MotoGP 2002 - Round 1 - Suzuka

Marlboro Yamaha Team rider Carlos Checa enjoyed a superb beginning to GP racing's new four-stroke era, taking a hard-charging third place at soaking wet Suzuka this afternoon. Team-mate Max Biaggi had a less lucky day, he was one of many victims of the treacherous conditions, sliding off his YZR-M1 unhurt.

Overall the event was a great success for the Marlboro Yamaha Team, who had suffered some difficult times during recent preseason tests. But untiring work by the crew turned things around in time for the Japanese GP and YZR-M1 project leader Ichiro Yoda believes things can only keep getting better from here.

"That was a very exciting race, Carlos did a good job," grinned Yoda. "And I think he could've done better. After this morning's wet warm-up we decided to set up the 'old' chassis for rain and the new chassis for the dry, because the forecast said that the rain might stop at lunchtime. I think the new chassis would've been better because I could see that the bike was a little difficult to turn at the hairpin and chicane. Also, the new chassis had a better engine, with more horsepower and smoother delivery. It was a shame that Max fell but I think we can look forward to him having good results at the next races."

Carlos Checa's excellent ride to third place was a new beginning for the Marlboro Yamaha Team man who has been looking forward to four-strokes more than some of his fellow former 500 riders. The Spaniard rode superbly from start to finish, getting the holeshot from the front row, then running third or fourth for much of the race before forcing past Shinichi Itoh (Honda) to make sure of third four laps from the finish.

"The main thing was to keep the leaders in sight," he said. "After Rossi and Ryo passed me I pushed hard to stay close to them, and then started working on Itoh. I passed him when he lost the front through the esses, his bike went sideways and his rear wheel hit my fairing, so I lost the front too. I looked and him and he looked at me, like we were both going to crash. After that I pushed hard again and I'm so happy to get third in my first race with the M1. In fact, wet-weather results aren't so 'real', so in some ways the most important thing this weekend was yesterday's qualifying session because that showed we're already at a high level with this machine. The bike is ready to fight to win, that's the main thing, so I'm confident for the next race."

Max Biaggi was one of nine riders - almost half the grid - to crash out of today's Japanese GP. The former Suzuka lap record holder was coming back from a difficult getaway from the grid when he slid off on lap seven. Biaggi, who qualified a close fifth-quickest yesterday, had been 12th after two laps and was 11th when he went down at Degner 1.

"I touched the white line with my front tyre, it was a silly mistake, but it's very easy to fall in these conditions," said the Marlboro Yamaha Team rider. "I really wanted to get some points today. I got a bad start because I had a lot of wheelspin away from the grid. After that I was riding my own race and feeling fairly comfortable. The bike was pretty good, I was just losing a little time through the esses. We were unlucky to have rain because we'd done some good work on bike set-up during practice. Now we look to South Africa, where I hope we can get a good result."

Last year's 500 World Champion Valentino Rossi (Honda) was victorious in the first race of the new four-stroke MotoGP era, winning a nail-biting duel with Akira Ryo (Suzuki). Rossi spent the mid-stages of the race shadowing the local wild card, before slipping ahead with six laps to go. "I knew Ryo knows this track very well in the wet, so I used him to understand the limit," said Rossi, who had never before ridden his RCV in the wet. Other high-profile fallers in the race included Rossi's team-mate Tohru Ukawa, former 500 champ Kenny Roberts (Suzuki), former 500 winners Garry McCoy (Yamaha) and Sete Gibernau (Suzuki) and former 250 winner Shinya Nakano.

Image provided by Marlboro Yamaha

Race Result

Championship Points

Rossi
Ryo (1.5 secs)
Checa (8 secs)
Itoh (10 secs)
Abe
Barros
Aoki
Laconi
Capirossi
Katoh
Harada
Hopkins

The rest did not finish

Rossi - 25
Ryo - 20
Checa - 16
Itoh - 13
Abe - 11
Barros - 10
Aoki - 9
Laconi - 8
Capirossi - 7
Katoh - 6
Harada - 5
Hopkins - 4

