Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

for a second consecutive rostrum finish. Roberto Rolfo (Fortuna Honda) was a close fifth; Casey Stoner (Safilo Oxydo Aprilia) struggled to 11th, blaming two practice crashes that left him short of setup time. The race brought heartbreak to Sebastian Porto and the Petronas Yamaha team. He led for the first 12 laps of his 100th GP, only to seize and retire, punching the fuel tank in frustration. Frenchman Arnaud Vincent and his Scrab Aprilia claimed his second win of the season in the 125cc class after a stirring ride, charging through from 14th on the first lap to finish inches ahead of Assen winner Dani Pedrosa (Telefonica MoviStar Honda) and defending champion Manuel Poggiali (Gilera). MotoGP "I got passed by three riders off the start and took a long time to get back in front. It was really a shame - the bike was perfect today," he said. "In the end, I took a lot of risks to catch Biaggi, but when he saw I was closing, he stepped up the pace again, and it was impossible." West Honda team owner Sito Pons quantified the situation. "On the first lap, he lost 3.6 seconds to the leader, and this distance was maintained throughout nearly all the race." Antena 3 Yamaha's Norick Abe pulled through steadily to a secure fourth, dropping a big mid-field battle after cutting through, more than 15 seconds behind Barros. Then came the remnants of the group: Gauloises Yamaha's Olivier Jacque finally getting ahead of hard-riding Sete Gibernau and his Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki with three laps to go and lead- ing the four-stroke over the line by less than half a second. Fortuna Honda's Daijiro Kato was just over half-a-second adrift, overcoming pain from a broken bone in his right hand from a practice crash; three seconds behind, John Hopkins was eighth after a high-risk ride on the Red Bull Yamaha, passing Nobuatsu Aoki's Proton KR3 on the final lap. Then came Shinya Nakano and his Gauloises Yamaha, Pramac Honda's Tetsuya Harada and Red Bull's Garry McCoy, the returned Australian showing flashes of his tire-sliding form toward the end of the race. He led another close group, with Suzuki wild card Akira Ryo close behind, then Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki's Kenny Roberts Jr., dropping back almost all race long after starting in fourth position. Jurgen van den Goorbergh fol- Checa (7) and Rossi (46) were able to get their four-strokes to the front, but a gaggle of two-strokes were hot on their heels for most of the race. lowed, with Regis Laconi and the MS Aprilia less than a second down, but out of the points in 16th. After the race, Roberts revealed the reason for his decline - armpumping "compartment syndrome" problems that will require immediate surgery, putting the 2000 World Champion out of next weekend's German GP. Earlier, MS Aprilia's Marco Melandri firmly repulsed Fonsi Nieto and the Telefonica MoviStar Repsol Aprilia to claim a fourth win in succession and extend his points lead. Nieto's teammate Toni Elias was a superb third, passing Franco Battaini (Imola Aprilia) on the last lap Checa leaped away from the start, with Rossi and Biaggi tucked in behind, Roberts holding fourth, but losing ground from the third lap, overtaken by Barros on the fifth. The Brazilian had also had to find his way past Harada and Aoki, who had gotten away well from the first and the third rows of the grid. Up front, the leading trio gradually pulled away, at a fearsome pace, Rossi sometimes seeming poised for a pass, and at other times losing ground again; Biaggi not quite close enough to playa part. Checa was still in front at the end of lap 18, when he dived into the bumpy Goddards hairpin, the last corner. The front wheel gently slid, and he hit the deck, sprinting straight to the bike to restart as the other two sped away. From then on, Rossi gradually stretched away, sliding the rear in accomplished fashion through the fast sweepers, completely in control. A giant in action. There was plenty of action in the group behind. Roberts gradually dropped back, and on lap nine Aoki's Proton was in front of Harada, Roberts, Kato, Abe (moving through steadily), Gibernau, Hopkins and Jacque. Hopkins had lost several places earlier with a couple of slips. Shortly before half-distance, Aoki's Bridgestones started to go off, and both Abe and Harada got past. Kato and Gibernau were right there; Hopkins and Jacque engaged close behind as Roberts continued to fade, his arm-pumping problem getting worse and his spirit sinking along with his position. Abe continued to draw ahead of the gang, and on lap 22 Gibernau got to the head of them, now lying fifth, with Jacque having bullied his way through onto his back wheel. Both were overcoming handling problems; This was obviously the tuming point in the race - Checa crashing out on the 18th lap. handing Rossi an eas», victor)'. cue I e n e _ S • JULv24,2002 35

• Cover