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World Championship Road Race Series Round 2: South African Grand Prix "With his power advantage I couldn't pass him, so I was waiting for him to make a mistake," said Aoki, in what may be his final race on a twostroke. "Unfortunately, he didn't." He was three seconds adrift after losing touch in the last laps. Hopkins was next, soldiering on with his painful hand and recalcitrant Suzuki. "I just kept clean and went for the finish," he said later. Tamada was another 11 seconds down after losing a lot of ground at the start. He did beat Roberts, who claimed the last point but in a very disgruntled mood. "This bike is unrideabJe for me," he said succinctly. The Kawasakis had another difficult time, Andrew Pitt running stronger than Garry McCoy with a good midrace run, though 20 seconds adrift at the end. McCoy was a lap down and last, at the track where he claimed his first win in 2000, blaming traction problems and devastating front-wheel chatter for a dreadful afternoon. 12 MAY 7, 2003ยท c u e I e Loris Capirossi also had a hard time on the second Ducati, running off on the second turn, rejoining well down the field then running off again before retiring. The official reason was that although the bike was "running perfectly," with little chance of scoring points, he thought it safer to retire. Others told a different story. The Ducati was leaking copious quantities of fluid. Aoki thought it was water, McCoy oil, and clearly all was not well. Rossi still leads on points, 45 to Gibernau's 39, with Biaggi on 36. Bayliss has 24, Barros 19 and Hayden 18. 250cc GRAND PRIX De Puniet and Nieto disputed the lead on the first lap, but by the end of it the Frenchman was in front, with Elias up to second. Poggiali was fifth, behind Battaini. The last-named was through to second by lap three, with Poggiali waiting one more lap before moving to second, then taking the lead with a clean move on lap six. From then on he and de Puniet were battling nonstop, trading fastest n e _ s The memory of Daijiro Kato was already being kept fresh by a number of riders wearing black armbands or his racing number 74. The greatest possible tribute came from his teammate Sete Gibemau, with an emotional pole position. It was Gibemau's second-ever pole, and his first since 1999, at the same circuit. And it was somewhat emphatic in spite of the closeness of the times. He had already gone fast enough to remain out of reach, even when Valeptino Rossi went out for a late charge on a new tire. Th'en he underlined it by going even faster. "It fell to me to lead the tribute we all wish to offer to Kato," said Gibernau afterward. "Though I have to say it was not a coincidence - we've had a good preseason, and we continue to work hard. Tomorrow will be tough, but I hope Daijiro continues to give us his support, because today I felt that he was pushing me from above." The sentiment came after a hectic session. With the sun blazing down both days and the track fUlly resurfaced - improving both grip and the notorious bumps - the field ended up very close and the first 18 inside last year's lap record and less than 1.5 seconds off pole. With lots of technical sections and relatively short straights, the Phakisa Freeway puts less emphasis on speed than Suzuka and evens up the pitch. All the same, the first three places went to Hondas, with Loris Capirossi putting the Ducati fourth for the Italian bike's first front-row start. Gibemau set his time with about 15 minutes to go. In the last five minutes there were challengers galore, and the makeup of the front two rows shifted almost by the minute. Rossi's attempt saw him fastest in several sections but ending up just a tenth short. He was halfway around a follow-up lap when he slowed and cruised back to the pits. His biggest problem was not pole but his own condition: suffering from flu, he'd been under treatment for some days. "I'm feeling a lot better, but still not 100 percent," he said. "We've been working hard to get a good setup. With the new surface the track is different from last year." Max Biaggi was another late charger, after suffering engine problems on the first day. He ended up less than two- hundredths slower after a run of immaculate laps. "I lost some time changing tires, so maybe with one more lap I could have pushed harder," he said. Uke Rossi, however, he said: "I am happy that pole went to Sete and his team. Maybe that's the best way to honor Kato." Capirossi added to the drama, pushing for a fast lap only to crash out with less than 10 minutes to go. He managed to get to the Desmosedici before the engine died and rode back to the pits, where he jumped on his less-favored second bike and went out on the charge again. He was up to third, pushed to fourth by Biaggi. "The front row is so important here because it is so hard to pass," he said. It was another impressive performance from the Ducati, at the track for the first time. "Don't forget we came here with no data for the circuit, and we've had just four hours track time. Anywhere on the front row has to be good," added Capirossi. All this pushed Shinya Nakano off an erstwhile front row position, the Japanese rider fast on both days, and spoiled the hopes of last year's winner, Tohru Ukawa, a close sixth. Carlos Checa was next after a big improvement on the second day. This, he said, came courtesy of a major improvement in chassis balance, achieved simply by setting changes that went back toward last year's bike. "I feel more comfortable and have a clearer idea of what I need to improve," he said. "At least now I am enjoying riding much more. I can brake, open and flick in the right areas. This has been impossible for quite a while. I was riding so rigidly before.. Now I don't look like a plastic toy rider any more." Colin Edwards also put in a bid at the end, looking threatening and ending up eighth. "It's little by little," he said. "We're working on the problems and getting better aU the time." Troy Bayliss led row three, less than six-tenths off pole. "We made a couple of setup changes and maybe went the wrong way, then' made a mistake on my fast lap. The third row isn't great, but overall we're not bad," he said. Alex Barros was alongside, missing his chances of finding anyone to follow and still complaining of some pain from his Suzuka knee injury. Nicky Hayden was next, quipping: "I've never ridden so hard for the third row." Then came Jacque. Jeremy McWilliams led row three after two days of blindingly fast on-the-Iimit riding on what he hopes will be his last race on a 500cc two-stroke. His time put him sixth, but he had to watch his position drop. "That lap was already over the limit. I didn't think I could do it again," he said, adding: "' didn't expect to be among the four-strokes. Some of them must feel quite frustrated after spending so much money to develop new bikes, and we're still there with them." Norick Abe was next, on the injured Marco Melandrl's Yamaha, then Nobuatsu Aoki on the second Proton two-stroke, and only then the troubled Suzukis. Both John Hopkins (16th) and Kenny Roberts Jr. (17th) ran into fly-by-wire throttle problems in the last session. "We're just nowhere near the level we need to be competitive," said Roberts. Makado Tamada, second-session crasher Norick Haga and the Kawasakis of Andrew Pitt and Garry McCoy fmished up the field.