Rossi wins 150th Honda 500cc Grand Prix; Duhamel takes 2nd at Laguna Seca Superbike race
2001 FIM Grand Prix Schedule, Round 8: Donington Park, Great Britain, Sunday, July 8, 2001 HONDA RACING PRESS INFORMATION Wonder boy Valentino Rossi (Nastro Azzurro Honda NSR500) wrote his name into the history books once again at Donington Park today, scoring Honda's 150th victory in the premier 500 class. Three months ago in Japan the 22-year-old won the marque's 500th GP success, commencing a superb drive towards his first 500 title. Rossi, already a 125 and 250 World Champion, has won six of this year's eight races to hold a 26-point advantage over arch-rival Max Biaggi (Yamaha) at mid-distance in the championships. Rossi won his first 500 success here last year and reckoned his second successive British GP win was his best ever. He qualified a lowly 11th after a problematic two days of practice, including a major 125mph crash during first qualifying. Biaggi meanwhile qualified on pole position, but nothing could stop Rossi as he powered through from the third row of the grid to take the lead from Biaggi shortly before two-thirds distance. From there he was never seriously challenged and he went on to beat his rival by 1.794 seconds. Alex Barros (West Honda Pons NSR500) finished the race in third, just a couple of tenths down on Biaggi. "I think that was my best and most difficult race in 500s," said an ecstatic Rossi who now travels to Japan to test a Superbike for next month's Suzuka Eight Hour race. "Practice wasn't good. I had neck problems and then the crash on Friday, and then we had rain yesterday, so we didn't have a good set-up. The bike wasn't even right this morning, so we checked the data after warm-up and changed the settings. It was a bet but it worked." Alex Criville (Repsol YPF Honda NSR500) recovered from a difficult Friday and Saturday to come through to seventh. Thirteenth in qualifying and 13th after the first lap, the Spaniard clocked consistent fast laps to move through the pack. "We went back to some old settings for the race and the bike was much better," he said. "This was a difficult weekend but at least we finally made the right decisions." Loris Capirossi (West Honda Pons NSR500) was probably the unluckiest man of the day. Second in qualifying, just 0.113 second slower than Biaggi, the four-time Donington winner suffered tire problems and arm cramps, the consequence of a high-speed get-off at Craner, the same corner that claimed Rossi. "I was fourth after the first lap and maybe I could have challenged for the win," he said. "But from there I didn't have the grip I needed." Tohru Ukawa (Repsol YPF Honda NSR500) was 16th after a stop-go penalty imposed for a jumped start. "I wasn't aware of having jumped the start, in fact I made a slow start," he said. "The stop-go lost me my concentration." Daijiro Katoh (Telefonica Movistar Honda NSR250) matched Rossi's performance in the 250s, taking his sixth win from eight races in runaway style, despite a mistake that had him off the track at one point. The Japanese had a great race in the early stages with Tetsuya Harada (Aprilia), who later dropped off the pace with bike problems. All alone, Katoh cracked the lap record, ran off the track, then broke the record again to finish ten seconds ahead of Roberto Rolfo (Aprilia). "I didn't know what had happened to Tetsuya, just that I had a big lead," said Katoh. "Then I missed a gear into Goddard and ran wide. After that I pushed even harder, my tyres were perfect and I ran my own rhythm." The 2001 World Championship season moves into its second half in two weeks with the German GP on July 22. Race Results 500cc Donington Park: (30 Laps - 120.69 km) 1 Valentino ROSSI/ITA/Nastro Azzurro Honda/HONDA/46'53.349-154.436 km/h 2 Max BIAGGI/ITA/Marlboro Yamaha Team/YAMAHA/46'55.143-154.338 3 Alex BARROS/BRA/West Honda Pons/HONDA/46'55.360-154.326 4 Noriyuki HAGA/JPN/Red Bull Yamaha WCM/YAMAHA/47'00.959-154.019 5 Carlos CHECA/SPA/Marlboro Yamaha Team/YAMAHA47'05.875-153.752 7 Alex CRIVILLE/SPA/Repsol YPF Honda Team/HONDA/47'09.574-153.551 