case of Derbi rider You ichi U i, w ho
SOOcc GRANO PR IX
cras hed out on the seco nd corner.
Aprilia's Roberto Locatell i and
A s th e tir e-warm ers were stripped
away on the grid before th e warm -up
lap, it was clear that almost all teams
had made the same decision - full wet
tires. Only Okada , Laconi and McCoy
Ho nda-mounted Emili o Alzamo ra
were also among a large number to
cras h o ut, leav ing a first -ever rac e
wi n to Sim one San na and his Aprilia,
fr o m a ba ttli ng M a sa o A zum a and
G ino Bo rsoi wi t h Arn a ud Vin c ent a
- way at the back - were gambling that
a bright patch o ut beyon d the first co r -
(T op) Kenny Roberts Jr. (2) was
masterful , and the only person who
gave h im trouble w as a s Alex
Barros (1 0) , bu t Barros ' Honda
fa iled h im.
(A bo v e ) Max B iagg; (4) h e ld on to
fi ni s h fifth , w ith Alex e riville (1)
crashing out of the race. D a vid de
Gea ( 1 1) rode the M o d e nas to an
e ighth-place fin ish.
ia n to take the lead as th ey ran over
the hill for the fi rst time.
Roberts made a strong run for it
as fas t -s ta rte r Abe nipped into sec o nd past Checa , and Capirossi started to lose ground in fourth . By the
thi rd lap , the Am eri can was more
than five seco nds ahead , as Chec a
and A lex B a r r o s swe p t pa s t t h e
leader Mirko Giansanti , wh o crash ed
ner might come to dry th e track. Th ey
w ere wrong , a nd Ok ada lo ok ed as
though he was going backwards as th e
and broke h is wrist in practice , bu t
f iel d streamed away down th e lo n g
the gap was shrinking, bu t i t was
rema ined on top of the championship
table w ithout having to ra ce .
start straight, trailing Loris Capirossi
and Roberts , wh o nipped past the Ital -
on l y Barros m ak ing th e running -
Fo r th e next six laps, un til half-dis-
Che c a had pushed j ust a touch t oo
tance , Barros gradually cl osed up o n
distant fo urth. It was a relief for points
Japanese rider on e after th e other in
hard i n to on e of t he track's l ong
suc c essi ve c o rn ers. By the fifth lap,
right-hand er s, and highsided out of
his ho me GP.
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