Honda's unstoppable Rossi wins last-ever 500 Grand Prix
HONDA RACING PRESS INFORMATION Valentino Rossi (Nastro Azzurro Honda NSR500) snatched a brilliant last-corner victory from Carlos Checa (Yamaha) at Rio this afternoon, bringing his season total to 11 wins. This latest success puts him second in the most-wins-in-a-season league, equal with fellow Italian legend Giacomo Agostini, who won 11 500 GPs in 1972, and just one victory behind record-holder Mick Doohan (Repsol Honda NSR500), who won 12 GPs in 1997. It also moved him to eighth equal in the all-time GP winner list. Rossi has now won a total of 39 GPs, putting him equal with Fifties 250 and 125 star Carlo Ubbiali. The victory was also truly historic, for it writes Rossi's name in the history books as the last-ever winner of a 500 Grand Prix. The MotoGP World Championship moves into a new era next season when 990cc four-strokes join the series and Rossi will be part of that revolution aboard Honda's RCV V5 four-stroke. But his last 500 win was anything but easy. Watched by 40,000 fans, Rossi had to fight hard throughout the two-part race, stopped and restarted due to a rain shower, the overall results decided on aggregate time from the two segments. And he made life tougher for himself for the restart, choosing the wrong front tire for the conditions. But he was still able to ride hard enough to chase Checa over the line, winning the race by a tantalizing 0.143 seconds, thanks to the time advantage he'd had over Checa from the few laps run before the rain came. "That was a very difficult race and I didn't event know I'd won until I spoke to one of my team on the slowdown lap," said the dazzling 22-year old who started the race from row two, only his fourth start of 2001 off the front row. "I chose an intermediate front for the restart when I should've gone for a cut slick because the track was very soon dry. Checa used a cut-slick front and I had to push very hard to stay with him, so hard that I nearly lost the front and crashed a few times. Now I'm looking forward to tonight's party - it's going to be a long night! After that, I go on holidays for one month, then I have my first full test on the RCV at Jerez at the end of November. I hope the weather is good for the test because I want to really get to know and understand the machine. Honda say the bike has improved a lot since I last tested it when I was in Japan for the Suzuka Eight Hours at the end of July." Alex Barros (West Honda Pons NSR500) had been looking in great form before the rain, running in the lead group, but he couldn't continue at that pace after the restart and slipped behind Rossi, Checa and third-finisher Max Biaggi (Yamaha) to finish a distant fourth. "I wanted a good result for the fans," said the man from Sao Paulo. "But tire choice was a lottery for the second race and I didn't make the best choice." Loris Capirossi (West Honda Pons NSR500) was next up, crossing the line 1.6 seconds down on his team-mate. It was a disappointing result for the Italian who had been hoping to beat Biaggi and move to second overall; instead he ended the season third, still his best-ever 500 campaign. "But I'm happy enough," he said. "Today's was a difficult race and I ended the year third overall, like on the podium! I knew it'd be difficult to get second, now I'll take a rest and try to improve next year." Alex Criville (Repsol YPF Honda NSR500) completed the two-part race in seventh place, seven seconds down on sixth-home Norick Abe (Yamaha). "The second race was much better for me and I was hopeful of a good result," he said. " But I chose an intermediate rear which wasn't the right tire as the track quickly dried, so I couldn't maintain a good pace." Most disappointed man at Rio was undoubtedly Tohru Ukawa (Repsol YPF Honda NSR500). The Japanese racer had scored his first-ever 500 pole position in superb style on Friday and thus had high expectations of scoring his first 500 victory. The former 250 GP winner lived up to those hopes in the first few laps, leading the race from 2000 champ Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) and Rossi. But the weather spoiled everything for Ukawa, who crashed on the second lap of the restart, while holding a close second place on corrected time. "For once I got good starts in both races but this time I didn't finish," said Ukawa who's recently made a habit of starting badly then charging through the pack. "I knew I could fight for the win, or a podium finish at least, but then I went and made a mistake when overtaking Alex. It's a real shame but now I must look towards next year." Race Results, World 500 GP 1. Valentino ROSSI/ ITA /Nastro Azzurro Honda/ HONDA/45'57.414 - 154.569km/h 2. Carlos CHECA/ SPA /Marlboro Yamaha Team/ YAMAHA/45'57.557- 154.561 3 Max BIAGGI/ ITA /Marlboro Yamaha Team/ YAMAHA/46'04.394 -154.178 4 Alex BARROS/ BRA /West Honda Pons/ HONDA/46'16.467- 153.508 5 Loris CAPIROSSI/ ITA /West Honda Pons/ HONDA/46'18.069- 153.419 7 Alex CRIVILLE/ SPA /Repsol YPF Honda Team/ HONDA/46'25.308- 153.021 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS (FINAL): 1. Rossi 325 2. Biaggi 219 3. Capirossi 210 4. Barros 182 5. Nakano 155 6. Checa - Abe 137 END