2001 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

2001 F.I.M. Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Previous: 2000	Next: 2002

This article recaps the 2001 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season.

Season summary

2001 was the end of the 500 cc era in Grand Prix motorcycle racing; in 2002 the premier class would be renamed MotoGP and dominated by 4-stroke 990 cc machines. However, 2001 was the beginning of another era, that of Valentino Rossi's run of championships in the top class. His learning year past him, he won 11 races in 2001, far outdistancing his nearest competitor, Max Biaggi. Rossi and Biaggi began the season with a controversial incident at Suzuka, where Biaggi seemed to have tried to push Rossi into the dirt at 150 mph and Rossi responded two laps later with an aggressive pass and an extended middle finger. Rossi would win that race and sew-up the championship with two rounds to go.

The 500 cc Rookie of the Year award went to Shinya Nakano.

Grands Prix

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit	125 winner	250 winner	500 winner	Report
1	April 8	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka	Masao Azuma	Daijiro Kato	Valentino Rossi	Report
2	April 22	South African Grand Prix	Phakisa	Youichi Ui	Daijiro Kato	Valentino Rossi	Report
3	May 6	Spanish Grand Prix	Jerez	Masao Azuma	Daijiro Kato	Valentino Rossi	Report
4	May 20	French Grand Prix	Le Mans	Manuel Poggiali	Daijiro Kato	Max Biaggi	Report
5	June 3	Italian Grand Prix	Mugello	Noboru Ueda	Tetsuya Harada	Alex Barros	Report
6	June 17	Catalan Grand Prix	Catalunya	Lucio Cecchinello	Daijiro Kato	Valentino Rossi	Report
7	June 30	Dutch TT	Assen	Toni Elías	Jeremy McWilliams	Max Biaggi	Report
8	July 8	British Grand Prix	Donington Park	Youichi Ui	Daijiro Kato	Valentino Rossi	Report
9	July 22	German Grand Prix	Sachsenring	Simone Sanna	Marco Melandri	Max Biaggi	Report
10	August 26	Czech Republic Grand Prix	Brno	Toni Elías	Tetsuya Harada	Valentino Rossi	Report
11	September 9	Portuguese Grand Prix	Estoril	Manuel Poggiali	Daijiro Kato	Valentino Rossi	Report
12	September 23	Valencia Grand Prix	Valencia	Manuel Poggiali	Daijiro Kato	Sete Gibernau	Report
13	October 7	Pacific Grand Prix	Motegi	Youichi Ui	Tetsuya Harada	Valentino Rossi	Report
14	October 14	Australian Grand Prix	Phillip Island	Youichi Ui	Daijiro Kato	Valentino Rossi	Report
15	October 21	Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang	Youichi Ui	Daijiro Kato	Valentino Rossi	Report
16	November 3	Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix	Rio de Janeiro	Youichi Ui	Daijiro Kato	Valentino Rossi	Report

Standings

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top fifteen finishers. Rider had to finish the race to earn points.

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th
Points	25	20	16	13	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

Riders' standings

• Rounds marked with a light blue background were under wet race conditions or stopped by rain.

