May 19, 2001 - Rossi resumes control as McCoy crashes out

Courtesy of: motogp

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May 16, 2001 - Valentino Rossi - London lad

He may not look like the typical Londoner with his sunglasses perched, typical Italian style, on the top of his short hair but Valentino Rossi is enjoying life in 'Cool Britannia'.

The 22-year-old Italian who has dominated the opening rounds of MotoGP's 500cc Championship moved to the fashionable Knightsbridge area of London last year to escape the adulation he was receiving back home in Italy.

Despite missing his family and friends Rossi loves the vibrant London scene where he can go out and enjoy himself in almost total anonymity.

'I love it in London and I go night clubbing a lot and love the shops here,' revealed the Italian Superstar who lives just round the corner from the famous Harrods store. 'I'm always going to Carnaby Street and Covent Garden and have a passion for shoes - I've got hundreds of pairs. I feel free in London and I had to get away from the fans at home. I could not go out of the house without being mobbed. People would knock on my door at all hours and I got tired of it. It was like being a footballer, so I decided to move to England.'

Moving away from family and friends was not an easy decision for the former 125 and 250cc World Champion.

'It can be very hard because I have a kid brother, Luca, and a kid sister, Clara, back home, and I miss them a lot,' explained Rossi.' Then there is Guido, my English bulldog. You see, I like all English things apart from the weather.'

Rossi certainly loves plying his trade in England. He won the 125cc British Grand Prix in 1997, the 250 two years later and last year won his very first 500cc Grand Prix at Donington Park. He returns to Donington on July 8 a clear favourite to win the British Grand Prix once again but despite his new home it will be the Italian national anthem that will blare out over the Derbyshire countryside if the success story continues.

Courtesy of: motogp

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May 6, 2001 - Doctor Rossi plays patient for third 500 win

As Abe and Rossi began to make their break, Capirossi lost his concentration and headed into the gravel, before rejoining the race way down the field. Meanwhile fellow Italian Max Biaggi was also having trouble and almost immediately he suffered a similar fate.

Alex Criville responded to the roars of the home crowd with a resounding charge from the middle of the field. Having started from 12th place on the grid, Criville had made his way to 7th before relegating Max Biaggi to 6th. The former World Champion then slipped past Barros to move 5th before almost immediately charging up the inside of Roberts to take 4th. With the crowd screaming for more, Criville began his assault on the podium positions and Shinya Nakano, who was a solitary figure in third.

Further back there were championship points at stake and Tohru Ukawa, Alex Barros and Kenny Roberts battled it out. Roberts eventually dropped away from the Honda pair, settling for 7th position in the knowledge that Capirossi was at a safe distance after his mistake.

On the 16th lap Criville passed Nakano and headed for what seemed an impossible finish in the top two positions. With Abe over 4 seconds ahead with 11 laps to go, the brave Spaniard, who confirmed that he has now fully recovered from his hand injury sustained at this very track back in February, cut the gap back to less than a second but the finish line came a lap too soon and he had to settle for third position.

Rossi played the patience game, saving his tyres as his slipstreamed Abe for much of the race, before making his move seven laps from the end and opening up an insurmountable gap to take another memorable victory.

Courtesy of: motogp

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May 5, 2001 - Untouchable Rossi takes 500 pole with ease

Only fellow Italian Loris Capirossi ever really threatened Rossi's dominance, eventually taking second spot, 0.393 seconds off the dazzling yellow Honda. Capirossi maintains his 100% record at the front of the grid in 2001, as does Japanese rookie Shinya Nakano, who along with Rossi has been the revelation of the season so far. Nakano starts from 4th place behind compatriot Norick Abe, who makes his first front row appearance of the year on the Yamaha.

Courtesy of: motogp

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May 5, 2001 - Rossi breaks Jerez lap record in 500 second free practice

Rossi's fastest lap of 1'42.421 was almost half a second quicker than the previous circuit best lap set in 2000 by Max Biaggi. Tohru Ukawa was the only rider who even looked like threatening Rossi's dominance, but in the end the Japanese 500 rookie was almost a full second off the pace. Even so, Ukawa's effort was the closest any of the other riders could get to Rossi and he headed a group of pilots in the 1'43 bracket which was made up of Norick Abe, Alex Criville, Shinya Nakano, Alex Barros, Loris Capiross and Kenny Roberts.

'The Doctor' has stamped his authority on each of the sessions so far this weekend and is not likely to concede much ground in this afternoon's final qualifying session. The Honda rider is expected to take his second consecutive pole position and on this form will be many people's favourite for tomorrow's race.

Carlos Checa was the only faller in this morning's session, sliding into the gravel after losing the front end of his Yamaha. The Spanish crowd breathed a sigh of relief when he immediately sprung to his feet and finished the session on his spare bike.

Courtesy of: motogp

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May 4, 2001 - Rossi quickest as Biaggi and Jacque crash in first 500 free practice session

Not so comfortable was Rossi's fellow Italian Max Biaggi, who lost the front end of his Yamaha and suffered a slow speed tumble. Biaggi immediately took his spare bike back onto the track and shrugged off any possible side effects by immediately setting his quickest lap up to that point, although he ended the session eleventh fastest overall.

Olivier Jacque also fell, sliding off his Yamaha and into the gravel before easing initial concerns about the arm he broke in pre-season testing in Malaysia by returning to the track on his spare bike. Barry Veneman was the only other faller and he too emerged unhurt, immediately jumping to his feet and heading back to the pits.

Alex Barros showed signs that he could be returning to form just at the right time with the third quickest lap of the session, whilst Carlos Checa posted consistent times to confirm that he is fully recovered from the injury which kept him out of the last race in South Africa.

Despite a bright start to the day clouds have started to form over the Spanish circuit and the intermittent showers experience yesterday look likely to hinder proceedings this afternoon. Nevertheless the rain has held off up to now and the riders and teams will be hoping conditions remain dry for this afternoon's first qualifying session.

Courtesy of: motogp

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May 4, 2001 - Rossi dominates once more and takes provisional pole with ease

Shinya Nakano continued with his promising early form to make the provisional front row after qualifying in the top three positions at the two previous rounds of the Championship. Nakano is joined by Loris Capirossi, one of the few riders to feature at the top of the time charts before Rossi took control, who qualified an eventual fourth.

On the second row Max Biaggi lines up alongside Alex Barros, Kenny Roberts and Garry McCoy. Roberts, who set the early pace in the session, won here in the rain last year but will have his work cut out if he is to challenge Valentino Rossi under this weekend's Spanish sunshine.

The temperatures have soared this afternoon allowing the riders to post some good lap times and concentrate on the set-up of their machines. Two riders who didn't take such benefits from the session were Vladimir Castka and Chris Walker, who both fell. It is the third time Walker has dumped his NSR Honda in three meetings, and he is clearly struggling to master the powerful two stroke machine.

Courtesy of: motogp

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