Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Revised MotoGP Results:

1. Valentino Rossi, Honda RC211V, 27 laps, 46:51.843
2. Daijiro Katoh, Honda NSR500, +1.190
3. Tohru Ukawa, Honda RC211V, +2.445
4. Loris Capirossi, Honda NSR500, +2.830
5. Alex Barros, Honda NSR500, +4.117
6. Norick Abe, Yamaha YZR500, +18.517
7. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton KR3, +31.785
8. Kenny Roberts, Suzuki GSV-R, +33.876
9. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki GSV-R, +38.762
10. Tetsuya Harada, Honda NSR500, +39.975
11. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha YZR500, +47.496
12. Jurgen vd Goorbergh, Honda NSR500, +47.930
13. John Hopkins, Yamaha YZR500
14. Regis Laconi, Aprilia RS3
15. Garry McCoy, Yamaha YZR500 (docked for passing under waving yellow)
16. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton KR3 (docked for passing under waving yellow)
17. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha YZR500
18. Carlos Checa, Yamaha YZR-M1, DNF
19. Pere Riba, Yamaha YZR500, DNF, mechanical
20. Max Biaggi, Yamaha YZR-M1, DNF, black-flag




From a Red Bull Yamaha press release:

SPANISH GRAND PRIX – JEREZ
SUNDAY 5TH MAY

RACE DAY

Red Bull Yamaha Team Riders, Garry McCoy and John (Hopper) Hopkins both scored points in the sun-blessed conditions at Jerez today. Finishing the
119 km race in 13th and 15th respectively, the riders battled each other back and forth throughout the early stages of the 27 lap race when on lap 20, McCoy (who was riding after having a pain killer injection) exerted his
experience, and passed Hopkins.

Garry McCoy – 13th Place
World Championship Classification 14th, Nine points
“Starting at the back of the grid makes it difficult to get on the pace and I struggled again with the right hand corners as my leg is still not strong enough. With my sliding style of riding I need maximum strength in my legs.
I actually feel more comfortable on the bike than when walking and I am going through an intensive exercise regime to regain my strength. I guess
considering everything to score point 3 points is okay.

John Hopkins – 15th Place
World Championship Classification 20th, Seven Points
“I’ve scored points now at every race which I am happy about, as each track is new to me and I am still learning the bike. Today I had a good strong start but I got bumped going into turn 2 and things got a bit heated. Three or four riders got by me and it took me another lap to get focused again. Garry passed me in the last third of the race and I started to pick up my pace behind him. I’m pretty happy generally, I feel quite fit and I’m looking forward to the test next week in Mugello.”


Peter Clifford – Team Manager
“The pace the guys ran at toward the end of the race was the same as the mid-field but we lost too much ground early on. It was obviously a very
tough race for Garry and good experience for John.”



This just in from Desiree Crossman:
Apparently Garry McCoy and Jeremy McWilliams passed Regis Laconi during a yellow flag and it started a protest after the race. The yellow flag
was because of Carlos Checa crashing on the last lap. After a long session of protesting, John (Hopkins) was placed 13th.



Another press release from Red Bull Yamaha:

SPANISH GRAND PRIX – JEREZ
SUNDAY 5TH MAY
POST RACE – COUNTER PROTEST

Red Bull Yamaha were the target of a last minute protest by MS Aprilia Team Rider, Regis Laconi. Laconi and his team reported to the race officials that Red Bull Yamaha rider Garry McCoy and Jeremy McWilliams from the Proton Team KR, passed him under a yellow flag on the final lap of the Spanish GP. The yellow flag was a result of a track invasion by eager Spanish fans running onto the track.

Peter Clifford, Team Manager, reviewed the protest and lodged a counter claim with the Race Director based on the Analysis by Lap and the Chronological Analysis of Performance Data over the final few laps.

Clifford claims that Laconi was slowing down in the final 2 laps and at 7.30pm some 4.5 hours after the race completion the final results became official and the it was announced that the protest by Laconi was successful. The FIM inflicted a 5 second penalty on both McCoy and McWilliams. McCoy dropped from 13th to 15th in the final placings and in a twist of luck for John Hopkins he moved up the ladder from 15th to 13th place. Newcomer Hopkins now finds himself 15th on the Championship ladder with McCoy now in a disappointing 20th.

JOHN HOPKINS- 13TH Place
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATION – 15th with 9 points

GARRY McCOY – 15th Place
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATION – 20th with 7 points

PETER CLIFFORD – TEAM MANAGER
“Garry and Jeremy passed Regis as he slowed with mechanical problems. Unfortunately this coincided with a police track invasion and showing of some yellow flags for which the organisers were fined. Our contention is that passing an ailing machine should not be seen as a flaunting of the yellow flag safety rule but our view was not shared by the FIM.”


