2001 Grand Prix 500 - Round 2

Mark Willis suffered a heavy fall in practice yesterday but was judged fit to race by the medical staff so he takes his place at the rear of the grid.

Anthony West is having his first outing on a 500 this weekend and has qualified in 19th, which is 3 spots better than his team-mate Veneman even though West only got on the bike for the first time here at Welkom.

All got off the line well but Roberts took the inside line through turn 1, Rossi somehow got around him on the exit. So the order is Rossi, Roberts, McCoy on this first lap.

McCoy already looking for a way to slide under, or over, Roberts for the 2nd position.

Roberts through on Rossi in a fantastic move, nobody would have saw that move coming there, least of all Rossi. Roberts set the fastest lap on that 2nd time around. McCoy nearly ran up the back of Rossi and had to take evasive action due to the much slower entry speed the Italian had in that particular corner.

Shinya Nakano is in 6th place but set the fastest lap on that third time around the Welkom circuit.

McCoy nearly running up the rear of Rossi again through that same section where McCoy is so fast.

Still Roberts from Rossi and McCoy with Abe in 4th. Capirossi the fastest man on the fourth time around. Haga into the dirt.

McCoy through on Rossi and up into 2nd, through that section McCoy is so much faster than the others. But into the next section Rossi has the upper hand over McCoy and goes back up into 2nd.

The top seven are still all fairly close with only around 1.5 seconds covering the group. McCoy again so much faster in that same section and nearly kissing the pipes of Rossi's NSR 500.

Lap 7 of 28 - Roberts, Rossi, McCoy, Abe, Ukawa, Nakano, Capirossi, Criville, Barros , Biaggi , Gibernau is the race order. Jay Vincent did not make the start of the race due to machine problems while his team-mate Mark Willis sits in 20th place.

Rossi starting to pressure Roberts now while McCoy has lost touch a little with the leading duo. Rossi will try to put a move on Roberts soon.

1.5 seconds covers the top 7 still so it is still anyone's game at this stage of the race.

McCoy right on the tail of Rossi once again but the whole leading seven seem to have closed together even more.

McCoy sticks it under Valentino but ran wide which allowed Rossi to go straight back through. But worse still Abe also went through, so McCoy lost a further position from that move. But it was not a rash move as the only reason McCoy went wide was because the suspension seemed to unload a little and McCoy had to alter his stance to save the bike from getting too far out of shape.

Abe on a huge charge, through on Rossi for 2nd, Capirossi through on McCoy so the Australian is now pushed back to 5th. Still only 1.6 seconds covering the top 7, this race is so tight and absolutely still anyone's.

Norick Abe into the lead. Rossi through on Roberts for 2nd. Abe has opened an ever so slight gap, still only a couple of bike lengths but probably the biggest gap from leader to second so far this race. Hold that. Rossi now right back with Abe, the young Italian may have decided that he can't break from this group but he does seem to be able to put a burst of speed on when ever it is required.

Abe and Rossi now with a little gap over Roberts who is being hounded by Capirossi. Yep Capirossi through for 3rd, McCoy also through on Roberts but the next corner saw Garry go wide again and the American took his position right back.

2 seconds now cover the top 7, Rossi now in front of Abe and Capirossi now the fastest man on the track. Loris will be through on Abe soon. Criville has picked up the pace, the Spaniard is in 8th but has closed down to make the leading group of 7 into a group of 8. McCoy lost the front and into the dirt, it looked as though he hit a bit of banding on the tarmac which was enough to slide the Yamaha off into the dirt. How come whenever a Yamaha goes down it is always the front that slides away.

Race order now Rossi & Capirossi out in front with a good gap back to Abe in 3rd.

Rossi right out over the ripple strip onto the main straight, this race has now come down to a battle for the lead between two Honda mounted Italians with 8 laps to run.

Rossi, Capirossi, Abe, Ukawa, Nakano, Roberts, Criville, Biaggi, Barros is the race order but the win will go to either Rossi or Capirossi. Criville through on Roberts for 6th.

The two loading Italians now have 2 seconds over the second group which is led by Abe. Rossi and Capirossi are now running so much faster than the rest of the field, on that lap they pulled over a second on the second group. But Rossi is making a tenth on Capirossi here and there and it may just be enough to enable to him to hold out for the win.

Rossi is going quicker every lap, Capirossi is also going quicker every lap but not faster enough to stay with Rossi.

Ukawa through on Abe for 3rd. 2 laps to run and half a second separates Rossi and Capirossi. Nakano through on Abe for 4th but Abe is not giving up without a fight.

Final lap - 0.4 of a second between 1st and 2nd. But the younger of the Italians makes some ground through the middle section. Rossi takes the win and sets the fastest lap of the race on the final lap

Who is going to stop this man in 2001?

In the post race interview Rossi spoke how he did not feel comfortable on the bike early in the race as it was too heavy with a full tank of fuel so it was sliding the front too much but could gain speed as the bike became lighter. He also explained how he watched the gaps and lots of other technical points he made conscious decisions about during this race. Rossi is extremely intelligent, and never have I found that fact more obvious than here today. If the young man, remember Valentino is still very young, can explain his tactics that well in English and that they seem such an intelligent analysis of how to run a race to a non-race such as myself I find quite amazing.

We have always known that Rossi was a star of the future but some in the know, including Doohan etc., have said that the young Italian will maybe be the best racer we have ever seen. After today I have also seen the light, the racing didn't clinch that decision for me, the way he explained how he ran the race made my mind up.