500cc

Results as follows

Pos Rider Bike JPN RSA ESP FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR VAL PAC AUS MAL RIO Pts 1 Valentino Rossi Honda 1 1 1 3 Ret 1 2 1 7 1 1 11 1 1 1 1 325 2 Max Biaggi Yamaha 3 8 11 1 3 2 1 2 1 10 5 10 Ret 2 Ret 3 219 3 Loris Capirossi Honda 8 2 8 7 2 3 3 10 8 3 2 Ret 3 3 2 5 210 4 Alex Barros Honda 6 9 6 8 1 Ret 4 3 5 9 Ret 2 2 4 7 4 182 5 Shinya Nakano Yamaha 5 4 4 11 8 4 5 6 3 DNS 9 7 6 7 4 9 155 6 Carlos Checa Yamaha 10 14 2 Ret 8 Ret 5 2 7 4 4 7 16 10 2 137 7 Norifumi Abe Yamaha 4 5 2 4 9 6 Ret Ret 4 4 Ret 8 4 13 13 6 137 8 Àlex Crivillé Honda 9 6 3 5 4 11 Ret 7 DNS 2 Ret Ret 11 11 6 7 120 9 Sete Gibernau Suzuki Ret 10 10 9 6 5 7 11 10 8 Ret 1 9 9 8 12 119 10 Tohru Ukawa Honda Ret 3 5 Ret 7 7 8 16 Ret 5 Ret 6 5 5 5 Ret 107 11 Kenny Roberts, Jr. Suzuki 7 7 7 6 Ret Ret 6 8 9 Ret 6 3 8 15 Ret 16 97 12 Garry McCoy Yamaha 2 Ret 9 DNS DNS DNS 11 6 3 12 12 Ret 3 10 88 13 Jurgen van den Goorbergh Proton KR 11 11 13 10 12 9 9 12 14 Ret 7 9 Ret 10 DNS Ret 65 14 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha Ret Ret 12 Ret 10 10 10 4 12 11 Ret Ret Ret 8 9 DNS 59 15 Olivier Jacque Yamaha Ret 16 DNS DNQ 12 11 9 6 12 8 5 Ret 6 Ret Ret 59 16 José Luis Cardoso Yamaha Ret 13 Ret 13 11 14 12 Ret 13 13 10 17 13 Ret 11 8 45 17 Haruchika Aoki Honda 12 12 DNS 5 15 14 Ret Ret 14 11 Ret Ret 14 Ret 14 33 18 Anthony West Honda 14 15 DNS Ret Ret 15 14 15 Ret 12 13 14 12 12 13 27 19 Leon Haslam Honda 13 17 16 DNS DNQ 13 17 Ret Ret Ret 16 15 19 15 11 13 20 Chris Walker Honda Ret 15 Ret 12 Ret 13 DNS 15 9 21 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki 10 6 22 Johan Stigefelt Sabre V4 Ret 18 17 Ret Ret 17 18 18 Ret 15 13 14 Ret 17 Ret 6 23 Brendan Clarke Honda Ret Ret 14 Ret 17 20 14 15 5 24 Barry Veneman Honda Ret 19 Ret 14 Ret 17 Ret Ret 16 15 15 16 18 Ret 17 4 25 Mark Willis Pulse Ret 20 19 Ret 13 18 16 19 3 26 Jason Vincent Pulse Ret Ret 18 Ret Ret 16 Ret 16 3 Yamaha 13 27 Jarno Janssen Honda 15 1 Akira Ryō Suzuki Ret 0 Shaun Geronimi Paton Ret 0 Kurtis Roberts Proton KR Ret 0 Vladimir Častka Paton DNQ DNQ 0 Sébastien Gimbert Paton DNQ 0 Marcus Payten Honda DNQ 0 Miguel Tey Honda DNQ 0 Pos Rider Bike JPN RSA ESP FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR VAL PAC AUS MAL RIO Pts 250cc Pos Rider Team Pts Wins Poles F.Laps 1 Daijiro Kato Telefónica movistar Honda 322 11 7 9 2 Tetsuya Harada MS Aprilia 273 3 8 2 3 Marco Melandri MS Aprilia 194 1 0 4 4 Roberto Rolfo Safilo Oxydo Aprilia 177 0 0 0 5 Fonsi Nieto Valencia Circuit - Aspar T. Aprilia 167 0 1 0 6 Jeremy McWilliams Sogevalor - Aprilia 141 1 0 0 7 Emilio Alzamora Telefónica movistar Honda 136 0 0 0 8 Roberto Locatelli MS Eros Ramazzotti Aprilia 134 0 0 1 9 Naoki Matsudo Petronas Sprinta Yamaha 112 0 0 0 10 Franco Battaini MS Eros Ramazzotti Aprilia 75 0 0 0 11 Álex Debón Valencia Circuit - Aspar T. Aprilia 60 0 0 0 12 Alex Hofmann Dark Dog Aprilia 55 0 0 0 13 Randy de Puniet SCRAB Compétition Aprilia 50 0 0 0 14 Sylvain Guintoli Equipe de France - SCRAB