Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

MotoGP Final Results From Le Mans:

1. Valentino Rossi, Honda RC211V, 34:22.335, 22 laps
2. Tohru Ukawa, Honda RC211V, -0.217 seconds
3. Max Biaggi, Yamaha YZR-M1, -0.604
4. Norick Abe, Yamaha YZR500, -1.701
5. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki GSV-R, -8.464
6. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton KR3, -10.212
7. Loris Capirossi, Honda NSR500, -12.437
8. Alex Barros, Honda NSR500, -15.231
9. Regis Laconi, Aprilia RS3, -17.155
10. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton KR3, -21.847
11. John Hopkins, Yamaha YZR500, -25.121
12. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki GSV-R, -25.919
13. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha YZR500, -26.227
14. Jean-Michel Bayle, Yamaha YZR500, -27.011
15. Jurgen vd Goorbergh, Honda NSR500, -30.342
16. Jose Luis Cardoso, Yamaha YZR500, -36.574
17. Daijiro Kato, Honda NSR500, -10 laps, DNF, crashed
18. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha YZR500, -11 laps, DNF, retired
19. Tetsuya Harada, Honda NSR500, -11 laps, DNF, retired
20. Carlos Checa, Yamaha YZR-M1, -13 laps, crashed

World Championship Point Standings:
1. Rossi, 95 points
2. Ukawa, 61 points
3. Capirossi, 45 points
4. Abe, 43 points
5. Kato, 39 points
6. Barros, 29 points
7. Aoki, 28 points
8. Checa, 27 points
9. Biaggi, 23 points
10. Ryo, 20 points
11. Roberts, 19 points
12. Laconi, 18 points
13. TIE, Jacque/Harada, 15 points
15. Hopkins, 14 points
16. Itoh, 13 points
17. TIE, Nakanao/Gibernau/Goorbergh, 11 points
20. McCoy, 7 points
21. McWilliams, 6 points
22. Riba, 3 points
23. Bayle, 2 points


More, from an Aprilia press release:

Laconi and the Cube ninth past the chequered flag at Le Mans.

Régis Laconi’s record holds: for the 28th time in a row, he made the points zone in motorcycling’s leading class.

The Cube and Régis made points again today, coming in ninth. Régis made a further step forward with his personal record by making the points zone for the 28th consecutive time in the number one class.

The MotoGP race was stopped by rain on the 21st lap, five laps before the scheduled end. Laconi rode as spirited a race as ever, urged on even more by the presence of his home public. At the end of the race, the 135,000 spectators at Le Mans roared a spectacular “OLA” for Régis, who was called to the podium to greet the crowd. After a rather poor start, Laconi immediately started fighting his way past the others. He gradually worked his way up to ninth place, 17 seconds from Rossi, the winner, with the best result obtained so far by the RS Cube on a dry track. An indication of the progress being made day by day by the project team.

# 55 Régis Laconi – (MS APRILIA RACING) – 9th – 34:39.430
“The rain came during the closing stages of the race and it was right for it to be stopped. The curbing is used a lot on this track and when the first drops came down, they started getting very slippery. It would have been a pity to ruin a great race like the one today in France. I didn’t make a fast start at the green light, and let the clutch slip too much: I was last round the first curve and it was hard work making my way up towards the heart of the pack. On this track, it isn’t easy to get past opponents while braking, so it was pretty tough. At the start, I felt the weight of the full tank and sensed that this was making the front tyre less stable. Even so, I did all I could to ride fast and aggressively. Today, the Cube distilled the results of all the work we’ve done here at Le Mans over the past few days. The configuration’s good and it let me get the best result with the Cube so far on a dry track. The team did a really great job. After the pressure I felt racing on my home track, we’re now off to Mugello, another venue where I’ll have to do my best: it’s the track of my second home – Italy.”


More, from a Red Bull Yamaha press release:

FRENCH GRAND PRIX – LE MANS – SUNDAY 19TH MAY RACE DAY

Red Bull Yamaha rider, John “Hopper” Hopkins, a newcomer to the Moto GP this year, finished his 4th GP of the Season with his best result to date, in 11th place. Hopkins was competing against 19 other riders who on a combined average have 104 GPs each so Hopper with only 4 starts has excelled in his performance today. Hopkins teamed up this weekend with the 2002 Red Bull Test Rider, the legendary Jean-Michel Bayle who finished the race in 14th place after only riding in the Saturday practice and qualifying session due to Garry McCoy’s withdrawal on Friday evening. The race was red – flagged on the 21st of 28 laps due to rain.

John Hopkins – 11th Place
World Championship Classification 15th – Fourteen points

“I felt really good racing today and on the starting grid I had my sights set on catching the guys 2 rows ahead of me. I had a really good start and it all got a bit wild going into the first chicane but I just put my head down and worked my way through the field. I had Jean-Michel on my tail in the first early laps but I was focused on the riders in front of me and I started to chase down McWilliams. I moved up to 12th position and I was determined to chase down Sete Gibernau. I thought I could take him on the back double apex so I planned my move, got a good early line, held it tight and just flew on by. I am finding that my strongest point on the bike is under braking. I am so happy again to have scored points for Red Bull Yamaha. This is my best ever result in the Moto GP and only my 4th GP ever. I turn 19 next week so it looks like the week is off to a good start for me.”

Colin Davies (Race Engineer – John Hopkins)

“We are pleased with John’s performance today and we are really happy with the race set up we have found for him. He continues to improve each race and this is his best result of the year, so, yes, I am pleased with the progress we are making.”