Transcript from our live update page that was run during the race

Start from the bottom as uppermost text is last

Rossi takes the win with the fastest lap of the race on the final lap, 2m19.1
Last lap - Rossi still in front, Ryo 2nd, Rossi pulling out a gap, Ryo looks to have settled for 2nd now
Backmarkers out of the chicane, Rossi and Ryo side by side, but the Honda pulls out down the straight, two laps to run
Ukawa down, trying to get his machine started again
Ryo not letting up, fastest man on the track now, 2m19.2, and right back with Rossi. Nakano loses the rear on the two-stroke and out he goes
Rossi fastest man on lap 17, 2m19.7
Checa in third now from Itoh
McWilliams down, out of the race
Nakano just set the fastest lap, 2m19.8, on a two-stroke but well back in 9th position
Rossi in to the lead at the chicane under brakes, a risky move though, right on the edge of disaster
Ryo still holding on to the lead, Itoh and Checa still 3rd and 4th
Abe through on Ukawa for 5th and the first of the two-strokes
7 laps to run - Ryo from Rossi still, Itoh and Checa right with them also. Ukawa is 5th but quite a way back from the leading quartet
Ryo still leading from Rossi. Itoh 3rd. Rossi closing right up on Ryo on corner entry, but Ryo is quicker mid-turn and on the exit
Gibernau is down, he looked to be a winner, but down he goes. Bugger, he was on fire
Lap 12 of 21 - Ryo, Rossi, Gibernau, Itoh, Checa, Ukawa, Abe, McWilliams, Aoki
Rossi right on Ryo now, the Suzuki seems to drive better off the turns though
10 laps to go - race order - Ryo, Rossi, Gibernau, Itoh, Checa, Ukawa, Abe, McWilliams. Gibernau currently fastest, 2m20.1, Gibernau just backed it into the chicane from about 50 yards back, that was impressive
Gibernau trying hard now, just went past Itoh for 3rd. Suzuki, Honda, Suzuki is the top trio
The top four have closed right up now
Rossi catching right up to Ryo now and fastest again on lap 10, 2m20.2
Gibernau through on Checa for 4th
Rossi fastest man on lap 9, 2m20.5. Ryo still has a little ground over Rossi though.
Very wet, major water spray everywhere, and these boys are banked right over scraping at ridiculous speeds, but nobody has experienced a high speed crash yet in this race. They fallers have all seemed to have low speed get-offs
Rossi up in to 2nd at the final chicane, he has 1.3 seconds to catch up on race leader Akira Ryo though. Checa 4th and the fastest man on lap 8 with a 2m20.6
McWilliams the fastest man on the circuit during lap seven, but too far back to make a dent on the front runners
Roberts down.
Ryo escaping a little again, Itoh could be holding up Rossi a little.
Biaggi down!
Still Ryo from Itoh and Rossi. Jacque pulling in to the pits for his penalty, promoting Checa to 4th with 15 laps to run
Rossi through on Jacque for 3rd, Ryo still out in front from Itoh. Jacque 4th, Checa 5th, Gibernau 6th. Rossi fastest man again on lap four. Van Den Goorbergh in the pits
Rossi fastest again on lap three. Jacque has a stop/go penalty for a jump start, he is in 3rd
Rossi fastest man on lap two, in fourth now. Out in front it is still Ryo from Itoh
Hopkins off in to the dirt, but may be able to regain. McCoy down also
Itoh has closed up on Ryo now, Suzuki from Honda, both four-strokes
Ryo still leading from Itoh, Jacque, Checa, Rossi, Abe, Gibernau is the top seven as they start lap two
Ryo getting a gap already, only halfway around lap one!
Checa gets a great start but Jacque gets to the lead at the entry of turn one, Itoh comes out of turn one in front though, Ryo 2nd, Jacque 3rd, Checa 4th, Rossi 5th
On the start line
They are going around the circuit now on the warm up lap
Engines are being started ready for the warm up lap on the wet Suzuka circuit
Raining even heavier now, MotoGP race on soon

Sunday Reports - Race Report - Red Bull Yamaha Report - Marlboro Yamaha Report - Suzuki Report - Honda Report

Saturday Reports - Qualifying 2 - Marlboro Yamaha Report - Red Bull Report - Proton Team KR Report - Suzuki Report - Honda Report

Friday Reports - Qualifying 1 - Marlboro Yamaha - Red Bull Yamaha - Proton Team KR - Telefonica Movistar Suzuki