Phillip Island’s 500 GP race on Sunday, October 3, 1999 was interesting, and surprising in many ways.
After dominating nearly the entire race, with four laps left to go, Suzuki’s Kenny Roberts chunked his rear tire and had to back off. He was quickly passed by a freight train consisting of Tadayuka Okada (Honda), Max Biaggi (Yamaha) and Regis Laconi (Yamaha). This trio had battled over second place ferociously for many laps, and now battled for first.
Biaggi led until the last lap, when he was passed by Okada. Okada took the win with Biaggi second and Laconi third.
Alex Criville (Honda), with broken bones in his hand, courageously rode to fifth place, and virtually sealed his championship when Roberts faded all the way to tenth with his tire troubles.
Anthony Gobert’s return to 500 GP racing ended abruptly on the first lap with a crash. Gobert (MuZ) was apparently uninjured.
Valentino Rossi (Aprilia) won a close-fought 250 race over Olivia Jacque (Yamaha) in second and Tohru Ukawa (Honda) in third.
Rossi extended his lead over Ukawa in the championship points to 35.
GP Race Results – 500cc (Top 10)
1. Tadayuki Okada (Honda)
2. Max Biaggi (Yamaha)
3. Regis Laconi (Yamaha)
4. Carlos Checa (Yamaha)
5. Alex Criville (Honda)
6. Sete Gibernau (Honda)
7. Garry McCoy (Yamaha)
8. Nobuatsu Aoki (Suzuki)
9. John Kocinski (Honda)
10. Kenny Roberts (Suzuki)
Series Points Standings – 500cc (Top 10)
1. Alex Criville (Honda); 230 pts.
2. Tadayuki Okada (Honda); 189 pts.
3. Kenny Roberts (Suzuki); 179 pts.
4. Max Biaggi (Yamaha); 129 pts.
5. Sete Gibernau (Honda); 124 pts.
6. Carlos Checa (Yamaha); 102 pts.
7. John Kocinski (Honda); 97 pts.
8. Tetsuya Harada (Aprilia); 94 pts.
9. Regis Laconi (Yamaha);92 pts.
10. Norick Abe (Yamaha); 88 pts
GP Race Results – 250cc (Top 10)
1. Valentino Rossi (Aprilia)
2. Olivier Jacque (Yamaha)
3. Tohru Ukawa (Honda)
4. Shinya Nakano (Yamaha)
5. Ralf Waldmann (Aprilia)
6. Loris Capirossi (Honda)
7. Stefano Perugini (Honda)
8. Franco Battaini (Aprilia)
9. Sebastian Porto (Yamaha)
10. Anthony West (Honda)
Series Points Standings – 250cc (Top 10)
1. Valentino Rossi (Aprilia); 243 pts.
2. Tohru Ukawa (Honda); 208 pts.
3. Loris Capirossi (Honda); 182 pts.
4. Shinya Nakano (Yamaha); 175 pts.
5. Stefano Perugini (Honda); 121 pts.
6. Ralf Waldmann (Aprilia); 117 pts.
7. Franco Battaini (Aprilia); 115 pts.
8. Jeremy McWilliams (Aprilia); 83 pts.
9. Olivier Jacque (Yamaha); 68 pts.
10. Sebastian Porto (Yamaha ); 65 pts.
