Biaggi Wins

[f1manoz]

Biaggi grabbed his second win of the year and the second for the Marlboro Yamaha M1 with a perfectly judged victory, and this time he had no help from bike problems concerning other riders. He basically led from half-distance, and had no trouble pulling out a gap as the three Honda riders behind fought it out.

Rossi was erratic all race, and too many times out-braked himself going into corners, and was lucky to finish second. Barros took third in another impressive performance while Ukawa, who could have finished second, fell back to finish only fourth.

The decision in the 250cc title will have to wait another week as Marco Melandri retired at the end of the second lap while the Telefonica Repsol team of Fonsi Nieto and Toni Elias took an easy 1-2, though Elias would have won if team orders had not been issued. Robby Rolfo took third, but could never catch the lead bunch. Casey Stoner finished 12th.

A protest at the conclusion of the 125cc race handed Poggiali 4th spot after he fell at the final corner and crossed only 9th. But marshals waved the chequered flag too early, and a loop-hole saw Vincent claim victory from Cecchinello (who originally finished 3rd) and Pedrosa (who had finished 2nd). The championship is still open, but Vincent could still realistically wrap it all up in Australia.

[gomick]

andrew pitt 19th - and didnt get lapped .... badluck to young josh waters who dnf'd with only 3 laps to go in the 125cc race - bring on "the island"

[SPman]

Now that the four strokes are starting to be more widely spread through the field, the racing looks like its getting a bit more competitive. Good to see Shapimg up to be an interesting year next year? I hope so, because WSB looks like it could be in for a bit of a lean time in 2003.
If only the commentators for GP were a bit more enthusiastic. They can make the most exciting race sound like a funeral procession!

[f1manoz]

What's interesting is that the times in qualifying in the MotoGP class are closer than the 125 or 250cc classes...

[asha]

what is really interesting is how lucky Podge has been lately.
GO VINCENT!!