Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World Championship Road Racing Series Round 2: Melaysian Grand Prix to join the group. Then, on lap three, Abe also slid off in a slow turn, scrambling back to his feet to rejoin, only to have to pit for a new footpeg. Rossi was the next to go, moving into second and then almost immediately tipping it into turn one too fast and high-siding. "I didn't even have the throttle open - 1 must have leaned over too far," he said later. All this gave Checa a bit of a cush- Checa, for his part, settled for second, with one proviso. "I could see Kenny was comfortable at that speed, but I wanted to keep in touch - you never know what might happen," he said. Instead, the rain came, and although Checa expected there would be a restart, it was not to be. As they were changing places, Biaggi was trying to get past McCoy - which he managed, but he couldn't ion, which he stretched to almost two seconds by lap five. However, by that time Roberts was up to second, ahead of McCoy, and he quickly closed the gap to be on the Yamaha's make it stick. Their wildly different riding styles saw the smooth Italian holding up the ragged Australian successfully, but only until he ran wide into turn one on lap 11. McCoy tail on lap seven, and passing on lap eight with an easy outbraking move in the last turn. It was plain to see that he was quicker through the faster twisting sections, and over the next two laps he pulled out a gap of 1.5 seconds. "It was easy, but I could feel the tires starting to move, so I decided to back off in case I needed to push hard later in the race," he said. went straight past, and Biaggi tried to get back the position, only to run wide again. Soon afterward he would give up the struggle and finish some six seconds behind. McCoy was 5.3 seconds behind Checa when the race was stopped, having taken almost half a second off Checa's lead on the last lap. He might even have caught up had the race gone the full distance, but he So he just kept the gap as it was until the race's premature conclusion. never got the chance. The next group had been swapping Mixed fortunes and a blight upon the Hondas will have to suffice to explain how. This week the 500cc front row was spread out by more than a second when not long ago the 500s were closer together in qualifying than were the 125s. This was good news for last year's winner, Kenny Roberts Jr., who had ended the first day second and feeling bleak, after a presumed advantage had been wiped out in the closing minutes as he had to fight to get back in front of the Yamahas, and was then eclipsed by Loris Capirossi. His team changed the rear geometry overnight, seeking (according to technical guru Warren Willing) a better balance and improved tire life, and the next moming he was flying, running one fast lap after another, and then choosing his moment perfectly in the aftemoon, before the wind got up too high, to set the quickest-ever official lap to claim his first pole of the year. "My team got the carburetion right, which the Suzuki is sensitive to, and the chassis; Michelin nailed the tires. When they do that, I can ride the way I want, squaring off the corners, using the lines I like. As long as they can keep the carburetion crystal-clear, we're styling," he said. Capirossi, on the other hand, failed to improve. "I spent the session working on race settings; then, when 1put new tires on at. the end, it was so windy it was dangerous. I preferred to go back to my pit," he explained. Once again he was the top Honda, on his '99 bike. "It has the 2000 motor, but without the evolution parts," he said. Given the performance of the full factory Hondas, this was a considerable blessing. The Yamahas had looked strong throughout, though Max Biaggi managed only a small improvement, and Checa not even that. "My comeback starts here," said Biaggi, now all but fully recovered from his preseason groin injury, and after his bike failure in South Africa. He couldn't replicate his blinding preseason testing time here, but then neither could anybody else. Carlos Checa was a little puzzled by his relatively poor Saturday afternoon, complaining of a rear-end stability problem, and saying: "We will go back to our setting of the morning and maybe try again to find an improvement tomorrow before the race." It was an easy track on which to crash, but Checa did not do so - another encouraging sign, given his many prangs last season. Norick Abe moved up at the finish to lead row two, slotting in ahead of Garry McCoy, who didn't improve. But the Australian was happy with his first-ever time on the front row, and had some hope, since the havoc threatened to tires by the heat would favor his sliding style as the race wore on. "I hope I can get away well with the leaders, and that nobody does a desperate in the first comer," said the World Championship leader. Valentino Rossi was alongside, outperforming the factory Hondas again in only his second 500cc GP, in spite of a lack of experience that left him puzzled when he tried to follow Roberts. "He opens the throttle much harder than me," observed the Italian. Times from fourth to 14th were very close - within one second - but even so, it was a surprise and a considerable disappointment to HRC to see World Champion Alex Criville down In eighth, only just creeping up to the second row of the grid with a desperate effort in the closing stages. The Spaniard was very agitated, especially after his team's urgent request to HRC for some 1999 engine parts had been thwarted by circumstances. "It's ridiculous that the World Champion, on the top factory bike, should be so far down," he fumed, blaming the too-sudden power delivery of the factory 2000 engine for making the bike hard to ride and punishing the rider as well as the tires. The fate of his Repsol Honda teammates - Okada in 11 th and Gibemau 14th - added weight to his complaints. Alex Barros led row three from the inspired Jurgen van den Goorbergh, who just kept on getting quicker all weekend long, ending up slashing his first day's time by 2.5 seconds to put his twin ahead of several V-fours. Nobuatsu Aoki was next on the second Suzuki, but a dubious starter after a heavy crash in the final session caused the red flags to come out as he was taken away on a stretcher_ 20 APRIL 12, 2000' 0: U 0: I D nevvs The King of Malaysia: Kenny Roberts Jr. won the Malaysian Grand Prix for the second straight year. back and forth since the third or fourth lap, at which time Tadayuki Okada was in front, but they were losing ground, suya Harada's Aprilia after a fine effort from the Dutchman. Jose Luis Cardoso's V-twin was already five seconds adrift of the leaders. Rather unexpectedly, especially after his heavy crash the day before, it was Aoki making the run, picking his way past Regis Laconi, Alex Barros, Gibemau and Okada by lap eight. "My chassis was good and the engine so good today I could easily pass the Hondas," the Suzuki man grinned afterward. "That made me forget my pain." next, followed by David de Gea's Modenas, only a couple of seconds down after getting the better of Sebastien Gimbert and his V-twin. McCoy sti'lI leads the championship, narrowly, with 41 points to Checa's 40. Roberts now has 35, Barros 21, Aoki 19 and Capirossi 16. The gang stayed close, even while lapper Abe joined in as a spoiler after his visit to the pits, all the way to the end. Jeremy McWilliams' Aprilia was lap into the double-rights, only to run straight off the track, looping through the gravel at high speed - a spectacular crash from which he was lucky to escape unscathed. next, alone and some way back, while 11 seconds behind him came Jurgen van den Goorbergh on his Vtwin Honda, just inches anead of Tet- The Yamahas were behind Katoh at the end of the first lap. with Nakano firmly outbraking him into the first turn as they started lap two. 2S0cc GRAND PRIX Katoh led at the start, but a determined Ukawa surged past after half a

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