Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

250cc Grand Prix
Sepang, Malaysia
20 laps, 111 kilometers, 69 miles

1. Toni ELIAS, Aprilia, 43:15.925

2. Manuel POGGIALI, Aprilia, -9.931 seconds

3. Fonsi NIETO, Aprilia, -9.942

4. Roberto ROLFO, Honda, -25.839

5. Randy DE PUNIET, Aprilia, -34.060

6. Franco BATTAINI, Aprilia, -36.004

7. Naoki MATSUDO, Yamaha, -49.445

8. Sebastian PORTO, Honda, -53.955

9. Anthony WEST, Aprilia, -57.165

10. Alex BALDOLINI, Aprilia, -63.700

11. Dirk HEIDOLF, Aprilia, -64.419

12. Chaz DAVIES, Aprilia, -66.349

13. Hugo MARCHAND, Aprilia, -67.487

14. Joan OLIVE, Aprilia, -68.008

15. Jaroslav HULES, Honda, -78.180



250cc World Championship Points

1. Manuel POGGIALI, 226

2. Toni ELIAS, 201

3. Roberto ROLFO, 201

4. Randy DE PUNIET, 183

5. Fonsi NIETO, 167

6. Franco BATTAINI, 127

7. Anthony WEST, 125

8. Sebastian PORTO, 117

9. Naoki MATSUDO, 104

10. Sylvain GUINTOLI, 88



More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Honda:

Rolfo happy with his result–but unhappy about missing a podium finish

Sepang – Malaysia, October 12, 2003. Roberto Rolfo finished fourth at the 250cc Malaysian GP today happy with his result but unhappy because he was unable to fight for a place on the podium. But the fact is he is happy to have overcome the problems that plagued him in qualifying, happy with the way the race turned out for him.

In spite of starting from the third row of the grid Rolfo was with the championship leaders as they reached the first corner, courtesy of his late braking skills at the end of the straight. Rolfo doggedly hung on to them as only he can. But on the long straights of the Sepang circuit he could not stay in the slipstream off his championship rivals and decided to concentrate on consolidating his fourth place and take the best result possible in the circumstances. The result leaves him still in with a fighting chance in the championship. He is now joint second with Spaniard Toni Elias behind leader Manuel Poggiali.

“I’m not very satisfied with that result but I have to recognise that how things have gone for us this weekend the result is not so bad, it has left me optimistic that I can continue to fight for the world championship. Bt it was not good that I could not fight for the podium as we have done in previous races.” Explained Rolfo.

“I got a very good start and I quickly caught the leading championship contenders but when Elias opened a slight advantage I tried to stay in Poggiali’s slipstream but when we got into fifth and sixth gear on the last long straight of the circuit the gap was too big to hold him and at the end it was impossible for me to hold him. That’s when I decided to run at my own pace and make sure Randy de Puniet could not overtake me.” The Fortuna Honda rider said.

“The bike had improved a lot for the race, in respect to qualifying but I still could not go t 100% comfortably. The lack of top speed held me back and I had to rely on late braking and a high corner speed. That was the bass of our problems in practice. In general I have to be happy with the race, even if I was not on the podium.” Concluded the Altadis rider.



More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing:

In the 250cc class it was form-rider Tony Elias (Aprilia) who won by nearly ten seconds from World Championship points leader Manuel Poggiali (Aprilia) who was second. Fonsi Nieto (Aprilia) was third.

Elias had utterly dominated qualifying, lapping just under a second quicker than his rivals – but he wasted his pole start and was fourth on lap one. But he didn’t waste any time hoisting himself into second place at the end of the opening lap – and then taking the lead on lap four from early pace-setter Nieto.

Roberto Rolfo (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) had a torrid time in qualifying and began this 20-lap race from tenth on the grid. But Rolfo is nothing if not determined and he fought tooth and nail to collect as many vital points as he could here, with only two World Championship rounds remaining. The Italian eventually finished fourth to garner 13 valuable points.

Sebastian Porto (Telefonica Movistar Junior Team RS250RW) endured a jump-start penalty of ten seconds and pitted on lap six to receive his punishment. He rejoined the race in 21st place and the gritty Argentine refused to lie down and languish at the back, working his way back to finish eighth at the flag.

The fight for second place that developed between Poggiali and Nieto was the high-point of the contest and although Poggiali had nailed Nieto by lap eight, the Spaniard held onto his tail and wouldn’t let go. Nieto went past and led on the last lap, but Poggiali waited until the final turn before diving inside on the brakes to win by 0.011 seconds across the line.

“I’m not very satisfied with the result,” said Rolfo. “But I have to recognise that the way things have gone for us this weekend, the result is not so bad. It’s at least left me optimistic that I can still fight for the World Championship. But it was less good that I couldn’t get into the fight for the podium positions as we have done in previous races.”

“I don’t think I moved at all,” said Porto. “I’m upset about it and I’ll look closely at the replays of the start to see. It’s a real pity because once I got back in the race I found a really good rhythm and was riding well.”

The World Championship points classification shows Poggiali in the lead with 226, Elias and Rolfo tied on 201 with French Aprilia rider Randy de Puniet on 183.

HONDA TEAM QUOTES:

250cc:

Roberto Rolfo, Fortuna Honda, 4th: “I’m not very satisfied with that result but I have to recognise that how things have gone for us this weekend the result is not so bad, it has left me optimistic that I can continue to fight for the world championship. Bt it was not good that I could not fight for the podium as we have done in previous races.”

“I got a very good start and I quickly caught the leading championship contenders but when Elias opened a slight advantage I tried to stay in Poggiali’s slipstream but when we got into fifth and sixth gear on the last long straight of the circuit the gap was too big to hold him and at the end it was impossible for me to hold him. That’s when I decided to run at my own pace and make sure Randy de Puniet could not overtake me.”

“The bike had improved a lot for the race, in respect to qualifying but I still could not go at 100% comfortably. The lack of top speed held me back and I had to rely on late braking and a high corner speed. That was the bass of our problems in practice. In general I have to be happy with the race, even if I was not on the podium.”

Sebastian Porto, Telefonica MoviStar Honda Jnr Team, 8th: “I’m very unhappy about the penalty, I don’t think I moved at all. I will have to wait and see the film of the start. It was a great pity because once I got back into the race I had a very good rhythm and was riding fast. We will have to make up for this in Australia next week. But I will leave here an unhappy man.”