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/128630
Wor ld Champions h ip Road R a c e S e r ie s R o u n d 1 2: Portuguese G r a n d P r ix la ps to go , McCoy was a lm o s t fiveseconds clear - Rob e rts was 2.4 -sec onds clea r of Rossi a nd Bia gg i. Then came the d ra ma with the ba ckma rker, a nd he started the las t lap bare ly 1.8 -seconds clear. At the same time Ros s i pu lled ou t all th e s to ps. Bu t Rob erts k ne w if he arr ived at th e uphill chi cane in fr ont , then there would be no more c ha nc es to pass. He finished just two tenths ahead of Ro s s i, who had Bia gg i right on his ba ck wheel. "We p u lle d the rabbit o u t o f th e hat ," said Ros s i. "Afte r our bad pr ac tice , th is was like a victo ry for us . We lost s o me p o int s in the c ha m p ionship, but second is st ill a go od ai m for m e." Biaggi was challeng ing to the e nd , and sa id : "I must have m issed Gibe rnau by a bo ut 20 c entimeters. I had to shut t he th rottl e a nd t ha t cost m e time , but fourth isn 't a d isa ster. " T h e b attl e fo r fift h had see n a ll so rt s o f up s an d d ow n s - not abl y Cr iville righ t at th e ba c k of the group a fter a mi nor collisio n on the start line, then taking his t im e to get back (Above) Kenny Roberts Jr. 12) extended his points lead over Valentino Rossi (46) by finishing a position ahead of the 500cc GP class rookie. Max Blaggi (4) finished l u st off the box in fourth p lace, further proof that the Italian Is back on track with his season. (Below) Valentino Rossi proved once again that it didn't matter where he qualified. He was able to pick off riders one-by-one, almost n ipping Roberts at the line, and d isplacing h is fellow-Italian rival Blaggl (4) In the process. up to speed. By the end the determined Lac oni wa s in front , with a small gap on Criville and Ok ada , both of whom jus t manag ed to beat van den Goorbergh 's V-twin . A little wa y b a c k Abe headed Barros o ve r th e line , the Brazilian saying later that he ne ver did get the rhythm of the race. A little way ba ck cam e Jerem y McWilliams, who just held off Carl os Checa . The form e r was troubled with t he Apri lia 's n ew inject io n s ystem and a t hr ottl e respo ns e that didn't s uit th e tra ck - the latter was gene ra lly out of so rts, never having recove re d his form, s inc e his heavy cra sh wa y bac k in Jul y in German y. Th en ca me Lo ris Ca p lros si. a lso troubled by his hand injuries from two we ek s ago . with practice c rashe r Tetsu ya Harada . Mark Willis was 15th in his first GP of the year, preserving the Modenas's record of points in the last six o f its seven ra c es . He had to play catch- up , all race long - an off-track excursion on the first lap had left him la st. The only other cra sh came fro m front -row starte r No bua tsu Ao k i, on the ve ry first la p. when he gav e it too m uch throttle o ut of th e final c hica ne . Rob e rts now ha s 19 4 poi nts. ha ving pu lled o ut an oth er fou r on Ross i at 148 . Checa is a n inc re asing ly dis t a nt th ird wit h 13 2 , th en Cap iro s s i ( 12 6) . Abe ( 113) and Barros (1 0 9) . With McCoy 's win bringing him back into the picture with 109 . 2S0cc GRANO PRIX Most of th e a ction wa s in th e first three laps . with Kat oh lea d ing aw a y, d ispl a c ed on th e s e cond lap b y Ukawa . Fast -starting Melandri was right up beh ind and th en the Yarna - 10 S EPTEM BER 1 3, 2 000 ' cue • e n e vv s ha s - West's Honda getti ng dropped fro m th e first lap onwa rd . On the th ird la p , Ra lf Wa ldm ann pa s s ed him and migh t ha ve jo ine d th e le ad e rs , but slid off ins tead. Uka wa lost the lead on the fo urt h lap after mi ssing a gear, then he spun out on th e s lowest corn e r. Melandri and Jacqu e m anaged to pass ins id e h is fa llen b ik e , but Na kano moved o u t si de t o b e con front ed by the obs ta cle, with no c hance of a void ing it. The crash thre w his b ike in the a ir, and he fell he avily . lucky not to be hit by his b ike . Fr om th en o n th e ra c e up fro n t was pretty dull. Kat oh kept his head down a nd kept go ing - Jacque decid ed tha t in the wind, it wa s wisest to settle for a safe second . "S o m e t ime s t h e w ind took t h e front wheel off th e road , so it was hard to brake ," he said lat e r. Melandr i dr opp ed a way in th ird , having similar prob lems . Lik e wis e , Wes t was a lso getti ng blown around so mu ch that he actua lly broke the windscreen with his he lm et. At the finis h Kla us Noeh les ha d closed to wit hin two seconds . but the A u s t ra lia n said : " If he ' d have got closer I'd pro ba bly have found something to hold him off." It h a d be e n a good ride from the . y o u n g G e rm an ro o k ie . who had passed Vincent Phili p pe and a fas t sta ring Fon s i Nieto on the way. At the same tim e , Mats udo 's Yam aha ha d been eli m inate d ea rly o n in a c rash , whi le Batt aini ' s A p riJia was o u t of contention , battling a m isfire a nd s liding tires . The oth er g o od pr ivat e er r id e c a m e from Ja y Vinc ent (Pa d g e t t' s Aprilia), mov ing through from a lowly 18th at the end of la p on e , to s ev enth at the finish , narrow ly re-passed ove r the line by Nieto . There were 19 finisher s , with Porto another to crash out , kno c k ed o ff early on by Da vid Ch eca . It had be en a lu c ky day for