The somewhat frustrating year for Honda’s defending World 500 GP champion, Alex Criville, turned around today at Le Mans, France. Criville won a very close battle over second place Norick Abe (Yamaha) and third place Valentino Rossi (Honda)
Early leader Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) faded toward the end of the race to finish sixth. Roberts maintains a lead in the championship points.
In 250 action, Honda’s Tohru Ukawa finished first, Shinya Nakano (Yamaha) finished second and Olivier Jacque (Yamaha) finished third.
250cc Final (Top 10)
1. Tohru Ukawa (#4 - HONDA) 2. Shinya Nakano (#56 - YAMAHA) 3. Olivier Jacque (#19 - YAMAHA) 4. Marco Melandri (#13 - APRILIA) 5. Anthony West (#14 - HONDA) 6. Daijiro Katoh (#74 - HONDA) 7. Naoki Matsudo (#8 - YAMAHA) 8. Ralf Waldmann (#6 - APRILIA) 9. Luco Boscoscuro (#37 - APRILIA) 10. Sebastian Porto (#9 - YAMAHA)
250cc Points Standing (Top 10)
1. Daijiro Katoh (91 pts.) (HONDA) 2. Shinya Nakano (87 pts.) (YAMAHA) 3. Tohru Ukawa (77 pts.) (HONDA) 4. Olivier Jacque (75 pts.) (YAMAHA) 5. Ralf Waldmann (55 pts.) (APRILIA) 6. Anthony West (52 pts.) (HONDA) 7. Marco Melandri (48 pts.) (APRILIA) 8. Franco Battaini (32 pts.) (APRILIA) 8. Sebastian Porto (32 pts.) (YAMAHA) 10. Naoki Matsudo (30 pts.) (YAMAHA)
500cc Final Results (Top 10)
1. Alex Criville (#1 - HONDA) 2. Norick Abe (#6 - YAMAHA) 3. Valentino Rossi (#46 - HONDA) 4. Garry McCoy (#24 - YAMAHA) 5. Alex Barros (#10 - HONDA 6. Kenny Roberts (#2 - SUZUKI) 7. Carlos Checa (#7 - YAMAHA) 8. Loris Capirossi (#65 - HONDA) 9. Regis Laconi (#55 - YAMAHA) 10. Tetsuya Harada (#31 - APRILIA)
500cc Points Standing (Top 10)
1. Kenny Roberts (90 pts.) (SUZUKI) 2. Carlos Checa (80 pts.) (YAMAHA) 3. Garry McCoy (61 pts.) (YAMAHA) 4. Alex Criville (59 pts.) (HONDA) 5. Norick Abe (54 pts.) (YAMAHA) 6. Alex Barros (52 pts.) (HONDA) 7. Nobuatsu Aoki (46 pts.) (SUZUKI) 8. Loris Capirossi (38 pts.) (HONDA) 9. Valentino Rossi (37 pts.) (HONDA) 8. Tadayuki Okada (34 pts.) (HONDA)
