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/128632
World Champion s h ip R o a d R a ci n g Serie s Round 1 3 : Valencia G r a n d J='rix But th e vanquish ed Roberts had p lenty to crow about to o . Too prudent to risk his championship positi on in a risk y pursuit of the bucking and sliding Yamaha, he even decided to let Valentino Rossi , his m ain titl e rival , go on ahead after th e Italian forc ed past into seco nd with 11 laps remain ing , In s t e a d , t he Nastro Azzurro Honda rid er crashed in specta cular fashion two corners lat er , I ~av ing Roberts to fend off earl y leader Ma x Biaggi and th e Marlboro Yamaha , and to extend his po ints lead to a handy 66 - w ith just three ra ces re maini ng. Roberts is now in a position to ti e up his fi rst title at the next round in B razi l. Ev en if Ro ssi w in s, Rob er t s need fin ish no h igher tha n seventh to be safe . " I do n't know if I c ould h av e c aught Garry [McCo y] tod ay , bu t I'm lo ok ing fo rwa rd to getti ng th e t itl e o ve r so I can race to w i n a g a in , " Ro berts said. " Tod ay [ V al entin o] Rossi had to try to win and risk cras h ing , and I had to make sur e of fini sh in g. We bo th did what we had to do. " With Bi agg i th ird, Robe rts' Suzuki B y MIC HA E L S COTT P HOT OS BY G OLD £, G OO SE VALENCIA, SPAIN, SEPT. 17 4r' V pain laid everything on for its thi rd Grand Prix of the year - fine weather, a capacity 110,000-strong crowd, a d ifficult but very spectatorfriendly track , and the usual gang of riders in the top factory teams. Australia responded , in O l y m p i c w eek , by prov id ing a winner. Garry McCoy has a lready bu ck ed all the trends in his ta il -slidin g riding st yle. On Sunda y , the Red Bull Gau lo ises Ya m ah a rider bec am e th e first ri der not just of th is year , but for 22 rac es to win two rac es in succession . It w as th e freckle -faced Ca md en rider's third win of the seaso n, puttin g h im on l e v el pegging wit h K e n n y Robert s Jr. , wh ose T elefon ic a MoviStar Suzuki was second today . "I couldn 't have asked fo r anything b ett er , " grin n ed M c Co y . wh o ha d st arted fro m the front row of th e grid . and led from the fourth of 30 lap s of the 2,48-mile tra ck , and finished five seconds clear. 6 S EPTEMBER 27 , 2000' cue I e n e vv s teamma te No buatsu Ao ki was fourth , surviving a fraught race that saw not onl y Ross i but als o Repso l Honda's Ale x Crivil le, E m er so n Pons ' Loris Capirossi , Ante na 3 Yamaha 's No rick Abe and Blu Aprilia's J er emy McWill iams crash out , with hot t arm ac, tight co rners and many downhill entr ies co nspi ring against them. Marlboro Yamaha 's Carlos Checa , the only other rider still wi th a mathematical chance of de feati ng Roberts , narrowl y esca ped joining th em . He'd been chall eng ing Roberts in h is first st r o n g race sin ce th e It a li an GP in May wh en the front of his Marlboro Yamaha tuc ke d under. He saved th e slide , but rejoine d o ut of t ou ch. He finis hed seve nth beh ind t he next pair, Em er son Ho nd a 's Alex B arr o s a nd Red Bull Yamaha 's Regis Laconi, who were never in touch with the leaders. J u r g en va n den Go orb e rgh was 10th , beh ind the Rep so l Hondas of Set e Gibernau and Tadayuki Okada, but na rr owly ahead of David de Gea , who ha d led him until the very la st lap on the fas ter Modenas K R3. T he rac e saw another milestone, Max Blaggl (4) led the 500cc Community of Valencia Grand Prix from the start In front of a packed house of over 100,000 spectators. GarT)' McCoy (24), Kenny Roberts Jr. (2) and the rest of the pack give chase. following a tr en d s e t b y winner McCoy . For t he first time, the first nin e fin ishers used 16 .5 - i n c h rear ti res. Shinya N akano made no mistake in the 250cc GP after missing out on pol e to his Cheste r f ield Yamaha teammate O li vier J acque, taking th e lead on the fourth of 27 laps and set t ing a string of n ew reco rds as he pus he d away to take h is fifth win of the sea son. Jacq ue set tl ed for sec o nd, and saw hi s ti tle lea d shrink t o 22 p o int s, w hil e 10 seco n ds b ac k Marco Me landri and h is A pri lia na rrowly prevailed after a race-long battl e with Shell A dvance Hond a's Toh ru Ukawa to claim a seco nd rostrum in succession. The first rac e of the day saw Diesel Apr il ia's Roberto Lo cate lli t a k e h is fourt h wi n of th e seaso n, narro wl y sha ding B en etton Play life H o n d a ' s