Rossi rides over them again

VALENTINO Rossi underscored his 500cc world championship victory with a brilliant win in the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang yesterday.

Rossi, who claimed his first 500cc championship at Phillip Island last weekend, rode through the field on his Nastro Azzurra Honda to beat home Loris Capirossi (West Honda) and Australia's Garry McCoy (Red Bull Yamaha).

McCoy had led the race for five laps in the early stages, but had been unable to stay with Rossi when the young Italian forged past on the 12th of 21 laps.

Capirossi got by shortly after and McCoy actually dropped momentarily to fourth on the last lap when Japanese Gauloises Yamaha rider Shinya Nakano outbraked him.

But Nakano ran wide and McCoy was able to hold on to third position in the sprint to the chequered flag by just 0.283 sec.

With Marlboro Yamaha rider Max Biaggi crashing out on the fourth lap, his hold on second place in the championship ahead of Capirossi, has been reduced to just four points with one race left to run.

And to make matters worse, Biaggi's sliding bike took out Kenny Roberts' Suzuki, making it another bad day for the defending world champion.

Norick Abe (Antena 3 Yamaha) and Olivier Jacque (Gauloises Yamaha) were other notable fallers during the race.

"I got a bad start because I missed a gear as we set off from the line," explained Rossi. "Once I got up with the lead group I knew I could stay with them and then increase my rhythm to escape from McCoy.

"It was a difficult race because it was very hot and the track temperature was very hard on the tyres."Tohru Ukawa (Repsol Honda), teammate Alex Criville, Alex Barros (West Honda), Sete Gibernau (Movistar Suzuki), Noriyuki Haga (Red Bull Yamaha) and Carlos Checa (Marlboro Yamaha) completed the top 10.

Australians Anthony West (Dee Cee Honda) and Brendan Clark (Shell Honda) finished 12th and 15th respectively.

* Japanese Yamaha rider Daijiroh Katoh also scored his 10th victory of the season at Sepang, and in the process wrapped up the 250cc world championship.

Katoh equalled the record for wins in a season in the quarter-litre class currently held jointly by the legendary Mike Hailwood and Anton Mang, and has the opportunity to go one better in a fortnight's time in Brazil.

In Malaysia he led from pole position until the finish line, setting a newlap record on the second lap and opening up an eventual 14.893 second winning margin over Tetsuya Harada (Aprilia).

"I knew if I won this race I would be world champion, so that was my objective from the start," said Katoh. "To win the race and the title in that way is doubly pleasing for me."* Youichi Ui claimed victory in 125cc grand prix but Manuel Poggiali now needs just three points from the final race of the season to become world champion after taking second.

RACE RESULTS:
1 Valentino Rossi (Honda) 44:46.652
2 L Capirossi (Honda) +3.551
3 G McCoy (Yamaha) +1.171
4 S Nakano (Yamaha) +0.283
5 T Ukawa (Honda) +3.802
6 A Criville (Honda) +3.385
7 A Barros (Honda) +3.490
8 S Gibernau (Suzuki) +3.090
9 N Haga (Yamaha) +8.340
10 C Checa (Yamaha) +1.817RIDERS' POINTS:
1 Rossi (ITA) 300
2 M Biaggi (ITA) 203
3 Capirossi (ITA) 199
4 Barros (BRA) 169
5 Nakano (JAP) 148
6 N Abe (JAP) 127
7 Checa (ESP) 117
8 Gibernau (ESP) 115
9 Criville (ESP) 111
10 K Roberts (USA) 97MANUFACTURERS' POINTS:
1 Honda 342
2 Yamaha 275
3 Suzuki 149
4 Proton KR 65
5 Sabre V4 6
6 Pulse 3Next GP (16th of 16):

Circuit Nelson Piquet, Brazil, November 3