Results 500cc Pacific GP
2001 Pacific GP
TRACK: Motegi Circuit JapanDATE: 7 October 2001WEATHER: Warm, cloudy
500cc Race Results (25 laps)------------------Pos No. Rider Nat Bike Time/Diff--- --- ----- --- ---- ---------1 46 Rossi Ita Hon 46'32.6002 4 Barros Bra Hon 2.6073 65 Capirossi Ita Hon 9.7654 6 Abe Jpn Yam 13.9515 11 Ukawa Jpn Hon 21.9946 56 Nakano Jpn Yam 22.2797 7 Checa Spa Yam 27.3328 1 Roberts USA Suz 27.6079 15 Gibernau Spa Suz 33.82210 64 Kagayama Jpn Suz 38.13911 28 Criville Spa Hon 41.86612 5 McCoy Aus Yam 50.41913 10 Cardoso Spa Yam 56.20414 14 West Aus Hon(2) 1'05.28615 9 Haslam Gbr Hon 1 lapWorld Championship==================JPN RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR VAL PAC1 Rossi 250 25 25 25 16 - 25 20 25 9 25 25 5 252 Biaggi 183 16 8 5 25 16 20 25 20 25 6 11 6 -3 Capirossi 163 8 20 8 9 20 16 16 6 8 16 20 - 164 Barros 147 10 7 10 8 25 - 13 16 11 7 - 20 205 Nakano 127 11 13 13 5 8 13 11 10 16 - 7 10 106 Abe 121 13 11 20 13 7 10 - - 13 13 - 8 137 Checa 111 6 - 2 20 - 8 - 11 20 9 13 13 98 Gibernau 100 - 6 6 7 10 11 9 5 6 8 - 25 79 Criville 96 7 10 16 11 13 5 - 9 - 20 - - 510 Roberts 96 9 9 9 10 - - 10 8 7 - 10 16 8
Biaggi crashes out of lead and title chaseRossi all but certain of titleValentino Rossi (Nastro Azzurro Honda) took a comfortable win ahead of the Pons team of Barros and Capirossi, to lead the championship by 67 points from arch-rival Max Biaggi (Marlboro Yamaha). This was the race that Biaggi definitely needed to win and initially, he set the fastest pace shadowed by Rossi, the pair of them pulling away from the rest of the field. It was clear that the Honda and Yamaha were fast at different parts of the track, with the Yamaha seeming to be a touch faster overall. For 5 laps it looked like the race would be a classic struggle between the two, until the front end of Biaggi's bike folded on a fast lefthander. the bike slid, then cartwheeled through the grass and gravel. Whereas Biaggi had been able to remount and score a handful of points in the past, the bike was too damaged to continue.
At this stage, Rossi had a 2 second advantage on Barros and for a couple of laps, it looked like the Brazilian might be able to catch him. However, with some hot laps in response, Rossi pulled and maintained a 2.5 second lead that he held from mid-race. Loris Capirossi was in a lonely third spot with Norik Abe (Antenna 3 d'Antin Yamaha) alone for most of the race in fourth. What little competitive racing that was left, centered around the battle for fifth, between the Telefonica Movistar Suzuki riders Gibernau and Roberts, Nakano (Gauloises Tech 3 Yamaha) and Ukawa (Repsol Honda). Roberts had a good start to the race and held third place for the first lap, but as usual, he started slipping back through the field. For a time he mixed it with Gibernau, Ukawa and Nakano until they also passed him on lap 18. Thr three riders continued their battle to the flag, although Gibernau dropped back after an off-track excursion on the last lap, with Ukawa finally taking fifth spot.
Nori Haga (Red Bull Yamaha) and Haru Aoki (Arie Molenaar Racing) both crashed without injury. Olivier Jacques (Gauloises Tech 3 Yamaha) pulled into pits after his brakes failed. Jurgen van der Goorbergh (Proton KR3) retired after the engine started to overheat. It has been announced that the Dutch rider will be riding in Erv Kanemoto's new team with NSR Hondas on Bridgestone tires in 2002.
Everyone expects Rossi to wrap up the title next week at the Australian GP.
Next race Australian GP 14 October 2001
More by Colin MacKellar
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