World Championship Road Race Series
Round 6: Catalunyan Grand Prix
By
PHOTOS
MICHAEL SCOTT
By GOLD & GOOSE
CATALaNYA, SPAIN, JaNE 15
lassie. Historic. And punishingly
hot. The Catalunyan Grand Prix
was all of these things, and a day to
remember and celebrate.
The last time an Italian rider won a
race on an Italian motorcycle was in
1976 - Giacomo Agostini on an MV
Agusta at the Nurburgring. And it was
by miles.
His successor was Loris Capirossi,
on a Ducati at Montmelo. This time it
was by inches, after a stirring race
that had him fighting every sunbaked
inch over 25 laps of the 2.93-mile
Circuit de Catalunya.
It was a remarkable performance
for a motorcycle in only its sixth race,
against the assembled might of
Japan. But it was only a matter of
time, considering the superpowerful
Desmosedici's towering straight-line
speed and Capirossi's spirited riding.
Just to underline the Italian company's racing preeminence, they
backed it up with a double win in the
World Superbike race at Silverstone.
Capirossi, the former 125 and
250cc World Champion, basked in
the glory. "It's been a fantastic day
for me, the team, Ducati, Marlboro
16
JUNE
25, 2003'
cue I
e
and everyone who believes in us," he
said, after wiping away the tears that
flowed when they played his national
anthem during the rostrum ceremony. "The bike is very fast, but we
need to improve the setup. I never
believed we would win a race
so soon."
The Ducati
Desmosedici is
only six races
old, and yet it has
already passed a
very significant
milestone - Loris
Capirossi rode the
Ducati to victory at
Catalunya, the first
time in 27 years an
Italian man and
machine
combination have
topped the podium.
n
II!
vv
S
But if had heaped garlands on his
head, there was one rider who had
done even more - second-placed
Valentino Rossi, who produced a towering performance in the closing laps,
after an uncharacteristic
blunder under
Loris Capirossi (65) leads the pack
into tum one at the start of the
Catalan Grand Prix just outside of
Barcelona, Spain.
saw him run off the track into the
gravel to avoid hitting Capirossi from
behind.
Rossi re-joined in sixth with just
nine laps to,go. As well as a gap of
more· than 8.5 seconds from
