Honda's Rossi wins tenth 500cc race of season; Katoh crowned 250cc GP Champion
Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang, Malaysia, Sunday, October 21, 2001 HONDA RACING PRESS INFORMATION Valentino Rossi (Nastro Azzurro Honda NSR500) dominated today's Malaysian Grand Prix in glorious style, taking his tenth win of the season and his fifth success in the last six races. The Italian's comfortable victory over fellow Honda rider Loris Capirossi (West Honda Pons NSR500) is a testament to his awesome riding skills, which appear to gain strength with the passing of every weekend. Rossi hasn't been beaten since the GP circus left Europe for three back-to-back 'flyaway' races at Motegi, Phillip Island and Sepang. In recent weeks Rossi and his NSR have begun to work seamlessly together, following crucial settings adjustments carried out by his crew. Whatever the circumstances, the 22-year old now seems able to continue adding to his burgeoning list of successes. Today's victory moved him to ninth in the all-time GP winners' list, equal with Fifties 500 king John Surtees. And with one race still to go, at Rio de Janeiro on November 3, Rossi can take his season tally to 11 victories, equaling the number achieved by Giacomo Agostini in 1972, and putting him just one win behind record-holder Mick Doohan, who won 12 GPs in 1997. This win wasn't an easy one either, and not only because of the suffocating heat and humidity. Rossi didn't get the best of starts from second on the grid and was eighth midway through the first lap, but he was already up to fourth by the first time the pack came past the pits. The action was frantic, however, and he was bumped back to fifth by Garry McCoy (Yamaha), and then swapped back and forth with McCoy and pole-sitter Capirossi as the Australian and Italian enthusiastically battled for the lead. On lap 12 of 21 he finally hit the front, out-braking McCoy at turn one, then worked hard to put together four near-perfect laps to pull him ahead of the pack. Even then he didn't find the going easy. With track temperature nudging 50 degrees, Rossi burned rubber in style over the final few laps, crossing the finish line 3.551 seconds ahead of Capirossi, who just edged out McCoy and Shinya Nakano (Yamaha). "I already won the title last week but I still wanted to win, after all this is a 500 GP, not a 'Palio della Rena' (a frog race)!" he joked after scoring Honda's first 500 win at Sepang. "I missed second gear going away from the grid, so the first lap was a nightmare with many riders being very aggressive. Anyway, I arrived in third, with Loris and Garry riding very hard. But it was difficult with Garry because he uses such different lines, so when I finally got ahead I rode four laps at a very high rhythm, sliding and spinning because that's the only way to ride in this heat." Once Rossi had gone, Capirossi still had his hands full with McCoy but he set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap to beat the Yamaha rider by over a second. The result moved the Italian within four points of second place in the World Championship, Max Biaggi (Yamaha) having crashed on lap four, taking out 2000 champ Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) in the process. "I'm so happy with second place," said Capirossi, who was visited in his pit before the race by the Cambodian royal family, who made a special trip to the Sepang GP. "It was so difficult to pass McCoy because he has such a crazy sideways style but we chose good tires, so I could do it at the end." Tohru Ukawa (Repsol YPF Honda NSR500) rode another inspired race, once again messing up his start and then embarking on a brilliant charge through the pack. "I failed at the start, same as Valencia, Phillip Island and Motegi, and then rode a good race," he said. "I was one of the fastest, which helped me overtake a lot of guys, and I'm sure I would've finished on the podium if I hadn't spoiled my start." Teammate Alex Criville (Repsol YPF Honda NSR500) crossed the line three seconds down on Ukawa, beating Alex Barros (West Honda Pons NSR500) and Sete Gibernau (Suzuki) after a long tussle. "After I caught Barros and Gibernau it seemed like we were getting closer to the leaders, but once Rossi took the lead he upped the pace and the front group went away again," said the 1999 champ. "I'm still not completely 100 per cent fit, so I'm happy enough with my race." Alex Barros had a more difficult day, slipping to seventh by the checkered flag. "We didn't have a good front suspension set-up and that used up the front tire too quickly," said the Brazilian. RESULTS: Race Classification 500cc: (21 laps - 116.508 km) Pos/Rider/Nation/Team/Motorcycle/Time/km/h 1. Valentino ROSSI/ ITA /Nastro Azzurro Honda/ HONDA/44'46.652 -156.115 km/h 2. Loris CAPIROSSI/ ITA /West Honda Pons/ HONDA/44'50.203 -155.909 3. Garry McCOY /AUS /Red Bull Yamaha WCM/ YAMAHA/44'51.374 -155.841 4. Shinya NAKANO /JPN /Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3/ YAMAHA/44'51.657 -155.825 5. Tohru UKAWA JPN /Repsol YPF Honda Team/HONDA/44'55.459 -155.605 6. Alex CRIVILLE/ SPA /Repsol YPF Honda Team/ HONDA/44'58.844 -155.410 7. Alex BARROS/ BRA /West Honda Pons/4 HONDA/45'02.334 -155.209 Fastest lap: Valentino Rossi, 2m 06.618s - 157.740 km/h (Unofficial new record) WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS: 1 Rossi 300 (2001 Champion) 2 Biaggi 203 3 Capirossi 199 4 Barros 169 5 Nakano 148 9 Criville 111 250cc Race Daijiro Katoh crowned 250cc WORLD CHAMPION on Telefonica MoviStar Honda NSR 250 Winning his first World Championship by winning today's 250 race was not enough for Daijiro Katoh (Telefonica Movistar Honda NSR250), the Japanese rider wanted to destroy the opposition to prove his utter dominance of this year's 250 scene. And that's exactly what he did, winning his tenth race of the year by 14.893 seconds, and setting a new 250 lap record, two tenths seconds faster than the previous record. Katoh started the race from pole and was already making the break just a few corners into the race. "I knew Harada had problems in practice so I thought I'd have a good advantage in the race," said the new 250 king, who will graduate to the new-look MotoGP class in 2002. "I don't feel like World Champion yet. I'll probably celebrate by buying something, though my wife will probably be angry!" END