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/128620
An tena 3 Ya m a ha d 'Antin 's No rick Abe a lso s uffe red , finish ing 10th with a c ut re ar s lick . He sta nds th ird in th e c ha m pions hip with 9 1 po ints. Em ers o n Hond a Pon s ' Lo ris Capirossi m a de it a one-thr ee da y for h is t e am by rid ing co u rageo usly to finis h th ird . The courage wa s needed a s a res ult o f s il li ness: C a p iross i crashed in the m orn ing bre a king tw o bon e s in h is left ha nd . At one poi nt, a te a m member said he wouldn't ride , but he did , a nd d id we li to finis h third. Barros had a lso c ra s he d in the m orn ing wa rm -up, slight ly in j u rin g h is s houl der. Both Em e rson Hon da Pon s bikes we re destroye d . The Marlboro Yama has ca me next wit h Ma x Bia g gi in front of Checa , who ' d c h ose n s oft s lic k s fro nt a nd re ar, with Nastro Azzurro 's Va le ntin o Rossi sixth o n fro nt a nd re a r interm e d iates. T wo te a m s dominated the 250 c c GP , the S he li Advanc e Ho nda team finished first and fourth with the Tea m Chesterfield Yamaha Tech 3 tea m finis h in g in betwee n o n a d a y when int e rm itt en t ra in s m a d e t ire c hoice tricky . Ge tting it clos est to right was S heli Ad vance Honda' s Tohru Ukawa , who c hose a ha rd c o m p o u n d rea r ti re . Much of the ra in-s odden ra ce he ha d t o b a tt le w ith up s t art teammat e Anthon y West before taking the point on th e 12th of 18 laps . O n c e in front he q uickl y gapped him a nd the rest of the field to win his second GP of the ye a r, th is tim e by 5 .954 seconds . "At the beginn ing of th e rac e the re was so mu ch rai n I jus t tried to ke e p the lea de rs in s ight ," Uka wa said. "I chose a harder com pound wet we a ther tire and late r in the race whe n the track started to dry this a llowe d me to keep pushing and win ." . (Above) The race was held in two parts: t he first dry, the second wet. Valentino Rossi (4 6) leads Carlos Checa (7), Lori s Capiro ssl (65) a nd Alex Barros (10 ) early in the restarted wet portion of the race. (Bel ow ) Much to the delight of the la rg e crowd, Dutchman Jurgen van den Goorbergh (171 had a tum at the front of th e pack after pa ssing Sete Gibemau (5) . We st went the op posite wa y on his rear tire, going with a soft that dis integrated as the race progressed. "I rea lly need ed it to keep ra in ing ," the 18 -yea r-old Australian lamented. Chesterfield Yamaha Tech 3's Olivier J acq ue accomplished so mething by finis h ing second : He fin is he d, and it was the first time he had at Assen. "I rem e mb er in t h e p a st I c ra s h m an y ti mes o n thi s tra c k and my biggest target wa s to finish the ra ce ," the Fren chm a n sa id. "I was loo king a t th e co rne r wh e re I crashed fo r t he th ird time like with a big ey e . I was watching the tarma c a nd I co uld teli y o u h o w m u ch wa s the di fferenc e between every sto n e . But , an yw ay , I'm very g lad to finish th is ra ce . It's a b ig step for me ." His teamma te Shinya Naka no finis hed third and reta ine d the c hampi o n s h ip lead . T h e e ver c onsistent J a pa ne s e rider has be en o n the podi um at eve ry ra ce bu t on e this yea r. "T h ird p os ition is g ood fo r th e c ha m p ions hip for me," sa id Naka no, whose parents m a d e their first t rip out of Ja pa n to co me he re a nd wa tc h him race. Halfway into th e 16-ra ce season , Nakano holds a four -poi nt le a d over cue I e J a c q ue , 14 4 - 14 0, wit h Uka wa th ird with 13 2 . T orren t ia l downpo u rs jus t befo re the sta rt of th e ra ce me ant that staying upright was the first re q uiremen t for s uccess in th e 12 5 cc Du tch TT . For a t le a s t s ix rid er s , that was too m uc h. Not for Youichi Ui. After h ol d in g as much a s a 10 second le ad, the De rbi rider came under attack o n the drying track late in t he ra c e , b ut he ld on t o win b y 2.380 seconds. With the dry ing track , and a br ief interlud e of s u n s hi n e, ti res would com e into play . The n a second downpour late in th e event m ad e ce rta in it wo uld be a fuliy we t race to the end. . Ui, who 'd sta rted from t h e pole , com p le ted th e 17- la p , 63 .92-mile ra ce in 42 m inut es , 4.50 8 s eco nd s . Se c on d went to Givi Honda LCR's Noboru Ueda , wit h Manuel Pogg ia li, Ui's te amm ate , third, ju s t .401 of a s e cond ba c k. Down in s ixt h was Dies e l Vasco Ro ss i Ra c ing ' s Ro be rt o Locatell i on the Ap rilia . Loc a te lli to ok adva ntage of th e absence of Mirko Giansa nti to m ov e into th e c ha m p io n s h ip lead . Afte r 8 of 16 races Loc a teli i is in front w it h 1 02 poi n ts , six ah ead o f Gians anti wit h Ui m o v ing into third with 95. 2 S0 c c GRAN O PRIX Th e re wasn't a lo t o f decisio nm a king on tire s . It was ra in ing a nd it wou ld get wo rse before it g ot better before it g ot wors e aga in when the tra ck dried . T h e dry ing pave me nt wreaked havoc on the we t rai n tires. Stili, rains we re the order of the day a t the s tart , th o u g h t he c o m p o u nd c ho ice wo uld p ro v e cr ucia l. Sh ell Ad vanc e Hon da 's Anthon y West went with soft wets tha t were brillia nt e arly, but shag ged when the tra ck dried later. n e vv S • J ULY 5 , 2000 7