Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

!iiJfIJ[JiJ @(] (SDD@ !iiJ@@tJ5[JiJ®g U[Jo@ (JJf?®(J@[JiJ@@fflB falling out of this group, remounting just in time to nip past Pitt's Kawasaki over the line by two hundredths of a second. Rossi's fantastic points total now stands at 335, just five short of Doohan's 1997 points record total. Rossi need finish only in the top 10 at Valencia in two weeks to beat that. Biaggi has 199 and Ukawa 198 in the battle for second, with Barros closing fast on 179. Checa has 141, and nonstarter Norick Abe (injured in a practice crash) has 123. 250cc GRAND PRIX Elias led into the first corner, but by the end of the first lap Melandri was in front, and halfway around the second, Elias let teammate Nieto into second, and from then on the leading pair just kept pulling away. For the first half of the race, Nieto made the occasional attempt to get ahead, only for Melandri to pass him straight back. If the Spaniard was hoping to force an error, it was in vain. Then, with six laps to go, he changed his tactics, moving to the front and trying to open up a gap. Likewise in vain. Melandri could match his every move. On the 23rd lap, Nieto let him through and hung on his back wheel again, not wanting to lead the start of the last lap. Then it began. Nieto pushed through on the dive into the slow Siberia corner overlooking the sea. Melandri forced back inside into the next right-hander. Nieto was in front again at the next left and led in the final dive down the hill and hard braking for MG corner. It was the wrong place to be in front. Melandri took the chance for another forceful outbraking move, and led into the last set of fast corners. Nieto did his best to draft past at the line and only missed by inches. Elias had been passed by Rolfo after four laps, with Porto's Yamaha closing up rapidly to make a trio next time round, with Locatelli also closing to tag on behind, only to crash out on the sixth lap. The others stayed together until half-distance, then Not just one man, but three, working together - Kenny Roberts, owner of the Proton team and the man behind the three-cylinder lightweight 500, and his riders Jeremy McWilliams and Nobuatsu Aoki. Outpowered all year, some J 9 mph down on top speed, they didn't give up all weekend. McWilliams is, at 38, the oldest rider on the grid, but as determined as ever. Maybe more so. He came to Phillip Island determined to get pole position, and did so magnificently, coming out again for a ten-tenths flier after being deposed toward the end of the session. It was the fastest-ever two-stroke lap of the track. McWilliams spoiled it all with his usual slow start, and then it got worse when his brakes grabbed on lap four when he was making up positions, and he ended up last. "The real problem is the power and speed deficit. It's one thing you can't ride around. It was a frustrating race, but I had fun anyway," he said philosophically. Aoki was almost as fast in practice and actually produced a better race, battling with Biaggi throughout. "He was slowing me up on the twisty section, then coming past so fast every time down the straight. But for me everything was almost perfect today: engine, chassis, suspension and especially the Bridgestone tires. And me." Roberts had the final word, with the quote of the day. "I've finally figured it out," he said. "It's like when you have an old dog and you have to take her to the vet to be put down, and in the car she gets real frisky. That's what our bike is doing right now." Next year, the Protoneers get a V-five four-stroke of their own, "because I'm tired of seeing our riders get passed down the straight," says Roberts. If it's half as good as their two-stroke has finally become, after five hard years, and if the riders ride it half as hard, it might just be unbeatable. Elias started to lose touch. Porto just kept on following, waiting until the last lap before pouncing on the Honda to claim another podium finish. Elias continued to lose ground, while behind him de Puniet had caught Battaini, taking a couple of laps to get by and then rapidly closing on Elias. He was with him on lap 18, ahead of him two la ps later, but he couldn't escape, and he too fell victim to a last-lap pass. Battaini trailed in seventh; David Checa moved through from his gang for eighth; with Debon following on after he'd been his fellow Spaniard's last victim - all on Aprilias. Australian Casey Stoner had an up-and-down home GP, caught by the battling Haru Aoki (Honda RS-W) and Jara Hules (Yamaha), and losing (Rlghtl Rossi grabbed his 5oth-eareer Grand Prix victory and 11th of the year, at Phillip Island. (Belowl Carlos Checa (71 struggled all weekend. Here, he fights off the advances of Jeremy McWilliams (991, who had to fight his way through the pack from his horrible start from pole position. a second or more as they came past. The Aprilia rider steadily closed up again, and finally got ahead and pulled away for 10th. Lackluster factory Honda rider Emilio Alzamora was a lonely 11th, then came a furious privateer battle for the last points. Briton Jay Vincent had been in it before crashing out mid-pack on the exit from MG corner, lucky not to get hit and for none of them also to run into his Honda. After constant swapping, Matsudo's Yamaha led Yuzy's similar bike; Dirk Heidolf (Aprilia), Jakub Smrz and Leon Haslam (both Honda) were inches behind, but out of the points. So a second title is cut and dried, and went to a second Italian. Melandri (273) is uncatchable, Nieto (241) cue I e n e vv S • OCTOBER 30, 2002 13

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