500cc World Championship 2001 season review.

The 2001 season saw the continuation of Italian dominance in the 500cc World Championship. Valentino Rossi stormed his way to the title, showing little compassion for his competitors and allowing no-one to doubt his supremacy. He became only the third rider in history to score more than ten wins in a grand prix season.

The battle for the championship was fierce however. Max Biaggi never gave up the fight, despite finishing second behind Rossi more times than not. And fellow Italian Loris Capirossi hung on in to finish the season in third position. Honda remain the leading manufacturer, scoring over seventy more points than nearest rival Honda. Third place Suzuki have a lot of work to do to keep up with their Japanese competitors.

Returning to the beginning, the 2001, sixteen race season began at Suzuka, Japan with Kenny Roberts Jr. displaying the number one on his Telefonica Movistar Suzuki. After the winter break all the riders were eager to do well and show they meant business on the first race out.

Capirossi claimed pole, but it was to be Rossi who stole the lime-light, securing Honda their five-hundredth victory in front of an expectant crowd in Japan. More importantly for Honda's bosses was the home win in what was an exciting start to the season; the top three positions were separate by less than a second.

Next up was South Africa where Rossi set pole and went on to win the race. With two wins in two races Rossi was determined to show his dedication to winning races.

Onto Europe with a succession of races in Spain, France and Italy:

Ducati announced their plans to run a four-stroke machine in 2002 during the Grand Prix in Jerez. The race itself saw championship contender Biaggi take a trip across the gravel, as did West Honda Pons rider Capirossi. Despite making a beginners mistake and giving away his advantage at one point in the race, Rossi scored his third win of the season, finishing just ahead of Japanese rider Norick Abe. Alex Criville took third for the final podium position.

Le Mans saw French-man Olivier Jacque miss his home Grand Prix due to an injured wrist. It also saw a break in Rossi's winning streak.

Biaggi went fastest in qualifying practice, giving him pole position for the race. The Italian took a trip across the gravel, not for the first time of the season, but managed to get his bike back on track and fight his way to the front once more. Japanese riders Ukawa and Haga crashed out of the race, leaving Haga to question his move from Superbikes at the beginning of the season. Haga never managed the success he was hoping for.

Biaggi took victory with team-mate Checa in second, providing the Marlboro Yamaha team with their first one-two of the season. Rossi had to settle for third.

The first significant rain of the season appeared at Mugello, Italy. After the race was red flagged and re-started, tyre choice proved to be the deciding factor. Alex Barros led on aggregate, on a track spread with standing water. The magnitude of water and poor visibility contributed to the bad riding conditions, causing Abe to aquaplane from he track, as well as Roberts and Rossi to take trips into the gravel pits. The race ended with Barros first, Capirossi second and Biaggi third. The points gained by Biaggi allowed him to close the gap to Rossi.

Freddie Spencer was added to the MotoGP legends file at the Grand Prix of Catalunya. The 1983 and 1985 World Champion was honoured by the present day riders and the media.

Rossi started from pole in the race, but dropped to fifth from last after making a poor start. While Biaggi, Capirossi and Gibernau battled for position Rossi managed to claim back the lead and take the victory. This put Rossi on 116 points in the championship, whilst closest contenders Biaggi and Capirossi were on 90 and 81 points respectively.

The Dutch Grand Prix brought a battle between West Honda Pons boys, Barros and Capirossi. In what was the second wet race of the season, Checa, Abe and Criville all had spectacular crashes. The race was red flagged after fifteen laps, due to deteriorating conditions. As more than two thirds of the race had been run, Biaggi, the leader at that point, was awarded the victory. Rossi picked up points for second place and Capirossi, for the fourth time in the season, stood in the final place on the podium.

The eighth round, half way through the season, was the British Grand Prix at Donington. Pre-race excitement was bigger than ever with charity events, in the form of auctions and scooter races, raising more than ?800,000.

The British crowd adopted Rossi as their own as he won yet another race.

Biaggi fought back at the German Grand Prix by winning both pole position and the race. Rossi made a poor start from eleventh on the grid. Biaggi was now trailing Rossi by just ten points in the world standings after this event.

Rossi won the next two rounds in the Czech Republic and Portugal. He now totalled seven wins from eleven races. Biaggi had problems keeping his Marlboro Yamaha on the track, skidding out completely at Brno and tumbling at Estoril, just managing to mount his bike again to push for points. A first corner incident at Estoril turned into a wreckers yard as Barros, Ukawa and Abe are all removed from the race.

Back to Spain for the Grand Prix at Valencia, where again tyre choice proved essential. Both Checa and Criville go down early on. Reigning World Champion Roberts opted for slicks where as Rossi chose intermediates. The slicks proved to be better though as Sete Gibernau takes his first 500cc victory and gives Suzuki their only win of the season. In front of his home crowd, Gibernau waves both the Spanish and American flags to honour the people who suffered from the tragedy that was September 11th.

Michael Doohan and Freddie Spencer lapped the Motegi circuit a few times on the new V5 RC211V Honda four-stroke 990cc bike, before the Pacific Grand Prix. The race itself saw Biaggi wreck his Yamaha and Rossi take yet another win ahead of Barros and Capirossi.

The Australian Grand Prix proved to be one of the most exciting races in recent history. Rossi and Biaggi battled closely until the chequered flag, where the winner had to be decided by a photo finish. Rossi took the victory and with it clinched the 2001 World Championship.

Even with the championship decided, the penultimate race in Malaysia was full of excitement. Sauber Petronas revealed their new four-stroke 990cc three cylinder bike and silenced the crowd as it lapped the Sepang circuit.

Olivier Jacque made a flying start from seventh on the grid to lead into the first corner. Wild card rider, Kurtis Roberts, youngest son of Proton team owner Kenny Roberts, crashed out early in the race. More incidents followed with Biaggi and Kenny Roberts Jr. taking each other out. Rossi won again showing he had no intention of sitting back with the title firmly his.

The final Grand Prix of the season took place in Rio, Brazil. Rain threw a spanner in the works again, for the fourth time during the year. The race was red flagged and re-started. Rossi managed to keep in control, despite the wet track, making a change from previous wet races. He finished the season as he begun it, on the op step of the podium.

The young Italian has now won the World Championship in all three classes of MotoGP, each in only his second season in that class. Rossi is truly a great motorcycle racer and it can be guaranteed he will not settle for just one championship title in the premier MotoGP class.

With the introduction of 990cc bikes in 2002 there is much to look forward to from all areas. Aprilia have worked on their bike all year and the Japanese giants of Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki can be certain to provide their riders with something special to compete on. The action all begins in Japan on 7th April.