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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128127
World Championship Road Race Series - The 500cc Q,.... PrIx _ one of the ..... races of the ~. with the .... chengln, ....11 • ......, tIIroiIs!hout the nICe. Here. V ~ Alex Barros 141. OlIvIer .Jacque (191. Nort,ukl ..... (41).-............ PI. By MICHAEL SCOTT PHOTOS BY GOLD & GOOSE PHUJJPIS~,AaSTRJUlA,OCT. 14 · T hat's the way to win the championship. That's what a champion does. That was the message from Valentino Rossi, who not only won the last-ever 500cc World Championship in Australia - but did so at maximum risk, to win the closestever 500cc race. Rossi needed only to finish in the top eight - but he'd already promised he'd be aiming for the rostrum. He held the faith, passing his last rival Max Biaggi and the Marlboro Yamaha on the final slow comer, and holding him at bay by just over a hundredth of a second over the line. "I wasn't thinking of the championship - only of the race," Rossi said later. "It was very enjoyable. I'm still excited about it, and winning the title hasn't sunk in. I didn't need to win, but sometimes I think it is more dan- 12 OCTOBER 24, 2001 • cue gerous to stay behind. Especially today, with so many ridersl" He had survived one 190 mph brush with Alex Barros, when his front touched the Brazilian's rear, sending up a puff of smoke. His excitement was shared not only by his mother, a rare race visitor, and the core of his fan club (father Graziano was absent - he hates to fly), but also by the crowd of almost 40,000 fervent Australian fans, who invaded the track afterward and greeted Rossi - only the second man in history to win 125cc. 250cc and 500cc titles - with almost the same enthusiasm they once showed to Australian winners like Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan. But they had just watched that closest-ever 500cc race in World Championship history. The top nine flashed across the line within 2.8 seconds of the winner, with West Honda's Loris Capirossi revailing at n • _ s •• the end to take third ahead of West Honda's Barros, Repsol Honda's Tohru Ukawa, Gaouloises Yamaha's Olivier Jacque and Shinya Nakano, Red Bull Yamaha's Noriyuki Haga and Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki's Sete Gibernau. The race had seen the lead change hands countless times, with Barros, Haga, Biaggi and Capirossi all taking a turn up front. Deposed champion Kenny Roberts Jr. and his Telefonica Movistar Suzuki played no part in it, languishing among the V-twins, worried about tire failure, and finishing 15th. Biaggi was gracious in his double title and race defeat. "I have to be proud of the race I made," Biaggi said. "I was on the limit from the first to the last. There were lots of riders everywhere - left and right, and even touching, kicking smoke from the tires. Dangerous, but very graceful, and good to watch." In the 250cc GP, Daijiro Katoh resumed business as usual, the Telefonica MoviStar Honda rider taking the lead on the fourth of 25 laps, and pulling away remorselessly from pole starter Tetsuya Harada and his MS Aprilia. SafiJo Oxydo Aprilia privateer Roberto Rolfo was third. This extended his lead to 29 points - he can secure his first title next week in Malaysia, if he finishes within four points of Ha rada. Earlier, Derbi rider Youichi Ui made the 125cc race his own, overcoming and running away from a 10strong gang for a clear fourth win of the year. Gilera's Manuel Poggiali was second, managing to avoid a crashing Simone Sanna on the last corner, and to hold at bay title rival Toni Elias, who rode a heroic race after qualifying way out of touch on the fifth row of the grid. The result extended the teenager's lead, but the battle is not over yet.