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Valencia Grand Prix 2002
RED BULL Yamaha rider Garry McCoy ended his 2002 season in eventful fashion
at today's historic Valencia GP that saw a distinguished era for two-stroke 500
machines draw to a conclusion.
The 30-year-old Australian was penalised for jumping the start, and after
returning to the track in last place on lap five, he crashed out just two laps
later while trying to fight his way back into the points.
McCoy, who has the distinction of being the last rider to qualify a two-stroke
on the front row for a MotoGP after a superb display in yesterday's qualifying
session, knew his only hope of challenging the superior 900cc four-stroke
machines was to make a lightning start.
Having studied the lights at the beginning of the earlier 125 and 250 races,
McCoy gambled on a all-out attack policy to try and out drag the four-strokes to
the first corner.
Unfortunately, he launched his YZR500 a fraction too early, and was forced to
pit for a mandatory 10-second stop/go penalty. With the long run in through the
pits though, McCoy's gamble actually cost him well over 30 seconds.
Red Bull team-mate John Hopkins showed his growing maturity on the world stage
as he adapted his riding style in the second third of the race to cope with
changing grip levels in the tough 30-lap battle.
The American, who has enjoyed a fantastic rookie season scoring points in all
but four of the 16 races, finished in 11th position.
This afternoon's race, run in front of a passionate Spanish crowd of almost
120,000, saw the last race for the two-stroke 500 machines. Next year's MotoGP
grid will be up of entirely 990cc four-stroke machines, heralding another new
dawn for the premier class.
JOHN HOPKINS 11th World Championship 15th 58 points
"I had to change my riding style in the race to cope with the way the bike was
behaving as the tyres started to lose some grip. I was basically struggling with
edge grip. I'd just rush into a corner, park it in the middle, stand it up and
then drive. I started to lose grip after about ten laps and that's when I had to
think about adapting my style. The race was a lot of fun and it was a pleasure
to have been one of the last riders to complete a full season on a 500. This
season, my first in MotoGP, has been a huge learning experience. All in all,
it's been fantastic and I'm looking forward to next year and putting that
experience I've gained to good use. At least I'll know all the track next year."
GARRY McCOY DNF World Championship 20th 33 points
"I had no choice but to go all-out. It was the last race for the 500 two-strokes
and I put one on the front row at a track I really like. I was keen to get the
holeshot and maybe try and hold the four-strokes up for a while and make a race
of it. I had watched the 125 and 250 starts and the red lights were being held a
little longer than normal and I figured I had counted the extra time fine. I
waited a bit longer but it was a fraction too early. It is a bit disappointing
but I had to risk it. It's all over for the 500s now, the end of an era, the
500s are gone but not forgotten. When I re-joined the race I was not really
pushing but we tried some set-up changes for the bumps here. I was just on the
brakes and bouncing a little on a bump when I lost the front end."
PETER CLIFFORD DIRECTOR OF RACING
"That was a fairly unfortunate end to what has been a very varied season. Nobody
could say that Garry was not trying and he knew he had to make a superb start if
he was going to make it first into the first corner. It was another good ride
from John and I'm sure he's looking forward to better things next season."
The always smiling Debbie Irvine, John Hopkins mechanic, retires from Moto GP
life today.
She will really be missed by all the team and we all wish her all the very best
for her future.
Valencia was the venue where she worked for Regis Laconi when he won the GP in
1999 on the Red Bull Yamaha.
Saturday 2nd November 2002
RED BULL Yamaha rider Garry McCoy earned himself a place in the MotoGP history
books in Valencia today with an inspired ride to score the last ever front row
start for a two-stroke 500 machine.
The 30-year-old Australian claimed his second successive front row start when he
ended the final qualifying session of the 2002 campaign in fourth position. Only
2002 MotoGP winners Max Biaggi and Alex Barros, and reigning world 250 champion
Daijiro Kato were quicker than McCoy.
His YZR500 was comfortably the fastest two-stroke on show, the next best being
close to 0.5s behind him, and his brilliant display showed his pre-event
optimism of finishing a difficult season on a high note was well placed.
McCoy set a fastest time of 1.33.794, which knocked 0.3s off his best time when
he topped the time sheets at the winter IRTA test at Valencia back in February.
He was 0.7s quicker than yesterday after following world champion Valentino
Rossi on his decisive lap to help him better his time. His history making lap
came on his penultimate lap of the session, and saw him jump from ninth place on
the third row at a circuit where's he enjoyed some of the finest moments of his
career.
In 1999, McCoy celebrated his first 500 podium with third in Valencia, and 12
months later he returned to win the race one of his three premier class
victories. Despite yet another superb qualifying display, which saw McCoy
outpace several of the more highly-fancied 990cc four-strokes, he is still
predicting a tough battle in tomorrow's 30-lap race.
American team-mate John Hopkins produced another encouraging display as he looks
to end his rookie MotoGP season with another points-scoring finish. He was
disappointed with only slashing 0.5s off his best time from yesterday's session,
that saw him drop down one place from the provisional grid to 17th. Hopkins was
on course to go even faster on his last flying lap but was blocked by a slower
rider.
