Rossi leads, Rossi leads. Valentino
Rossi (46) won the .Japanese Grand
PrIx but not before doing batUe with
Max Blaggl(3) and Loris Capirossl (65).
Rossi's joy was tempered by the
severity of the injuries to Telefonica
MoviStar Honda's Daijiro Kato and a
general feeling among the riders that
the circuit had become outmoded
and unsafe. The former 250cc World
Champion, who just became a father
for the second time three days before
the race, was seriously injured when
he crashed approaching the chicane
on the third lap. Race officials said
they were at a loss to come up with a
cause for the crash, which left the
four-time Japanese 250cc GP champion in a nearby hospital fighting for
his life with head, neck and chest
injuries.
Camel Honda Pons' Tohru Ukawa,
who was behind Kato at the time, initially said he believed there was incidental contact between Kato and
another rider, either Marlboro
Ducati's Troy Bayliss or Fortuna
Yamaha's Carlos Checa - he didn't
know which - which caused Kato's
front brake to jam on and throw him
to the ground. Both riders, through
intermediaries, denied making contact with Kato. Checa said he
believed there was a mechanical
problem which may have caused
Kato's front brakes to lock up.
Finishing second to Rossi was rival
Max Biaggi in his first race on the
Camel Honda Pons' machine, with
the Marlboro Ducati of Loris Capirossi
making it an Italian sweep of the
podium - an impressive first race for
the Ducati Desmosedici.
"Today my rhythm is very good,"
said Rossi. who won here for the third
year in a row. "Today we have a good
fight with [Max] Biaggi and [Loris]
cue
I
e
Capirossi, and after I try to go, but it
is very windy, and I have a difficult
ride. Winning Suzuka is already special and 25 points for the championship is very important. n
Rossi completed the 21-laps, 76mile race in 44 minutes, 13.182 seconds at an average speed of 96.901
mph. Because the track has recently
been altered, both are new records.
A Ducati leads a MotoGP for the first
time. Capirossi also took a tum at the
front, and he would ultimately finish
third In the debut race for the new
bike and team.
n
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APRIL 16. 2003
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