Season summary
Kenny Roberts Jr. fulfilled the promise of his 2nd place in 1999 by winning the championship for 2000 with 2 races to spare. The season also saw the premier class-debut of Valentino Rossi, who began the year with crashes in the first two rounds and also had a third at Valencia; nonetheless, he came in second as a rookie in the class with 2 wins and 8 podiums. Garry McCoy achieved 3 wins with his spectacular 2-wheel sliding style, and his use of 16.5-inch (420 mm) tires began a general transition to that size, [1] though it had been used previously in 500 cc by Kevin Schwantz. [2] It was the last time a Suzuki rider clinched the title until Joan Mir secured his maiden title in 2020 edition.
Defending champion Àlex Crivillé had a disappointing season, bothered by an undetermined illness and a new NSR engine with a power curve that was difficult to manage. Said Jeremy Burgess: "In the middle of the corner, in the transition of getting back onto the power, the engine was weak, because all the power had gone to the top. You couldn't transfer the weight with the throttle from the front to the rear without feeling this weakness. That led to a tendency to over-open the throttle... and things would happen." By the third round, Honda started going back to much of the 1999 parts, though Rossi and Burgess decided to use the 2000 chassis with the 1999 engine. [3]
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