Red Bull Yamaha's Day in Spain
VALENCIA GRAND PRIX, VALENCIA
SEPTEMBER 19 1999The rain in Spain turned 500 racing on its head on Sunday - surprise winner
Regis Laconi scored his first GP victory in runaway style, while world
championship leader Alex Criville did his title hopes no good by crashing
out in the closing stages.
Laconi is the first Frenchman to win a 500 GP since Christian
Sarron won at Hockenheim way back in 1985. And when Suzuki's Kenny Roberts
took second on Sunday, with Laconi's Red Bull Yamaha team-mate Garry McCoy
third, Honda's remarkable run of 500 GP podium appearances ended. This was
the first time since the 1993 USGP that there had been no Honda rider on
the 500 podium!
Tire choice was everything at Valencia. A morning downpour had
soaked Spain's newest race venue and when the 500s lined up at lunchtime,
much of the track was still damp. Laconi was one of just four men to make
the brave decision to run an intermediate front/slick rear combination, and
within a few laps it was obvious he'd made the right decision. He grabbed
the lead at the second corner and immediately began to make the break, Tady
Okada and Criville vainly chasing. Okada was strongest of the two Hondas,
and within a few laps McCoy had charged past Criville's Repsol Honda into
third - no surprises there for both the Japanese and the Aussie were
running the same rubber as Laconi.
"It didn't look like it would rain again when we did the sighting
lap, so a rear slick had to be the way to go," said an ecstatic Laconi, who
had claimed his first pole position the previous day on a dry track. "We
made the right choice and it worked well. I knew there would be dangerous
parts of the track where I'd have to take it easy or risk a highside, but I
was gaining more in the drier sections, where the line was often only 20 to
30cm wide."
Laconi - one of 500 racing's most crash-happy riders - rode a
beautifully neat and smooth race in the treacherous conditions, upping his
pace throughout as the track dried. At one point he was more than ten
seconds ahead of the battle for second, but he eventually eased off to beat
Roberts by 3.5 seconds for Yamaha's first win of 1999.
The American - running intermediates front and rear like Criville
and most of the grid - had to work hard for his 20 points, coming from
sixth to battle with McCoy, Okada and Criville in the closing stages.
"The guys with slick rears took off right from the start," he said.
"It took ten laps for me to get some feel from my tires and then I got
going and got up there with Tady, Alex and McCoy. I was having some
problems with the rear lighting up out of the turns but in the end we did
okay."
With Laconi way out front, the noisy, partisan 100,000 crowd
concentrated their attentions on the three-way battle for second, a massive
groan announcing Criville's exit as he lost the rear into a slow right six
laps from the flag. The crash reduces his series advantage to 46 points
with four races to go.
McCoy was the hero of the day, contesting only his sixth GP on a
500 V4 and riding the only way he knows how: giving it heaps, front end
squirming as he buried the Yamaha into turns, rear end kicking out every
time he got on the gas. During the closing stages Okada headed the group
from Roberts and McCoy but the Japanese ran wide on the penultimate lap,
allowing both men through.
"I ended last year with a broken ankle and this is only my sixth
race on the Yamaha, so I'm well happy," grinned the little man from Camden.
"Here I am, back on the podium, it was hard work but worth it. Early on
Regis and Tady were getting away and I didn't want Tady to get bout of my
sights, so I chased him down and got in front of him. Then he and Roberts
came by me and upped the pace, so I just had to go quicker too."
McCoy's easy-going nature and action-packed riding have made him a
huge hit with the Red Bull team and the hard-riding former 125 winner
couldn't have imagined a better result to send him home for the Australian
GP on October 3.
Top-placed Spaniard Carlos Checa took a distant fifth, well behind
the deeply disappointed Okada, with Norick Abe chasing the Marlboro Yamaha
man over the line. Max Biaggi was even further back in seventh after
struggling with handling difficulties.
Aussie Mark Willis crashed his BSL Modenas early on, a day after
qualifying a respectable 16th fastest.Race results 500cc World Championship
1. Régis LACONI FRA Red Bull Yamaha WCM YAMAHA 53¹23.825 1st A.CRIVILLÉ 219pts.
2. Kenny ROBERTS USA Suzuki Grand Prix Team SUZUKI 53¹27.373 2nd K.ROBERTS 173Pts.
3. Garry MCCOY AUS Red Bull Yamaha WCM YAMAHA 53¹28.434 3rd T.OKADA 164Pts.
4. Tadayuki OKADA JAP Repsol Honda Team HONDA 53¹29.980 4th S.GIBERNAU 114Pts.
5. Carlos CHECA SPA Marlboro Yamaha Team YAMAHA 53¹45.856 5th M.BIAGGI 109Pts.
6. Norick ABE JAP Antena 3 Yamaha-D¹Antín YAMAHA 53¹45.969 6th T.HARADA 94Pts.
7. Max BIAGGI ITA Marlboro Yamaha Team YAMAHA 54¹00.810 7th J.KOCINSKI 90Pts.
8. John KOCINSKI USA Kanemoto Honda HONDA 54¹01.023 8th C.CHECA 89Pts.
9. Sete GIBERNAU SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 54¹07.201 9th N.ABE 88Pts.
10. Alex BARROS BRA MoviStar Honda Pons HONDA 54¹07.245 10th A.BARROS 84Pts.