GARRY McCOY 4h 1.33.794
"I wasn't thinking about it at the time, but I guess down the track, I'll be
proud to look back and know that I put a 500 on the front row of a GP for the
last time they raced. When I did a 1.34 here in pre-season testing, I thought
that was as good as it gets on a 500 at this track, so going quicker today makes
me pretty happy. With all the tight corners here, it is easy to get lost with
the braking markers. Because the four-strokes pull away so easy on the
straights, on a 500 you can use them as a braking marker to close the gap again
on the brakes and through all the tight corners and that's what I did with
Valentino Rossi. I donšt think Valentino liked the idea of me following him
though. I've never really liked my chances on a 500 in the race. It will be
difficult because when you are on a 500, you have to push the bike to the limit
and take risks all the time to stay with the four-strokes which just pull away
so easy on the straights."
JOHN HOPKINS 17th 1.35.044s
"We came in through T3 and through most of T4 and its not much of a passing zone
through there anywhere, and Regis Laconi kept looking back, he knew I was there
but he was just hanging around on the race line. He was just cruising and I had
to make desperate pass just to get by him. I'd say that had a big impact on my
time because I definitely think I'd have been up a couple more places. I
certainly felt there was more to come. Some of these riders have got to learn to
get out of the way when they are on their in-lap. This isn't the first time
Laconi has done it either. We went through a lot of race tyres and I'm pretty
confident we've got a good choice for tomorrow. It's the race that counts though
so hopefully I'll get a good start and just go for it."
PETER CLIFFORD DIRECTOR OF RACING
"That was another superb performance from Garry and Dunlop. This time I really
think we have a chance in the race to put the disappointments of the last month
behind us. It was another solid performance from John and I'm sure he can end
his debut season on a high note."
First Qualifying
Friday 1st November 2002
GARRY McCOY kicked off his preparations for Sunday's season-ending Valencia GP
in Spain by slotting his Red Bull Yamaha onto the provisional second row.
The Australian promoted himself into eighth place in the closing stages of the
hour-long session to finish just under a second adrift of pole-setter Alex
Barros.
McCoy, who topped the time sheets at an pre-season IRTA test in Valencia back in
February with a time of 1.34.00, was half-a-second off that benchmark, but cited
different track conditions and set-up for him not getting closer to the time he
set nine months ago.
Valencia has happy memories for McCoy, who finished third here in 1999 and won
the race in 2000. He was hoping the tight nature of the track might help him
bridge the gap between his two-stroke YZR500 and the new generation 990cc
four-strokes, but Brazilian Barros was 0.5s faster than McCoy's winter best,
underlining once again the tough challenge facing the riders still on 500s.
McCoy still left a host of four-strokes trailing behind him.
American John Hopkins found himself in 16th place after a spill in the early
moments of the session.
The 19-year-old lost control of his YZR500 approaching the tricky downhill last
corner on only his third lap out of the pits.
Valencia, which is likely to attract a three-day weekend crowd of over 200,000
fans, was one of the few tracks that Hopkins had the benefit of pre-season
testing. After his encouraging display today, he is confident of more major
improvements in tomorrow's final session.
This weekend's final GP of 2002 will be a nostalgic affair with the two-stroke
500s bowing out of world championship racing at the end of Sunday's race.
McCoy and Hopkins are now two of only nine riders left in the 22-strong field
riding the two-stroke machines.
GARRY McCOY 8th 1.34.518
"I was expecting to be on my testing pace. My set-up was the same today as we
finished at the test but I was able to go quicker in February. The track feels a
little bumpier, especially under braking in a couple of places. Maybe it is
because of all the truck racing and F1 car testing they do here. We will have a
look at the computer and make some changes to make the front feel better over
the bumps. It's only Friday so maybe the time will come down to what I did in
testing. I came here though thinking I would be pretty close to the four-strokes
with all the tight corners but it is proving a little tougher than I thought.
One problem is the track is a little dirty off line so there is no room for
mistakes.
JOHN HOPKINS 16th 1.35.636s
"I got over anxious on some cold tyres and I just got on it a bit too hard. I
almost saved it but then it just snapped back and spit me off. It took me a
while to get back into the session and I didn't really get going until the final
couple of laps. I'm looking forward to tomorrow and dropping the time a lot more
that's for sure. It seems like a long time since the test but all in all I like
the track. It's got a good surface and a good layout. Išve definitely changed my
riding style quite a bit since I came here before the start of the season. I've
noticed the way I hang off the bike is quite a bit different. Wešre quite a bit
faster from when we tested here which is good. I didn't use the set-up from the
test and we went in quite a different way because of what we've learned during
the season since then. It's just to get the bike adapted to my change in riding
style a little bit more.
PETER CLIFFORD DIRECTOR OF RACING
"We have spent the last few weeks getting excited about practice, so despite
the fact that Garry has done a really good job getting on the second row of the
grid, it's only the last race of the year on Sunday that counts for anything."
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