Jean-Michel Bayle – 14th place – scoring 2 points

“I had some trouble at the beginning of the race with the grip of the tyres but as the race progressed I was getting faster and able to slide the bike some more. As I did not ride on Friday I was short on set-up time but it’s good that I finished in the points. I really need some more time to set this bike up for myself and some more time on the track. Today though, I did not want to do anything crazy or crash and I wanted to improve on my time each lap. It is not so bad, 2 points but we still have some work to do with the bike and tyres.”

Christophe Bourguignon (Race Engineer – Jean- Michel Bayle)
“Very delighted with today’s session. It took him a few laps to get into the race but after lap 10 he improved almost every lap, catching the riders in front of him. Today Jean-Michel raced with a soft front and a medium rear Dunlop.”

Peter Clifford – Team Manager
“A wonderful ride from both guys. Not only was John Hopkins’ result excellent but his race pace equalled even those in front of him as it did at the last race at Jerez. So this is real solid progress for John.

“Jean-Michel Bayle had a great ride today also and he clocked his fastest lap of the race on Lap 18 at 1:38.336 which shows he was getting quicker as the race progressed. We are obviously very happy to continue with Jean-Michel Bayle as our test rider for the remainder of the year.”


More, from a Marlboro Yamaha press release:

FRENCH GRAND PRIX, LE MANS
Race Day, Sunday May 19 2002

MARLBORO YAMAHA MAKE ‘HUGE PROGRESS’ AT LE MANS
Marlboro Yamaha Team riders Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa played a starring role in today’s wet ‘n’ dry French Grand Prix at Le Mans. Benefiting from crucial improvements to the YZR-M1’s computer-controlled engine-braking system, the pair ran up front until Checa tumbled out, leaving Biaggi to briefly lead before finishing third.

This was the best weekend so far for the mighty M1, with Checa and Biaggi qualifying second and third quickest, and Biaggi’s bike the fastest in the race, clocking 297kmh on Le Mans’ uphill start/finish straight, 2.2kmh faster than winner Valentino Rossi’s Honda RCV.

“The bike looked okay here, we were more competitive,” said Marlboro Yamaha Team director Davide Brivio. “We didn’t get the win but we were close to the winner. I hope this weekend will prove to be a restart for our team, just like Le Mans was last year when Max won and Carlos got second. We showed that the bike is fast and we’ve started to close the gap on the Honda, which is huge progress since the last race. The new parts for the engine-braking system made a big difference and we have a new chassis on the
way for both riders for the next race at Mugello. The aim is to improve handling and turning, though Max and Carlos will start the Italian GP weekend with one new chassis and one existing chassis each, because we aren’t able to go testing before the event. Max’s result was a real boost for the team and the factory, so my thanks go to everyone: our crew, the Yamaha engineers and Michelin, too.”

BIAGGI LEADS FRENCH GP, FINISHES THIRD
Max Biaggi scored a first podium finish with his Marlboro Yamaha Team YZR-M1 in tricky conditions at Le Mans this afternoon. The Italian rode hard
throughout, chasing the leading Honda duo of Valentino Rossi and Tohru Ukawa and moving ahead when drizzle began to fall at the top of the circuit. For several laps the trio were more than a second off their usual pace, Biaggi then slipping to second as Ukawa went in front. When heavier rain began to fall the race was red flagged, six laps short of full distance, Biaggi credited with third place, just 0.604 seconds behind winner Rossi.

“Maybe a win was too much to ask for today because our last race was a real struggle,” smiled Biaggi, who had had a luckless start to the season, including an exclusion from the Spanish GP two weeks ago. “I’m very pleased with today’s result, though it was a very difficult race with the rain coming and going and making the track very slippery in places. It was also great to follow Rossi and Ukawa, though they seemed to have an advantage in the slower corners and that’s what we must work on next. I’m also pleased for Yamaha and I’d like to thank everyone within the factory and the team for their work.

CHECA OUT OF LUCK AGAIN
Carlos Checa was looking good for his second podium finish of the year until he crashed on gravel that had been scattered on to the Chemin aux Boeufs chicane by a rival’s earlier off-track excursion. At the time the Marlboro Yamaha Team man had been shadowing team-mate Max Biaggi, Ukawa and Rossi, waiting for the race to develop before deciding on his late-race strategy.

“Rossi had slowed a little which allowed me and Max to close the gap,” said a bitterly disappointed Checa after his second DNF in a row. “As I went to flick the bike right in the chicane I saw Max move a little, like he was avoiding something, but it was too late for me to change the line, so I hit the gravel and lost it. I never saw any warning flags, so I didn’t know there was a problem at that corner. It was very bad luck, especially since everything had been going so well; the bike felt good and I felt
comfortable. It’s a real shame, but we must keep looking forward to the next race.”



ROSSI WINS AGAIN TO EXTEND LEAD
Valentino Rossi won his third race of the year today, beating team-mate Tohru Ukawa by just 0.217 seconds. Starting from pole position, the Italian led the first half of the race before slipping to third as drizzle fell, then fighting back to take the lead just before the red flags came out. “The rain made that very difficult,” said Rossi. “It only rained on one part of the track and some laps it was more slippery than others. I started to push again near the end and I was lucky to be ahead when the race was stopped.”

Daijiro Kato (Honda) fell victim to the rain while chasing the leaders, tumbling spectacularly at the first chicane. He was unhurt.