McWilliams ends British drought

The veteran Ulsterman Jeremy McWilliams became the first British rider to win a grand prix for 15 years when he over-ruled his team on choice of tyres and left the rest of the Dutch GP field floundering.

McWilliams, 37, did not make his grand prix debut until he was 29, and had been on the podium only three times. His former best finish of second place in Germany three years ago was achieved after he dropped down to the 250cc class from the higher-octane competition of the 500s.

But McWilliams' experience proved crucial on Saturday when he defied his Aprilia team's advice, gambled on his own weather forecast and opted for intermediate tyres that suited the drying Assen circuit. He charged into an early lead, was never threatened and enjoyed a victory margin of nearly 17 seconds over the Spaniard Emilio Alzamora, who had chosen dry race tyres.

"When I came in from the first sighting lap the team told me they were going to fit wet weather tyres and I told them to fit intermediates,'' McWilliams said. "It proved a good choice as the track dried out, although I had a couple of slides towards the finish. It seems like I've been trying to win my first grand prix since 1983 when Alan Carter was the last British rider to win a 250cc race."

It was the first British success since Ian Connachie delighted a home crowd in the now defunct 80cc class in 1986.

In the 500cc event, Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi continued their enthralling battle for the world title.

Biaggi was handed victory when the rain-affected race was stopped with four laps remaining and final positions were from the end of the 15th lap. On the following lap, however, Rossi had briefly moved into first place before opting for a cautious approach when spots of rain appeared on his visor, allowing Biaggi to reclaim the lead. Rossi's championship lead over his fellow Italian and fierce rival has been reduced to 21 points.

Another veteran, Steve Hislop, won a thrilling first race of the British Superbikes championship round at Thruxton yesterday, having entered the final stages of the last lap at the back of a five-man leading bunch.

In a similar conclusion to the second race, however, the Scot was barged into sixth in the final corner mêlée. James Reynolds claimed victory and closed the championship points gap to 10 on Hislop.