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World Championship Road Race Series Round 12: Grand Prix 0'1' Rio the start, and was soon called in for a stop-and-go penalty. By now, Rolfo was heading the group, with Melandri, de Puniet, Elias, Battaini, Alzamora, Stoner, Vincent and Nieto all jammed up together and swapping back and forth. Vincent's run only lasted until lap five, when his Cibertel Honda seized, spoiling another wet-weather chance for the luckless British privateer. The track kept on getting drier until half-distance, with Melandri taking over in second, scrapping with Rolfo, Elias losing the group on lap 11 with a brief off-track excursion, but Battaini closing up. Nieto had been engaged with Stoner, but as de Puniet faded, soon to crash, he got ahead of the Australian, and when the rain began again on lap 13, he was working on closing a three-second gap to Elias, Stoner following along. Nieto was past his teammate, and now chasing Melandri, a shrinking 2.3 seconds ahead. Slowed in the early laps with too-soft suspension settings, he was now gaining speed as the rain grew worse. Then it all went wrong. He slid off and his bike was destroyed in the gravel trap - not only breaking a 20- race run of finishes in the points, but also dealing his title hopes a heavy blow. He made no attempt to hide his distress, punching the air as he stomped off, then slumping in despair by the barrier. There wasn't much change in the order from then until the finish, with Porto maintaining a 14-second lead over Rolfo, with Battaini slacking off his attacks to the finish. Melandri was safe in third, more than two seconds ahead of Elias, who had destroyed his front tire catching up after his grasstracking. Stoner was delighted with sixth after a difficult run with setup problems in recent races. "Today was a very good race for me," the young Australian said. "Especially after Estoril, where in the wet the bike was unrideable. I thought I could catch Elias and Melandri, but The most trenchant concerned sheer lack of vision - a leaking visor was the cause. "I was third going into the first turn, but then every time someone came past me, my visor would fill with water." Regaining confidence at half-distance, his lap times started to come down, but now a sliding front tire was another problem. Cardoso cruised steadily to 11 th, Aoki was battling a painful right arm and a lack of front grip and was 30 seconds behind the Spaniard, the last rider not to be lapped. Harada was a fair way behind him, then Hopkins, who had lost the front while lying 13th on lap nine, rejoining 16th and last, but in the points at the finish. Rossi now has a points lead of 106 over new second-placed man Biaggi, and cannot be caught even if he doesn't finish. another race this year. Biaggi has 164, with non-scorer Ukawa on 156, Barros taking fourth from Checa, 118 to 116, and Abe sixth on 109. 250cc GRAND PRIX The track was wet for the start, and Porto took off like the proverbial scalded cat, grabbing a 2.6-second lead on the first lap, more than doubling it on the second, and carrying on the same way until it was almost 10 seconds after just seven laps. He looked as though he was in a different class, and that's the way he carried on right to the finish. It was a resounding first win for a rider who has found form, and whose Yamaha has found some speed, late in the season. Elias led the pursuit, but by lap two wet-weather specialist Matsudo was up to second from the second row of the grid. Sadly, he bad jumped Masao Azuma (5) rode his Honda to victory In the 125cc Grand PrIx over Arnaud Vincent (21) and Manuel Pogglall (1). with six or seven laps to go one of my silencers broke, and I lost some acceleration. " Alzamora dropped back to seventh, well clear of Matsudo, charging angrily through after his stop-and-go penalty. The last person he passed was former teammate Shahrol Yuzy (Petronas Yamaha), who was narrowly ahead of the battling pair Leon Haslam (Cibertel Honda) and Jaroslav Hules (Dark Dog Yamaha), with the English rider taking the top10 finish. With Marchand, Aoki and Debon also crashing out, and Locatelli pitting to retire, there were just 17 finishers. Melandri now has a handy points lead of 45 over Nieto, 228 points to 183. Rolfo is closing again on 160, and Porto moves to fourth with 135, ahead of Elias on 116, with Battaini on 104. 125cc GRAND PRIX Soft rain had all but stopped when the race began, and the track was damp rather than wet. Soon it was getting patchily dry, favoring those with a drier tire choice. Talmacsi led away, but by lap two Vincent was past, Cecchinello and Poggiali close Sebastian Porto was In a class br himself In the 250cc Grand Prix. The Argentinean shot off from the start and was never headed, cruising to victory _me 14 seconds ahead of second place. behind the Hungarian - and Pedrosa about to crash out from 16th place. Rising youngster Hector Barbera was also with the leading group, as well as Swiss Thomas Leuthi, but Leuthj would crash after four laps, from fourth, and Barbera would start dropping back after half-distance. By now, title rivals Vincent and Poggiali had opened up a significant lead, while Nieto was in third ahead of Talmacsi. The leading pair was hard at it: Poggiali several times passing Vincent into the first corner, only for ·the positions to ,be reversed again two corners later. They carried on in this fashion until two-thirds distance, when it started raining again. By now, Azuma had picked his way through from 12th on lap one to fifth, and then third, heading a gang comprising Talmacsi, Perugini and Nieto. But he didn't hang around. He was lapping better than two seconds a lap quicker The candidates included Carlos Checa - last off the grid to first, and the gravel: and Kenny Roberts Jr. - from row four of the grid to the lead for half the race. But on this weekend, nobody can take the honor away from Valentino Rossi, who did everything right to claim another classic World Championship - his fourth. Rossi almost always does everything right. It's hard to remember any mistak~s. He feU off chasing Roberts at Valencia in 2000; and crashed twice in streaming rain at MugeUo . last year. And this year, he made a bad tire choice in South Africa, and finished second instead of first. The only other race he didn't win was Bmo, where his rear Michelin disintegrated. . He is a giant of the sport, and if he has become a rather more remote figure than his early days as a fun-loving, ever-slTU1ing 125-riding teenager, that is understandable, given the pressure of fame. Not yet 24, he has now racked up 23 wins in the premier class. This takes him past .giants of the sport Geoff Duke, Kenny Roberts and John Surtees. By the end of the year, he will probably also outrank Wayne Rainey (24 wins) and Kevin Schwantz (25). That leaves only Giacomo Agosini ~68). Mick Doohan (54), Mike Hailwood (37) and Eddie Lawson (31). And he's only been in the class three years. The adulation may be wearying, but nobody can say he doesn't deserve it aU. 14 OCTOBER 2, 2002' cue I • n • _ s