Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

250cc Grand Prix Results:

1. Marco Melandri, Aprilia, 32:12.725, 22 laps
2. Roberto Rolfo, Honda, -0.181 second
3. Sebastian Porto, Yamaha, -2.150 seconds
4. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, -8.471 seconds
5. Roberto Locatelli, Aprilia, -15.565 seconds
6. Toni Elias, Aprilia, -29.543 seconds
7. Naoki Matsudo, Yamaha, -29.857 seconds
8. Franco Battaini, Aprilia, -29.890 seconds
9. Ralf Waldman, Aprilia, -38.653 seconds
10. Alex Debon, Aprilia, -40.533 seconds
11. Shahrol Yuzy, Yamaha, -42.231 seconds
12. Dirk Heidolf, Aprilia, -59.989 seconds
13. Leon Haslam, Honda, -60.304 seconds
14. Jay Vincent, Honda, -60.434 seconds
15. David Checa, Aprilia, -60.569 seconds

DNF, Vincent Philippe, Aprilia, -3 laps
DNF, Haruchika Aoki, Honda, -7 laps
DNF, Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, -8 laps
DNF, Emilio Alzamora, Honda, -16 laps
DNF, Casey Stoner, Aprilia, -21 laps

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

MotoGP Race Results:

1. Valentino Rossi, Honda RC211V, 30 laps, 43:32.783
2. Max Biaggi, Yamaha YZR-M1, -0.730 second
3. Tohru Ukawa, Honda RC211V, -1.100 seconds
4. Carlos Checa, Yamaha YZR-M1, -2.330 seconds
5. Shinya Nakano, Yamaha YZR500, -2.743 seconds
6. Norick Abe, Yamaha YZR500, -2.780 seconds
7. Jeremy McWilliams, Proton KR3, -15.438 seconds
8. Nobuatsu Aoki, Proton KR3, -18.980 seconds
9. Garry McCoy, Yamaha YZR500, -19.269 seconds
10. Alex Hofmann, Honda NSR500, -34.533 seconds
11. Akira Ryo, Suzuki GSV-R, -34.592 seconds
12. Jurgen v.d. Goorbergh, Honda NSR500, -45.404 seconds
13. Jose Luis Cardoso, Yamaha YZR500, -76.460 seconds
14. Olivier Jacque, Yamaha YZR500, -3 laps, DNF, crash
15. Alex Barros, Honda NSR500, -3 laps, DNF, crash
16. Regis Laconi, Aprilia RS3, -5 laps, DNF, crash
17. Tetsuya Harada, Honda NSR500, -14 laps, DNF, mechanical
18. Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki GSV-R, -20 laps, DNF, crash
19. Daijiro Kato, Honda NSR500, -20 laps, DNF, crash
20. Sete Gibernau, Suzuki GSV-R, -20 laps, crash
21. John Hopkins, Yamaha YZR500, DNS


MotoGP World Championship Point Standings:

1. Rossi, 220 points
2. Ukawa, 124 points
3. Biaggi, 109 points
4. Barros, 87 points
5. Ceca, 85 points
6. Abe, 82 points
7. Loris Capirossi, 65 points
8. Kato, 60 points
9. Aoki, 43 points
10. Jacque, 42 points
11. Nakano, 41 points
12. Hopkins, 41 points
13. Kenny Roberts, 40 points
14. Ryo, 34 points
15. Harada, 32 points

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

An e-mail from Desiree Crossman, at the MotoGP German Grand Prix with John Hopkins:

Today was a great race for the 2-strokes but a hairy crash took them out of contention. Barros and Jacque were battling back and forth for the lead and Rossi was trying to get in the mix but couldn’t keep up.

We were in the Eurosport commentary box watching the beginning because John was commentating.

As we ran back to the pit box, Kato, Gibernau, and Kagayama crashed into each other so they were out. It was good to see the 2-strokes battling it out, but with about 4-5 laps to go, in turn 1 Barros lost the front and took out Jacque. Actually, I think he made a mistake and realized he was going down so he layed it down and Jacque didn’t move so he went down as well. Jacque and Barros were neck and neck going into turn one. When they went down, Rossi took over.

Anyway, Gaz (Garry McCoy) got 9th so we are pleased. John is now tied with Shinya Nakano in 11/12 (in points) and nobody passed him, I think Aoki–but he can beat him. The whole time John was grunting and grinding his teeth cause he wanted to ride. Oh well, Brno is next.

