Cycle News

Briefly... Continu ed from page 25 Loris Capiro ssi was qu icker on the old bike. Further modifications were made to both old and new models for Mugello (the old one s had to be specially built, the team's own bikes having passed on to the d'Antin team), and both riders had one of eac h in the pit du ring practice. Rival teams gleefully noted this as evidence of se rious confusion . ASrer the first day. when he set a new speed record (340.2kmlh, 211.39 mph ), Cap irossi favored the modifoed new machine . "It has improved since the Le Mans tests, though it is still a little difficult to ride," he said. Bayliss was not so sure. "I've been back and forth between the two," he said. After the second day, though , both decided to race the new machines. "I was 1.5 seconds faster this year than last year, which proves we are getting better," said Capirossi, who moved to the third row of the grid, eighth fastest. the strongest, perhaps, but Tamada was still there, and likewise Biagg i. And who could rule out Rossi, with or without a top speed problem? Then suddenly on lap 14, Tamada was n't there. . " I felt a vibration two corners before the straight, and it got much w orse on the straight. It was really wo rryi ng. I knew it was the tire, and I preferred to stop," he said . He pulled up by the track, clearly frustrated. "That is how I always want to race - at the limit, " he said . His co nce rn was understandable. He had a rear Bridgestone disintegrate in pr e se aso n tests. More to th e po int , behind him , Nakano's rear Bridge sto ne had failed catastrophically at somewhere close to 200 mph in front of the pits at the start of lap 13. Bits of tire and moto rcycle were everywhere on the track. By lap 17, Ross i and Gibernau were more than a seco nd cle ar of Biaggi, while Barros was pas t Me land ri and closing o n Biaggi. He was close r still on lap 18, but before the rest of the field had crossed the line, the re d nags were out as rai n started to spot, and results were taken from lap 17: Rossi , Gibernau, Biaggi, Barros, Meland ri, Bayliss (go ing well also in the dry), Abe, Edwards, Xaus and a fad ing Capirossi, with Hodgson le a d ing Hofmann some way back. (The second Kawasaki rider was aware that N akan o had gone and had seen tire debris and bits of green bodywork at the en d of the straight and had himself th rottied back.) Kenny Roberts Jr. had pitted on lap ten. Some wondered if his Bridge stone had also starte d to fail, but th is was no t so. " I was holding my own, then the bike stopped," he sa id. The race neutralizati on ru les meant that positions counted o nly for grid positions. The final six laps would be restarte d as a separate race, an official Wet Race (no stopping fo r changing con ditions), in 20 m inutes. It w as only six laps, but it w o uld take lo nge r than the ra ce itself (just over 12 minutes) to d escr ibe the ups and d o w ns as d iflere nt riders fou nd d iffe re nt parts of the track where they w ould Oing caution to the wind . Biagg i led away, then all o f them t iptoed around the first corner at a ludicro us ly slow speed . They were on slicks , and at that point it was still streaming wet. But they had had two warm-up laps, and as Michelin boss Nicolas Goubert explained later. "Slick tires can be effec tive on a wet t rack, so lo ng as they stay hot and there's no standing water." The rest of the track was mainly dry and getting dryer, so those conditions were obtained. All the same, several riders including Bayliss and Biaggi spoke afterward about the danger of that first turn. "It was incredibly slippery, and you are John Hopkins withdrew from the Italian GP, the fractured left thumb from Le Mans not yet sufficiently recovered for him to contemplate racing his G5V-R on the fast and phys icallydemanding Mugello circuit . "I still can't make a fist. I know it would be to ugh to try to hold on, w ith the bike shaking its head : ' he said. Hopkins was one of three to crash o n the first lap of the French Gp,after Neil Hodgson highsided in the middle of the pack. No rick Abe also fell in the incident, witho ut injury. "I had the cast off a week ago , and I've been having a lot of laser and magne tic therap y," Hop kins said. "But riding wo uld put a lot of stress on the fractu re , w hich is along th e bo ne rather than across it, and might open it up again... then I'd need surgery. It makes more sense to miss one race now than to risk missing tw o or three." But