|
Malaysian Grand Prix
Sepang
Grand Prix Report
Red Bull Yamaha sideways king Garry McCoy scored his third podium finish of the season with a spectacular and determined
ride into third place in the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Along the way McCoy led the dramatic race for five laps as he demonstrated his power-sliding supremacy in the red hot
conditions of Sepang. McCoy's Red Bull teammate Nori Haga finished ninth with another top ten performance in his first race
appearance in Malaysia.
After qualifying in fourth place to be on the front row for first time since the South African GP, McCoy was confident that he
had a strong race package for Sepang. And despite a horror first lap he quickly set about challenging for the lead.
After being bumped to seventh during a mad scramble for track position on the opening lap McCoy, with his rear tyre dancing
under brakes and then sliding sideways off the turns, brilliantly passed both Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi in one corner to be
second on lap three.
McCoy completed lap seven as the race leader after passing Italian Honda rider and pole position man Loris Capirossi.
McCoy attempted to make a break but could not pull away and a mid-race burst saw new world champion Rossi take the
lead.
McCoy, Capirossi and Japan's Shinya Nakano then staged a frantic contest for the remaining two podium positions with
McCoy battling a lack of rear tyre grip over the final stages of the 21 lap race. Capirossi, who later acknowledged the difficulty
of racing with McCoy, secured second place with two laps remaining, leaving McCoy to fend off Nakano for third.
"It is very difficult to be following Garry and trying to pass him," Capirossi said. "His style is unbelievable, he is
braking very hard and sliding a lot and this is great to watch but makes him very difficult to pass."
The energy-sapping conditions of the very humid Sepang track were all new to Haga who admitted he struggled to find a
comfortable race set-up on his first visit to Sepang. The Japanese star qualified 14th and made an early race surge to ninth, the
position in which he eventually finished beating Spanish Yamaha ace Carlos Checa in the process.
Rossi's victory was his tenth of the season and his first since he clinched the world championship at Phillip island in Australia
just one week ago.
Peter Clifford, Director of Racing - Red Bull Yamaha
"It is great to see Gaz up the front, leading a grand prix again and right in the thick of things. Perhaps his bike set-up
was not perfect but it was close enough for him to race at the front which we know he can do. The aim now is for
Garry to finish the season on the podium again in Rio next week. Nori Haga wasn't happy to be ninth and no rider
ever is but it was his first visit to Sepang and it's tough here but he did finish in front of Carlos Checa also on a
factory Yamaha."
GARRY McCOY World Championship: 12th/ 82 points
NORIYUKI HAGA: World Championship : 14th/ 59 points
The Race
Garry McCoy 3rd
(at 4.722)
“It
was good to finish on the podium – especially after struggling for so much of
the season. It was a tough race though, especially with the heat causing the
tyres to go off so soon. A couple of times, while I was in the lead, I tried to
push and make a break, but I just couldn’t get away from Valentino. What I’d
like do now is go to Brazil and win – it would be nice to end the year on a
high note.”
Hamish Jamieson
(Garry McCoy’s Race Engineer)
“A
podium is always good – especially when the standard of riding is so high.
Apparently Garry didn’t have any major problems with the bike – though he
did seem to be running wide a lot, so maybe we need to work on that.”
Nori Haga 9th
(at 27.012)
“The
first four or five laps were OK and I managed to stay with the lead group, but I
didn’t have the bike set up I needed to fight with the front runners. Today
was a day for playing it safe, not crashing and making it to the finish line!”
Colin Davies (Nori
Haga’s Race Engineer)
“We
managed to improve Nori’s bike a little during the warm up – but obviously
not by enough.”
OFFICIAL QUALIFYING
Garry McCoy 2'05.961 4th (at 0.324)
"Despite leaving a gap when I came out, I still got a little held up by Abe on my fastest lap. Although it is difficult to say, I
reckon without that I could have maybe posted the second fastest time. Still I am happy to get on the front row and from there
I should be able to have a good crack at the podium though I think tyres are going to be
crucial. The tyre we preferred yesterday wasn't the best today for example, and while logically it should be to my advantage if it stays hot tomorrow, there is
always a question mark over endurance."
Hamish Jamieson (Garry McCoy's Race Engineer)
"We managed to improve the bike a little, but having Rossi in his sights (ahead of Abe) obviously helped Garry's time. For me
putting yourself in a position where you have someone to chase is an important part of qualifying
strategy. Normally Garry goes well in hot conditions so I'm reasonably confident for tomorrow."
