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/128215
World Championship Road Racing Series Round 3: Spanish Grand Prix alentino Rossi was back to his magnificent best as the European GP season started in blazing sunshine in front of a capacity crowd of almost 130,000 fans at Jerez for the Spanish Grand Prix. The defending first MotoGP champion hadn't made the front row of the grid after failing to find the right balance between traction and cornering grip at a circuit made slippery by the heat. It was the Marlboro Ducati Desmosedicis of Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss that dominated the front row. But they bumped into each other on the warmup lap, an omen that things would not be quite so easy in the race. Although Capirossi led the first three of 27 laps of the 2.74-mile circuit, he was heading for a fall. And by then Rossi and his Repsol Honda had surged into the lead and embarked on a most convincing demonstration of machine and rider superiority that yielded him a new lap record, a fifth win at Jerez, an extended lead in the World Championship, and the 150th premier class race win for an Italian, putting them equal with the USA. His domination made the front of the race rather dull, after some high drama in the opening laps had eliminated South African GP winner Sete Gibernau and his Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki in a seventh-lap tumble from second place, and seen Capirossi slide off before half distance. It was this pair who sparked Rossi up. "I was pushed wide at the first turn and lost some places - but when I saw Capirossi and Gibernau going away at the front, I didn't want Welkom to happen again, so I pushed very hard," Rossi said. Seventh at the end of lap one, he was second next time around and took the lead on the fourth. Second went to Camel Honda's Max Biaggi, who drew steadily away from the Ducatis at the same rate as Rossi was drawing away from him. When Capirossi crashed out, that left Troy Bayliss in a safe but lonely third on the second Duke. "The race was pretty dull," Bayliss said, nursing a badly bruised leg after Capirossi had collided with him in a fraught warm-up lap incident triggered when the Australian slowed his pace to let other riders past, only for Capirossi to come upon him tucked in tight at 155 mph, unable to avoid a glancing blow that hurt his arm and knocked one handlebar awry. Camel Honda's Tohru Ukawa was just four seconds behind, the victor of a three-bike battle from Gauloises 18 n By MICHAEL SCOTT PHOTOS BY GOLD £, GOOSE JEREZ, SPAIN, MAY II V MAY 21, 2003' II: U II: I e • vv s Yamaha's Alex Barros ~llfliAll~~~::tP~~ Bridgestone-shod class "o1d~J~~~~;~I';~l~ Tamada and his Pramac IlClIIdflL;.,,-~:~,c; Suzuki's John Hopkin '::~=~\F'~ ahead in the early laps bu the troubled new GSV-R its ~ tH~~~er~:~ of the year with seventh, acnr......... "l.. spite of a broken bolt that m¥ii:t". .i:.>,:~ left footpeg assembly came 10 only the second lap, forcing th year-old Californian to adapt shifting style while holding the pe place with his foot. D'Antin Yamah Shinya Nakano came within inches catching Hopkins pn the last lap. Proton KR's Nobuatsu Aoki was a