Michael Doohan underlined his dominance of the 500cc class as he secured the Italian Grand Prix in Mugello yesterday, the three-times world champion's 37th victory equalling Mike Hailwood's total of wins. The indomitable Australian now trails only the 68 victories amassed by the Italian Giacomo Agostini.
Doohan has won three of four races this season on his Honda and five straight grands prix at Mugello. He completed the 23 laps in 44min 6.442sec.
Luca Cadalora prospered in front of his home crowd on a Yamaha. The Italian, who started in seventh position, finished second, 10.056sec behind. Nobuatsu Aoki of Japan, also riding a Honda, was third in 44:23.791.
The victory extended Doohan's lead in the standings, with 95 points to the 78 of his Honda team-mate, Alex Criville. Criville won the previous grand prix, in Spain, but finished fourth yesterday in 44:25.587.
In the 250cc class, the reigning world champion, Max Biaggi, led a sweep of Italian riders in the the top three places. Biaggi, on a Honda, finished the 21 laps in 40:47.548, five-hundredths of a second faster than Marcellino Lucchi and seven-hundredths ahead of Loris Capirossi, both on Aprilias.
Results, page 23
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