Max Biaggi (Yamaha) led wire to wire to take his first 500 GP race victory this year at the South African GP on October 10, 1999. Biaggi has been frustrated most of the year with the handling of his Yamaha, but he appeared to dominate today’s race.
The big story of the day was the brave ride of injured points’ leader Alex Criville (Honda) who finished third place, just behind teammate Sete Gibernau. Criville narrowly missed clinching the championship today, but needs only six points in the final two rounds to succeed Mick Doohan as 500cc World Champion.
For those of you who are interested (some will undoubtedly be angry we added this footnote), Anthony Gobert (MuZ) finished in 18th position in the 500cc race. At least he didn’t crash this time.
Points leader Valentino Rossi (Aprilia) won the 250cc GP race in South Africa over Shinya Nakano (Yamaha) in second place, and Olivier Jacque (Yamaha) in third. This was Rossi’s eighth win this year, and he has a virtual lock on the championship — needing just three more points in the final two races.
500cc Race Results (Top 10)
1. Max Biaggi (Yamaha)
2. Sete Gibernau (Honda)
3. Alex Criville (Honda)
4. Tadayuki Okada (Honda)
5. Juan Borja (Honda)
6. Carlos Checa (Yamaha)
7. Nobuatsu Aoki (Suzuki)
8. Garry McCoy (Yamaha)
9. Norick Abe (Yamaha)
10. John Kocinski (Honda)
250cc Race Results (Top 10)
1. Valentino Rossi (Aprilia)
2. Shinya Nakano (Yamaha)
3. Olivier Jacque (Yamaha)
4. Tohru Ukawa (Honda)
5. Loris Capirossi (Honda)
6. Sebastian Porto (Yamaha)
7. Stefano Perugini (Honda)
8. Luca Boscoscuro (Honda)
9. Anthony West (Honda)
10. Franco Battaini (Aprilia)
- October 10, 1999
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