Desiree Crossman

From Aprilia:

Five wins in a row: Macio Melandri’s painful but fantastic victory

The dark clouds louring over the Sachsenring circuit just before the start of the 250 race were to write the epilogue to today’s contest, which was put to an end by the red flag as the heavens opened during the 23rd time round, just after 75% of the race had been completed in the previous, 22nd, lap. A trio of riders, Rolfo, Melandri and Porto – in that order – held firmly onto the first three places as they prepared for the final rush. On the 18th pass, Melandri’s team put out a clear signal when they saw that rain was about to fall: “PUSH”. Macio thus upped the ante and took the lead, crossing the line in first place for the last four laps before the race was suspended. On the 23rd lap, Marco went for a slide on the wet track, just moments before the red flag put an end to the race. Under the rostrum, Macio displayed a conspicuous mark caused by the fall on his crash helmet and his head was still spinning after striking the ground. He was immediately tended to by Dr Costa of the Mobile Clinic and soon recovered. His current condition is not worrying. Today’s win puts Melandri 25 points (one GP) ahead of his closest rival, Nieto – who came fourth today – in the World Championship ratings. Marco puts his name to Aprilia’s 131st win in the GP.

Just before, in the 125 race, Arnaud Vincent (second consecutive win) had given Aprilia its 130th victory in the World Road Racing Championship. Again in the 125, three Aprilias went up onto the podium for the second time this year (the first such achievement was in Jerez) and the Venetian company is now firmly in the lead in the constructors’ charts.

# 3 Marco Melandri – (MS APRILIA RACING) – 1st – 32’12.725

“The signal we agreed on with the team was quite clear. They realised that rain was imminent so they put out the PUSH sign. I opened right up and went past Rolfo, knowing that I’d have to defend the first place to the last. Rolfo was great: effective and fast. It sure was an exciting duel. Then I slid on the tarmac which was already wet after the first downpour. I got a hard blow in the stomach and struck my head on the ground. When I came under the podium, my head was whirling and now I feel pretty bad all over, but I’ve nothing to worry about. This was probably the most painful, but also the finest victory.

Marco Melandri

14 Wins (7 –250cc) (7 – 125cc)

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

125cc GP Results:

1. Arnaud Vincent, Aprilia, 40:40.023, 27 laps
2. Alex De Angelis, Aprilia, -0.108 second
3. Steve Jenkner, Aprilia, -9.995 seconds
4. Manuel Poggiali, Gilera, -9.996 seconds
5. Pablo Nieto, Aprilia, -10.160 seconds
6. Simone Sanna, Aprilia, -16.018 seconds
7. Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, -16.826 seconds
8. Youichi Ui, Derbi, -23.921 seconds
9. Mika Kallio, Honda, -24.004 seconds
10. Gino Borsoi, Aprilia, -24.263 seconds

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Saturday 125cc GP Practice Times:

1. Alex De Angelis, Aprilia, 1:29.625
2. Manuel Poggiali, Gilera, 1:29.656
3. Gino Borsoi, Aprilia, 1:29.825
4. Simone Sanna, Aprilia, 1:29.922
5. Pablo Nieto, Aprilia, 1:29.930
6. Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, 1:30.099
7. Arnaud Vincent, Aprilia, 1:30.152
8. Steve Jenkner, Aprilia, 1:30.307
9. Angel Rodriguez, Aprilia, 1:30.443
10. Gabor Talmacsi, Honda, 1:30.610

From Red Bull Yamaha WCM:

McCoy Back in Form and Hopkins Down

Garry McCoy put in a last-minute hot lap this afternoon in the final qualifying session at the Sachsenring to finish in 8th position on the grid, on the outside of the second row. McCoy, who qualified only 0.337 second off pole position, set a time that would have seen him on last year’s pole. McCoy is one of ten riders who were within 0.367 second of pole.

Teammate to McCoy, the American rookie, John Hopkins, had a spectacular crash in the dying minutes of the session. Hopper was pushing his YZR500 to the limit and crashed out on the 6th-gear, fast right-hand downhill corner. He will not race tomorrow and has taken Doctor Claudio Costas’ advice to rest the broken hand for at least 21 days.

Garry McCoy – 8th 1:26.095

“I had a problem with the front forks and the front-end set-up yesterday and we tried to fix that today, which we have in a way, but we still have to find the right balance in the rear. We spent most of the session getting the race set-up and it’s good to be starting from the second row.

“It’s looking pretty good for the race and the four strokes don’t have the advantage here like they do have everywhere else. I got behind a couple of different riders today to just get an eye on a few of them and to lift my speed up a bit. It’ll still be a tough race though and there is really only one place to pass and that’s in the slipstream at turn one.”

John Hopkins – 14th- 1:26.551

“Yeah, I’m feeling all right, it’s no big deal, I’ve broken my hand before but never this particular bit. I was pushing really hard on that lap, trying to make up time on the last section.

