Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

World Championship Superbike Road Race Series: Round 1 Polen, Dowson share Sugo By Kel Edge SU G O, J APAN, AUG . 27 As th e typ h o on sta rted to s weep across J apa n , the ch a n ge in th e weather also bro u ght a change in th e for- tunes of th e ~ain contenders in th e Wor ld Superbi ke Champions hip. Practi ce had been overcast b ut dry , and Am erican Doug Pol en and hi s Mi chelin-shod Yoshimura Suzuki GSXR750R took p ol e position by just .02 seco nd from ch am p io ns h ip point standings leader a n d fell ow Am er ican Fred Merkel on th e Pirelli shod T eam Rumi H onda RC30, In the process, Pol en set a new lap record of I :35. 120 aro u n d th e 2.32mil e circu it, breakin g th e previous record of 1:37.350 set b y Marco Lucchinelli on th e Ducati here last year. Th ird on th e grid was fo u rt h fas test qualifier Frenchman Ra ymond R o che o n t he Ducat i ZDM85 1S, wit h third-fas test qua lifier Rob Ph illis o n th e , Australian Kaw asa ki ZXR750 completing tn e fro nt ro w of the grid. Du e to pract ice being spli t into two groups, Roch e edge d Phi llis for the th ird slot si nce Roch e was second q uickest in th e faster (Po len 's) sessio n. First leg Forty riders whee lspun th eir wa y up the slippery track at the start of ra ce o ne as the drizz le began to get h a rd er , sa tu ra ti n g the estimated 38,000 spectators. Some ri ders had gam bled on inter m ediate. tires, but th e majority o f rid ers were o n full wets. Ph ill is go t the ho lesh o t a n d led into th e first bend, follow ed by Polen and Da wson , wh o was racing in grea t pa in after da magi ng h is hand in practice. Behind these three was a gr oup o f ride rs led by Auss ie G rant Hodson o n a Brid gesto ne-sh od Yam a ha , all try ing to see th rough the spray fro m th e tires. A co uple o f laps lat er , Pol en a nd Da wso n skidded past a surp rised Phill is and immedia tely pulled ou t an advan tage. On la p seven , Dawson go t past Polen, but within a lap overdid it a nd had to ta ke to th e g rass, a llowin g Pol enback into th e lead . On the very next lap Dow son was Iucky to stay in th e race let a lo ne o n th e track. Coming o u t o f turn two he lost th e back end in a big way a n d was nearly th rown o ff th e bike. His knee went do wn o n th e deck a nd hi s right leg wen t under th e bike so far th a t he said he felt th e rear t ire h itting his leg. " Fo r a while, I th ou ght that I was going to run mys elf over, bu t sudden ly she gripped again a n d I wa s ab le to haul mys elf ba ck on bo ard, " said a relieved Da wso n. Hodson, meanwhi le, crashed out of co ntention wh en he lost the fro nt en d , a nd th en cras he d again whi le try ing to remoun t, sending the bike car tw hee li ng. He re tire d to th e pits. Polen was completely in co ntrol from la p n in e on and had a lo nelyb ut- wet race out front, stretch ing his a d va n ta g e to 20 seconds before ba cking o ff on the fina l two laps a n d finish in g with seven seconds in ha nd. After h is "moment" Dowson settled for a sa fe seco nd, wit h Phillis taking th ird spot. " Fra ntic" Giancar lo Fa la ppa of Ita ly belied his ni ckname by a su pe rb stea dy ride o n th e Birno ta YB4EI R in to fourth p lace a head of Ja pan's T atsuro Ara ta a nd Ken ich iro Iwa hash i: C hampion s hip lea d er Me rk e l str uggled o n wet tires th a t never sta rted worki ng a nd fini shed u p a d isa pp o inti ng 15th , w hile h is n ea rest r iva ls Fabrizio Pirovano an d Ste p hane Mertens rode steadily for th eir seventh and eig h th p laces. Hon damounted .Roger Burnett had a miserabl e ride in th e wet for h is 17th spot, wh ile fellow Brit Terry R ym er on th e Locrite Yam a ha p ulled o u t aft er seven laps a fter selecting the wrong tir es. Second leg T he rai n was absolutely peltin g dow n as th e grid d isappeared up the hill in a shower o f spray an d mi st. First a way aga in wa s Phi lli s, th ough within three laps he was passed by Dawson. Dawson had seen Phillis and Pol en a head and th o ugh t th at he cou ld go faster, S9 he slid into th e lead a n d sta rte d to o pe n a gap on his pursuers. From th en on , h e was nev er h ead ed a nd made the terr ible co nditions look tame. "I rea lly enjoyed th a t," Dawson said, " O nce I got past the two at the front I just went for it. I ha d a few l ittl e sl ides bu t nothing drama tic. For some reaso n, even iny hand did n o t give me a ny tro ub le, whe reas in the first race it wa s nu mb for th e last seve n laps or so." Splashi ng h is way to seco nd pl ace was loca l rider Ken ich iro Iwahashi on a H o nda wi th Falappa. in third" a nd Pol en four th . Falappa had mad e a good start bu t was knocked off co urse in the early stages an d fought back magni ficent ly th ro ugh th e fie ld to his rostrum spo t. Falappa was HONDA Dealer Program: 1) Motorcycle Discou nt 2) Parts Discount 3) Accessory Discount 4) Fast Delivery 5) Preffered SeNice 6) Team Jersey Join "Our" Team 1990 Models Coming Soon! nursi n g a badl y swo llen kn ee a nd dam aged Iiga rnen ts a fter a p rac tice tumble and had to cu rb his norma l a&gression duri ng th e races. "Everytime I race, I wa nt to win," said Fa lappa , "Today I had to ride more smooth ly. When I over took Pol en I d id it a t th e end of th e straight so th a t everyo ne could see it. I knew that I did no t have enough time to pass th e rider in front so I sell led fo r th ird p lace." Merk el co u ld do no more than slip and slide to 12th pl ace whil e Mertens m a naged h is seco nd eight h spot of th e day . Rym er took a d ifficu lt 13th, whi le Burnett had to pu ll o ut after KAWASAKI ~' CR SUPPORT DEALER Accepting Applications For Factory and/or Dealer Support Y oshi mura Suzuki's D ou g Polen w on t he f irst leg of th e World Superb ike round at Sug o, Japan . ~ ~ Accepting Applications For Factory and/or Dealer Support Dealer Program: 1) Motorcycle Discount 2) Parts Discount 3) Accessory Discount 4) Fast Delivery 5) Preffered SeNice 6) T m Jersey ea Join "Ou r" T m ea Corne Ride With Us .. . 1990 Models Are Here! Place Your Order Today... Immediate Delivery 14043 E, Whittier Blvd , • Whitter 14043 E. Wh ittier Blvd.• Whitter CALL NOW CALL NOW (213) 945-3494 '. (714) 739-1821 • (818) 330-0585 (213) 945-3494 • (714) 739-1821 • (818) 330-0585 -Financi ng Ava ilable- -Financ ing Ava ilable-

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