From a Suzuki press release:
Team Suzuki News Service
ROBERTS TAKES STRONG SEVENTH IN BLAZING SPANISH RACE
2002 MotoGP Championship – Round 6, Catalunya, Spain, June 16, 2002
Team Telefónica MoviStar Suzuki’s Kenny Roberts capitalised on the latest round of machine and tyre improvements to claim seventh place in today’s Catalunyan GP, surviving blistering heat and a fast-paced race that saw several accident victims. Team Suzuki rider Akira Ryo, riding as a wild card entry, just missed making it a double top ten for the new 990cc GSV-R V4 MotoGP prototype, in only its sixth race. The Japanese rider was 11th.
Second Telefónica MoviStar Suzuki rider Sete Gibernau was one of those to fall, crashing out with 19 laps remaining in the 25-lap race, run in front of a crowd of 90,000 at the 4.727km Montmelo circuit outside Barcelona. Sete was bitterly disappointed, after qualifying the new four-stroke GSV-R on the front row of grid for the first time. He was in close company with his team-mate at the time, disputing fifth position and hoping to get free to close on the leaders, still in close view up ahead.
The race, sixth round of the 2002 MotoGP World Championship, was won by defending champion Valentino Rossi (Honda).
Tomorrow, the team will stay on at the Catalunyan circuit for two days of tests, in conjunction with the factory engineers, and factory rider Ryo. As well as the first time out on the latest 2002 Michelin tyres, after switching brands earlier in the season, there are chassis and other modifications to test, and engine and electronic changes to get fine tuned – part of the continuing high-intensity race development programme of the newest of the three Japanese factory four-stroke MotoGP prototypes. The GSV-R was brought to the race-tracks a full year earlier than planned, after promising early tests showed the tremendous potential of the new machine.
KENNY ROBERTS – Seventh Position
“It was pretty much as I expected. It was a hot and slippery race-track. If you have a better connection between throttle and rear tyre, then you get a better finishing position. I thought we had a fifth-placed bike, but that was thinking I would be ahead of the two-strokes of Capirossi and Barros. They were in front of me, so I was seventh. What we need to be doing is to beat the top four bikes. We’re a long way from where we need to be, but we’re also a long way ahead of where we would without the new four-stroke. I hope the factory keep listening to us, and give us what we need.”
SETE GIBERNAU – Did Not Finish.
“My pace at the start was not so bad, and I was lapping behind Kenny. I saw the front four pulling away ahead I wanted to pass him to try and follow along. Eventually I did get by, and I led him for a couple of laps before he passed me again. Next time on the straight, I was in his slipstream and going faster than usual, and I lost the front wheel braking for the first corner. I thought I could have gone better … but it’s easy to say things like that after the event. I wanted to try and get amongst the leaders today, so I’m really sorry for my crew, all the guys, for Telefónica MoviStar and the crowds, who have given me a lot off support this weekend. I want to pay them back, but we’ll have to wait until the next race.”
GARRY TAYLOR – Team Manager
“We had some new parts this weekend, and it was our first race on the same tyres as the other Michelin runners, so we were on a level playing field for the first time. We definitely showed some progress. Not enough, but progress is progress, and we’re staying on for the next two days to keep working on the programme, with some new chassis parts to test, and some testing to do for Michelin. Ryo-San did a great job, getting a good finish in his first race on this circuit, and on Michelin tyres. I’m also happy that Sete is not injured.”
From a Honda press release:
HONDA RACING NEWS
MotoGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2002 Round 6
CATALAN GRAND PRIX, CATALUNYA
Race Day, Sunday June 16 2002
NO STOPPING RAMPAGING ROSSI
Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda Team RCV211V) bagged his fifth win from six races at a scorching Catalunya. More than 90,000 sun-drenched Spaniards watched Tohru Ukawa (Repsol Honda Team RCV211V) finish a close second as Honda recorded its third one-two of the season so far. This is Rossi’s 44th career win and his 18th premier class win. The new Honda RCV211 has now won every race so far this year.
Rossi started from the front row of the grid in fourth place and held fourth position into the first turn. By the fifth lap he’d got into a rhythm and set the fastest lap of the race at 1m 45.594s on lap five. Carlos Checa (Yamaha), Ukawa, Rossi and Max Biaggi (Yamaha) were now pulling clear. Rossi moved into second place behind Checa on lap 14 and on the next lap he used the speed of the RCV to edge past the Spaniard at the end of the long start/finish straight and into the lead. He led from then on with team-mate Ukawa in close touch throughout.
