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 Championship Road Racing S eries Ro u nd 13 : Valencia Grana P ri x ing a ll th e way to t he fla g . At th e sa me tim e , Che ca tried to put a move on Roberts, only to fee l th e fro nt slide. "It was a b ig s lid e - a bo u t five mete rs , a nd when I got it ba c k I ha d no c ho ice bu t to run stra ig ht on, " he said . That put him o ut of th e e q uation . But Rossi was n't finish ed , hel pe d by the fa ct tha t Roberts was now acting as the cork in a bottle, with a ll the re s t pi lin g up be hi n d h im , t houg h un abl e to find a way pa st. "I was ju st hi tting m y braki n g points an d m a ybe losing a te nth he re an d t he re ma k in g s ure I h it a ll t h e ape xe s ," Robe rts sa id la ter. "T he n I co u ld o pe n th e throttl e ea rly and make m ys elf hard to pa ss ." Very m uch so , bu t Ross i picked his way up aga in, to a ttack on the 27th lap . Th is t ime he did g et past Roberts , and though t h e American almost pass ed h im straight back in the sam e c o rner a s Ros s i ran wide , th e Suzuki rider d ecided that disc re tion was th e better part of valor. "I decid ed to let h im go. Luck ily for me , it on ly lasted two more corners ," he s aid. Ind e e d s o . Ros si c ra s hed in th e same way and at th e sa m e pla ce as Criville, a nd this t ime - at 160 mp h there was no saving it. It was a gift to Roberts of noth ing le s s tha n o ne ha nd o n the c hampi onship crown . Biaggi was close to th e finis h , but lac ked th e fron t -wh eel gr ip to attack . Aok i did we ll to surv ive , three sec onds behind the Yama ha . A little way b ack , Bar ros held La c o ni a t b a y thr o ug hout , b la m ing a bad start for not bei ng a b le to get on term s wit h t he lea ders . C he c a h ad re j o in ed betwe en them , but dropped ba ck a t th e finish , onl y just stayi ng ah ead of the tw o Repso l bike s , with Gibernau a head of Okada . Th e hig h rate of attrition had ta ke n o ut b o th Apr ilias ear ly o n McW illia m s struggling fo r five la p s un til his motor picked up , then cra s h.' ing as he tried to make up time; Tets uya Ha rad a p ulli ng in early with en gine pr ob lems. Th is left de Gea go ing strong in 10th on th e Modenas , ha ving pass ed va n d en Go orb ergh t ha nks t o h is ex t ra s trai g ht -l in e s pee d co m p ared wit h th e twi n . But th e ex per ie nced Dutchman s tu ck in hi s tr a ck s a nd reversed th e positions on th e la st la p. J o se -Lu is Card os o wa s next , 12 s e c onds down and the la st rider o n the sam e lap . Then c a me wild c a rd David Tomas , Yoshi Konishi a nd Phil Gil es, a ll o n V- t wi n Hond a s , we ll s prea d out, but a ll in th e poi nts . Roberts left Va len cia wit h a 6 6 point lead - wit h 214 p o int s . No nscore r Rossi was still second , on 148 , b ut Ch e c a is close o n 14 1 , a nd McCoy eve n m or e t hreatening on 134 . Ca pir os s i ha s 126 , Ba rro s 12 1 a nd Biagg i 118. 8 S Ef;TEMBER 2 7, 2000 ' cue (Above) Over 100,000 spectators packed the user-friendly circuit near Val e nci a in Spain. (Ri ght) Roberts (left) and Biaggi (rig ht) ga ng up on race winner Ga rry M c Coy on the rostrum. Th e w in was M cCoy's third of the sea son an d second in a row . 