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Malaysian Grand Prix 2002

MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX Sunday 13th October 2002

GARRY McCOY and John Hopkins ended today's Malaysian GP in 15th and 18th places respectively as the Red Bull Yamaha team suffered a frustrating day at round 14 of the MotoGP world championship.
As anticipated pre-race by the Australian and American duo, today's 21-lap battle at the Sepang circuit was dictated by tyres as both struggled to overcome a lack of grip in an effort to better their final positions.
McCoy collected a solitary world championship point but it was hardly the boost he was looking for with his home race at Phillip Island, near Melbourne, taking place in just seven days time.
His problems were evident from the time sheets. The 30-year-old's fastest lap in the race came on lap four, but his time of 2.08.156 was almost three seconds slower than the time he'd produced in an encouraging display to qualify ninth yesterday.
Despite making a good start to hold his grid position for the majority of the opening lap, it wasn't long before McCoy found himself struggling to maintain his pace with the traction problems taking hold from the early stages.
It was a particularly disappointing day for Hopkins, who struggled to recover from a poor start. Pushing hard to try and maintain his impressive points-scoring record in his rookie season, he tumbled off his two-stroke 500 shortly before the halfway point. Although he managed to remount, he ended up 18th.
It promises to be a tough conclusion to the 2002 campaign for the Red Bull Yamaha team in the face of mounting opposition from the increased number of 990cc four-strokes. Proof of the vast gulf between the four-strokes and two-stroke 500s was evident this afternoon. Max Biaggi's overall race time on the Yamaha YZR-M1 was 45 seconds faster than last year's winning time set on a two-stroke when McCoy finished third.

GARRY McCOY ­ 15th World Championship ­ 20th 33 points
"That was the best I could do and the toughest race I've had to score one point. I jumped with the pack at the start but the edge grip on my tyre went away early ­ virtually from the first lap and I was just sliding it into corners on the brakes, gassing it up and holding it sideways. It was really hard work to keep the bike upright and it just wasn't possible to carry any decent corner speed. In Turn One I was just idling on the throttle. In the end I was just having fun, especially holding big slides through Turn Three. It was the best our race tyres could do today."

JOHN HOPKINS ­ 18th World Championship ­ 13th 53 points
"The tyres wouldn't hook up, it was a bad race, that's it. I didn't make the start I wanted and then got stuck behind slow riders. When I crashed I just tucked the front. Nothing more I can say really."

PETER CLIFFORD - TEAM DIRECTOR
"That was thoroughly disappointing. There's not really too many positives we can take away from today at all other than the fact that both guys are in one piece. Performance wise it has got to be better in Australia."
 

AUSTRALIAN Red Bull Yamaha rider Garry McCoy will start from ninth position on the grid for tomorrow's 21-lap Malaysian GP.
McCoy slipped slightly down the standings after yesterday's excellent performance, but his best time of 2.05.400 this afternoon still left him best of the Yamaha YZR500 two-strokes, and he ended up just 0.3s slower than newly-crowned world champion Valentino Rossi.
His best time came on his final lap of the one-hour session, and but for a small mistake he might have been starting from the second row.
The 31-year-old though is predicting a tough race, with prime concerns focused around tyre choice for what is sure to be a punishing examination of both man and machine tomorrow.
Track temperatures at the stifling hot and humid Sepang circuit are several degrees higher than at any other track on the 16-round MotoGP calendar. As a consequence it makes the requirement for good tyre choice even more critical. Track temperatures this afternoon reached a high of 50 degrees, and McCoy and his engineers will be searching for a compromise between a tyre that will offer consistent grip and one that will have the endurance to survive the strenuous conditions.
American rookie John Hopkins found himself in the unfamiliar position of 19th on the grid. His best time of 2.06.857, which slashed 0.9s off his fastest from yesterday, might have been improved had he not slipped off his Red Bull machine on his last flying lap. Before he lost the front end at a slow left-hander, Hopkins was on course for his fastest lap after the first two sections of the 3.447 miles circuit.

