2001 Grand Prix 500 - Round 14

Garry McCoy hoped to do well at his home GP but starting from 14th spot on the grid did not help his cause at all. Anthony West put in an impressive performance to qualify 16th and the first of the less powerful V-Twin machines. Brendan Clarke started from the back of the grid on his V-Twin.

Max Biaggi started from pole position after setting a new 1m31.984 qualifying record. Rossi took his spot on the grid next to Biaggi after recording a 1m32.408 in qualifying.

Tohru Ukawa was quickest in the morning warm-up session though with a 1m33.141. Jacque was 2nd quickest, Barros 3rd.

38,000 spectators turned up to see the riders get away cleanly from the start and Rossi lead the field through Southern Loop for the first time followed by Barros, Jacque, Haga and Biaggi.

Barros went through for the lead on lap 2 but Haga was the fastest man on that lap with a 1m33.667. Haga got through on Rossi at Siberia for 2nd and set out after Barros.

Rossi got back through on Haga for 2nd around Southern Loop while Biaggi was the fastest man on lap 3, but still in 5th spot. Rossi was quickest on lap 4 and sat right on the tail of Barros, along with Haga. But Haga took 2nd position around the back of the circuit and immediately pulled a couple of bike lengths on the Italian. Biaggi got through on Jacque for 4th.

At this stage McCoy was 7th, West 16th and Clarke 22nd. Biaggi was closing on Rossi while Haga started to threaten Barros. Capirossi was down in 9th but was the quickest man on lap 11. Maybe his tyres are just starting to come in but he is on a hard 17" front and medium 18.5" just like Rossi, Biaggi and Barros among others. Nakano is on a medium front and hard rear while Noriyuki Haga is on a soft front and medium rear, likewise McCoy.

After 7 of 27 laps Barros was leading a tightly bunched nose-to-tail pack of five consisting of Barros, Haga, Rossi, Biaggi and Jacque. Half a second covering the lot of them. Cardoso came in to the pits and actually crashed in pit lane for some reason.

Haga hit the lead on lap 10 from Barros, Rossi, Biaggi and Jacque but next to nothing separated them. Rossi was off the rear quarter of Barros when the Brazilian weaved a little to pull out of the slipstream and his rear tyre came in to contact with Rossi's front resulting in a large puff of smoke. How that did not end in tears I will never know.

Barros went through on Haga for the lead at the start of lap 12, the leading quintet was still separated by only half a second. Rossi got Haga for 2nd on the way in to MG and latched on to the back of Barros for the run on to the main straight. The whole five of them crossed the line to start lap 13 of 27 nearly line abreast. Rossi came out of Southern Loop in the lead though, followed by Haga, Barros, Biaggi and Jacque. Capirossi had been on a charge and was not that far off the back of the leading pack. Rossi put in a quick lap to pull out 7 tenths on the now 2nd placed Barros who was fighting hard with Haga, Jacque and Biaggi. Rossi tried to escape a little to leave the pack to fight between themselves.

McCoy up to 7th with 12 laps to run. West 13th, Clarke was still at the rear of the field by a fair margin. Biaggi looked determined not to let Rossi get away. Max put on a quick burst of speed to pull out a 1m32.993 and closed right up on to the rear of Rossi.

Biaggi took the lead on lap 16. Barros under Rossi for 2nd on lap 17 and then through on Biaggi, but Rossi also followed him through. Capirossi was now coming in fast and went through on the whole lot of them in one huge move to take the lead. Incredible stuff.

McCoy was visibly slowing with clutch problems and tried to battle through them but eventually succumbed to them a couple of laps later. "Right from the start I had no clutch and was just having to kick the gear lever up to change down in the corners with the back wheel bouncing around all over the place. Still I managed to catch up with the front group, making most of my time up on the corners where you changed up. Down the straights I was screwing the clutch adjuster out, until eventually the whole mechanism was hanging off. I think at that point I just decided it was too dangerous to continue. I was giving the gearbox some real abuse, trying to get the cable back in and race with the others. I don't think I have ever been so disappointed."

Biaggi got back in to the lead on lap 19, Capirossi 2nd, Rossi 3rd. Rossi them moved into 2nd again after taking Capirossi.

