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Rossi wheelles across the finish line. Franco Battaini claim sixth, the Aprilia rider's second-best result of a poor season, after catching Matsudo and fending him off over the line by inches. Alex Hofmann was close behind, after also closing on this group. Sylvain Guintoli was a lonely ninth, only two seconds ahead of Rolfo, who had passed the battling Melandri and de Puniet (all on Aprilias) on the last storming lap. It had been a battle for Melandri, still in pain from his broken right hand. Some way back, Luca Boscoscuro led a big midfield group from Debon (both Aprilia), Checa (Honda). and David Tomas (Honda), who missed the last point by less than a tenth. Katoh is now unassailable on 297 points, Harada has 263, while Melandri (174) is under threat from Rolfo (169), and Nieto closing on 154. 12Scc GRAND PRIX Pole-starter Elias got away well, but his teammate Pedrosa was even better, and they led Ui and Cecchinel10 around the wide sweeps of the fine circuit. By the end of the lap, however, Ui's conspicuously fast Derbi was in front, and he stayed there all the way, setting a new lap record in the process that was even faster than pole time. That came on lap seven, which was when he first broke from the pursuit, and he continued to draw away until he was fully six seconds clear with two laps to go. Clearly he remembered last year here, when he faded at the finish to lose the lead to eventual champion Locatelli on the very last corner. When he broke, Borsoi led the pack of six, but the wide track gives many alternative comer lines, and the shuffling went on until the finish. (Left) Rossi - undeniably the best rider In the world right now proved to the world why he Is the 2001 500cc Champion with his 10th race win of the year at Sepang. (Right) Uke Rossi in 50Gs, Daijiro Katoh has completely dominated the 250cc class, winning his 10th race of the year and taking the title with a race to spare. The Petronas-Sauber three-cylinder GP challenger made its public debut on the eve of the Malaysian GP - with ex-GP star and triple British champion Niall Mackenzie essaying a couple of slow but impressively noisy laps at a ceremonial launch in the home of the Petronas backers. If nothing else, the PSE triple - named the GP1 - won the decibel wars. Th~ sound is less complex than that of the Honda V5 seen at Motegi two weeks before. But it was at least as plentiful, and possibly more so . echoing impressively off the parasol roof of the Sepang grandstands. Rider Mackenzie, who is three times British champion, confirmed he had been taking it easy - barely leaning off the vertical in the comers. "If I'd have dropped it, they'd have thrown me off the top of the Petronas towers: he quipped. The engine was limited to 13,000 rpm - and it proved a challenge keeping it off the rev-limiter, which would have caused an unimpressive popping and banging. "It picks up the revs so quick from 10,500 that it's hard to catch it," said Mackenzie. The Scotsman was to stay on in Malaysia for further tests, during which the rev ceiling would be raised to the eventual target of 16,000 rpm. After the roll-out, PSE chief engineer Osamu Goto described the changes to the Mk2 engine, compared with the Mk1 motor shown at the first GP'of the year at Suzuka, and also the press at a visit to the PSE headquarters in August. The biggest change has been a switch from pneumatic valve springs to conventional steel. "To make 220 horsepower, which is what we believe is necessary, you don't need such high revs, and steel springs are sufficient," he said. The cylinders are also no longer vertical, but leaning backward by a couple of degrees. This improved the intake path, he said, and "makes it easier to adjust the engine position." (The Sauber motor had forward-facing air intakes, with the exhausts running straight out the rear.) It was also smaller than the first motor, criticized for its tall appearance, by 55mm, said Goto. The reduction had come half from the cylinder head, and half in the block. Goto reiterated his reasons for choosing three cylinders. "Ten kilograms," he said· the weight difference between three and four· or five-cylinder designs. "Honda and Yamaha are wrong: he added, "though they have commercial reasons for their decisions, where we were able to think.only about the technical reasons." Petronas-Sauber were undismayed by the fact that their name is not included on the entry list for next year . or for the follOWing four years, according to a list released by Doma at the Japanese GP two weeks ago. "We never planned to go racing In 2002. If we had had everything in place, maybe we would have done so. But two weeks ago, when Dorna asked if we would definitely be ready, we said no: said PSE's Paul Fricker. But if testing went successfully, the engine would be available to existing teams from 2003, he said. "In five months, we have built five motors and two complete motorcycles," he said. "There is no firm decision yet on whether we will have our own team, but we would expect to have more than one team using our motor. We have been in close contact with Doma and IRTA, and when we have a complete race-read¥ motorcycle. we will talk to Carmelo (Ezpeleta, of Dorna), and 1 believe we could find a route onto the grid.' Poggiali finished the first lap down in 11 th, but gradually picked his way forward to tag on to the leaders by lap six. He carried on making progress in the serum, and by half distance he was fifth, and still moving cue I _ forward. Two laps later he was third, with Cecchinello now leading the group, and with five to go the Italians changed places. Elias was at the back of the group at half-distance, then with three laps n __ S • OCTOBER 31, 2001 9