Rossi ready for 500 crown after Honda sweeps Motegi Grand Prix

Pacific Grand Prix, Twin Ring Motegi Racing Circuit, Motegi, Japan, Sunday,
October 7, 2001

HONDA RACING PRESS INFORMATION


Valentino Rossi (Nastro Azzurro Honda NSR500) won his eighth Grand Prix of the
year at Motegi this afternoon to put himself one step away from winning the last
ever 500 World Championship.  The Italian superstar led a Honda clean-sweep at
the track that Honda built, followed home by Alex Barros (West Honda Pons
NSR500) and teammate Loris Capirossi.


The early stages of the race had a familiar pattern - Rossi coming from fourth
on the grid to chase second-quickest qualifier and title-rival Max Biaggi
(Yamaha) who then tumbled out of the lead. Biaggi's third crash from the last
four races leaves Rossi with a huge 67-point advantage with three GPs remaining.
All he has to do to add his first 500 crown to his 125 and 250 titles is finish
inside the top eight in next Sunday's Australian GP.


"I hope to win the title in Australia but it doesn't matter when or where I win
it, so long as I do win it," grinned a delighted Rossi, who also won the
season's other GP on Japanese tarmac at Suzuka in April. "We had a few problems
in practice here but we made some quite big changes to the bike for warm-up and
it was much better for the race. I knew I had to get a good start because Biaggi
had chosen a 17in rear tire, instead of the 16.5 we all use at most races. I
knew he'd try and make an early break but I was able to stay with him. I was
very close to him when he fell on lap six. After that I had to change my tactics
to keep my two-second advantage over Barros, so I just pushed hard and
maintained my rhythm."


Barros, who didn't get the best of starts from third on the grid, did close the
gap to 1.3 seconds at half distance but Rossi responded well, upping his pace to
cross the finish line 2.6 seconds in front. "My start made a big difference
because I got stuck behind Sete (Gibernau, Suzuki) and Kenny (Roberts, Suzuki)
in the early laps which cost me time while Max and Valentino got away," said
Barros. "My only chance was if Valentino had made a mistake but I didn't expect
that to happen. Anyway I got a lot of points for the championship and it's great
for our team to get second and third at Honda's house!"


Capirossi, who had started the race from pole position after scoring the
fastest-ever two-wheel lap of Motegi on Saturday afternoon, was another who
didn't get a great getaway. "My start wasn't good but I'm happy with third,
especially after my crash at Valencia," said the Italian who had to work hard to
keep Norick Abe (Yamaha) behind him. "I pushed hard and defended my position and
I'm happy for my team to get this good result in Japan."


Capirossi's result maintained his third place in the World Championship and
brought him to within 20 points of no-scorer Biaggi. At the same time,
fourth-placed Barros closed to within 16 points of his teammate. The two West
Honda Pons men are going to have an interesting final three races in Australia,
Malaysia and Brazil.


Local star Tohru Ukawa (Repsol YPF Honda NSR500) won the most entertaining
encounter of the day, battling back and forth for fifth place with Shinya Nakano
(Yamaha) and Gibernau. Ukawa took the position by just seven tenths of a second
after coming through from 11th at the end of the first lap. "I need to get some
better starts," said Ukawa, who had qualified ninth quickest for his first 500
race at the track. "Once again I found the bike got easier to ride as the fuel
load went down, so I started to get faster and was able to get ahead of the
group in front of me. I can't be really satisfied with this result, however,
because my aim was to get on the podium.


Former World Champion Alex Criville (Repsol YPF Honda NSR500) struggled to 11th,
behind Carlos Checa (Yamaha), Roberts and Gibernau, suffering the effects of a
recent trials-bike tumble and a debilitating stomach ailment. "I'm not in good
physical shape," said Criville, the only other top V4 rider to choose a 17in
rear. "I've had a stomach problem since I arrived in Japan, so I'm dehydrated
and I had no strength for the race. I had some pain-killing injections to help
my ribs but when you ride in a bad condition it's easy to make mistakes and
crash, so today I just concentrated on finishing."





RESULTS: Race Classification 500cc: (Laps 25 - 120.025 km)


1. Valentino ROSSI /ITA /Nastro Azzurro Honda/ HONDA/46'32.600 - 154.726 km/h


2. Alex BARROS /BRA /West Honda Pons/ HONDA/ 46'35.207 -154.582


3. Loris CAPIROSSI/ ITA /West Honda Pons/ HONDA/46'42.365 -154.187


4. Norick ABE/ JPN /Antena 3 Yamaha-d'Antin/ YAMAHA/46'46.551- 153.957


5. Tohru UKAWA JPN /Repsol YPF Honda Team/ HONDA/46'54.594 -153.517


6. Shinya NAKANO /JPN /Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3/ YAMAHA/46'54.879 -153.502


7. Carlos CHECA/SPA /Marlboro Yamaha Team/ YAMAHA/46'59.932 -153.227


11.Alex CRIVILLE /SPA /Repsol YPF Honda Team/ HONDA/47'14.466 -152.441





WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS:


1.Rossi 250


2 Biaggi 183


3 Capirossi 163


4 Barros 147


5 Nakano 126


6 Abe 121


7 Checa 111,


8 Gibernau 100


9 Criville - Roberts 96


11 Ukawa 85





Upcoming rounds:


10/14 Phillip Island, Australia


10/21 Sepang, Malaysia


11/3 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil


Racing at Motegi was preceded by a magnificent demonstration of past and future
Honda Grand Prix machines. Former Honda World Champions Mick Doohan and Freddie
Spencer rode their old two-stroke 500s as well as the new Honda RCV, the
four-stroke that will front Honda's attack on next year's first-ever GP series
for big-bore four-strokes. Both men raved about the bikes potential.


"The package is really coming together, the bike feels more neutral now," said
five-time 500 king Doohan. "And it's definitely got more power than a 500.
Obviously it's got a different character from a 500 two-stroke but I believe you
could run it in the top five now."


Spencer, who won the 500 title for Honda in 1983 and '85, was also mightily
impressed. "In my experience, you can often tell in the first lap or two whether
a bike is good," said the sublimely talented American. "Sometimes a bike feels
right just riding out of pit lane, you can feel the grip, the steering and the
horsepower. That was the way the NS500 felt when I first rode it and I really
like the way the RCV responds. I was amazed by its feedback."