World Championship Road Race Series
Round 15: Australian Grand Prix
stroke star Alex Barros, in his third
race on the RCV.
Barros led the first 22 of 27 laps of
the classic 2.75-mile Phillip Island
circuit - windy but sunny and dry for
the 40,000 fans. Rossi was threaten-
By MICHAEL SCOTT
PHOTOS BY GOLD & GOOSE
PHIWP ISLAND, AUSTRAliA, OCT. 20
Y
alentino Rossi achieved another
personal record at the Australian
GP. His 11th win in 15 races this year
was the Italian four-time World
Champion's 50th-career win.
It didn't necessarily come easily,
after two races when he seemed to be
out of sorts with the bike, and at a
track where the obsolescent twostrokes had posed an unexpected
threat to four-stroke domination, taking the first four places on the starting grid.
This time, though, Rossi had gotten back in tune with the Repsol
RC2UV Honda and was happy again,
while the two-stroke challenge melted
away on the Phillip Island straight but he still had to beat new four(Top) The front row at Phillip Island
had an unlikely group of protagonists,
all on two-strokes, and three out of
four of them on Bridgestone tires.
Garry McCoy (8) got the holeshot,
while Jurgen van den Goorbergh (17)
also got away well.
(Right) Alex Barros was once again on
Incredible form on the Honda RC211V
four·stroke • proving once again that
he deserves to be the West Honda
Pons rider with the privilege to ride
their only four-stroke.
10
OCTOBER 30,
2002'
cue
•
•
ne""s
ing almost throughout, the pair
smashing. the lap record several times
(it finally went to Rossi). And when
the champ did finally get past, the
Brazilian veteran stayed with him for
a last-lap attack. He pulled alongside
into the Honda Hairpin, and might
even have made it - but it was too
much too late, and instead he had to
pick the bike up and take to the
escape road.
"I knew then that I could win," said