More, from a Honda press release:

HONDA RACING NEWS

MotoGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2002
SPANISH GRAND PRIX, JEREZ
Race Day, Sunday May 5 2002

ROSSI LEADS FABULOUS HONDA QUINTET

Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda Team RCV211V) took his second race win of the season after an eventful 27-lap MotoGP race at Jerez. The top five positions were monopolised by Honda riders, with the all-new RCV211V in first and third, and the two-stroke of Daijiro Kato (Fortuna Honda) in second place – a superb result for the MotoGP rookie.

Rossi’s dominance in qualifying was eventually carried on in the race but only after an early scare on lap two. Pushed wide by Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) at the apex of the first turn, Rossi dropped from a safe second place to an immediate eighth. Taking only four more laps to work his way back to second, he held a watching brief behind his fellow four-stroke Honda rider Tohru Ukawa (Repsol Honda Team RCV211V) until lap sixteen, when he passed his team-mate and made a small gap back to his pursuers.

Rossi was especially happy to win the race and extend his championship lead, given the possible consequences of his lap two ‘kiss’ from behind. “I felt a bit of touch from behind from Kenny in turn one,” explained Rossi afterwards. “I think Kenny made a big, big mistake under braking but I don’t know for sure because I didn’t see. I felt a big push and after that I was just happy that I didn’t crash. I lost some positions so it was necessary to start again from the beginning. In the early laps the bike was a little bit hard to ride because of the extra weight of fuel, but it was possible for me to return to the first group quite quickly. Ukawa pushed and made a good rhythm so I stayed a behind him for a time. Already the bike had shown good speed but I think it was still possible to go three or four tenths faster. It was very difficult, however, because the rear was finished and started to slide. It didn’t matter, because the main thing is the victory – especially to win in Jerez with this fantastic crowd. We have a good lead in the championship and this is the most important thing.”

Rossi now enjoys a 29-point lead over his team-mate Ukawa. The race time was over 23 seconds faster than the 2001 500cc GP, with Rossi setting a new lap record on lap four, almost a second quicker than his own previous best.

Daijiro Kato’s first podium finish in the MotoGP class was an assured one, with the reigning 250 champion initially forming the tail of a five-rider Honda freight-train that escaped from the rest of the pack. Kato was happy to score a second place on his first trip to the podium, but equally pleased for his team. “I am very proud of my result today, but also happy because my main sponsor is a Spanish company and I delivered a good result in front of them,” enthused the diminutive Japanese rider. “Like Valentino said, I had a very hard time with my rear tyre towards the end of the race. The bike began to slide and it was impossible to move any closer to Valentino. Now it is important for me to try and narrow the gap to the other top riders. I will use my energy and all my efforts to do that.”

Tohru Ukawa’s early leading pace was not enough to keep Rossi and Kato behind permanently, but third was an impressive result in any case. “Today was a very, very hard, tough race,” he confirmed. “The feeling from the tyres was OK, but in the middle of the race there was a lot of spinning from the rear, which made it difficult to control the machine. Also I almost crashed because it was difficult to keep concentration. I rode for the first position but the podium was OK. I didn’t win today but there are still 13 races to go, and I am second overall, so I will try my best to try and win the championship.”

A brave fight from Loris Capirossi (West Honda Pons NSR500) saw him continually attack Ukawa during the last laps, with the two-stoke dancing past the four-stroke under braking, only for the big four-stroke to blast past again on the main straight. The Italian maestro was resigned to his fate after the race. “That wasn’t too bad. I tried my best to get past Ukawa, but he kept getting me back coming off the corners. The bike was fine but what can you do?”

Alex Barros (West Honda Pons NSR500) took the lead on the first lap but slowly dropped back to his eventual safe fifth place, a natural function of abusing his tyres in the first few circuits. “I pushed too hard to begin with, ” confessed Barros, “Although really I had no other choice. I look at this as my first race of the season, and tyres apart the bike was good.”

Behind the factory Honda carnival Norick Abe (Yamaha) proved to be the closest challenger, albeit 14 seconds behind Barros. A further 13 seconds behind was the Proton KR of Nobuatsu Aoki.

The first of the other new generation four-strokes to finish proved to be the Roberts’ Suzuki in eighth. Neither factory Yamaha four-stroke finished the race, with Carlos Checa retiring and Max Biaggi excluded for ignoring the black flag.

Tetsuya Harada (Pramac Honda NSR500) finished inside the top ten for the first time in the 2002 season, stating that: “My final position is not that great and surely not as good as I would have liked, but my progress is evident; In South Africa I finished a minute and 20 seconds behind first place, today it was less than 40 seconds.”

The two-stroke of Jurgen van den Goorbergh(Kanemoto Racing Honda NSR500) took the Dutchman to a point-scoring 12th place. “I was running well, battling with Laconi and McWilliams, and tried to stay with that group at the beginning of the race,” said van den Goorbergh, although he chose to ease himself into the subsequent section of the 27-lap event. “As the race progressed I got a really good feeling from the tyres and I could take the bike to the limit of its performance late in the race.”