Nori Haga 2'07.796 14th (at 2.159)
"We tried a lot of different settings today but didn't manage to make any improvement. I still have the same problems the
front wants to tuck in, while the rear chatters with certain tyres. We also tried a gearbox ratio set up that didn¹t work out. All of
which means we're going to have a busy warm up session tomorrow!"
Colin Davies (Nori Haga's Race Engineer)
"Despite experimenting with a number of different set ups, and gaining almost a second compared with yesterday,
Nori is not happy with the bike. We do however have a number of other things we want to try before the race and can hopefully improve
the bike further."
FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE
Garry McCoy
2’07.018 – 5th (at 1.381)
“The
session seemed to go OK. As usual we’re looking at the softest tyre available
as a race option but we’ve still got some work to do on the chassis, so there
should be some improvement to be made there. One of the bikes was running a
little rich, so half way through the session, rather than make any adjustments,
we simply swapped over the carbs – but I don’t think we really lost any
time. This isn’t a particular favourite track of mine, but then again it
isn’t one I detest either. I’ll just be looking to get the best result I can
come Sunday.”
Hamish Jamieson
(Garry McCoy’s Race Engineer)
“It
seems a little bit slippery off the race line here, and as Garry always takes a
slightly different line from the others that might work against him a little.
Apart from that, and the fact that maybe we should have kept him out, rather
than bring him in for a last tyre change, everything went fine.”
Nori Haga 2’08.643
– 15th (at 3.006)
“We
tested here at the beginning of the year and everything went OK, but today we
had a lot of problems with the front end wanting to tuck in. Four or five times
I very nearly lost it! The good news is we know what changes we need to make, so
tomorrow we should go a lot better.”
Colin Davies (Nori
Haga’s Race Engineer)
“Although
the improvements we made to front end feel at Phillip Island have transferred
well, we’re having trouble getting the bike to turn. We do however have a few
different things we want to try out tomorrow, particularly concerning the
bike’s balance. We also want to see if we can improve engine performance a
little.”
RACE PREVIEW
Malaysian Grand Prix Preview
After an eighteen month break the World Motorcycle Championship returns to the tropics for the penultimate race of the
season, the Malaysian Grand Prix. Hosting the 15th of 16 rounds is the ultra-modern Sepang circuit,
which provides world class facilities and a race track that serves up fast and interesting racing.
In 2000 McCoy finished third at Sepang, where the heat and humidity places a premium on the riders physical
endurance. Last year's race was shortened because of the rain with McCoy on the charge behind race winner Kenny Roberts and
runner-up Carlos Checa.
"The last time I raced at Sepang I finished on the podium so it would be nice to do that
again, that's what I'm aiming for," McCoy said. "The hot weather generally helps with our tyre choice so I'm hoping things swing our way because
we had a good pre-season test at Sepang back in January"
McCoy has quickly moved his focus to the tropical challenge of Sepang after a less than satisfactory outcome to his home GP
at Phillip Island last Sunday. Clutch problems forced McCoy to park his Red Bull Yamaha on lap eighteen.
"It's better to forget about Phillip Island, that was a pretty disappointing way to go out of a race where everything
was looking good except for the clutch problem," said McCoy who have moved from 14th on the grid to seventh when he
pulled into the pits. "Sepang can be tough on tyres but not as bad as Phillip Island which for me turned out okay for a
race tyre choice. Hopefully things will be better in qualifying in terms of tyre choice at Sepang because we can
normally come up with a good race package."
Meanwhile Haga, who showed his best form at Phillip Island by leading a breathtaking race for three laps, comes to Sepang
with track knowledge. Haga's pre-season test experience here will be valuable as he nears the end of his first grand prix
season.
"For my first season in GPs I have no comparison from previous year's so this makes it difficult at new tracks," Haga
said. "But I tested at Sepang so I know the track and now I have a lot more experience of racing a 500 GP bike so I
am learning all the time. It is important to find a good setting early in practice so all the data from testing will be
valuable for this. I enjoyed very much the feeling of racing at the front at Phillip Island and when I know the track
and my bike is in good condition I feel much better."
The Malaysian GP brings to end a gruelling triple-header of three races in as many weekends with the world
championship now safe in the hands of Valentino Rossi following his victory at Phillip Island.
Even so there is plenty to play for at Sepang. Both Red Bull men McCoy and Haga started the season motivated to win races
and both remain intent on achieving that goal.
The Sepang circuit features the widest track in GP racing and two back-to-back straightaways, both long and fast, are a
special feature of this 5.5 km track.
| 
