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/128624
W o r ld Championship R o a d R a c e S eries Round 10: G erman Grand P rix And now th e serious reshuffl ing b e g a n over the la s t 10 la ps , with Ha ra d a g radually los ing places while Ro s s i moved through w ith what seemed l ik e ever -increasing momentum . On lap 22 he picked off Bia gg i in turn on e and Capirossi a t the other end of the tra c k , braking for the la s t corners . Then it was Roberts in tu rn on e again - so h e was second with sev en la ps to go. And then into the lead, on la p 27, outbraki ng Bar ro s in the sam e place. " No w I thought I would win for s ure ," t he ebulli ent rider said later, "because th e y we re do ing 1:2 5 la ps a nd I k new I c o u ld do 1:2 4 . S o I we n t fast , th en Barros passed me ag ain . I thought - incredib le! So I lo o k e d b ehind , a n d t h e y were all s till there! " Inde ed yes , for they 'd all b e e n sandbagg ing , but with one lap left now there was no room for any fur th e r pr eten ce. Ross i lo o ke d like he woul d chall enge , but tri p pe d himse lf u p by hav ing to slow behind Ba rros on the back section . C ap ir o s s i looked like he had th ird ti ed up , u ntil R o be rts put on a co nsidera bly fo rcefu l move in the last c orners. As Capirossi sa id: "I had to go off t h e track o r we wou ld both have crashed." Robe rts had picked the righ t guy for a to ugh move. Ca pi rossi has a record of his ow n, and cou ld ha rd ly co m plain , as the American said a fte r the race. "I didn't want to knock h im down , and he d idn't fall down , s o I'm plea s e d abo ut th a t. But I' m g o in g for the c ha mpions h ip h ere , and I h ad to m a k e a to ug h move t o get th e pla c e ." Bi ag g i had b e en fa s t but n eve r an ything a gg res si ve e no ug h to loo k like a potent ial winne r. Fo urth pla c e w as a jus t r e w a r d . Lik e wi se fo r Okada in fifth, with Cap irossi a lm os t 1.5 -seconds adrift in sixth. T he n came Regis Laconi , tri umphant in the last la ps over Gibernau a nd Checa , the three in a tight g r o u p . It had b e e n a braye and imp ress ive ride from Checa , who 'd n o t even be en sure of riding until given m ed ical c le a r a n c e in the morning , and had then fallen aga in at low spe ed in the warm-up . Slow a t first, he 'd been lapping at the same pace as the le a d e rs at the finish. McCoy dropped to 10th , his re a r tire chunking in the closing la ps to foil hi s ho p e s of one of his s pec ia l last-la ps charges. Norick Abe was 11th . He'd starte d well and been run ning with t h e le a de rs , only to run off the trac k in tu rn o ne and drop righ t ba c k o n la p six . He finally repassed Card oso ' s twin on the final lap to take 11th. Aok i was 13th , Cadalora had challenged h im in th e closing 1 4 AUGUST 2 , 2000' cu e I stages, but had faded aga in to finish four seconds be h ind . "I was battling with bad throttl e response , and it wa s jus t too hard ," the Modenas rider said. Th en came T e ss a r i , one lap down. Roberts goes into th e break with a handy lead over Checa , 161 -123 . But the re is no ro o m fo r compla cency . Ro ss i is now e qual for third with Capirossi bo t h wit h 112 , and c o u ld hunt t he Am eri c an d own ; wh ile Barros is also look ing s trong , in s ixth with 104 behind Abe's 106. And Criville is m iles away , seventh ov era ll with 88 points. 250cc GRAND PRIX The first corner spo iled the a fter noon for Waldmann a nd West , knock ed int o t h e dirt , though not off their bikes, by one of the Spa n ish Antena 3 riders comi ng in too fa s t. T h e y got b a c k o n track wit h West 30th , a nd Wal dm ann 31st. A little way fu rthe r arou n d , J ay Vin ce nt a nd Vincent Phi llip e also col lid e d ; Vince n t m anag ed to rejo in , I' n e vv s b ut even further at th e b a c k. Up fro nt , it was all go ing just fine fo r Jacq ue. He le d from the firs t co rn e r to t he la s t, his o nly p robl e m b e ing a wo rr y th a t h is t ir e s were o ve r-s t re t c hed , whe n th ey s t a rted s lidi n g toward s th e e nd . No p rob - CINZANO MOTORRAD GRAND PRIX DEUTSCH 5 .. (Above) An enthusiastic Gennan crowd watches what was an Inc redibly close 500cc Grand Prix. (Be low ) The top three spray the bubbly with Roberts petti. Banos (center:) and Rossi (right) perfonnlng various champagne celebrations.