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/128618
"I d idn 't wa nt to pus h too ha rd in the beginn ing in case I caused S hiny a to crash, but at the end I could se e his re a r was slid ing and he wasn' t too comforta ble , and I knew it wa s tim e to go . The win is good - but I'm ha ppier that I've moved to sec on d in the champions hip," he said. Ukawa m ade a co nscious decisi on to se ttle fo r second. "I remembered m y la st -la p crash in Ita ly," he sa id; wh ile Naka no ha d used his tires too m uch at the beg in n ing , a nd was o blig e d to settl e for second. Batt a ini h ad be en in fo u rt h a nd alo ne for m ost of the race after pass ing Melandri in the ea rly sta ges . The yo un ger rider , in his first tim e on the we t s in ce m o vin g up to t h e 2 5 0c c cla s s , then be cam e e m b ro ile d with Katoh ' s Honda . Th e J a p an e se ride r got th e bett e r of him , th en in the final laps Batta in i los t tim e with a s lide , a nd Katoh was on him a nd fight ing , stealing fourt h ove r the line, with Batt a in i ju s t m an aging to fen d off Melandri. (Above) Garry McCoy crashed his Red Bull Yamaha and was lucky t o escape w ithout inj ury. (R igh t) T h e 250cc GP ge ts starte d w ith Sh inya Nakano (5 6) leading his tea m m ate a nd e ventual race w in ner Olivier Jac que (1 9) a nd the rest of th e field off the start li ne. c u ms t a nces, let a lo ne in o n ly t he b ike ' s seco nd ra c e , with an e ng ine th at ran for th e firs t ti me a month and -a -h alf ago ," sa id te am m an age r Chuck Akslan d . T e t su y a Ha r ada wa s a d istant n inth , blam ing a bad tire choice and sliding "eve n on th e stra ight" He did m anage to overta ke Yo shi Konishi 's private V-twin Honda , th e la st rider on th e s ame lap as the leaders. Rob erts res um ed h is title lea d, 125 po ints to no -sco re Che c a 's 100. Abe has 85 , Cap iro ss i 73 , Ao k i 72 a nd McC oy 61 , with Alex Criville tra iling in seventh on 59 , two po ints ah e ad of Ross i. 250cc GRAND PRIX Na kano t o o k a fl ier off p o le , Jacqu e foll ow ed h im a n d Uk a w a s lotted in b e h ind , fo r th e pos it ion s th ey wo uld ma inta in for m ost of t he res t o f th e ra c e, th e tr io a lm o st imm ed ia t e ly o pened a gap , helped wh en fast s t ar ter Ja y Vin c en t crashed o ut o f fo urt h on the first la p, Lucch i's Aprilia d id something s imilar a coupl e of bends later. Battai ni was s o on pas t Mela ndri to h ead th e next trio by lap two , with Wa ldm a nn a t th e back of it, o nly to t ake t o the g ravel himself on th e th ird lap . Th e race soon settled into the sort of p rocessional pattern becom ing normal for the class th is year , the leaders g lued together, th ough e ve n from the e a rly laps Jacque wa s lean ing hard on h is teamm ate Nak ano ev ery t im e they we nt int o th e first corner. Pa tie ntly , ho wever, the Frenchman waited until the sta rt of the 20th lap before he did more than show his front wheel. Th e trig ger was an attack by Ukawa , releasing Jacque from the obligation of trailing his teammate in or der instead to d efend th e ra c e for Yama h a. Now it was obvious he 'd been sav ing himse lf, for h e wo n the t h ree abreast bra king battle into tu rn one to ta ke the lead , even as Naka no ra n wide and briefly put h is foot down to save a c rash. From the re to the finish Jacque was in complete command , tak ing his first win of the season by four se conds . c ue I e Waldman n c a ught up for seventh, forging through th e next grou p and b rin ging Matsudo 's Yamaha w ith him, the Ja panese ride r los ing to uch at the finish, by whe n Anthony Wes t ha d also caught up an d wa s ha rry ing hi m fier c e ly . T he Au st r a li a n h ad c o m e through from some w a y beh ind , ma nag ing to forget his le g injurie s in th e heat of battle. His last victims we re Jam ie Robinso n and n e _ S • JUNE 21 , 2000 21