Junior beats Biaggi to close out 1990s Grand Prix racingKenny Roberts Junior won the final Grand Prix of the millennium at Buenos Aires on Sunday, coming out on top after a thrilling last-lap brawl with Max Biaggi. The victory - his fourth of the year - secured second overall for the American behind recently crowned world champion Alex Criville, who struggled to fifth at Buenos Aires.
Roberts and Biaggi - who both chose the same hard front/medium rear Michelin slick combination - were in a race of their own, breaking clear of the pack in the early stages, Roberts doing most of the leading with the Italian matching his every move around the tight and bumpy circuit.
Biaggi did edge ahead twice before starting his serious push for victory on the penultimate lap - he dived ahead at turn one, ran wide, allowing the Suzuki back ahead but then rode under Roberts to retake the lead. By the end of the lap the Suzuki was back in front, only for Biaggi to once again go first at turn one. He stayed ahead until he got his YZR sideways through a left-right chicane, running off the track as he staged a spectacular save.
Roberts meanwhile swept into the lead to win by two seconds, Biaggi wincing in pain from his near-miss to hold off Norick Abe (Yamaha) by half a second.
"That was a long and hard race, especially since we only had one all-dry practice session," said Roberts who took pole position at the end of two days of weather-hit practice. "I knew Max was with me all the way and I figured he'd wait until the last couple of laps to make his move. We were both quite comfortable but I was leading so I wasn't riding on adrenaline, I was riding like a computer, trying to do the same times and when Max came by I only had that lap to work out where to get him back."
Biaggi was disappointed to miss out on victory but happy to have continued his brilliant end-of-season form on the improved Yamaha - he scored a win and three second places from the last four races of 1999.
Yamaha's return to strength has also coincided with a lean period for Honda, the dominators of 500 racing got beaten in the last three races of '99. "Kenny was very fast and very consistent too," said the winner of the recent South African GP who edged out Roberts into the first turn but played follow-my-leader from then on. "I tried hard and passed him on the last lap, then I went into this turn with a little too much throttle and had a big slide. I saved the slide but hurt my shoulder doing so, and going on the grass at that speed wasn't so nice! We've had a very good finish to the season at the last few races and that makes me quite confident for next year."
Abe's close third place followed up his breathtaking win at Rio the preceding Sunday, when he beat Biaggi by a fraction of a second after the pair collided at the last turn. "When I saw Max go off the track I told myself try, try, try to catch him up and get second," said the Japanese. "I just couldn't do it but I'm happy anyway, I got the podium again and now I can't wait for 2000."
Biaggi's Marlboro Yamaha team-mate Carlos Checa won a long duel for fourth with Criville after the pair lost contact with Abe from mid-distance. "I had a lot of fun at the end - I was really playing with the bike, sliding it around," said crash-happy Checa who tumbled twice during practice.
Criville found the going tough after a high-speed crash during Saturday practice and had to be happy with fifth. "After this crash and my fall in Australia I wasn't feeling so good," said Criville after finishing fifth. "This track is very demanding and I just wasn't strong enough to win."
Less fortunate was Repsol Honda team-mate Tadayuki Okada who qualified second to Roberts but crashed out of sixth before half distance after missing a gear. The accident cost the Japanese second place in the final World Championship standings.
Third Repsol man Sete Gibernau did well to come through from 17th on lap one to finish sixth, just ahead of John Kocinski (Kanemoto Honda) and Alex Barros (Movistar Honda Pons). Juan Borja (Movistar Honda) and Jurgen van den Goorbergh (MuZ Weber) had run with the American and Brazilian early on but faded to ninth and tenth. Aprilia twin rider Tetsuya Harada ran a lonely race in 11th, ahead of a frantic four-man scrap for 12th featuring Red Bull Yamaha pair Regis Laconi and Garry McCoy, impressive Mark Willis on his BSL-leased Modenas and Honda twin rider Haruchika Aoki.
Race results 500cc World Championship
1. Kenny ROBERTS USA Suzuki Grand Prix Team SUZUKI 47í23.710 1st A. CRIVILLÉ 267 pts.
2. Max BIAGGI ITA Marlboro Yamaha Team YAMAHA 47í25.743 2nd K. ROBERTS 220 pts.
3. Norick ABE JAP Antena 3 Yamaha DíAntín YAMAHA 47í26.341 3nd T.OKADA 211 pts.
4. Carlos CHECA SPA Marlboro Yamaha Team YAMAHA 47í28.050 4th M.BIAGGI 194 pts.
5. Alex CRIVILLÉ SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 47í28.161 5th S.GIBERNAU 165 pts.
6. Sete GIBERNAU SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 47í48.588 6th N.ABE 136 pts.
7. John KOCINSKI USA Kanemoto N ettaxi Honda HONDA 47í49.048 7th C.CHECA 125 pts.
8. Alex BARROS BRA Team Telefónica unifon HONDA 47í50.097 8th J.KOCINSKI 115 pts.
9. Juan BORJA SPA Team Telefónica unifon HONDA 47í55.578 9th A.BARROS 110 pts.
10. Jurgen vd. GOORBERGH NED Team Biland GP1 MUZ WEBER 48í01.246 10th T.HARADA 104 pts.
