD & GOOSE
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....,
ESTORIL, PORTUGAL, SEPT. 9
ho can stop Valentino Rossi
now? The question hung in the
air at Estoril, and there were no obvious takers. The Italian's seventh win
of the year gave him a 43-point
advantage - almost a two-race cushion - with only five races remaining.
West Honda rider Loris Capirossi
tried his damnedest, and kept his
younger countryman honest right to
the end of a relentless and baking-hot
28 laps of the 2.59-mile Estoril circuit
outside Lisbon.
Max Biaggi also did his level best but the Marlboro Yamaha rider had
already settled for third when he had
a carbon copy of his crash two weeks
ago at Brno, losing the front wheel
and sliding to earth, remounting
quickly and finishing fifth.
Third-placed Garry McCoy, on the
Red Bull Yamaha, who was the winner here last year, didn't ever have a
prayer, never close enough to do
more than watch the front-runners
pull away.
The reason is clear enough. The
combination of Rossi, the latest tires,
and his Nastro Azzurro Honda have
forced the pace to such an extent that
·Iast year's winners have to outdo
W
6
SEPTEMBER 19,2001 •
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