“That was a really hard race for the bike, the tyres and me,” said the Championship leader. ” I have to say a big thank you to all my team because we changed so many of the settings over the weekend to find the best race set-up. I got a good start, and followed the others. Checa got into a good rhythm and I overtook Biaggi when the others started to get away. I tried to turn some laps in the 45 second bracket but I couldn’t. I got away and Tohru came with me, but I was a little better on the brakes in three of the turns and I managed to stay in front. I’m very happy with this win.”
Second-placed Ukawa looked as if he might have been able to repeat the success he had in the second race of the MotoGP Championship in South Africa when he overtook Rossi in the closing stages for a win. But although Ukawa pressed him hard all the way Rossi had just enough in hand to fend him off.
“I knew I had to make a good start,” said Ukawa. “And I got the holeshot, my first this season. I led until Checa went past me and then I got him back and held it. The tyres were good today and the whole bike felt good. The work we did in qualifying really paid off in the race and I guess I’m happy with second. I’m not so happy that the points gap between Valentino and me has increased. But there’s a long way to go this season and I’ll be giving it everything.”
Alex Barros (West Honda Pons NSR500) was fifth and as the first two-stroke past the flag effectively ‘won’ the race within a race. “I’m really very happy,” said the Brazilian. “I had a great scrap with Loris to be the best two-stroke finisher, just like at Mugello. I couldn’t have done any more than I did today because the long straight here makes things difficult for us. I want to thank my team for the excellent work they’ve done which allowed me to ride well at one of my favourite tracks. We have to try and close the gap with the four-strokes at Assen.”
Sixth-place finisher Loris Capirossi (West Honda Pons NSR500) had an incident-packed race, running off track. “This was a tough race,” he said. “I tried my very best, but we don’t seem to be getting much reward for our efforts. I wanted to stay with the leaders from the start, but I lost a lot of time getting past the two Suzukis, they held me up in the turns and then I couldn’t get past them on the straight. My off-track excursion was because Roberts braked hard well before entering a corner and I had to carry on in a straight line or I would have run into him.”
Daijiro Kato (Fortuna Honda Gresini NSR500) finished a fighting eighth after a troubled time in qualifying. “The first corner was tough,” said the MotoGP rookie. “It was really hard to find a way through the bunched-up pack. That really slowed me up and then after ten laps the rear tyre went off a bit. This isn’t a bad result because I was running the same lap times as Barros and Capirossi and if I could have found a faster way through in the early laps things might have been even better.”
Things got slightly better in the race for Tetsuya Harada (Pramac Honda NSR500) who had qualifying difficulties and began the race 20th on the grid. He eventually finished 13th. “Unfortunately I just couldn’t do any better,” said the disappointed Japanese. “After all the problems we had yesterday, the situation has improved. The bike was sliding everywhere in the second half of the race and even if I have got three points from this race I don’t feel very good about it.”
Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Kanemoto Racing Honda NSR500) was brought down in a first lap crash and his machine was too badly damaged for him to remount. “I could have scored some good points today,” said the Dutchman. “We ran a new compound rear tyre in the warm-up and I was faster than I had been all weekend. An 11th or 12th place finish was definitely possible today. I knew I was going to crash about two tenths of a second before I went down. Jacque hit Abe who pushed Nakano across in front of me. I had nowhere to go and ended up in the dirt.”
Robby Rolfo (Fortuna Honda Gresini NSR250) made a determined charge through the field from seventh position on the first lap, but he couldn’t overhaul winner Marco Melandri (Aprilia). Rolfo was up to second place by lap fourteen and locked in combat with eventual third place finisher Fonsi Nieto (Aprilia). Although Nieto threw everything he had at the Italian, Rolfo had pulled out just enough of a gap as they crossed the line.
“My problem was at the start,” said Rolfo. “It was really hard to overtake the riders in front of me in the early laps and then getting past De Puniet and Battaini took a while. My bike was a bit down on acceleration, but I pushed hard and got into a rhythm. I really have to thank the team and if we can work as hard as this at every race I will be very happy, second place is not so bad here.”
