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/128236
World Champi onship R oad R ace S erie s Round 13 : Pacific G rand P r ix sion working very hard... and it has to work for all of us. " Tamada saw it d ifferentl y , even after his appeal to the FIM race stewards against th e ra ce d irector's deci s ion had been rej e ct ed . He had passed Gibernau earlier, only to lose th e position directly. Ther e was just one last chance. "It was like a battle of wits to see wh o would be th e last on th e bra kes," Tamada sa id . "I k now what I ca n do wh en braking , and I've go t a front tire I ca n tru st , so I dec id ed to play all the ca rds I had . When I saw I was inside and half a length ah ead, I st arte d tak in g the corne r [m ov ing to the left, and sq ueezing his ri val to get a good li ne for th e rig ht -ha nder]. I' m sorry that Sete too k exc eption to wha t I co ns ider a no rma l racing m aneu ver, and I'm also upset abo ut t he sen ten ce , that I feel is excep ti o na ll y ha rsh ." Fo rtu na Yama ha 's Marco M elan dri wa s fifth, m oving t hro ugh after bei ng delay ed in th e first -corner sha m bles, a n d a seco nd a head o f Gau l o i s e s Yam aha ' s Al e x B a r r o s. C am e l Honda 's Tohru Ukaw a d ropped away fro m th is pair at th e fini sh , with Lor is Cap irossi another six sec o nds away on th e sol e Marlboro Du cat!. Th en came d 'Antin Yamaha 's Shin ya Nakano , pulling away from wild -card Suzuki rider Ak ira Ryo at th e fin ish . Proton K R's Nobuatsu Aoki passed Suzuki's Ken ny Roberts Jr. with two laps to go to take 15th place, th e Proton four -stroke 's first poi nt, whi ch becam e two points after T amad a 's d isqualification. Bayli ss, Hopkin s and Checa we re elim inate d in th e first-corner incident, for which Hopkins to ok full bl ame. " I wanted th e best possib le st art , bu t instea d I was an id iot ," Hopkin s said . " I got into t he turn too hot, and th er e was n o wh er e t o g o bu t into Checa. I'm truly so rry ." Edwards was also pu t off the track in the in cident, and with th e m arsh als all busy els ewhere, Bayliss gav e hi s old Superbik e rival a help ful pus h out of t he gr av el. Edwar ds fin ished 17th. J er em y M cWi lliam s c r as hed t h e seco nd Prot o n o n t h e thi rd lap afte r his br ak es o ve r hea t e d in si d e th e aero dy namic front mudguard. Ear lier, T elefoni c a MoviStar A p rilia ' s Ton i Eli as ma de ligh t work of a som ew hat p ro c e ssi o na l 250 c c G P, lead ing almost from start to fin ish to cla im a fou rth victo ry of the seaso n, and claw back ni ne poi nts from thirdpla c ed Ma nu el Poggia li and h is M S Aprilia. Pogg iali had been second , but he was shadowed re morsel essl y by Fortun a Honda' s Rob y Rol fo. The Ita li a n p ounc ed o n th e S an M arin o rider's faster factory April ia on the second -to -last lap, using his Honda 's hand ling to ke ep Poggiali at bay t o th e finish . " Everythi ng was perfect for me this weekend ," said Elias. "The bike was fliJiJj[]!J @!P 7l[}f]§ fliJ§ §71D[]!J@g f%®~DDD f%®11® Any parent would understand that there can be few more tragic experiences than burying a child . There was a lot of Daijiro Kato spirit at Motegi - first in front of,the press and racing people when the late rider was inducted into the Hall of Fame, represented by his father, Kashi Kato: and then in front of the cro wd, when he was honored before the race with the presentation to his father of a special plaque. It was perhaps a proper way to honor a major national racing hero, but there was also an element of gratify ing the interests of other people. The ceremonies weren't for Kate'sbenefit, because he is beyond that. It must have been a terrible ordeal for his father, bereaved only seven months ago on that ghastly day at Suzuka . On both occasions. he was required to stand up in front of everybody and to make speeches. His quiet dignity was very moving. It was that, much more than any ceremonies, that honored Daij iro. perfect all through th e race. I will fight for t he cha m pionshi p to the fin ish. " He is no w th ird , with Ro lfo secon d , 18 poin ts behind Poggial!. Pole sta rte r Dani Pedrosa seemed to hav e t he 12 5 c c race wrapped up with a fo ur-s eco nd lead after 13 of 21 laps. Then it all went wrong for the points leader when his steering damper worked loose and he was swamped by a brawling gang . By the fi nish, three of t he m had broken free , (Left) Biaggi hoists the loot after getting his second w in of the year. (Below) Toni Elias absolutely dominated the 250cc Grand Prill. After starling from pole position, he le d every lap to take the w in by almost a second and a half. 14 OCTOBER 15, 2003' cue I e n evvs w ith M X -Ond a April ia's Hector Bar bera taking a second win of th e ye ar by inch es fro m Safilo Oxydo Aprilia's C a s e y S t on e r and S cot Honda 's Andrea Dov izioso. Ped rosa was sixth , behind Stefan o Perugini and Steve Jenkner. All of the first three had led at some point. "I felt I was the fastest guy o n the track," Stoner said later, "but my bike needs a li ttle more speed ." MOTOGP Gi be rnau led away from B iagg i , Hayden , Ro ssi, Capirossi an d Tamada , a ll esca ping the t urn-one m ay h em , w he re H o p k i n s , C heca a nd Bay li ss ende d up off th eir bik es in the g rave l , and b y the e n d o f th e l ap Ro ssi was up to third . Edwards was still aboard but way off the track , and a n umber of othe r riders, in c luding Melandri, we re delayed. "I got a good start, and I was just beh ind Vale ntino. Hopkins ca me from