Doohan denied by late burst

Spain's Alex Criville snatched victory from his Honda team-mate Michael Doohan in the final second of the Czech 500cc Grand Prix yesterday. Criville beat Doohan in a photo-finish to win by two-thousandths of a second, the closest-ever winning margin in a 500cc race.

The American Scott Russell rode a brilliant first lap to take the lead after starting from ninth position on the grid, but it quickly became a two-man race as Doohan and Criville pulled away on the seventh of the 22 laps.

Doohan briefly held the lead but Criville, buoyed by his final-lap win over his team-mate two weeks ago in Austria, surged past the series leader on the eighth lap with a daring pass on the inside. Doohan fought back to regain first place on the 15th lap and held the lead until the final circuit. The two team-mates then exchanged the lead twice more before the Australian came out of the final corner ahead.

But Criville saw Doohan wobble slightly and flashed past him as the pair crossed the finish line.