Aprilia 44 0 0 0 15 Shahrol Yuzy Petronas Sprinta Yamaha 44 0 0 0 16 Sebastián Porto Yamaha Kurz 39 0 0 0 17 David Checa Fomma Honda 35 0 0 0 18 Klaus Nöhles MS Aprilia 25 0 0 0 19 José David de Gea Antenna 3 Yamaha d'Antin 24 0 0 0 20 Lorenzo Lanzi Campetella Aprilia 23 0 0 0 21 Luca Boscoscuro Campetella Aprilia 21 0 0 0 22 Taro Sekiguchi Edo Yamaha 20 0 0 0 23 Riccardo Chiarello Aprilia 15 0 0 0 24= Marcellino Lucchi Aprilia 13 0 0 0 24= Jerónimo Vidal PR2 Aprilia 13 0 0 0 26 David Tomás Queroseno Honda 11 0 0 0 27 Nobuyuki Ohsaki Yamaha 6 0 0 0 28= Hiroshi Aoyama Honda 3 0 0 0 28= Osamu Miyazaki Yamaha 3 0 0 0 28= Katja Poensgen Dark Dog Aprilia / Shell Advance Honda 2 0 0 0 - Jason Vincent QUB Optimum Yamaha 2 0 0 0 32 Jarno Boesveld Yamaha 1 0 0 0 125cc Pos Rider Team Pts Wins Poles F.Laps 1 Manuel Poggiali Gilera 241 3 2 0 2 Youichi Ui Derbi L&M 232 6 7 5 3 Toni Elías Telefónica movistar Junior Honda 217 2 4 1 4 Lucio Cecchinello MS Aprilia LCR 156 1 1 2 5 Masao Azuma Liégeois Compétition Honda 142 2 0 2 6 Gino Borsoi LAE UGT 3000 Aprilia 130 0 1 1 7 Simone Sanna Safilo Oxydo Race Aprilia 125 1 0 1 8 Dani Pedrosa Telefónica movistar Junior Honda 100 0 0 0 9 Noboru Ueda Technical Sports Honda 94 1 0 1 10 Arnaud Vincent Fomma Aprilia 94 0 0 0 11 Steve Jenkner LAE UGT 3000 Honda 94 0 0 0 12 Mirko Giansanti AXO Honda 75 0 0 0 13 Max Sabbatani Bossini Fontana Honda 72 0 1 1 14 Alex de Angelis Matteoni Honda 63 0 0 0 15 Jaroslav Huleš Matteoni Honda 62 0 0 1 16 Ángel Nieto, Jr. Viceroy Honda 56 0 0 0 17 Jakub Smrž Budweiser Budvar Hanush Honda 50 0 0 0 18= Gábor Talmácsi Racing Service Honda 34 0 0 0 18= Joan Olivé Telefónica movistar Junior Honda 34 0 0 0 20 Ángel Rodríguez Valencia Circuit - Aspar Aprilia 27 0 0 0 21 Stefano Perugini Italjet 25 0 0 1 22= Gianluigi Scalvini Italjet 22 0 0 0 22= Alessandro Brannetti Crae Aprilia 22 0 0 0 24 Pablo Nieto Derbi L&M 21 0 0 0 25 Jarno Müller PEV Spalt ADAC Honda 18 0 0 0 26 Raúl Jara MS Aprilia 9 0 0 0 27 Eric Bataille AXO Honda 8 0 0 0 28 Andrea Ballerini Bossini Fontana Aprilia 5 0 0 0 29= Gaspare Caffiero Bossini Fontana Aprilia 4 0 0 0 29= Casey Stoner Honda 4 0 0 0 31 Adrián Araujo Liégeois Compétition Honda 3 0 0 0 32 Hiroyuki Kikuchi Honda 1 0 0 0 Manufacturers' standings 500cc Pos Manufacturer JPN RSA ESP FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR VAL PAC AUS MAL RIO Pts 1 Honda 1 1 1 3 1 1 2 1 5 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 367 2 Yamaha 2 4 2 1 3 2 1 2 1 4 3 4 4 2 3 2 295 3 Suzuki 7 7 7 6 6 5 6 8 9 8 6 1 8 9 8 12 153 4 Proton KR 11 11 13 10 12 9 9 12 14 Ret 7 9 Ret 10 Ret Ret 65 5 Sabre V4 Ret 18 17 Ret Ret 17 18 18 Ret 15 13 14 Ret 17 Ret 6 6 Pulse Ret 20 18 Ret 13 16 16 19 16 3 Paton DNQ DNQ DNQ Ret 0 Pos Manufacturer JPN RSA ESP FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR VAL PAC AUS MAL RIO Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Finished, in points Blue Finished, no points Not classified (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