Emilio Alzamora (Fortuna Honda Gresini NSR250) made rapid progress from a sluggish start and was up to sixth place by lap thirteen of the 23 lap race, but tyre problems relegated him to ninth place at the flag. “I had to push really hard,” said the Spaniard. “I had a problem with the front brake at the first corner which lost me a lot of time, then the front tyre started to go off because I was pushing so hard. As the race went on I lost a lot of the places I spent so much time getting in the early stages of the race.”
Haruchika Aoki (Arie Molenaar Racing Honda RS250R/W) finished 11th and was pleased with his ever-improving performances. “The testing we did here helped a lot,” he said. “In the race I just couldn’t get away from the group of riders I was in. I had a small rear brake problem but the bike was great. We just have to keep making improvements each time we go out.”
The Championship points situation shows a three way dice developing between Nieto on 101 points, Melandri with 95 and Rolfo looking strong in third with 80.
Danny Pedrosa (Telefonica Movistar Jr Team Honda RS125R) came within a mere 19 thousandths of a second of his first win after a compelling duel with Manuel Poggiali (Gilera) in the burning Catalan sun. Way out in front on their own for the last eight laps, there was never more than a bike length between the pair. Pedrosa led for the final few turns before Poggiali squeezed past as they crossed the line.
“I just couldn’t win it,” said Pedrosa. “It’s a shame to lose a race by such a tiny margin, but I can’t be too unhappy about coming second at my home Grand Prix. After all the trouble I had with tyres over the weekend I can go home happy with this result. I tried my absolute maximum, but it was not to be and I really appreciated the level of support I’ve had here from the fans.”
Joan Olive (Telefonica Movistar Jr Team Honda RS125R) notched his best ever result in his home Grand Prix. He ran with the leading group in thearly stages before dropping back to finish sixth. “I really needed this result,” said Olive. “I have had bad luck following me for a while and I feel very emotional about this result here. I expected tyre wear and was ready for it when it came. I passed about 13 riders into the first corner and that helped me a lot.”
The increasingly impressive Mika Kallio (Red Devil Honda RS125R) finished ninth, his fourth points scoring finish in his rookie year. Poggiali heads the Championship standings with 111 points from Arnaud Vincent (Aprilia) with 90.
From Marlboro Yamaha:
MARLBORO CATALAN GRAND PRIX, CATALUNYA
Race Day, Sunday June 16 2002
MARLBORO YAMAHA MEN SCORE STRONG RESULT
Marlboro Yamaha Team riders Carlos Checa and Max Biaggi roared their YZR-M1s to third- and fourth-place finishes at red-hot Catalunya this afternoon, local Checa making the running throughout the first half of the race and sending the 90,000-strong crowd wild with excitement.
The day after Biaggi had given the M1 its first pole position, Checa was in dazzling form, grabbing the lead from the second row to lead all the way to half distance. He held the Hondas of Valentino Rossi and Tohru Ukawa at bay until lap 15 of 24, when he began to slip back to third. Biaggi shadowed the leading group, gradually finding himself alone in fourth place.
“Overall, not such a bad weekend,” said YZR-M1 project leader Ichiro Yoda. “Max got pole position yesterday and our bikes seemed good in the race until half distance. At Mugello Carlos was passed easily on the straight but the speed difference didn’t seem so big here, though we still need to work on acceleration. Our lap times weren’t so good after half distance, however, so I think we need to work on machine set-up to improve tyre endurance.”
The Marlboro Yamaha Team and several rival MotoGP squads stay at Catalunya tomorrow for a Michelin tyre test.
CHECA BACK WHERE HE BELONGS
Carlos Checa today scored his first podium finish since April’s season-opening Japanese GP, a well-deserved reward for his consistently superb riding and tireless dedication. The local Marlboro Yamaha Team man started brilliantly from the second row, took the lead from Tohru Ukawa on lap two at turn three and stayed there until just before half distance when Ukawa sneaked ahead several times, Checa successfully counter attacking on the brakes. But eventually he did slip to second and then third, his pace tailing off in the closing stages. He crossed the line alone, eight seconds behind the winner.
