Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World Championship R o a d R a c e S erie s Round S : French Grand Prix we ll. and though th er e were less than three tenths of a se cond in. it over the line, it wa s eno ugh , with Jacque a close th ird and Melandri now a long wa y back in fourth . fi v e seconds ahead of West. Ralf Waldmann had be en a th reat to both of thes e , but he had a qu ick off-track ru n in th e e a rly st ages . came ba c k to att ack aga in, a nd then crashed a t Le Ch apelle on la p 17 . He remounted , but o ut of tou ch. . All th e wh ile , Kat oh wa s c om ing , b itterly d isappo int ed after hi s e arly e rr o r. His bik e wa s not bad ly da m ag ed , an d aft er runn ing 32nd a nd last for a couple of laps he started slicin g through the fie ld, p ass ing on e o r even two ride rs a lmost e ve ry la p. He was 15th on lap 12 , in th e po int s - bu t that was just th e start of it, a nd as the race approa ched its closing stages he kept on coming . By la p 20 h e was seventh , fou r sec onds behind Na ok i Matsudo 's Yamaha ; th re e la ps later he a he a d of it, and West was luc ky to (Above) Toh ru Ukaw a (4) and Shlnya Nakano (56) battle for the v ictory In t he 250cc French Grand Prix. Ukawa took the w in by j u st .279 of a second. (Right) Youichi Ui (41) won the 125cc Grand Prix by 1.6 seconds over M irko Giansanti (not p ictured). Arnaud Vincent (21) finished fifth; Lucio Cecchinello (9) ended up seventh. It was a lu c k y afternoon for Roberts in cha mpions hi p terms - 10 points took him to 90, with Checa on 80. McCoy has 61 , with Crivi lle c om ing into th e picture at last o n 59, Abe o n 54 a nd Barros 52 . 2S0cc GRANO PRIX Katoh took the ju m p an d was pus hing on into the first U-b end at the sta rt of la p two when he m a d e his g hastly erro r , unde re s ti ma ting t h e weig ht of his fuel load a nd los ing the front under brakes o n the way in to Le Chapelle . While he hast ily remounted , Uka wa made the most of his absence, pushing on to a handy earl y lead wh ile teamma t e West p ro ved very hard for J ac q ue and then Mela ndri to overtake. Th en it all we nt wro ng for him too , at th e start of the fifth la p he ra n off at th e first c hica ne be fore the Dun lop bridg e , boun cin g a c ro s s t he di rt to reg a in th e track down in six th p lace , appar en tly well o ut of tou ch. Now it was We st' s turn , at th e a ge of 18 to ha ve the fee ling of leading a Gr a nd Pri x . Whi ch h e enjo yed we ll en ough , for a lap , "until the res t c a me piling pa st. " He blamed a s horta ge of set -up time and a la ck of front and rear grip for his ina bility to resist, and in th e s pace of two laps went from fir st to fourth as firs t Nakan o and then Jacque and Me landri went pa st. The race was now se ve n laps old , and s ettl ed down for a wh ile as Naka no led from his te a m m ate Oliv ier , the pa ir soon opening a ga p on Me la ndr i. Me a nw hile, West was anothe r se cond back , and had given wa y to teamm a te Uka wa , who was loo ki ng inc re e s in g ly s tro n g as h e qu ickl y c losed th e gap o n Me la nd ri, the n mov ed into third on lap 12 . and h e wa s now 2 .4 s econds beh ind the le ad ers. His advantage ove r th e Yamaha s wa s soo n cl ear - tho u gh th e y were qui cker th rough the twists , his Hon da wa s a roc ket by c o m pa rison on th e stra ig hts, and he was with the silve r pair a fte r jus t five la ps of ch a s ing. At this po int Ja cque was in fro nt, and 22 MAY 24. 2000' n c ue I .. e vv s Ukawa p a s sed Naka no so em phaticall y at t h e s tart of la p 20 tha t it looked as th o ugh his country m a n had some m echanical trouble . Ukawa d id jus t the same th ing to J a cque on e lap lat er , also on th e front s t ra ig ht, a nd th e iss ue wasn 't really in do ubt after that. Na k an o did his be st , t ho ug h. As J a cqu e dr opp ed b ack slightl y o n worn ti re s in the last thr e e laps, Nakan o cl osed right u p o n Ukawa a gain o n the la st o ne . Th en Uk a wa made a sl ip on the way into Mus eum. Could th e Yamah a get in front? But n o • h e firm ly clos ed th e door in Naka no' s face, fo rcing him to slow as ha ve m ore tha n 10 seconds in hand with only th re e la ps to go . Waldmann fin is hed four s e c ond s behind Matsudo ; two s econds behind, Luc a Bosc os curo na rro wly m anag ed to hold of Porto 's Ya ma ha, as he had for much of th e ra ce . Katoh 's heroi c ride m eant he ke pt t h e po ints le ad with 91 p oint s to Nakano's 87. Uk a wa m oved up t o third on 77 , with Ja cque on 75, Wald mann o n 55 and West sixth on 53 , na.rrow ly ahead of Melandri's 48. eN CircuitBugottl Le Mans , France Results: May 14, 2000 125 cc: QQAUFYING: 1. Youichi Ui ( 1:49.776) ; 2. Ro be rto Lo ca t ell i ( 1:49 .787 ) : 3 . No bo ru Ued a

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