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World Championship Road Race Series
Round 14: Australian Grand Prix
Franco &attalnl (21) and Sebastian
Porto (9) w.re amone four riders who
crasheel out on the first lap In
spectacular fashion.
attacks. with Nieto fifth and Alzamora
sixth.
Locatelli was a distant seventh,
Luca Boscoscuro (Aprilia) was a
lonely eighth. Matsudo and Petronas
vibrating and sliding rear tire - managed to get past Nieto, only for the
Spaniard to reverse the positions four
laps later. The trio continued like this
to the end, with this time McWilliams
Vidal trailing in for the rest of the
managing to fend off any last-lap
points.
Yamaha teammate Shahrol Yuzy were
ninth
and
tenth,
with
Lanzi,
Sekiguchi, Chiarello, Tomas and
Alex Hofmann was another to
crash out. after a strong ride closing
to within a second of Alzamora, with
11 laps left.
Th·e final numbers heavily favor
Katoh. who can afford to lose four
points to Harada at the next race and
still be champion. He has 272. Harada 24,3, while non-starter Melandri
(169) is now under threat from Rolfo
(163). Nieto is next on 138.
'leBec GRAND PRIX
Morning rain and aftemoon winds on the first day saw times relatively slow. and Garry
McCoy - in full super·sideways mode· rise to the top. It also left everybody rather short of
set-up time. on the second-fastest track on the calendar· and one of the trickiest, full of
high-speed part-throttle work through complex comers.
This was Max Biaggi country. for a seventh pole of the year, threading with superb
accuracy over the bumps for the fastest-ever lap of the Island.
"Pole position is one thing. Winning races is another: said Biaggi, who has crashed
out of three of the last four races. "We had some chatter problems, but we fixed that, and
I've been working on getting a confident feeling in the front end.'
That came five minutes before the end of the session, until when Alex Barros had been
on top. As Biaggi clicked up the time, Barros crashed - a highsider that he said was just
from pushing too hard.
"I already had one lap on the tire. but I knew that Max was going fast and I pushed too
hard: he said, nursing a sore head. He ended up third. for Valentino Rossi was coming.
Eventually.
In fact, the champion elect had been in some difficulties. He crashed on Friday, his
lucky charms working once again so that he walked away from the highside; then ran off
the track again later the same session. And he looked wild. all the time. fighting wobbles
and using more lucky charms to take second place.
"I had some handling troubles today: he said succinctly. "But I still want to be on the
podium. I need only finish eighth to be champion. but I don't think that is a good way to
win the title.'
He was four tenths slower than Biaggi, but times were ultra-close. From him they were
separated by tenths and hundredths, right down to 15th place, occupied by Jurgen van
den Goorbergh's Proton.
The lucky man who completed the front row was Sete Gibemau. continuing his end-ofseason charge, riding at 10 tenths to overcOme the same Suzuki weaknesses that left
teammate Kenny Roberts Jr. down in 12th (though. to be fair. less than five-tenths slower).
"I rode my butt off. That's it," Gibemau said.
There were plenty of other strong runners who had been faster on a consistent basis.
Olivier Jacque was fifth. only four-thousandths of a second off the front row at the track
where he won the 250cc title last year. He'd been second to Alex Barros for much of the
session.
"The front end is not perfect yet, bLlt the balance is good. I had the wrong tire at the
end, and that's why I am on the second and not the first row: he said.
Loris Capirossi was alongside him. then Carlos Checa and Tohru Ukawa, aU as close
as paint: with Shinya Nakano leading row three from Norick Abe. Noriyuki Haga and
Roberts, who said his fast lap had been spoiled by running off the edge of the track briefly.
"Our bike's better than where it qualified.' he said.
Then came Alex Criville and Garry McCoy, who said: "We have a choice of tires. but
nothing soft enough for a fast single lap time. But I can do 33s consistently. and the bike
is set up fine for windy conditions.'
It was pole time again for Tetsuya Harada's MS Aprilia in the 250cc class, with the
similarly mounted Jeremy McWilliams in second. This was in spite of a rare crash for
Harada at the end of the session.
"The bike feels good, and this is a fast track. Perhaps we can win again: said the
Japanese rider
Title rival Daijiro Katoh and the Telefonica MoviStar Honda was third fastest. threequarters of a second slower than Harada, but far from worried.
"There was so much traffic. it was like riding in Tokyo: he said. "No problem - I have
good settings, and I'm ready to fight for victory agam.·
Non·defending 125cc Champion Roberto Locatelli (Aprilia) was fourth: privateer Fonsi
Nieto fifth. to lead the second row.
16
OCTOBER 24. 2001 •
cue
I
_
n
_ _ so
Poggiali took the early lead, but
the sensation of the first lap was Toni
Elias. who started from the fifth row
of the grid, and was in fourth place by
the fourth corner. By the end of lap
one. he was second, and even took
the lead on the second lap. But it was
never over the line, with both Ui and
Poggiali clearly much faster.
