Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Mugello MotoGP Race Results:

1. Valentino Rossi, Honda RC211V, 23 laps, 43:40.837
2. Max Biaggi, Yamaha YZR-M1, -2.404 seconds
3. Tohru Ukawa, Honda RC211V, -11.289 seconds
4. Carlos Checa, Yamaha YZR-M1, -11.408 seconds
5. Alex Barros, Honda NSR500, -15.371 seconds
6. Loris Capirossi, Honda NSR500, -20.010 seconds
7. Norick Abe, Yamaha YZR500, -26.447 seconds
8. Regis Laconi, Aprilia RS3, -30.333 seconds
9. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha YZR500, -37.715 seconds
10. Tetsuya Harada, Honda NSR500, -30.759 seconds
11. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha YZR500, -34.162 seconds
12. John Hopkins, Yamaha YZR500, -37.715 seconds
13. Jean Michel Bayle, Yamaha YZR500, -77.803 seconds
14. Jurgen vd Goorbergh, Honda NSR500, -79.800 seconds
15. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton KR3, -5 laps, DNF, mechanical
16. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki GSV-R, -9 laps, DNF, mechanical
17. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton KR3, -14 laps, DNF, mechanical
18. Daijiro Kato, Honda NSR500, -14 laps, DNF, crash
19. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki GSV-R, -15 laps, DNF, crash
20. Pere Riba, Yamaha YZR500, -22 laps, DNF, crash


MotoGP World Championship Point Standings:

1. Rossi, 120 points
2. Ukawa, 77 points
3. Capirossi, 55 points
4. Abe, 52 points
5. Biaggi, 43 points
6. Checa, 40 points
7. Barros, 40 points
8. Kato, 39 points
9. Aoki, 28 points
10. Laconi, 26 points
11. Jacque, 22 points
12. Harada, 21 points
13. Akira Ryo, 20 points
14. Roberts, 19 points
15. Hopkins, 18 points
16. Nakano, 16 points
17. Shinichi Itoh, 13 points
18. v.d. Goorbergh, 12 points
19. Gibernau, 11 points
20. Garry McCoy, 7 points
21. McWilliams, 6 points
22. Bayle, 5 points
23. Riba, 3 points


More, from a Red Bull Yamaha press release:

ITALIAN GRAND PRIX – MUGELLO

SUNDAY 2ND JUNE – RACE DAY

John Hopkins 12th Place
World Championship Classification 15th with 18 points
“I didn’t get the start I wanted and I got squeezed out early on. I was riding behind Jean-Michel and could not get around him for what seemed to be a long time. I ended up passing JMB and vd Goorbergh under brakes going into Turn 1, which is where I passed McWilliams later in the race. It was close racing with McWilliams we bumped off each other all through turn 1 and into the apex on 2.

“These are the hottest conditions I have raced in all year and I feel happy that I have scored points again for my team and myself. I saw a few of the guys go off during the race and the track invasion at the end was unbelievable. I saw Abe get taken off his bike by a fan and Nakano who was in front of me locked it up big time to avoid hitting another person. I was maybe an inch away from hitting someone on the front straight myself. Its good that the fans love racing and support the Grand Prix but it is really dangerous out there at the end.”

Colin Davies (Race Engineer – John Hopkins)
“John was running times in the second half of the race that could of put him up into sixth or seventh position. We are very pleased with the progress he is making this his first season. Last night the mechanics did a good job in getting John’s bike ready for the race and I thank them for all their effort.”

Jean-Michel Bayle – 13th place, scoring 3 points
“I got a good start and went okay in the beginning of the race but my left forearm began to hurt and it slowed me down through the chicanes. The softer tyre performed better than I thought it would throughout the race and we are making good progress with Dunlop.

“I knew to expect the crowd invasion so it was no surprise for me. This week I will test the Red Bull Yamaha at Assen and I will concentrate on the tyres and the set-up for that race. Also I have to learn my way around a few new corners in Assen.”

Christophe Bourguignon (Race Engineer – Jean- Michel Bayle) “We are pleased with the weekend, we again learnt a lot about the tyres and each weekend we are making steady progress. Today we rode with a soft medium front and back tyre. Jean-Michel rode with pain in his left forearm and this caused him some concern toward the end of the race. JMB slid on the front tyre a few times and he paced himself toward the finish.”