10 Loris CAPIROSSI/ITA/West Honda Pons/HONDA/47'18.130-153.088 15 Chris WALKER/GBR/Shell Advance Honda/HONDA/47'52.465-151.258 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS: 1. Rossi 161 2. Biaggi 135 3. Capirossi 103 4. Baros 89 5. Nakano 84 7. Criville 71 10. Ukawa 53 Upcoming Rounds: Sachsenring, Germany - July 22 Brno, Czech Republic - August 26 ====================================================================== Grand Prix Moto Presse, Antoniestraat 81, 2011 CP Haarlem, Netherlands Tel: (31) 235512709 - Fax (31) 235512834 - E-mail: macdeb@compuserve.com For Honda Motor Company, Ltd - Motor Sports Division 1-1, 2-Chome, Minami-Aoyama, Minato-Ku, Tokyo, Japan Photographs of Honda Riders are available on http://www.hondaproimages.com Please register first at: http://www.hondaproimages.com/registration.cfm For Honda Motor Europe S.r.l. Via della Cecchignola, 5/7, 00143 Roma, Italy Photographs of Honda riders are available on http://www.honda-eu.com ====================================================================== AMA Roadracing: Laguna Seca, CA July 6-7, 2001 2001 AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championships, Round 5, Saturday, July 7 Universal Studios / Honda Racing's Miguel Duhamel and Nicky Hayden put on a great show of racing at Laguna Seca on Saturday, battling with the leaders early in the race. Duhamel wasted no time, and pushed his RC-51 to the front of the pack. Hayden unfortunately low-sided in turn 11at the entrance to the front straight - his Jurassic Park III emblazoned RC-51 was out halfway through the race and he was forced to watch the remaining laps from the sidelines. Up front, Duhamel battled young Eric Bostrom and the huge Laguna Seca crowd was on their feet as the lead changed hands several times in the same turn. Bostrom finally took the lead for good and won the race with Duhamel right behind in second. "I had a little bit of wheel spin and had a real issue with tire management throughout the race. Luckily my Honda power helped launch me out of the corners so I didn't sweat it when it came to the long straight-aways. I picked up the pace towards the end but Bostrom rode a great race and was able to take this one. It was so much fun out there today,"said Duhamel. Hayden was disappointed but unbowed after the race. "It's frustrating because I knew that I could run up front, Just look at Miguel, he was right there. I really wanted to put my Jurassic Park III RC-51 on the podium, but unfortunately that didn't happen today," said Hayden. Parts Unlimited / PJ1/ Erion Honda Racing's Kurtis Roberts was present at The Honda International Superbike Classic at Laguna Seca Raceway but did not compete. The 2000 600 Supersport Champion is still recovering from a surgical procedure that was performed on both arms for compartment syndrome. Roberts is hoping to be back in action for Round 7 at Mid-Ohio. Laguna Seca, CA Superbike Race, Top Overall Finishers 1. Eric Bostrom - Kawasaki 2. Miguel Duhamel - Honda 3. Mat Mladin - Suzuki 4. Jamie Hacking - Suzuki 8. Doug Chandler - Kawasaki AMA/Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship Point Standings, Top Riders 1. Mat Mladin - Suzuki - 260 2. Eric Bostrom - Kawasaki - 236 3. Doug Chandler - Kawasaki - 189 4. Tommy Hayden - Yamaha - 184 5. Miguel Duhamel - Honda - 168 7. Nicky Hayden - Honda - 163 15. Kurtis Roberts - Honda - 114 2001 AMA / Pro Honda Oils 600 Supersport Final, Round 6, Friday, July 6 Honda Racing's Nicky Hayden surprised the crowd and press by racing the 600cc Supersport final at Laguna Seca Raceway on Friday. The Superbike star and 1999 600cc Supersport Champion decided to race a Factory-prepped CBR600F4i to gain valuable track time and be ready for Superbike competition on Saturday. Hayden qualified on the front row in 4th place, and was feeling confident going into the main event. Hayden started inside the top ten and methodically moved up to the fifth place position where he would stay for the remainder of the race. Bruce Transportation Group / Erion Honda Racing's Josh Hayes would