250cc

Pos	Manufacturer	JPN	RSA	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	POR	VAL	PAC	AUS	MAL	RIO	Pts
1	Honda	1	1	1	1	6	1	2	1	2	3	1	1	2	1	1	1	361
2	Aprilia	2	2	2	2	1	2	1	2	1	1	2	2	1	2	2	2	345
3	Yamaha	4	7	12	8	9	10	3	5	8	8	6	6	7	9	7	9	142
Pos	Manufacturer	JPN	RSA	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	POR	VAL	PAC	AUS	MAL	RIO	Pts

125cc

Pos	Manufacturer	JPN	RSA	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	POR	VAL	PAC	AUS	MAL	RIO	Pts
1	Honda	1	5	1	2	4	2	1	2	2	1	3	2	3	3	4	3	301
2	Aprilia	3	4	2	4	2	1	3	5	1	2	4	5	4	5	3	2	263
3	Gilera	5	2	Ret	1	3	3	Ret	3	3	Ret	1	1	2	2	2	5	241
4	Derbi	2	1	Ret	11	18	5	Ret	1	19	4	2	4	1	1	1	1	232
5	TSR-Honda	Ret	3	4	7	1	Ret	4	23	DNS	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	11	13	94
6	Italjet	13	11	12	Ret	Ret	11	12	Ret	16	Ret	18	12	9	16	13	9	42
Pos	Manufacturer	JPN	RSA	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	POR	VAL	PAC	AUS	MAL	RIO	Pts

Participants

500cc participants

Team Constructor Motorcycle No Rider Rounds Telefónica Movistar Suzuki Suzuki Suzuki RGV500 1 Kenny Roberts, Jr. All 15 Sete Gibernau All 33 Akira Ryo 1 64 Yukio Kagayama 13 Marlboro Yamaha Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 3 Max Biaggi All 7 Carlos Checa 1, 3–16 West Honda Pons Honda Honda NSR500 4 Alex Barros All 65 Loris Capirossi All Red Bull Yamaha WCM Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 5 Garry McCoy 1–4, 6–7, 9–16 41 Noriyuki Haga All 24 Jason Vincent 8 Antena 3 Yamaha-d'Antin Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 6 Norifumi Abe All 10 José Luis Cardoso All Shell Advance Honda Honda Honda NSR500V 8 Chris Walker 1–8 9 Leon Haslam 1–4, 6–16 18 Brendan Clarke 9–16 Repsol Honda Honda Honda NSR500 11 Tohru Ukawa All 28 Àlex Crivillé All Arie Molenaar Racing Honda Honda NSR500V 12 Haruchika Aoki 1–3, 5–16 32 Jarno Janssen 4 Sabre Sport Sabre V4 Sabre V4 16 Johan Stigefelt 1–15 Proton Team KR Proton KR Proton KR3 17 Jurgen van den Goorbergh All 80 Kurtis Roberts 15 Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha YZR500 19 Olivier Jacque 1–4, 6–16 56 Shinya Nakano All Dee Cee Jeans Racing Honda Honda NSR500V 14 Marcus Payten 1 21 Barry Veneman 1–5, 7–16 14 Anthony West 2–16 Pulse GP Pulse Pulse 500 24 Jason Vincent 1–7, 9 68 Mark Willis 1–8 Paton Grand Prix Slovnaft-Paton Grand Prix Paton Paton PG500RC 25 Shaun Geronimi 10 26 Vladimir Častka 3, 5 27 Sébastien Gimbert 8 By Queroseno Racing Honda Honda NSR500V 37 Miguel Tey 12 Nastro Azzurro Honda Honda Honda NSR500 46 Valentino Rossi All

Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider

References

• "The Official MotoGP website". http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics/2001/NAT/500cc/World+Standing. Retrieved 2010-07-07.