With 4 laps remaining the top 7 were covered by less than a second. Biaggi had led for the past couple of laps before being taken through turn one by Rossi. Barros tried to go under Biaggi at Honda Corner but the Italian held him off. But this slowed Max a little and allowed Rossi to pull out a couple of tenths.

Biaggi worked hard to claw the ground back and got right on Rossi's tail on the run to the main straight with 2 laps to go. Biaggi got him at turn one and immediately pulled a couple of bike lengths.

On the final lap Biaggi still led from Rossi while Capirossi and Barros were fighting for 3rd. Rossi was then in the process of setting Max up, he tried around the outside at Lukey Heights which then allowed him to slot underneath at MG and lead on to the main straight with Biaggi right behind for the slipstream but Rossi held on and took the win by only one-hundredth of a second.

Awesome race and Rossi is now the 2001 World Champion with two rounds remaining.

"Going into the race I was not thinking about the Championship, just trying to concentrate," said Rossi. "It was a big show, with five or six riders fighting hard at this fantastic circuit. At the beginning I was fighting with Haga and Barros, and had to keep one eye on them and the other on the track because it was very dangerous. It would have been more dangerous for me to slow down and let them go though, so I knew I had to push hard for the victory. When the tyres went off Loris came through and I was really struggling because my rear wheel was sliding so much. I tried to break clear but it was impossible and I had to wait until the last lap. There was one point I knew I could overtake Max, and I went for it."

Biaggi enjoyed the race - "I tried everything and I think I can be proud of that race, I was on the limit from the first lap to the last," said Biaggi who won a similarly frantic battle here last year. "I was trying for the best result because even if the title was pretty much over, a real fighter doesn't give in until it is over. When I got the lead for the second time I tried to do a few very fast laps to break away, but I came so close to falling at turn one. I had a big front slide with smoke coming from the tyre!

"When Rossi got me the last time, I tried to use more corner speed through the last turn so I could overtake him on the line but I couldn't quite do it. The race was fantastic to watch when I wasn't in the lead - riders taking each others' lines, touching each other, and lots of smoke. Dangerous, but graceful!"

Loris Capirossi took his 8th podium of the year - "I made a bad start. With a full tank of fuel I was not confident with the front tyre. From the 6th lap on everything went better and I could catch the leading group, although I had more than a scare. I want to win a race and there is no way, although I do my best at all the circuits. There are two races left and I will not lose faith. I congratulate Valentino because he deserves the championship."

His team-mate Barros was 4th - "I am not happy with the final result, but the bike worked perfectly. The race was very difficult with much overtaking and has been very exciting for the fans. I had a lot of fun, although there were some dangerous moments. At the end, I got touched by Biaggi and then lost all the options to fight for victory by losing some positions. I had hopes to get on the podium today, but we showed that we are competitive and I will keep this level."

Repsol Honda's Tohru Ukawa was 5th - "I tried but once again I started very badly and this reflected on my final result. It was my mistake, because I used too much clutch at the start. I found myself in 12th at the end of the starting straight. I managed to make up positions on the first ten laps to reach the leading group. It didn't work out for me in the end but at least I enjoyed this battle very much. If I had started well I think I would have made the podium."

Olivier Jacque ended the race 6th after figuring strongly in the fight for the lead - "It was fantastic to fight for the podium for so much of the race. After a good start I quickly settled down - though I had to fight hard, especially against Capirossi and Barros who were particularly hard on the brakes. I was drained nervously by the end and lost a full second on the last lap when Barros had a big moment in front of me. This was the first time that I have finished so close to the podium this season and I would like to thank the whole team for all their hard work in helping me get there. Hopefully the last two GPs will confirm that 'up at the front' is where I belong."

His team-mate Shinya Nakano also figured strongly - "I don't know why I have so much trouble getting going at the beginning of the race. Once again I didn't find my rhythm until the halfway point. Maybe I just need more experience.......The second half of the race went better and by passing Haga I managed to finish just behind Olivier."

Noriyuki Haga was running up the front for most of the early part of the race before falling back a little at the end, maybe as a result of the wear on his soft compound front tyre. "I got a good start and was straight up with the leaders. I was overtaking in the corners - sometimes going to the front - and being slip-streamed down the straights - but always fighting. That is the kind of race I like - the best so far this year - a lot of fun. It is just a pity that I only finished 8th.

