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/128638
Ba rros (10) led se ve ra l la ps over his teammate Capiross i (6 5) and Laconi before eventually fi nishi ng a c lose fourth. But it wa s th e breathtaking 500cc race tha t made the d a y . Ca p iros s i' s tea mmate Alex Barros was a close fo urth, Red Bull Yamaha's Ga rry McCoy another 1.5 seconds ba c k to take fifth ahead of Antena 3 Yama ha's Norick Ab e, World Champion Kenny Roberts Jr. a nd his Te lefon ica Mov iStar Suzu ki and p ol e qualifier J e rem y McW illiam s o n th e Ap rilia , th e Uls t e rm a n pu lling th ro ugh from a lm o st last afte r ge tti ng le ft a t t h e line. Ma rlbo ro Yama ha 's Ca rlos C he ca d id not fini sh , cra s h in g tw ice - the first time o n th e fir st lap , se c onds aft er taking the lead . front, t he n Capiross i aga in, th en o n lap seven , Ba rros. The top factory riders were c lim bing all ove r each other everywhere on the track , running into the 13 0 mph Tum O ne two and three a b reast , swapp ing ba ck and forth sometimes twice in just one corne r. It was so close that it was hard to dis cern any pattern , th ough Ros si a nd Biagg i were mov ing fo rwa rd b it b y bit , a nd Robe rts wa s dropping aw a y backward , short of top -end speed. McC o y wa s p us h in g h ar d , a n d m o ved to thi rd to chall eng e fo r t he lead for two la ps, o n ly to s urv ive a huge sl ide that threw him out of th e s a ddl e a t the e xit to the ha irp in on t he 10th lap . That dropped him to fifth , but it wa s still so close that he was o ne of a number of c a ndi d a tes for th e rostrum , and actually d id le a d b riefl y on la p 13 , div ing through in Turn On e o n ly to run wide in the next c o rn e r, letting Capiross i and Barro s thr ou gh . At h a lf di s t anc e , th e firs t doze n were wit hin 2.6 secon d s , a nd th e y c lo s e d up even m or e , wit h Mc Willia m s ha v ing joined the party a fte r a sterl ing ride thr ough th e fie ld. As h e p ic ked h is wa y closer to th e fron t the rest stu c k with him , and on la p 15 the gr o up was c o ve re d by 1.6 s e conds , in th e follo wi n g order : Capirossi, Lacon i, Biagg i, Barros , Rossi, McCo y , A be , O k ad a , McW illi am s , Roberts, Nobuastu Aok i, Sete Gibemau, with a big gap to the next man , Jurgen v a n d e n Goorb erg h o n th e V-tw in . McWilliams did ev entua lly get throu g h t o four th , but s a id : " It may h a v e lo oked go o d , b u t I kn ew I wa s in S OOc c G R A N D PRIX Pole s t a rt er Mc Wi lliams was in tro ub le from the off. "T h e clutc h s lip p e d , a nd whe n I pu t it into second it just we nt to full re vs a ga in: sai d McWilliams . He had to nurse it rou nd the res t of the lap un til it coo led off agai n, fin ish ing the lap 15th. It h a d be en Re g is La c o n i o ff t he lin e , C h e c a in t o t h e lead h a lfwa y arou nd , un til he fell , bu t C api ro ss i headed th e ra veni ng pack across the line , from Abe , Lac o ni, Roberts , Barros , McC oy , Ros s i and Biagg i. The act io n up fron t wa s fast a nd furious , with La coni getti ng ba c k up Despite qualifying on the third row, Max Blaggl (4 ) battled through to w in the race, holding off Ca plro ssl (6 5) and Rossi (hidden) at the finish li ne . cue I e n e _ S • N OVEM B ER 8 , 2000 7