SOUTH AFRICAN GRAND PRIX
WELKOM, OCTOBER 10
BIAGGI SCORES
Roberts Junior Finishes Last
500s Max Biaggi rocketed his factory Marlboro Yamaha to a faultless and long-awaited first victory at red-hot Welkom on Sunday. In withering 30-degree heat, the Italian led from start to finish, chased all the way by the full force of the factory Repsol Honda team - Sete Gibernau, plus title rivals Alex Criville and Tadayuki Okada. Biaggi hadn't won a race since last August's Czech GP and has been under increasing pressure to come up with results after three runner-up finishes aboard his YZR.
New engine parts from Yamaha - designed to improve throttle control and lineality - helped the former 250 king to victory around the ultra-slippery South African track, recently constructed outside the gold mining city of Welkom.
"I really thought I'd win one before this but we've had some bad luck this year," said smooth-riding Biaggi. "It was a good race but I was worried with all those Hondas behind me. The grippy line is so narrow here that it's so easy to lose three or four tenths if you run wide. I just made sure I ran the right lines all the way through."
World champ elect Criville did most of the chasing until his weak left wrist, cracked when he fell in Australia nine days earlier, began to fail him and team-mate Sete Gibernau swept past to chase down Biaggi for his best-ever GP result. However, wary of affecting his team-mate's title hopes, Gibernau had left his move too late. He got within a second of the Yamaha but no closer, and nearly lost second to Criville when he looked over his shoulder and ran off the track on the final lap. "That was difficult because I'm in the same team as Alex and Tady who are fighting for the World Championship," he said. "I was focused on my own race but I knew whatever I did would be good for one guy, bad for the other. Maybe I should've passed Alex sooner, then I might've got Max."
Indeed, for Biaggi was maxed out, riding on the limit, his YZR sideways for the last few laps as he squeezed the last bit of grip out of his Michelins. "I chose the same tires as Alex and Sete and worked at managing them as best I could," he added. "This track is hard on tires and we knew 28 laps would be really hard, whatever we chose. I tried to build my own race but I couldn't break away - I'd get a few tenths on the Hondas, then they'd come back at me and then I'd ease ahead of them again. It was like we were connected by elastic! The last few laps were really difficult, there was very little grip left. I couldn't have tried any harder but now the feeling of satisfaction is fantastic. But that only lasts a few minutes, until I start thinking about the next race!"
Criville's third place put him within an ace of the world title - he needs just six points from the last two races to become Spain's first-ever 500 champ. "My hand was a problem so I'm very happy with third," said Criville. "Now I just have to stay focused for the last races. I don't need to win any more - I've won six races this year, I just have to make sure I don't make any more mistakes."
Both Criville's title rivals had bad days -- Okada struggling to fourth and Kenny Roberts finishing last. Okada's rear Michelin lost grip on its left side and even though he'd been fastest in qualifying, he was soon in trouble once the race got under way. For a while he held station with Criville and Gibernau but then started slipping back. He ended the race just three seconds ahead of hard-chasing Juan Borja and Carlos Checa. "I could make up ground through the rights but then I'd lose it all through the lefts," said the Japanese.
Kenny Roberts had worse rubber trouble, his rear tire failing him for the second race in succession, ending his title hopes. The American Suzuki man ran off the track early on while chasing the leaders and then found himself battling for the final points with a bunch of lower factory men and hard-riding privateers including Tetsuya Harada, Haruchika Aoki and Jurgen van den Goorbergh. He was already out of the points when he pitted for a new rear slick near the end. "I've no idea what happened, the tire wasn't working from the start," said Roberts, now running Ohlins suspension instead of Showa. "That's why I ran off the track and then found myself back with the privateers."
MuZ sub Anthony Gobert had run in the points early on, but dropped to 18th at the flag. "I was running well, then a bunch of guys started running off the track, so I decided to take it a bit more easy," said the Aussie, who got fined for speeding in pit lane on Saturday. "I didn't want to crash for the second race in a row so I was probably too conservative." ENDS
results and championship standings
500cc RACE (28 laps)Pos Rider Nat Time Team
1 2 Max BIAGGI ITA 45'24.602 Marlboro Yamaha Racing Team
2 15 Sete GIBERNAU SPA +4.822 Repsol Honda Team
3 3 Alex CRIVILLE SPA 5.138 Repsol Honda Team
4 8 Tadayuki OKADA JPN 10.432 Repsol Honda Team
5 14 Juan BORJA SPA 14.187 MoviStar Honda Pons
6 4 Carlos CHECA SPA 14.282 Marlboro Yamaha Racing Team
7 9 Nobuatsu AOKI JPN 22.636 Suzuki Grand Prix Team
8 24 Garry McCOY AUS 33.224 Red Bull Yamaha WCM
9 6 Norick ABE JPN 41.357 Antena 3 Yamaha d'Antin
10 19 John KOCINSKI USA 44.052 Kanemoto Honda
11 6 Alex BARROS BRA 56.083 MoviStar Honda Pons
12 26 Haru AOKI JPN 56.443 FCC TSR Honda
13 17 J v.d. GOORBERGH NTH 57.117 Team Biland MUZ
14 55 Regis LACONI FRA 59.166 Red Bull Yamaha WCM
15 31 Tetsuya HARADA JPN 59.290 Aprilia GP TeamFastest lap: S.Gibernau (1:36.554)
Pole position: T. Okada (1:35.930)
500cc Championship points standings
1 Alex CRIVILLE SPA 246
2 Tadayuki OKADA JPN 202
3 Kenny ROBERTS USA 179
4 Max BIAGGI ITA 154
5 Sete GIBERNAU SPA 144
6 Carlos CHECA SPA 112
7 John KOCINSKI USA 103
8 Tetsuya HARADA JPN 95
9 Norick ABE JPN 95
10 Regis LACONI FRA 94
11 Alex BARROS BRA 89
12 Juan BORJA SPA 85
13 Nobuatsu AOKI JPN 71
14 Garry McCoy AUS 54
15 Haruchika AOKI JPN 52###