2S0cc GRA N O PRIX The man o f the star t w a s Ra lf Wald man n, already at h igh s pe e d when th e lights c ha nged , a nd sec uring hims e lf a n inevita ble stop-and -go pena lty as a res ult. But it was Jacqu e in fro n t at t he e nd o f th e fir s t lap , Na kano on h is he e ls , a nd th e two Ya ma has re pe a te d th eir pra c t ic e form, we ll in cont ro l of th e ra ce . And it wa s Na kan o in control of th e pair of them , cleanl y moving past J a cque on the fourth la p. The Fr en chman fought back, sticking close and setting best la p a s he closed right up aga in on the e ighth lap . But Nakano ha d more of everyth ing , incl ud ing fastest la ps to come , a nd two laps later he'd pu lled a wa y aga in by more than a s eco nd . By the end of a flaw le ss ra c e he was fou r seconds clear. "I h ad to win t o d a y - to sh ow I h a v e re covered from my Estori l crash , and for my championsh ip position ," he said. "I had a bike pro blem in pra ctic e , but m y mec ha nics fixe d it for me . It fe lt rea lly good, a nd I e njoy ed that ra c e ," he sai d . J a c qu e , me anwh ile , was pla ying it s afe , kn owin g full well th a t 20 risk free po ints wer e better th an doing th e other thing. "I a lwa ys wa nt to win, but S hin ya wa s ju st too fas t ," he s aid . A lit tl e way b a c k , b ut n o wh e re n e a r a ble to c ha lle nge, Uka wa and Mela ndri were engaged in a bitte r batt le. The Hon d a was in fro nt for the first 24 la ps , but only by inches. Then with three la ps left Me landri, who ha d I e n e vv s st a rt ed o n ha rd e r t ire s , mad e hi s m ov e. Ukawa tri ed 'a nd tr ied to g et ba c k in front , and was almost a longs ide o v e r th e line. Bu t Me la ndr i gr abbed h is second ro st rum by just three thousandt hs of a second, leav ing the Japa nese ride r o n c e aga in "b itterly disappointed " as impetuous youth defe a ted his experience . At least this tim e h e man a g ed to see off Daij iro Kato's Axo Honda . The p es ky rookie he ld fifth a lmost from the sta rt , and at ha lf distance caught rig h t u p t o Mela n dri , o n ly to drop a way ag a in t o fin is h five seco n ds down. Fra nce Batta ini's April ia was ne xt, a fte r a lon e b ut h igh -pre ssure race . Th e pre s sure had co m e from fo ur seco nds b eh ind , wher e Anthon y We st 's Ho nd a m an a ged to fend o ff thr e e ve r y p er s ist ent pr ivate er s throughout. He 'd led th e qu a rte t all th e way w h ile t he o t he r th re e sw apped back a nd for th . At the fin is h , Sebastien Porto's Yama ha was e igh th, le ss tha n a 10th away , while Briton Jay Vince nt (Padgett's Apr ilia) was t hree t enth s be hind h im , a nd in c h e s ahead of Da vid Checa's Fomma Honda . The rest of the field trailed in with on ly a modic um of excitement. Alex Debon was 11th on his Ap rilia , after c a tc h in g and pass ing Luc a Bo s cos c uro' s similar bike at half dis ta nc e . At the finish Boscoscuro was a lmos t drop ped another pl a c e b y Wal dma nn , who ha d picked his way th rou gh t he s lower riders after h is sto p -a nd -go pe na lty. Yuzy wa s 14th, for the firs t t im e beating h is tea m m at e Mat su d o , wh o t o o k th e las t po int. The re were 24 finishers , with Kla us Noeh le s not among th e m re m arka bly th e on ly ride r to cra sh. Naka no cut b a ck on Jacque 's po ints lead as th e Fr en c hman now si ts on 241 t o the Japan ese rider's 2 19 . Uka wa ha s 19 8 and Katoh 19 3 , with Me landr i c los ing up o n 116 , eq ual with Anthon y West. > 1 2Scc GRA N O P RIX Ho m e hero Pablo Nieto led off th e line a nd fo r the first th ree la p s , but p ol e s ta rte r Lo c at elli was n ot far