“I had the qualifying tyre on and I was on the limit, pushing as hard as I could on the fast downhill right hander. It just flicked me off. All I could think of when I was tumbling through the air was brace yourself – this is going to hurt.”

Peter Clifford – Team Manager

“Well, John had a very nasty fall right at the end of the session and injured his left hand. He has seen Dr. Costa and the X-rays show a fracture to his 3rd metcarpal joint on his middle finger.

“Of course John was keen to ride tomorrow to maintain his 100% points scoring record but I asked him not to. It is more important that he take care and come back in Brno 100% fit.

“Its great to see Garry back and quickly regaining his form. He is now 100% fit and one rider like that, is all the team seems to manage at the moment.”

From a press release from the Parts Canada Superbike Championship series:

Connell grabs 600 Sport Bike pole with new lap record


July 20, 2002

Arclight Racing Suzuki’s Craig Connell from Queensland, Australia grabbed the pole position for Sunday’s combined Pro Honda Oils / Yoshimura 600 Sport Bike final with a new 600 Sport Bike lap record this morning at Mosport.

Connell’s time of 1:24.521 is almost a second faster than Jean-Francois Cyr’s previous record of 1:25.405 set here last year. In fact, the top seven qualifiers were under Cyr’s old lap record.

“We made some changes last night to the front forks that made a difference,” commented Connell following the 25-minute timed qualifying session. “But, it all comes back to the tires, my Pirellis were working great.”

Owen Weichel put his Canadian Kawasaki ZX6-R second on the grid with his time of 1:24.634.

Current Canadian series points leader Clint McBain set the third fastest qualifying time of 1:25.002.

Kevin Lacombe crashed his Orion Motorsports Honda CBR600F4i in turn 9 just past the half-way point in the session. Lacombe was unhurt in the fall and pushed his machine back to pit lane. His time at that point was good enough to hang on to a fifth place qualifying time of 1:25.232, just behind Cyr’s time of 1:25.011.

Craig Recore of Peru, NY also fell unhurt early on in this session.

Final F-USA Pro Honda Oils/Yoshimura 600cc Sportbike Qualifying Results:


1. Craig Connell, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:24.521
2. Owen Weichel, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:24.634
3. Clint McBain, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:25.002
4. Jean-Francois Cyr, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:25.011
5. Kevin Lacombe, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:25.232
6. Michael Barnes, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:25.256
7. Jeff Williams, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:25.344
8. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:25.655
9. Larry Pegram, Suzuki GSX-R600,1:25.825
10. Jeff Wood, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:26.405
11. Matthew McBride, Honda CBR600, 1:26.554
12. Ugo Levert, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:26.565
13. Scott Greenwood, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:26.753
14. Eric Wood, Buell Firebolt XB9R, 1:27.057
15. Bruce McDonald, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:27.324
16. Chris Peris, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:27.343
17. Ray Bowman, Honda CBR600, 1:27.831
18. Francis Dubuc, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:27.886
19. Greg Boki, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:28.048
20. Cory West, Honda CBR600F4i, 1:28.442
21. Joe Temperato, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:28.451
22. Joel McDonald, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:28.457
23. Jerome Plourde, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:28.699
24. David Lamb, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:28.901
25. Martin Hamel, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:29.350
26. Victor Paiva, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:29.576
27. Darrin Mitchell, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:29.669
28. Peter Marsh, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1:29.825
29. Craig Recore, Honda CBR600, 1:30.298
30. John Lounsbury, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:30.351
31. Zenon Nelson, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:30.575
32. Joseph Rozynski, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:32.060
33. Paolo Mariano, Suzuki GSX-R600, 1:33.505
34. Patrick Blouin, Honda CBR600, 1:33.863

DQ* Richard Kjar, Yamaha YZF-R6, 1:30.871

* Disqualified due to leaving pit lane during Qualification session

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Final 250cc GP Qualifying Results:

1. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 1:26.874
2. Marco Melandri, Aprilia, 1:27.171
3. Roberto Locatelli, Aprilia, 1:27.445
4. Roberto Rolfo, Honda, 1:27.446
5. Franco Battaini, Aprilia, 1:27.566
6. Sebastian Porto, Yamaha, 1:27.613
7. Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, 1:27.669
8. Alex Debon, Aprilia, 1:27.775
9. Toni Elias, Aprilia, 1:27.865
10. Naoki Matsudo, Yamaha, 1:27.943
11. Haruchika Aoki, Honda, 1:28.138
12. Casey Stoner, Aprilia, 1:28.278
13. Emilio Alzamora, Honda, 1:28.359
14. Ralf Waldman, Aprilia, 1:28.591
15. Vincent Philippe, Aprilia, 1:29.064