Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

W o rld Championship R oad R a c e Ser ie s R ound 7 : C a t a lu n y a n G r a n d P rix B y MI CH A EL S COTT P HOT OS BY G O LD £, G OOSE MONTMELO, SPAIN, JUNE 11 -.:- or the seco nd ti me th is yea r , y- Kenny Rob erts Jr. brought di sapp o intm e n t to a hu g e cro w d of Spa n ish race f ans . Ra c ing 's m os t partisan fo ll ow ers resp o nd ed in t he sa me alarming way they had done b e f o r e . Even b efor e t he rain-hit Catalunyan Gr and Prix was over, they were h url ing bottles o nto the tra ck and on th e slow -down lap , the barrag e was redoubled , aimed no t o nly at Roberts but also at sec ond-placed Norick Abe and his Antena 3 Yamaha and th ird -plac ed Val entin o Rossi. "We have some security problems that ar e g oing to h ave to b e addressed ," said Roberts, before cel ebrat ing not on ly re-opening his le ad in the championship points , but also becoming the first rider to win three rac es in the se ven- rac e- o ld season . At Jerez, his second win of the year and the fir st in Sp a in , he had be en 18 JUNE 2 1 , 2000 ' cue I e pe lted with roc k s and bottl es wh en h e st opp ed to greet th e crow d o n th e sl ow -d own lap . A re peat of the vengefu l Sp an i sh fa n sy ndrome left him ti g ht- li p p ed . "I th in k it's better n ot to ta lk about i t, b e c a u s e i t migh t e ven make it w or s e , " he front of the 2 .930 -mi le Montmelo ci rcu it out sid e Barcelona. With Repsol Honda 's Set e Gibernau and April ia 's Jeremy McWilliams also cr ashing out, there wer e on ly 16 fi nis hers of th e last race of a rain -hit weekend . said . Th e T e l efon i c a M o v iS t ar Suzu k i r i d er ha d a b i t o f h e lp from local heroes Carl os Che c a an d Alex Criv il le , both of whom crashed o ut of the rac e. But even if they had n 't, it' s not l i kel y th at t he r e su lt woul d have b e en mu ch more p l ea sing f or t he Sp an ish fans . The o n ly p er son t o m ount an yth ing lik e a ch alle nge to the man who is getting used to dom inati ng in th e ra in was Brazil's A lex Barros on t he Pons Emerson Honda. Ba rros actually ca ught an d p as sed th e American after starting from po le position . Roberts decided to let him lead for a wh ile, he sai d l at e r - bu t it w a s short-lived , wh en the Honda ran out o f sparks afte r just one lap at th e N o b u at s u Ao k i was a fi gh ti ng fo urth o n t he second Suzu k i , wi th Max B iagg i and his Marlboro Yam ah a c o m ing through for fifth. A lm ost all ri de rs chose full wet ti res as ra in th at seemed to clea r ea rlier o n return ed j ust b efo re t h e sta rt , w ith Red Bull Ya ma ha r iders Reg is L a c o n i and Garry McCoy , and Repsol Honda ' s Tad a yuki Okada pa y ing a hea v y p ric e for gambl ing o n cut slic ks altho ug h all th ree fin ished , eventual ly , and Okada was the only member of the factory Ho nd a tea m to do so. But th e co nditions and th e attrition brought joy to th e Mod ena s team, racing th e all- new Mk3 b ike for only th e second tim e. Rider David de Gea was tussli ng with a number of top V-fours in th e early stages , and cla imed a n e vv s Easy does it. Th e 500cc Grand Pri" gets undelW3y on a wet Montmelo Circuit in Spain with Loris Capirossi (65) lea ding Kenny Robe rts Jr. (2 ) and th e rest of t he pack str ong eighth place, a persona l best. In a processiona l 250cc race , Olivi er Ja cque claimed his first win of the season , fend in g off Toh r u Uk awa 's Sh ell Advan c e Honda after th e pair of th em had sp ent most of th e rac e - on a d ry ing track - shadowing Jacque's Ch e sterfield Yam ah a tea m ma te Shin ya N akano. The Japanese rider was third , his tires ruined by the effort of lead ing from pol e. Fellow Japanese sensation Yoshiako Katoh, a Catalunya first -timer, snatched fourth in the clos ing yards from Franco Batt aini 's A prilia, with Marco Melandri 's Aprili a a close fifth . Ralf Waldmann had qualified well , but he ran off in the early laps, remounting at the back to co me through for seventh. The day began with a d em ol it ion derby 125cc GP - t oo literally in the

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