Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128212
Jeremy McWilliams, who crashed in his narrowly successful attempt to avoid running over the American. Ahead of this, Marlboro Ducati's Troy Bayliss had leapt into the lead from the third row and stayed up front until Gibernau took over on lap 11 when he ran wide. Soon afterward Camel Honda's Max Biaggi also got by, but Bayliss gave Rossi a torrid time, repassing the champion several times before the Italian fin-ally got away to start closing on the leaders. Biaggi was third and Bayliss fourth - another hugely impressive result for the Ducati, racing at the high-altitude circuit for the first time, and for the rider, in only his second Grand Prix and also at a strange track. "I had the feeling I shouldn't be there: Bayliss joked afterward. Six seconds behind, Tech 3 Yamaha's Alex Barros won a sustained battle at the hard-to-pass track from last year's winner Tohru Ukawa and his Camel Honda, charging rookie Nicky Hayden and his Repsol Honda, last-lap loser Norick Abe and his Fortuna Yamaha, and his teammate Carlos Checa. Ex-125cc World Champion Manuel Poggiali became the first rider in his- in seventh and eighth. Honda's Dani Pedrosa claimed victory by inches at the end of a typically fraught last lap to the 125cc GP. The Spanish youngster forced his way to the front of a six-strong leading pack that crossed the line within less than two seconds, with Honda-mounted Andrea Dovizioso second and Steve Jenkner and his Aprilia third. The big loser was Aprilia's Youichi Ui, starting from pole and leading until halfway around the last lap. Off on the dirt at the exit from the last corner, he was fourth, ahead of Pablo Nieto and Alex de Angelis (both Aprilia). Suzuka winner Stefano Perugini pulled out on the first lap of a crash-free race. MOTOGP Roberts' disaster started on the second turn on the warm-up lap after a flexible hose on his Suzuki GSV-R split and started spraying oil out at high pressure. He had laid a long streak for almost a third of the lap before he became aware, and after trying for a quick restart, the magnitude of the cleaning job meant that they scheduled a new start some 50 minutes late. &.rI1s8 (12) was the big winner In the aftel'llNlth of the s1art incident, taIdng the lead Mtd atQing there for 10 laps before GIbe...... and later RoaI (4eJ got br. nau said. "I felt Kato with me all weekend. It fell to me to pay this tribute to him, but I do so on behalf of all the riders, the teams and the fans." Rossi agreed, after he had been firmly held back in the final laps. "Sete seemed to have his aggression and Kato's smoothness," he said. "I couldn't pass him." The effect was visible to spectators, too. When Rossi took second with five laps left, Gibemau started to make little mistakes and look ragged as the champion closed up steadily. Then he pulled it all together again to ride almost perfectly to a narrow win, the second of his career. Their battle in the closing laps was a riveting climax to a thrilling second race of the season. The start was delayed by almost an hour after Kenny Roberts' Suzuki spilled oil around several corners after a pipe fractured on the warm-up lap. Then there was a potentially horrifying start-line crash, when Alice Aprilia's Colin Edwards lost control on the dirty surface and speared off at an angle. He hit several other riders before he finally fell off right in front of Proton's KTM's vivid orange livery clothes one of the neatest bikes in the paddock. Designed by Har· aid Bartol, the man who brought Derbi and Gilera to title victory, the single-cylinder two· stroke 125 is exquisite in detail and managed to finish in the points in only its second race. Australian technical guru Warren WilJing has also joined KTM, mainly to work on developing the new V-four MotoGP racer. That is still in its earliest stages, so now he is with the little bike after a career spent in the top class. And he is finding it fascinating. "Because a 125 has much narrower tires and higher comer speed, the chassis performance is even more crucial than with a 500 or a MotoGP bike," he said. The stresses through the chassis were much less, especially because it doesn't have a massive power output to distort the chassis and torture the tires. "But the stiffness ratios are even more important," he said. "This bike is at an early stage, and both riders (Vincent and Locatelli) have l -....._~no experience with it, so we are still working towards a good base setting. "Since the first race, we have made two different swing-arms with different stiffness. We're getting there," he said. One aspect of the KTM that shows the attention to detail is the very small air intake in the fairing nose for the airbox. This expands inside the fairing as a sort of reverse cone. The reason is to slow down th.e airflow before it gets to the carburetor. cycle n e vv s