Grand Prix 2000 - Assen - 500

Alex Criville started from the front row for the first time this year, and Loris Capirossi was on pole for the first time in his 500 career. However Loris did break a bone in his hand this morning in practice which will make it very hard for him. The track is fairly dry now with only a couple of damp patches so nearly everyone is on slicks.

They are away and Roberts did the best clutch work and shoots straight to the front, Barros 2nd, Abe 3rd, Okada 4th, Capirossi 5th, Laconi 6th. Abe runs wide and loses a few places, Barros looks quick today. McCoy 7th.

Roberts has a monster of a high side, he hit very hard and will be lucky to get away with nothing broken, we will let you know when we get word. Capirossi up to 2nd and right on the tail of Barros. Capirossi in the lead.

Top Ten - Capirossi, Barros, Okada, Laconi, Rossi, Abe, Criville, McCoy, Biaggi, Checa. Abe through on Rossi, Okada slipped past Barros for 2nd and closing on Capirossi. Will Capirossi's injured hand stand up to this punishment for the whole race?

Laconi has a huge moment and runs through the dirt but manages to rejoin the race way down in the field.

Lap 2 and Capirossi still leads Okada who is on a hard front and medium rear while Loris has medium compounds at both ends. Capirossi looks to maybe have made a little ground on Okada.

Capirossi runs a little wide and lets Okada through but Loris recovered well and took the Repsol man in to the next corner, Barros through on Capirossi. The leading quartet is nose to tail and all Honda - Capirossi, Barros, Okada, Rossi. Those Honda's belong to 3 different teams though.

Rain has started pelting down and the riders stick their hands up. So we will have a re-start with 17 laps to go.

The tyre men will be seeking divine intervention to tell them which tyre to put on for the re-start. With the recent rule changes they will have one warm-up lap and then they will start with no further wet practice. The race order will be decided on aggregated times to make things even more confusing for this commentator........who is easily confused.

----- Re-start -----

The track is drying for the 2nd start and most are on intermediate tyres with 17 laps to go.

Away they go again and Rossi gets the best jump, followed by Criville and Checa, Okada & Laconi. Capirossi got a terrible start. Van Der Goorbergh up in to 3rd (track position) in front of his home crowd who respond enthusiastically.

Gibernau up to 2nd, then takes Rossi for the lead, Van Der Goorbergh through on Rossi too. Capirossi is way down the field. Van Der Goorbergh in the lead the crowd go mental but Gibernau shoots back past him. Gibernau, Van Der Goorbergh, Laconi. On corrected time it is Rossi that is leading! On the track it is now Gibernau, Laconi, Van Der Goorbergh but Rossi is still leading on corrected time.

Lap 5 of the full 20 - corrected time - Rossi, Criville, Abe, Barros, Okada, Gibernau, Checa, Capirossi. Rossi has a 2 second lead on the timing but is 5th on the track, closely followed by Abe and Checa. Criville is attacking Van Der Goorbergh for 3rd position on the track and Criville is only half a second behind Rossi on corrected time.

Lap 6 corrected time - Rossi, Criville, Barros, Abe, Gibernau, Okada, Checa, Laconi. Criville through on Van Der Goorbergh. Rossi seems to be lacking a little pace now ad Criville will be the leader on corrected time shortly.

Lap 7 - corrected time - Barros, Criville, Rossi, Gibernau, Abe, Checa, Laconi, Okada, Van Der Goorbergh, Biaggi, Capirossi. The track is drying further and Checa is on full slicks so he may well gain quite a few more positions before this race ends. Barros is picking up the pace now, through on Checa and Van Der Goorbergh for track position.

Barros leads Criville on corrected time as they commence lap 9, but is right behind Criville on the track. This corrected timing really makes things difficult to follow. Barros now through on Criville and has 2 seconds on him taking corrected time in to account. Checa should be starting to see a bit of an advantage now on those slicks but is yet to show it on the track.

10 laps to go - Barros leads by 2.2 seconds over Criville on corrected time but the Repsol rider is right up his clacker on the track. Corrected time - Barros, Criville, Gibernau, Rossi, Abe, Laconi, Checa, Biaggi, Capirossi, Okada.

Gibernau is leading on the track from Laconi with 9 laps to go but the real leaders, Barros and Criville are right on their case. Barros hits the lead on the track and looks to have plenty of speed to run away. Criville would be at least 3 seconds behind Barros now on corrected time and is 4th on track, but the leading quartet are pretty closely bunched with 8 laps to go.

Criville through on Laconi for track position, 3rd, now through on Gibernau for 2nd on the track which means the two leaders on corrected time are now also the leaders on the track but Barros has 2.5 seconds on Criville when the corrected time is taken in to account.

Criville tried to put it under Barros but does not quite make it, the two leaders have really cleared out from Laconi and Gibernau who are holding down 3rd and 4th track positions.

Barros now has a 2.3 second lead over Criville on corrected time with 6 laps to go. Corrected time - Barros, Criville, Gibernau, Rossi, Capirossi, Biaggi, Checa. Criville through on Barros for track position, in order to win this race he is now going to have to pull over 2 seconds out on Barros. Checa looks to be taking advantage of those slicks now as the others start tearing up their intermediates a little. Capirossi up to 3rd on corrected time, followed by Rossi & Gibernau.

Barros is staying with Criville and his pit board will be telling him that in order to win the race on corrected time that is all he has to do. 4 laps to go - corrected time - Barros, Criville, Capirossi, Rossi, Biaggi, Checa, Gibernau, Laconi. Capirossi set the fastest lap but is still 7 seconds behind Barros on corrected time. Barros through on Criville for track position, which in my opinion would be the wrong thing to do with only 3 laps to go and a 2.3 second lead on corrected time. Capirossi now has 6 seconds to close to get to the front on corrected time, an impossible task at this stage of the race.

2 laps to go - corrected time - Barros, Criville, Capirossi, Biaggi, Checa, Rossi, Gibernau, Laconi, Abe, Van Der Goorbergh. Barros has crashed while leading plenty of times before...........

Capirossi is still very fast on the track and a mix-up between Barros and Criville would be enough to let him close that gap.

Last lap - Criville is the leader on the track but Barros is the leader on corrected time by over 2 seconds, Capirossi 4.5 seconds behind the leader on corrected time but only 2 seconds behind Criville. Barros shoots past Criville again for track position, he obviously wants to take the win on the line as well as on the timers. Criville is showing him a wheel to try and scare Barros in to making a mistake, Criville gets back past him to cross the line 1st but the win goes to Barros on corrected time.