Peter Clifford – Team Manager
“A good ride for John again today, finishing in 12th place. For the second half of the race he was running similar lap times as the riders in the Top 6. I really appreciate the effort that Jean-Michel Bayle has put in today in taking a risk to try a softer tyre which might not have gone the full distance, but it has been worthwhile.”


More, from a Marlboro Yamaha press release:

MARLBORO YAMAHA M1’s BEST RESULT YET

Marlboro Yamaha Team riders Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa rode to second- and fourth-place finishes at red-hot Mugello this afternoon, the team’s best result of the new MotoGP era. Biaggi led the race for six laps and Checa missed the podium by just 0.119 seconds, proving that Yamaha’s latest improvements for the M1 are working very well. Biaggi and Checa had new chassis and seat/tank units here, allowing them both to qualify in the top three for the second race in a row.

“We’ve taken another step forward,” said YZR-M1 project leader Ichiro Yoda. “We got third in France and now we’re able to fight with both Honda four-strokes. Watching the race on TV, it looked like the difference between us and Honda is acceleration, so our next step will be to work at improving engine performance. Also, Carlos’ bike didn’t seem quite as fast as it should’ve been today, so we’re checking his machine. Like Max, he rode a great race, especially since he didn’t have so much time to set up his number-one bike. Next week we test at Valencia, where we’ll work to get the best out of the new chassis and hopefully get an even better result at the next races.”

The Marlboro Yamaha Team tests in Spain next Thursday and Friday.

BIAGGI LEADS ITALIAN GP, FINISHES CLOSE SECOND
Watched by 65,000 mad-keen fans, Marlboro Yamaha Team rider Max Biaggi led six laps of today’s Italian GP, eventually finishing the race in second, just 2.4 seconds behind arch-rival Valentino Rossi (Honda), his best-ever four-stroke MotoGP result. The pair were together for much of the 23 laps, hounding each other around the sun-baked, high-speed Mugello circuit, until Rossi upped the pace in the final stages.

“Second isn’t first but I’m totally satisfied because I did my best today and because we weren’t so far away from winning,” said Biaggi, who started the race from second on the grid, his best-ever M1 qualifying performance. “I’d like to thank Yamaha for recovering so well after the first few races. We got a new chassis that works a little better than the last one, so now we can start making some more improvements. This morning we tried a different geometry set-up in warm-up but went back to the older, safer set-up for the race. I started well, but when Rossi was behind me, I felt like he was just waiting.”

Biaggi also set the second fastest lap of the race, behind third-finisher Tohru Ukawa (Honda) and his M1 was the second fastest bike at Mugello, clocking 322.8kmh (200.6mph).

CHECA MISSES PODIUM BY A FRACTION
Carlos Checa rode an utterly determined race to fourth place this afternoon, crossing the line just a few metres behind Tohru Ukawa. But the Marlboro Yamaha Team man’s result could’ve been better if his bike hadn’t lost a touch of speed which made it difficult for him to better his Japanese rival, who was riding the fastest machine in the race. Quickest in qualifying on Friday, luckless Checa’s problems began yesterday when his number-one bike, running the impressive new chassis, suffered a glitch during final qualifying.

“We had some problems in practice which lost us valuable time in preparing for the race,” said Checa. “I got away well and managed to pass Max and Ukawa a few times but in the end I couldn’t stay with them. I tried hard to find a way back past Ukawa on the final lap but just couldn’t do it. After the flag at the end of the start-finish straight there were a lot of people already on the track which was very dangerous as we were still doing over 300kmh; for sure the organisers must work on this problem. Now we go testing at Valencia, where we will work at finding the best settings for the new chassis and resolving the problems we had here.”

ROSSI MAKES IT AN ALL-ITALIAN DAY
MotoGP leader Valentino Rossi won his first premier-class Italian GP today, following winning performances from compatriots Manuel Poggiali (125) and Marco Melandri (250). Rossi bounced back from a tumble in warm-up to score his fourth victory of the year. “I made a mistake this morning, which put me under some pressure, so I tried to ride the bike more sweetly for the race,” he said. “I pushed from the start but couldn’t break away, so I waited, tried again and it was okay. It’s a good emotion to win at home.”