Suzuki's Sete Gibernau was 9th - "That was never going to be easy. We started with extra fuel, because we were worried about running short again, and that meant the bike was too heavy over the front for the early laps. I had a couple of moments, and realized I had to settle down. Towards the end, with the fuel burned off, I could get going. I caught the group, but I just didn't have the speed to pass any of them down the straight. I think we did a good race all the same."

Jurgen Van Den Goorbergh was encouraged with his 10th place finish - "That was a fantastic race, and though not everything went right for us, I'm still pleased with the position, and the way I was able to fight in the big group up front early on. I think we surprised a few people today with what the bike and the rider could do. We were only 19 seconds behind the leader at the end, in spite of some problems, and without them I would have been able to stay with the lead group for sure. I got a good start and took some risks in the first laps to pass a lot of riders. I was holding my place in the group, then for three laps in a row the engine just died on the straight. That meant I lost the group. After that, I pushed too hard trying to catch up again, and that used up the rear tyre. I knew that Criville and the others were closing on me, but I worked out that I'd be able to still be ahead at the flag. I was right, though only by a small margin!"

Alex Criville got a bad start like his team-mate Ukawa - "The key to a success in the race was the start, and I failed. When I finally managed to overtake the V-Twins it was too late as the front runners were long gone. I started catching Van Den Goorbergh but didn't manage to catch him. It was a very slow race and I could have been in the fight for the podium. Congratulations to Rossi for the title win, he was the best this year."

Anthony West finished 12th which equaled his previous best finish of 2001 when he was 12th in the Portugal round of the championship at Estoril on September 9. He has now scored world championship points nine times from 12 starts in the 500cc series this season.

"That's my best race of the season. It's the first time I've been able to battle with the four-cylinder bikes for a whole race and beat some of them. Usually I can fight with them for a few laps and then they go away from me. This was different." West continued, "The V4s were quicker on the straights, but I could pass them at Honda hairpin and some of the other tighter places. It feels good to finish ahead of Abe, Roberts, and Checa, and it give me confidence for the future I can race some of these guys if I can get on equal machinery. My tyres were sliding around after a few laps, but I think everyone was in the same position. I could see the V4s I was racing were spinning up on the exits to some of the turns. This track flows better than most of the others we race at and I was able to get into a good rhythm on the 'Twin' and keep the momentum going. My team did a good job this weekend – we had some problems in practice and qualifying, but they changed the suspension and it made the bike easier to ride. It's a busy finish to the season. Tomorrow we get on a plan and fly to Malaysia for the race at Sepang next Sunday."

Kenny Roberts was 15th - "Not much to say. I got a bad start, and got mixed up with some pretty dangerous stuff with some of the twin-cylinder bikes. I was just trying to stay upright, then about halfway through I felt as though something had gone wrong with the tyre. I was having vibrations and I lost some grip. After that I just wanted to finish. After the race, the tyre looked okay, so I'm not quite sure what was wrong."

Carlos Checa started this afternoon's Australian GP from the second row of the grid and confident of a strong ride amongst the leading pack. But things didn't turn out that way for the Marlboro Yamaha Team man. From the very earliest stages he struggled with feedback from the rear of his YZR500 and was consigned to battling for the final world point with outgoing World Champion Kenny Roberts.

"I don't know what happened, but I wasn't getting any feedback from the rear, and it wasn't just the tyre," said the Spaniard. "I was running wide into the corners and couldn't open the gas on the way out. I tried all the way to the finish but there was no way I could race properly. The conditions changed for the race but not that much, so we must check to find out exactly what happened."

Brendan Clarke was a little disconsolate with his 20th place finish in his home GP - "I'm very disappointed because I expected to have a much better result coming to a circuit I know. I think it is a combination of the way I had the suspension set up and the way I was riding the bike. My lap times were consistent throughout the race which I shouldn't be able to do because by the end of the race the rear tyre was wrecked. But I was still able to do the same lap times at the end as I was in the early stages. Like I said, I think part of that is the suspension set-up and part is my lack of experience riding on slicks."