By one-third distance. the leading
group had formed up 11 strong. and
the lead was changing hands over
and over again. Ui had taken over
from Poggiali. then Cecchinello came
for four laps. then an inspired Angel
Rodriguez (Aprilia) for two.
Cecchinello was in front again when
ill made his move on lap 15, and he
was on top form. pulling away steadily
until he had four seconds in hand with
two laps to go. Even then he didn't
slack off. winning by almost five.
Behind him, it was anybody's race,
with Cecchinello holding second as
they started the last lap. triggering a
frenzy of final attacks all around.
As they ran into the final lefts,
Sanna was in front - but too fast. He
went flying, taking Rodriguez into the
dirt with him.
Poggiali was the beneficiary. holding the ever-persistent Elias at bay.
Azuma was fourth. moving forward
steadily all race long. then Cecchinel10. de Angelis, young star Pedrosa and
Max Sabattani. From second to eighth
was covered by just over one second.
"I pushed very hard - and now this
year I win a big penguin," joked a
delighted ill after the race. "Last year I
was second, and I got a small penguin.'
Poggiali said he had been unable
to go with Ui because of clutch prob-
Daljlro Katoh, Ilk. Ronl, carded hIs
nInth race win of the year at Phillip
Island - but unlike RouI, Katoh has
yet to wrap up the championshIp, wIttI
T.tsuya Harada hot on his h_ls at
.....ryrac••
lems, but he was happy enough to be
ahead of Elias. who in turn said:
"Before this rac;e I didn't think a good
result was possible and that the
championship was over. Now the title
is still possible."
So it is. Poggiali has 210 points.
Elias 194, with Ui closing on 182.
Cecchinello (140) is fourth, then
Azuma (125).
aI
QMta Aanliu ....11 Prill
Ph111, ...... Aanlia
IIBlILlS: 1IcDIoer, 14, ZIOI
125cc QUALIFYING: I. Manuel Poggiali
(1:37.737); 2. Lucio CecchlneUo (1:37.938): 3.
Youichi Ui (1:37.975); 4. Gino Borsai (1:38.770): 5.
Noboru Ueda (1 :38.928); 6. Alex Oe Angells
(1:38.936): 7. Simone Sanna (1:38.989): 8.
Stephana Perugini (1:39.016); 9. Arnaud Vincent
(1:39.062); 10. Angel Nieto Jr. (1:39.102); 11.
Daniel Pedrosl!l (l:39.148); 12. JarosJav Hules
(1:39.181); 13. Angel Rodriguez (1:39.187); 14.
Masllo Azume (1 :39.295); 15. Glllnluigi Scalvini
(1:39.298); 16. Gaspare Camero (1:39.313): 17.
Toni Elias (1:39.395); 18. Steve Jenkner (1:39.420):
19. Casey Stoner (1:39.449); 20. Jakub Sm"
(1:39.459); 21. Max $abbatani (1:39.460); 22. Joan
Olive (I :39.492); 23. Eric Batame (1 :39.967); 24.
Raul Jare (1:40.135); 25. Mirko Glannnti
(I :40.166); 26. Pablo Nieto (1:40.371): 27. Gabor
Talmacsi (I :40.391): 28. Jamo Muller (1 :40.397):
29. Jay Taylor (1 :40.679): 30. Alessandro Brannetti
(1:41.162): 31. William De Angelis (1:41.670): 32.
Adrian Araujo (1:42.059); 33. Peter Galvin
(1 :42.274); 34. Cath Thompson (1 :44.273).
250cc QUALIFYING: 1. Tetsuya Harada
(I :33.625); 2. Jeremy McWilHams (1 :34.195): 3.
Deijiro Ketoh (1 :34.368); 4. Roberto Locatelli
(1:34.405): 5. Fonsi Nieto (1:34.624): 6. Franco
Battaini (1:34.789): 7. Alex Hofmann (1:34.862): 8.
Sebastian Porto (1:34.887); 9. David Checa
(1:34.950): 10. Emilio Alzamora (1:35.023): II.
Roberto Rolfo (1 :35.045); 12. Randy Oe Puniet
(1:35.048); 13. Lorenzo Lanzi (1:35.112): 14.
Sylvain Guintoli (1 :35.267); 15. Naoki Matsuda
(1:35.428): 16. Oavid De Gea (1:35.481); 17. Loca
Boscoscuro (1 :35.564); 18. Tero Sekiguchi
(1:35.837): 19. Shahrol Yuzy (1:35.851): 20. Alex
Debon (1:36.005); 21. Jeronimo Vidal (1:36.157):
22. David Tomas (1:36.658); 23. Diego Gjugovaz
(1:37.251): 24. Jay Vincent (1:37.477): 25. Cesar
Barros (1 :37.740); 26. Riccardo Chiarello (1 :37.988);
27. Joshua Brookes (1:38.290); 28. Luis Costa
(1:38.671); 29. Stuart Edwards (1:39.804): 30. Katja
Poensgen (1:39.996); 31. Mark Rowllng (1:40.026);
32. Shane Smith (1:40.035).
500cc Q