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/128636
World Championship R oad Racing Serie s Round 14 : Pacific Grand P r ix of Motegi fina l ro u nd - th e Austra lia n GP - in two wee ks time. Some wa y back, Marlboro Ya m a ha 's Carl os Checa celebrated his 28th birthday with fourth , le a ving Anten a 3 Ya ma ha' s No ric k Ab e and fo rmer Wo rld Champ ion Ale x Cri v ille to sc ra p over fifth. "Afte r g ett ing th e ch a mpionsh ip , it w a s g re a t t o be ab le to e njoy myse lf a g ain," sa id Roberts . "I got a great start, and the team gave m e a gr eat b ike today. It was good to win for Suzuki at their home GP , aft er a ll th e hard wor k the y 'v e don e th is year. " Rossi was de lighted by his victo ry over Biagg i. "I thought I might win today , but after a bad start I knew that was impo ss ible," Rossi said . "T h e way Kenny was going it would hav e been very difficu lt an yway . But getting pa st [MaxI Biaggi on the la st lap when he ran wide after passing m e .. . it was like an orgasm. " B y MICHA E L S COTT P HOT OS BY G OL D f, G O OSE M OTEGI, JAPAN, OCT. 15 in g Kenny th e Second proved h is point at Twin Ring Mot eg i. Eight days after se curing the 500cc Wor ld Championsh ip, the famous so n of a famous fath er silenced the c ritic s with a resounding start-t o -finish win at the Pacific GP, repeating his fe at of las t year, when he beat Mick Doohan in th e former five-time World Champion's last- ever Grand Prix start. The Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki rider was a lmost 10 seconds ahead of a breathtaking all -Italian battle for second, wo n at the last gasp by Nastro Azzurro Honda 's Valentino Rossi from his deadly rival Ma x Biaggi on the Marlboro Yama ha , after the pair had cha nged places twice just a cou ple of corners from home . The position also secu red second overall in the championsh ip for Rossi, who cannot now be caught in the K 22 O C TO B ER 25 , 2000' e ye I e n e IN S His de feat ed rival remained cheerful. "I a m happy to finish third tod a y it wa s a great race . But o ur ta rget is to win , a nd we will keep wo rki ng ," Bia gg i sa id . E a rl ie r , Vasco Ross i Ap r ilia's Rob e rt o Locatell i h ad s ecured th e 12 5 c c Wo rld Champ ionship wit h a runa wa y win in the smallest class . His closest riva l, De rb i's You ichi Ui, was fa lling ba c k in second place when he settled the issue by c ra s hing out. "I saw a red bike crash on the TV screens by th e tra ck, a nd for the rest of th e lap I wa s hop ing it was Ui," said th e new ch ampion a fte rwa rds . "I wa s lucky today , but th at makes up fo r th e techn ical problem I had in Braz il," he added. But a tense 250cc Grand Prix ga ve a result that will take the last remain ing champio nship to the wire in the Australian GP. The race was won by Axo Honda 's Daijiro Katoh, the J apanese rider leading from start to finish , but under constant p ressure from sec - Th is was all anybody saw of Kenny Roberts Jr. In the Pacific Grand Prix of Motegi • except they weren't this close. The newly crowned 500cc World Champion completely dominated the race, winni ng by over six seconds. o nd -pl ace d Sh iny a Na ka no and the Chest erfie ld Yamaha. Bot h ride rs bro ke the lap record time a nd aga in in a battle that lasted to the flag . Po ints leader O liv ier Ja cque and his Ches te rfie ld Yam ah a cou ld man age no better th an fou rth , left tra iling by a n on-form Marco Melandri on the Blu ApriJi a. J a cqu e now leads Nakano by just two po int s, wi th Ka t o h o nly n ine behi nd the leader. Fifth place fo r Tohru Ukawa ru led h im o ut of poss ib le overall vic to ry , however. SOO cc GRAND P RIX Ro be rts got a clean sta rt and imme diately started to work on pullin g a way as some important rivals