Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127215
~ v ..0 8 v > o Z John Kocinski retired from the first heat with mechanical problems but came back to win the final two at Spain's Superprestigio road races. In Kocinski's absence, Carlos Cardus (4) defeated fellow Spaniard Sito Pons for the first-heat win. Pons finished second overall, Cardus fourth. Juan Garriga posted two seconds and a third for the overall win at Spain's newly-revamped Calafat Circuit. Solo Molo's Superpresligio Road Race Garriga wins, Kocinski reigns in Spain ' By Dennis Noyes TARAG O NA, SPAIN. ocr. I A crowd estimated at 50,000 saw America's John Kocinski preserve his undefeated record in 250cc international road racing. The 21-year-old AMA 250cc National Champion took on the world 's ·best at the twisty two-mile 'T Ca Ia f a t C" If~UIt near aragona on th e Medi terranean Coast of 14 Spain. T he ninth ru nning of Solo Mote 's Su pe r p res tigio bro ught together such 250cc Grand P rix star s as World Champion Sito Pons, runner- up Rei n ~ o l d R.o ~h , Carl os Card us, Jua.n Garn~a, .DIdIer de Radigues, LO~ls Reggia ni , Helmut Brad !, Martin Wimmer a nd th e 18-year-ol d Brazilian Alejandro Barros, who has signed to ride 500cc Cagivas in 1990. But th e big attraction was T eam Ro bert s fl yer Koci n ski, rid ing a factory Yamah a YZR250. Kocinski's a rrival in Spain was a ma jor medi a event which began whe n he stepped o u t of th e inte rna tional arrivals ga te after h is fligh t from Los An geles where he was surrounded by Spa nish press a t Barcelon a 's EI Prat airport. . He was asked countless times on TV, radio and in newspaper interviews if he though t he co uld beat World Champion Sito Pons in Sito's ow n backyard. H is best answer came o n stage a nd before 4000 mo tor cyclists a t a 10 o'clock appeara nce at the tr a diti onal " Ca m pgro u n d Show." Spea ki ng th rough a transla tor , J ohn replied: " Well, th e best way to a nswe r that q uestion is th is: I've got an eagle o n my helm et and Sito has an owl o n hi s. Who do you think win s between an o wl and an eag le?" That brough t the house down. Just when it loo ked as if th e pole wou ld go to Car los Cardus, who had a tim e of 1:31.41 against Garriga 's 1:31.46 with j ust o ver two minutes to go , Kocinski, wh ose number one bi ke ha d broken a cran k, stro de ou t in an attem p t to steal the pol e. " I was rea lly pu mped," Kocinski said later. " T he Spa niards were so motivated it was unrea l and 1wanted to sho w th em wha t we co uld do. 1 had to push back to th e pits and 1 th ought it was too lat e but Bud (Aksla nd ) ha d m y second b ik e warmed up and 1 jumped on and went for it. I saw th e guy getting th e checkered flag ready when 1 finished my first lap , bu t 1 had my tires working and 1 knew my lap wo uld cou nt. 1 was lucky because 1 had a clear run. Most of th e Spanish guys h ad a lready do ne p lug chops. 1 almost lo st th e th in g h a lf wa y through th e lap on th e li ttl e bump where the old section hoo ks up wi th th e new asphalt. I had my left foot off the peg, but I kept it up and 1 j ust kn ew when 1 crossed the start! finish th at I' d do ne it." . H e had , too. His time of 1:30.95 made hi m the first rid er to get under I :3 1 o n th e length en ed Cal af at Circu it. P ractice was carried li ve o n Ca nta lo nia n television and covered by national radio . T he Sunday dai ly newspapers ope ned their spo rts sections with pictures of Kocinski a n d rep orts from ' prac tice. The President of th e G en er alitat of Cat alonia (the a u tono mo us region of Ca ta lo nia) and the Mayor of Barcelona were o n hand for practice and stayed over for th e race. T he Su perpres tigio 250cc race, run over th ree 12-lap heats with th e overa ll winner decid ed on points using the old FIM system of 15, 12, . 10, 8, 6, 5 down to I point for 10th , was held the same day as th e Spanis h ro u nd of th e Formula One car race in J erez and ou tdrew th e a utomo bi le race, 50,000 to 30,000, and also had higher TV ra tings in th e regio ns where th e 250cc race was carried live. "This felt like a Grand P rix," Kocinski said. " For me th ere was mo re tension than in J a pan or even America. These guys did n 't want me to beat th em in th eir ow n backyard." The first heat started badl y fo r Kocinski. Hi s YZR suffered bottom end problem s at the end of th e first lap and he was for ced to retire, leaving th e race to be fought between Spaniards Cardus and Po ns. Cardus, who now has American George Vukmanovich as crew ch ief in h is Honda-Repsol team, won a har d-fought dice with Pons whi le . Garriga recovered from a poor .start to take third fro m Barros. T he fourway battl e for fifth was wo n by West German Bradl ahead of H B-Honda team ma te and fellow German Roth , and ahead of Spaniards Alberto P uig (Yamaha TZ) and Danial Ama tria in (H o nda NSR ). Kocinski went out for the second heat on his backup bike, running a Iittle rich to be on the safe side, and