any hopes that Suzuki's official test and replacement rider Grego rio Lavilla would replace him were scotched because the Spanish rider was already committed to replace Yukio Kagayama in the British Superbike rou nd at Thruxton. Kagayama broke his collarbone in a crash testing for the Suzuka B-Hour. Lavillawould have been a good choice , having tested the team's Bridgesto ne tires at Mugello a few weeks before . The Spanish ex- Superbike ride r has a GP wild card en try for next weeke nd's Catalunyan GP. Neil Hodgson broke three ribs in the Le Manscrash, aswell as incurring some fr ca tures in his spine - but he rode at Mugello, after overcoming the first hurdle: putt ing his leathers on . "This track is very physical with all the direction changes at high speed, so it's about the worst for my injury," the World Superbike Champion said. "The first few laps were agony: ' he added, before soldiering on . It's been a bad time for the small British contingent in Moto GP. Hodgson and his fellow injury victims 5hakey Byrne (broken hand at Jere z) and Chris Bum s (broken thumb at Jerez) were joined by compatriot Jeremy McWilliams,who broke a rib in a high-speed tumble on Friday. It was his third rib so far this year - the Aprilia ride broke two in a preseason test crash. It didn't stop him riding, however. www.cyclenews.com Aprilia brought a heavily revised machine to Mugello midway through qUalifying. helping both riders to cut their lap times on the sec and day. The machine fell short of the brand-new motor that had been promised at the start 01 the year, but it did incorporate a raft of improvemen ts int o the old bike. And had the riders making the right noises . "The new bike is easier to ride. and the steeri ng is better. though it's still not at 100 percent." said Byrne . McWilliams. nurs ing his fresh injuries, said: "It handles better, doesn't spin the rear so much. and doesn't wheelie so badly. so you can be more precise with the th rottle. " The visible change is to the bodywork - narrower. with winglets on the flanks, supposedly to improve handling with a revised air intake system. This feeds a new airbox. Engine components. electronics and exhausts have also been revised . Speeds continue to rise in the upgraded MotoGP class , with the Ducatis again leading the way. with a 5 mph increase for Loris e apirossi. Last year he did 206.42 mph in the race . Nter practice, his best speed was an amazing 340 .2km/h, or 211 .39 mph. This is the fastest speed ever recorded at a race meeting, with poss ibly more to come in the race . The same rider recorded an even higher speed. more than 215 mph at Catalunya tests, with a hefty tailwind. By the end of Mugello practi ce, only four riders had no t br oken 200 mph: Kurtis Roberts on the secon d Proto n (teammate Aoki did manage tha t speed), Andrew Pitt on th e wild card Mo riwaki Honda. and bo th of the RI-based WCM machines . Should the HotoGP class follow World Superbikes and possible F I car racing in adopting a control tire formula, with everybody on the same rubbe r? Very much so, says Proton Team KRprincipal Kenny Roberts. who found a number of teams in agreement when he canvassed opinion at Le Mans three weeks ago . "At the moment, if you don't have Michelin tires, you don't stand a chance of winn ing. And even some of the Michelin teams have to pay for their tires, where others get them fre e ," he said. He had spoken to a num ber of teams at Le Hans, and found several willingto support such a move . Not surpri singly, this included all runners using the curren tly disadvantaged Du nlops, whic h includes Prot on KR. More support came from Camel Honda team owner Sito Po ns, whose ride r Biaggi is a title contender, but who must pay for his H iche Iins. Roberts' team had used Bridgesto nes for the previous two years but fell on the wrong side of a tire reshuffle at the end of last season . The promis ing Bridgestones went to Suzuki, Kawasaki and Tarnada 's Honda, and Proton Team KR were unwilling to pay Michelin's asking fee or in any case unable to reach agreement, leaving them little choice but Dunlop . "W he n Superbikes went to control tires last year. everybody thought they were crazy . but I reserved judgmen t. Now F I racing is talking about introducing control tires. "If they're thinking about it, we should be thinking about it sooner than them," said Roberts. CYCLE NEWS ��� JUNE 16 , 2004 27

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