cross the finish line in 8th place in front of Honda Racing's Miguel Duhamel and Bruce Transportation Group / Erion Honda Racing's Roger Lee Hayden. Laguna Seca, CA, 600 Supersport Top Overall Finishers 1. Eric Bostrom - Kawasaki 2. Aaron Yates - Suzuki 3. Jamie Hacking - Suzuki 4. Tommy Hayden - Yamaha 5. Nicky Hayden - Honda 8. Josh Hayes - Honda 9. Miguel Duhamel - Honda 10. Roger Lee Hayden - Honda Pro Honda Oils 600cc Supersport Point Standings, Top Riders 1. Eric Bostrom - Kawasaki - 163 2. Anthony Gobert - Yamaha - 142 3. Miguel Duhamel - Honda - 130 4. Tommy Hayden - Yamaha - 129 5. Aaron Yates - Suzuki - 125 6. Josh Hayes - Honda - 119 8. Jake Zemke - Honda - 103 2001 Lockhart Phillips Formula Xtreme Final, Round 4, Saturday, July 7 Bruce Transportation Group / Erion Honda Racing's Roger Lee Hayden found himself in a nail-biter of a race with current series points leader Damon Buckmaster and John Hopkins. The three riders battled back and forth during the entire main event. Hayden showed the professional community that he is maturing into a real top contender by leading the race before finishing in 3rd place for the day, his first-everFormula Xtreme podium appearance. Parts Unlimited / PJ1/ Erion Honda Racing's Jake Zemke and Mark Miller finished 4th and 5th respectively, while Hayden's teammate Josh Hayes finished in 7th position overall. Laguna Seca, CA Formula Xtreme Final, Top Overall Finishers 1. Damon Buckmaster - Yamaha 2. John Hopkins - Suzuki 3. Roger Lee Hayden - Honda 4. Jake Zemke - Honda 5. Mark Miller - Honda 7. Josh Hayes - Honda Lockhart Phillips Formula Xtreme Championship Point Standings, Top Riders 1. Damon Buckmaster - Yamaha - 163 2. John Hopkins - Suzuki - 138 4. Grant Lopez - Suzuki - 127 5. Mark Miller - Honda - 115 6. Josh Hayes - Honda - 114 7. Jake Zemke - Honda - 105 8. Roger Lee Hayden - Honda - 98 Upcoming Rounds: July 22 - Mid-Ohio, OH July 29 - Brainard, MN 2001 World Superbike Championship Series Round 9, Sunday, July 9 Ben Bostrom took victory in both races of round nine of the World Superbike championship at Laguna Seca, USA on Sunday to send the sun-baked, record home crowd of 91,000 wild. Castrol Honda's Colin Edwards and Tady Okada finished sixth and eighth places respectively, in the opening 28-lap race. Polesetter Bostrom took the lead from Neil Hodgson with six laps to go after being sixth on the opening lap. Hodgson took second with Aprilia's Troy Corser third. Series leader Troy Bayliss was fourth with wild card Kawasaki rider Eric Bostrom - younger brother of the race winner - fifth. Bostrom led from start to finish in the second race, easing out a two-second advantage after five laps before crossing the finish line 2.3s ahead of Corser who won an early battle to get ahead of Edwards and Hodgson as the trio changed places four times in three corners on the fifth lap. Hodgson took third with Bayliss moving through to fourth with six laps to go, ahead of Eric Bostrom. Edwards was sixth again, he commented: "It was hard going. I went out there to give it everything and to risk crashing if necessary - what I did was all I could do. We lacked traction and that was all there was to it." Edwards's teammate Okada finished 11th after holding seventh place until he ran wide and through a gravel trap. "I struggled to find confidence in the front end of the machine all day but I made a mistake in the second race and it cost me championship points that I badly needed." , First World Superbike race result: 1 Ben Bostrom, USA (Ducati) 2 Neil Hodgson, GB (Ducati) 3 Troy Corser, Australia (Aprilia) 4 Troy Bayliss, Australia (Ducati) 5 Eric Bostrom, USA (Kawasaki) 6 Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) 8 Tady Okada, Japan (Castrol Honda) Second World Superbike race result: 1 Ben Bostrom 2 Corser 3Hodgson 4 Bayliss 5 Eric Bostrom 6 Edwards 11 Okada World Superbike championship points after nine of 13 rounds: 1 Bayliss 276 2 Edwards 223 3 Corser 215 4 Ben Bostrom 197 5 Hodgson 177 9 Okada 113 Upcoming round: Brands Hatch, UK - July 29 Oschersleben, Germany - September 2 END