Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

W orld C h a mpionsh ip R o ad R a c in g Series Final Round : Austra lian Gran d Prix trouble , be ca use m y t ire was rui ned . Even if I had got a good start I'd have run into tro ub le .. . I needed a harde r co ns tructio n." By thi s time, Checa had crashed again a ft e r moving through into a points- s c oring position - this time a t th e fast Turn On e , so hi s b ike was dama ged too badl y for a third atte mpt. " Bo t h t im e s i was no t push in g hard , but the front went awa y as I got off th e br akes . I don't understand it," he said. Mark Willis was a lso in the pits, the Mod en as s uffe ring c ripp ling fue l starva ti on at full thr ott le dow n the stra igh t after a breather tube "poppe d o ff", dep res surizi ng the sea led fuel syste m . Alex Criv ille ha d a lso crashed out, e ndi ng his dire season defend ing his title with yet another disa ppointment. Bia g g i took th e le a d fo r th e first tim e on la p 15 , passing Barro s into Tu rn O ne, o nly to lose the le ad aga in into the nex t corner. This wa s typica l of the action but , as the race wo re on and the tires wore down , it seemed th at Cap iross i, Bia g g i and La c on i m ight make a little break u p front. But that didn 't la st very long either, as Capirossi bra ked unex pectedly ea rly in t o t he h a ir p in o n lap 19 . Laco ni hit his bac k wheel, a nd tho ug h he didn 't c rash he ran off the t rack , rejoin ing off the ba ck of th e ga ng . Th e ne xt to go wa s Gibern au , from the back of the group , say ing tha t his .tire s were s liding so badly it was dan gerous to cont inu e . Th en Aok i lo s t to uch after finding n eutral "se ve ra l t imes " a t th e seco n d-ge ar S ib er ia corne r, los ing a few te nt hs e a ch time until he was out of th e slipstream . It wa s o nly with t hre e la ps to go that th e g rou p was s plit , wi t h Cap iro s s i h ead in g Bia g g i, Bar ro s , McC oy and Rossi, th en a full-second ga p t o Ab e , h e ad in g McWillia ms, Rob erts a nd O kada . It h a d been the World Cha m p ion who caused th e brea k . "I m essed up whe n I tried to o utbrake McCoy at th e h a irpi n ," s a id Roberts . "I got in too hot a nd ra n wide . I m a de a mi stake at a c rucial t ime , and that cost me m y cha nc e of the podi um ." Up fro nt the battle wa s despera te J e rem y McWilliams started from the po le position in the 500cc GP, but a bad start forced him to have to f ight through the pack. Here he closes in on the lea ding quartet. all the wa y , but Biaggi na rrowly had th e upper hand . He le d into the fin a l la p , a nd mana ged to sta y the re all the wa y to th e end. "Ca p iross i was pu shing ve ry ha rd , but today was m y day ," he said. Cap iro ss i in turn b lam ed "a litt le m ista ke in the last la p" fo r na rrowly m issi ng victo ry. "It wa s a great race, bu t Max's b ike was too fas t fo r me today , a nd t h o u g h t he re was o ne place whe re I cou ld pass, on the last lap I a rrived there to o fast and had a s lid e ." he said. Rossi , right beh ind in th ird , h a d another re as on for not taking th e win. "I was fighti ng with Ba rro s at the start of the lap, and I did n 't see m y p it s igna l th a t it wa s th e last lap. I realized that it wa s when I saw how ha rd Ca piross i was pushi ng, but by then it wa s too late for me to do anyth ing a bo ut it," he sa id. Ba rro s wa s inches b ehi n d , a n d lik e a ll th e others g low ing wit h t he fun of the race, a ltho ug h com p laining o f res t r icte d visio n fr om h is facesh ield me a nt he couldn' t re ad his pit s ignals and also m iss e d the la stla p sign ; McC o y wa s a no t he r 1.4 s e c on ds adrift. "l' rn s or ry I couldn 't give th e c rowd wha t th ey wanted , bu t I did n't wa nt to Biaggi celebrates w ith a wheelie as Capirossi (65) holds off Rossi for second place at the finish line. 8 NOVEMBER 8, 2000· c .. c • e n e vv s

• Cover