World C h a mpio n s h ip R o a d R a c in g Series
R o u n d 1 4 : Rio Grand Pri x
B Y M ICHA E L S COTT
P HOT OS B Y G O LD [, G O O SE
RIO DE JANEI O, BRAZIL. OCT. 8
R
i n g Kenny the S e cond was
crowned in Brazil. Whi le Nastro
Azzurro Hon da's Valentino Rossi may
have wo n the Rio Gr and Prix for his
second w in in his d ebut sea son , the
afternoon· indeed the who le seaso n ·
b e l on g e d to 27 -year -o ld Ken ny
Rob erts J r. and hi s Telefonic a MoviStar Suzuk i as he became not just the
first 5 0 0 c c World Champ ion of the
new m i ll enni u m , but also th e first
roa d-raci ng son to rep eat his father's
achievement. He d id so by riding to a
conservative six th -pla ce fin ish.
"As long as I c a n remember I've
dream ed abo ut winning this title. It's
bee n a 27 -year season for me," said
Roberts Jr. , who admitted: "I' m more
relieved th an happy. "
Hi s three-time W orld Champ ion
father Kenny Roberts joined him on ,
the rostrum to sha re the moment, the
pride in his eyes belying his matterof- fac t statement : "I 've no a xe to
grind. I'm j ust happ y for him. B ut
he 'd st ill be my son whether he was
cha mpion or not. "
J unior's mother, Patty, also made
a ra re GP v isit for the occasio n . A t
times. it seem ed it might ha ve been a
wa st ed trip . While Rossi dis p ute d the
le ad with second -p laced Alex Ba rros
a nd hi s Em erson Pons H o n d a a n d
Red Bu ll Yama ha ride r Garry McCoy ,
both of whom led at vario us stages ,
Ro bert s se em ed to be struggling in
l Oth, almost th e la st of th e factory Vfo urs.
"I was just telling myself not to fall
down , " he explained afterwards . "I
either had to finish sixth here today,
or 1Oth a couple of times . Falling
down and scoring no po ints would
have been worse than fi nish ing below
six th and spinning it out for another
race. Every time it stepped out o r I
pushed the fro nt , it took me a couple
of la ps to ge t going again."
After p red ic tions of dire weather,
the race was run in warm , dry condi tions in front of a good c ro wd of more
tha n 4 0 ,000 fans at the 3 .058-mile
Nelson Piq uet circu it at Ja carepagua ,
j ust outside Rio de Janeiro.
Ross i's sec ond win fulfilled th e first
part of his ambition - to sec ure sec ond overa ll by w inning th e last three
races.
" T he champ ionship w as lo st for
me wh en I crashed at Val encia ," the
K
Ab dicating the crown. Three-time
Wo rl d Champio n Kenny Roberts
passes the King 's crown t o SOOcc
World Champion Kenny Roberts Jr,
6
O=OBER 18, 2000'
cue I e
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