GARRY McCOY ­ 9th 2.05.400
"I thought there was a little bit more in my fastest lap. On my final run I made a small mistake coming out of the hairpin and that unsettled the bike, so I was expecting to be a little bit faster. Ninth is fine against all the four-strokes but it will be tough in the race. When I'm pushing flat-out, they come flying by a 500 two-stroke like we are standing still. Our race tyre option depends on the track temperature. It was hotter this afternoon than yesterday and the race tyre did not feel as good. The heat seems to vary our tyre performance considerably,

JOHN HOPKINS ­ 19th 2.06.857
"We spent most of the session playing around with the set-up of the bike trying to find some more grip. I put on a qualifier but I made a bad choice for the front tyre. Before I crashed the front had tucked a couple of times. I guess I just got in there too hot. It just didn't work out and all I can do is look forward to tomorrow.

PETER CLIFFORD - TEAM DIRECTOR
"That was another good ride from Garry. He spent a lot of time working on his race set-up and that took the edge of the qualifying times, but it should pay off with a decent start tomorrow. It was bad luck for John. But for that slip off on his last lap he was going to be faster and a little bit higher up the grid."
 

 

FRIDAY 11th October 2002

RED BULL Yamaha's Garry McCoy defied popular opinion by slotting his two-stroke YZR500 into fifth place on the provisional grid for Sunday's Malaysian GP.
The Australian finished top two-stroke rider, and his performance went against expectation that the 990cc four-strokes would be dominant at the ultra-modern Sepang circuit.
The superior power of the four-strokes is a significant advantage on the long 3.447 miles lap, particularly on the two long straights running either side of the huge main grandstand.
McCoy elevated himself up to fourth just after the halfway mark, using the extra grip of Dunlop's qualifying tyre to get himself in a challenging position with a tropical storm threatening to engulf the circuit.
With huge lightning strikes illuminating the gloomy skies above, McCoy's best time of 2.05.743 almost saw him claim a place on the front row.
A late charge by Pacific GP winner Alex Barros relegated him to fifth. McCoy's time was 0.2s faster than his previous best at Sepang when claimed a front row start a year ago.
Despite the overcast conditions, air temperatures still reached a gruelling 35 degrees, with the track temperature peaking at 49 degrees, making the track slick and grip hard to find.
Team-mate John Hopkins will be hoping for better fortunes tomorrow after he ended up 19th fastest. As if the punishing heat and humidity wasn't a difficult enough challenge to contend with, McCoy and Hopkins find themselves trying to make an impression against a fresh influx of four-strokes.
Three more appeared today, taking the number to 13 out of the 22-strong field for round 14 round of the MotoGP series.

GARRY McCOY ­ Fifth 2.05.743
"It's my fastest ever lap at this circuit but I was actually hoping to go even faster. It's good to be where I am but I'm actually disappointed to be only 0.2s faster than my previous best ever time here. At most other tracks I've been a second faster and that was what I was hoping for here. It turned out to be a bit of a race against the rain. I put a qualifier in early to get myself up there and I got up to fourth. I don't have a lot of good options for a race tyre though. I tried another qualifier at the end of the session to go quicker but it didn't happen."

JOHN HOPKINS ­ 19th 2.07.761
"I was working through a load of race tyres but if we want more grip we've got to keep trying a load of different suspension settings, even though there was more grip than this morning. When I put a qualifier in I made a couple of mistakes in T1 and aborted the lap. I feel in good shape, the conditions are not having a major effect on me and I'm looking forward to a big improvement tomorrow. It's getting really frustrating now seeing everyone getting four-strokes. There are more coming every weekend and I've just got to keep my focus, go day-by-day and concentrate on the weekend."

PETER CLIFFORD - DIRECTOR OF RACING
"That was an epic ride from Garry. It just shows there's life in the old dog yet, and I'm not talking about our Australian. We have to say a big thanks to Dunlop and I'm sure John will not be far behind tomorrow."