Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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nice to have so many riders come past me into the first turn," said the Spaniard - he finished the first lap 12th. But a steady recovery saw him pick his way through to his best result of the season. "Conditions were very delicate. Considering my start, I'm happy with second," he said. Ukawa was third, saying: "I passed Rossi early on and tried to stay ahead, but when he passed me again I nearly crashed several times trying to keep his pace. Then the same thing happened when Checa passed me." Kenny Roberts Jr. was fourth after a fast start and a steady ride. "This bike is still very young, and it's not to the point where it feels part of me, and me part of it. We're getting there, but until we do I can't really let loose," he said. West Honda Pons' Alex Barros was fifth and first two-stroke home, after tailing Max Biaggi's Marlboro Yamaha for almost the full race distance, then nipping past on the final lap. They had almost caught Roberts at the finish, some 40 seconds behind the leader. A long way back came the rest of the hard-to-handle two-strokes: Norick Abe (Antena 3 Yamaha) ahead of rookie John Hopkins (Red Bull Yamaha), in the top 10 again and the last rider on the same lap as the leaders. Jeremy McWilliams was ninth after starting with the leaders, falling off the Proton, then remounting. Then came Tetsuya Harada, Garry McCoy and Shiny a Nakano, who had also fallen and got back on. Others did not have the chance - Daijiro Kato, Loris Capirossi, Regis Laconi, Olivier Jacque and Pere Riba all crashed out terminally, while Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Kanemoto Honda) and Nobuatsu Aoki (Proton KR3) broke down in the early stages. Rossi's victory was his ninth In 11 races, and he's getting close to wrapping up his second-straight World Championship and the first-ever MotoGP title. The deluge began on race morn- and he too remounted, after a spec- ing, and continued almost without tacular 360-degree horizontal donut pausing until the final checkered flag. while he made sure to keep his By the end of the day, there had been remount and then win Uoining Mike Hailwood and Ralf Waldmann on that particular rostrum). He was one of 16 crashers in the race, with the steady rain redoubling for the last five of 26 laps. Nieto had been waving to get the race stopped as title rival Marco Melandri and the MS Aprilia closed to within just over half a second at the finish, after playing a waiting game. Pole starter Sebastian Porto and his Petronas Yamaha was a cautious third, Fortuna Honda's Roberto Rolfo a distant fourth after a stop-and-go penalty for a jumped start. There was heartbreak also for Japanese rider Naoki Matsuda, who secured a huge lead in the early laps, and was still in front with five laps to go, when he upped his pace to keep clear of the closing Nieto. Instead, he fell while braking, damaging his bike too badly to continue. Briton Jay Vincent also suffered crushing disappointment, after tailing then passing Melandri for third, only to become yet another crash victim a few corners later. Aprilia's Arnaud Vincent led almost from start to finish to win an extraordinary 125cc race of attrition, taking the points lead from Gilera's Manuel Poggiali, who was one of 22 crash victims in a damp race, with five of those falling off twice to make a total of 27 crashes. Vincent took the lead on the second lap, and lost it only on the final lap when Aprilia's Simone Sanna, who had been close since before half· distance, dived inside at the secondlast chicane. But Sanna was too fast, sliding and almost crashing on the last corner, giving Vincent the lead back again. Sanna survived for second, and Steve Jenkner was third after surviving a big moment while battling Sanna in the later stages. Fourth-placed Pablo Nieto was 45 seconds adrift; only 11 riders were on the same lap as the leader. The other title contender, Dani Pedrosa, was 10th after also crashing and remounting. engine running. He remounted in sev- a record 67 crashes. enth and pushed through to win, One of the victims was Telefonica becoming only the third person in MoviStar Repsol Honda's Fonsi Nieto, motorcycle racing history to fall off, MotoGP Warm-up was at least wet enough to give riders the chance to adjust to conditions reminiscent of the Great Flood, and Proton rider Jeremy McWilliams was the fastest. We could be in for an upset. Or certainly an eventful afternoon. There was little doubt about tire choice on the streaming track - full wets all around. Barros got away first, with Rossi, Roberts and McWilliams tailing him into the first corner. Jacque and Riba didn't make the end of the first lap, "Okay, you win, I finish second. Now we dance." Carlos Checa congratulates Rossi. cycle n e _ S • SEPTEMBER 18, 2002 9