Sunday, 23rd September 2001

Daijiro Katoh once again demoralised the 250cc Grand Prix field with a commanding performance in a rain interrupted race at Valencia beating Tetsuya Harada by almost five seconds despite a typically gritty performance from the Aprilia rider.

Local heroes Fonsi Nieto and Alex Debon may have stolen the 250cc limelight in qualifying at Valencia but once again race day was all about factory Honda star Katoh who took another step towards the title with a dominant performance despite starting a lowly (for him at least) fifth on the grid.

Roberto Locatelli came home seventh with Roberto Rolfo eighth, Alex Debon a lucky ninth after being one of four riders to crash in turn one on lap nine as the track marshals failed to tell the riders about the rain. Another of those to fall, Randy De Puniet, finished tenth while David Checa became the fourth Spaniard to finish in the top eleven after getting passed Sharol Yuzy on aggregate on the final lap. Sebastian Porto, Franco Battaini and David De Gea completed the point's scorers.

Marco Melandri looked well set to challenge Katoh and Harada n the very early stages but was taken out in a contentious collision with Nieto when the Spaniard clipped Melandri's rear wheel after the Italian had passed him in the final corner. A massive high side ensued with Melandri escaping with nothing more than a brief winding.

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