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/128232
Loris Capirossi (6 5) leads Rossi (46). Gib!U'"au (151 and Troy Bayli ss (12) early in the ra ce. li di ng agai n as they crossed the li ne . A lex de Ang elis was th ird , with point s leader Dan i Pedrosa a cl ose four th . Th e f i rs t - l a p c r a s h el i m i n at e d Youichi Ui (Gilera) and Marco Sim on celli (M atteo ni Aprilia ) . U i wa s co n cussed and di d not ma ke the resta rt . Aft er th e r a c e , 14 t h - p la c e d M i ka Kalli o was disqualified for being 700 grams below the weight lim it. MOTOG P w id e . H e a nd G ibern au c h a nged places three t im es o n t h e l ast la p, wi th Capiross i pre vail in g by a hun dre dth of a second after u sin g th e Desmosedic i' s su perior power for a la st -g asp lu n g e down the finishing stra ig ht. "I co uldn't quite m atch the p ace of Ro ss i an d B i a g gi , and I en ded up chasi ng Sete after a little mistake at hal f di st an c e," Cap irossi said . " O n the last lap I passed him in turn one , th en 1 had a big slide that let hi m by again . I used my bik e ' s e xce l l en t engine to pass him 20 m et ers before the finish . I reall y wanted that podi um. " Gib ernau b lam ed " a sma ll tec hn ical p rob lem" fo r n o t b eing ab le to ch allenge for th e win . " I ha v e t o sit d own with Honda and an aly ze th e prob lem ," he said. Camel Hond a Pon s' T ohru Ukawa finally took fifth ahead of a persistent Troy Bayliss and hi s Marlboro D ucati, the Australi an dropp ing t o sev enth behind F ortun a Yamaha's Marc o Me l andri before fighting ba ck aga in . Seventh was still Melandri's best fin ish since join in g the big cl ass. Fortu na Yamaha' s Carl o s Ch eca w as a c ou p le of secon d s bac k in a disappointed eighth, battling han dling problem s with a full tank. He onl y j ust managed to hol d off Rep sol Hon da 's N ic k y Ha yd en a fte r t h e A m er ica n over c am e h i s q ua lify ing probl em s and g ot hi s head d o wn fo r an oth er i m p re ss i v e r a c e , m o v in g u p f rom 12 t h i n th e l at er st ag es . He o u t st r i p pe d Pr am a c Ho n d a ' s Ma k o t o Tam ad a in th e c lo si ng st ages, wi t h Gaulo i se s Y am ah a ' s A l ex Bar r os again blaming a bad ti re c ho ice for his 11th-p lace finish . D'Antin Yamaha's Shinya Nak ano battled p ain t o take 12t h , four sec - on d s cl ear of Coli n Ed w ard s' Ali c e Aprili a, in t urn well ahead of t eam mate Nori Hag a, who cl aimed th e la st po int. Telefonica Movi eSt ar Honda roo ki e Ry uichi Kyo nari mana g ed t o pa ss and hold off both Suzuki s , K enny Roberts Jr. a disappointed 17th and J ohn Hop kins five seco nds behi nd . The n came the Proton KR V-fives. Jeremy McWilliams n ar ro wl y ahead of No bu Aoki. It was the first tim e the five- race -o ld machines had bo th fi n ish ed, taking the bene fit of power-up engine parts and a revi sed c hassis to ke ep th e Suzuki s in sig ht and beat b oth Kawasa k is . And r ew Pitt w as 21 st after tire problem s m eant he lost tou ch afte r running ahe ad of th e Pro to ns and wit h th e Suzu k is ear lier on ; Kawasaki te am ma te Garry McCo y , a former Est oril winner , retired with tw o laps to go, alr eady well out of touch when his engine sp rang a wat er leak . David de Gea claimed a fir st race fin ish for th e new four-stro ke WCM , one lap behind the lead ers . Spanis h star To ni E l ias , on h is T elefon i ca M o v iSt ar Aprili a , ov er cam e a c o nc u ssio n aft er a h e a v y c rash on th e da y before th e race to take hi s third win of the season and draw cl os er aga in t o p o in ts le ad er Manuel Pogg iali and his MS Aprilia . Sa fil o O x yd o A p ri li a 's Randy d e Puni et was th ird and Fortu na Honda 's Rob y Rolfo fou rth , after a last -lap col li si o n w it h ea r l y l e a d e r S eb Port o dropped the Italian out of co ntention for second. Anth on y W est w as 10th, in ch e s aw ay from c atc h ing a fading Fon si Nieto ov er th e li ne. West h ad been Biaggi had bee n wo rried abo ut the first- corner sc ru m - a slow turn fol l owing a very fa st st raight, b ut he avoided danger by getting th ere first. " I wa s very reliev ed," he said later. In f a c t , h ow ev er , a ll made it aro u n d without mishap , an d th ere were to be no cra shes in the race and only one retirem ent - McCoy 's Kawasak i, fro m almost last p la ce. B i a g g i had a lea d of m ore t h an ha lf a second at the en d o f the firs t lap , with Capirossi and Giberna u both ahead of Ross i. But the c h am p io n wasn't for h an gin g a round, a nd t ho ugh B iaggi' s l ead w as almo st a seco n d at th e end o f t he n ext l ap , now it was Ro ssi in second , and th e y ounge r rid er set a n ew reco rd the next time aro und as he cut the lead back. By the end of lap four he was ri ght with Bia ggi, and that' s how th ey sta ye d - Rossi pushing and probing until th e sta rt of lap 14 , when he drafte d past on the strai ght and di ved insid e in t o the firs t corner. Rossi was never headed again , while Biaggi had two seconds in ha nd over the battle between Capirossi and Gi bernau . close all weekend but never qui te th ere. "I guess we got a little lost," he said. Pabl o Nieto , so n of th e leg en d ary A ngel, wo n h is first GP at the 75th attem p t in a 125cc thriller, dela y ed after a fi rst -lap cras h brought out th e red flags after the fi rst st art. T h e 23-year- o ld Ni et o triump hed by j ust twe nty -two -thousandths of a second over MX -O nda A sp ar Aprilia t eammate Hector Barbera , t he pair going to oth and nail and almost co l - Once he t ook th e le ad. Rossi (46) was able to pu ll away from Biaggi (3 ) to w in by over two seconds. n e vv s