Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World Cha mpionship Roa d R a c e S e r ie s R o u n d 1 0 : G e r m a n Grand P n x th e t ight and twisti n g Sac hsenri ng ci rcuit. T he Apr ilia rider crashed ou t with fo u r la p s re ma ini ng, afte r h is e ng ine se ize d . Barro s ' win a t th e s hort track - in fine s un ny we a th e r in fron t o f a b ig cro wd o f 72 ,0 00 arde nt fa ns , was the t h i rd fo r t h e E m e rson Po ns Ho nd a tea m , with Cap iro s s i ha vin g t a ke n t he It a lia n GP . Th is makes the m the top Ho nd a s of t he firs t p a rt of the 2000 s e ason . Alth ou gh junio r Re p s ol Hon d a rid er s O k a d a and S ete Gibe rnau were fifth and e ig ht h , re sp e c t iv el y , defen d ing Wor ld Ch a m p ion Ale x Cr iville crashed ou t for a noth e r no n -s core . Ba rros was thrilled , as he contin ue s to pro v e h o w h e has finally ma tured a s a rid e r. "I k n e w I co u ld k e e p t he ra c e und er co ntro l a nd take t he vic to ry: he said later. But Ross i had another ide a . "I thought I could win , but I made a b ig m istak e o n the la s t la p , run n ing too fast into the fast right -ha n der beh ind Ale x: Ross i s a id . "I was m uch fa ster but there was no room t o pass , so I had to slo w ri gh t down ." G iven that h e had c h a r g ed through the fie ld , finding overta king p la c es galore on a track notoriously s hort o f t h e m , it was h a rd not t o B y M ICHAE L S COTT P HOTO S BY G O LD [, G OOS E SACHSENRlNG, GERMANY, JULY 23 'A le x Barro s be c am e on ly the sec o n d rid er t his ye a r to w in t wo races , with th e narrowest of wins at a n ep ic hold - y our -b re a th Ge rm an GP . It was a he ro's ride from th e Brazilia n - but fa r fro m th e only one o f the a fte rnoon . The star of t h e day wa s Na stro Azz ur ro Honda ' s Val en t in o Ros si , who wa s le ss than a tent h of a seco nd a wa y fro m c la iming a s e c o nd succ e ssive win to pu t in th e cab inet wi t h h is Brit is h G P victory - t hi s a ft er mess ing u p t he start to fin ish th e first la p wa y out of touch in 16th place. A n d Mr. T ou gh wa s Kenn y Roberts Jr. , e ig h t t e nt h s b eh ind , who force d Loris Cap iro s s i off the track in the final corners to claim th ird for his T elefon ic a Mov iStar Suzu ki. Capiro ss i reg a ined th e tarma c in sixth , b eh ind Mar lboro Yamaha 's Ma x B ia g g i an d Re p s o l Ho n d a ' s T ad a y u k i O k ad a . Th e o n ly h er o m is s in g fr o m the final party was Tetsuya Ha ra d a , who had been as high as third in a seve n-s trong g ro up cove red by ju st over one sec o nd in the m idd le o f the 31 laps of 12 A UGUST 2 , 2000' c u e I e ne""s b e li e v e h im . Th e Ros si era h as begun . T he grim expressi o n on Robe rts ' fa ce s howe d he mi ght feel t he sam e , a s h e c ri t ic ize d h is bike 's lack o f pow e r com p a re d with the Ho nd a s . "I can' t e m p ha size enough how far ou r bike is beh ind the guys wh o bea t me ," h e s aid . "I ca n o u tbrak e anyo ne into th e corners , but not if I' m 2 5 le ngth s b e h ind whe n we get ther e . W e ne ed t o im prove t h e p ow er , a n d unl e s s we d o I'll b e fig hting to get o n the pod iu m fo r th e rest of the season rather th a n go ing for wins ." He too wa s p la us ib le . Whe n h e wa s le a d ing in th e e arly s tage s , he could ga in g ro und th rough t he twist ing first pa rt of th e track - but by th e e nd o f the fast secti o n t h a t c losed th e lap , o ne o r ano the r Ho nd a wou ld be breathing do wn h is n e c k ag a in . The onl y co ns olation was th a t with pra c ti c e cr a she r C ar los Checa 's Mar lboro Yamaha n inth , he e xte nded h is po ints lea d . With just 15 fin is h e rs, there we re poi nts fo r a ll - eve n th e Pa to n of Paolo T e s s ari, o ne la p d o wn . Luc a Ca d a lor a was 14th, n ursing his batte red body and a n u nre s po ns ive Modenas ho me in his firs t GP ride for almost a year, afte r a heavy c rash the day befo re . Chec a wa s Ale" Barros (10) l e d the majority of the Gennan Grand Pri", but the race was always close. Va lentino Rossi (4 6) a nd Loris Capirossl (65) g ive c h as e, along w i th a host of others. a lso racing h urt aft e r a big p ra c tic e cr a s h, a nd m anag ed a relat iv e ly heroic ni nth . E ar l ie r , O l iv ier J a cque h ad s t r e tc he d h is p o int s lead o ve r C h este rf ield Yamaha t e amm a t e S hiny a Nakano t o 16 po ints , with a clear win in a p ro c e s si o n al 25 0 c c ra c e - much of the sting taken out in a first -c orner crash that knocked o ut not on ly She ll Ad van c e Ho nd a 's Anthony We st but al so home h ero Ralf Waldmann o n the April ia . Shell Advance Hond a 's T ohru Ukawa was s e c on d , Nak an o t h ird , a nd ro o kie Kato h wa s fo urt h on th e Axo Hond a , fending off a persistent fellow-r o o k ie Klaus Noehles , a t the track wher e h e m ad e a w ild card debut last yea r. W ith Marco Me landr i's fact o ry Apri lia a mong seve ra l cras hes and retireme nts , Wa ld ma nn m a na g ed to p u ll t hr ou g h fro m la s t t o ei g h t h; We st wa s 10th , be h in d Po rt o , af te r rejoin ing the tra c k second to la st, in fro nt of Wa ldm a nn. T he 125cc ra c e was also ruin ed b y a fi rst -la p mult iple - rider c ra s h

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