“That was hard work, the bike was working well and I was able to run a good pace,” said Checa, who qualified seventh after a tumble in final qualifying. “I never had a good feeling here with the Yamaha 500, but this bike is different and we’re making good progress, so thanks to all the team, my engineers and my mechanics. It’s not been easy though, because I crashed yesterday afternoon and the bike wasn’t so good this morning, so we had to change some settings. In the race I was able to lead for a long time, and when Ukawa came by I could pass him again. But when Rossi went ahead I couldn’t keep the pace, it was too risky, I didn’t have enough traction, especially on the throttle, so we must focus on that to improve.”
BIAGGI STARTS FROM POLE, FINISHES 4th
Max Biaggi had high expectations for today’s race, run in sweltering 30-degree heat. The Italian Marlboro Yamaha Team star started from pole position on his number-two machine and made a good enough start to slot into third at the first turn and run third for the first few laps. But he couldn’t quite match the pace of the leading group and dropped to fourth, running the second half of the race very much on his own. Nevertheless the result moves Biaggi to fourth overall, equal on points with his team-mate but one place ahead thanks to his second place at the Italian GP.
“You have big hopes when you get pole position,” said Biaggi after his third successive podium finish on the M1. “I managed to make a good start but I quickly realised that it was going to be a tough race. I was racing my second bike because we had a problem with my number-one machine in morning warm-up. In the race the bike didn’t feel so good in chassis or engine performance, so we effectively lost all the hard work we’d done in practice and qualifying. I did the best I could in the circumstances, and congratulations to Carlos, he rode a great race.”
ROSSI TAKES FIFTH MotoGP VICTORY
Valentino Rossi today scored his fifth victory of the year, beating team-mate Tohru Ukawa into second place after a hard-ridden final few laps. “Checa was running a good rhythm early on,” said the Italian. “In some places I was faster, some places slower. But when Tohru went ahead, I decided to make my move. In the last laps I was better on the brakes, so I knew I could win if I didn’t make a mistake.”
From Proton:
NEW PROTON MAKES POINTS FIRST TIME OUT
Round 6: Catalunyan GP, Montmelo Sunday June 16, 2002
Jeremy McWilliams: Twelfth
Nobuatsu Aoki: DNF
Proton Team KR rider Jeremy McWilliams raced the brand new wide-line chassis in today’s Catalunyan GP, finishing 12th for four points – and reporting a big step forward in overall handling performance for the lightweight three-cylinder 500cc machine.
Team-mate Nobuatsu Aoki had a disappointing afternoon, forced into the pits after only one of 25 laps of the 4.727km circuit, where more than 90,000 fans endured blazing heat to watch an exciting race won by defending champion Valentino Rossi’s Honda. Aoki suspected an electrical fault, but the team later diagnosed a crankshaft problem.
McWilliams had decided to use the new chassis only on race morning, after a single example had been rushed to the track following promising tests of a prototype three weeks before. The new chassis not only has widely spaced top rails, to make space for the four-stroke engine now under design at the team’s headquarters in England, but also incorporates some different geometry ideas devised by the team owner, former triple World Champion Kenny Roberts.
During two days of practice, McWilliams had confirmed that promise, finding that the radically different approach gave more predictable handling for the agile KR3 racer, but was also kinder to the tyres, giving longer life and eliminating a “pumping” problem he had encountered on the older chassis. At this early stage of development, however, it was not quite as fast in lap times.
The team worked through Friday night to make a new rear suspension link, and after further adjustments McWilliams decided to race the chassis, in the long-term interests of future development. The gamble paid off in the short term too.
JEREMY McWILLIAMS
“I have to say the old man got something right. The new chassis completely cured the pumping problem I’d been having, and the new chassis is all Kenny’s ideas. It probably wasn’t ready to race, but it was the only thing to do after the experiences I’ve been having. I really needed to finish. The race wasn’t much fun. I lost side grip, but even so the bigger bikes were holding me up, then getting away on the straight. We always knew it would be difficult at this track. All in, I’m happy with the result.”
NOBUATSU AOKI
“I got a good start, and I was pretty lucky to escape the Jacque Attack that put three riders out. I was tenth after the first lap, and I was confident I could follow Jacque, but then the engine started to run really rough. There was nothing to do but to pull into the pits.”
KENNY ROBERTS– Team Owner
“We survived it, and with a brand new chassis too. It’s only the third time it’s been out, and it finished the race. Now we know what to do to get it more race ready, and it should pay off. Nobu had another crankshaft problem. It was not the same as the earlier failures, but it was still a failure.”
