Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

R ym er didn ' t fi nis h th e next lap, lo sing th e front en d a t Ya m aha Comer. T wo la ps lat er , H olden was a lso o u t with a b lown fu el pump fu se. On lap nine P h ill is went to the lead at Pepsi Corner, a lead he was to stre tch to nea rl y 20 seco nds over th e n ex t 12 laps. Bu t th e rain had aba ted, a nd with a dry line appearing, Goddard began to charge, a s those on wet tires bega n to falter. Goddard climbed from 10th o n lap 17 to sixth by lap 20, a n d was up to second four laps la ter. Meanwhi le, visitors to the pits for tir e cha nges included Campbell, -Merkel a n d Dow son , th eir hopes o f a ro strum fin ish dashed. Th e Yam ah a rid er eve ntu a lly passed th e Kawa saki pil ot on lap 28 and began pu lling aw a y, th e T eam Green h ierarch y wis ely deciding th ey ha d too much to lose by attemp ti ng a p it stop a t th at lat e stage. As the field cro ssed th e fini sh line a t th e end of 39 la ps Pi rovano too k third , wi th Roch e p u tt ing th e fastest lap o f th ose o n wet s to clai m fourth. O ne la p dow n ca m e Slig h t, Andersso n a nd th en Dowson, putting in a va liant cha rge a fter h is tire ch an ge. Mert en s was nipped a t th e lin e by Do wso n by .237 second whi le Bongers follo wed a cred ita ble ninth in some esteem ed co m pa n y. Fas test ma n o n th e circui t was Campbell , b ut 18th held lillie jo y fo r th e tough T asman > ia n aft er h is tire cha n ge. At th e end of the ra ce th er e were so me perple xed team m anagers a lon g th e pit lane. Someo ne had gotten th eir su ms wrong a nd the 39la p ra ce co ntinued for o ne mo re circu it, taking th e lap tall y to 40. With a World Champio nship a t sta ke some of the passing moves on tha t 40th la p cou ld have been crucia l, but co m m o n sen se prevai led a nd th e 39th lap placings were th e ones th a t mat tered. Tha nk fu lly. no o ne bit th e bi tum en o n th at extra circu it. Race two A brig h t a nd su n ny sky gr eeted th e sta rt of leg two , wi th slick tires a ll the way arou nd; a lt hough Mert en s' RO O' had ac tua lly appea red with trea d ed t ir e s , th e y were soo n c h a n ged . Arch -riva l Me'rk e l h a d so me ser ious chasin g 'to do af ter fin ish in g th ree pl aces behi nd th e la n ky Bel g ian in leg one. Ca mpbell got the hol esho t a t th e gr een, bUI it was Dowson o n the fa cto ry 0\\'0 1 who led ·th e field th ro ugh the kink at the en d of th e fro nt straight. As they ca me through a t the end o f lap one it wa s Da wso n, Campbel l, P i ro van o , G odda rd , R ymer, Phi llis a nd Mertens. At th e end of eigh t la ps it wa s Dowso n by 3.38 seco nds to Campbell . wi th narrow margins to Piro vuno . G oddard . R ym e r . R o c h e . Ph ill is a nd Sl igh t. and then a 3.38seco nd br eathing space to Mert en s, wh o had Merkel on hi s ta il. Pirovano went through to seco nd on lap I I, but by lap 15 Roche had jo ined th e baule a n d th e Ital ia n, Fren chman a nd Campbell put on th e di ce of the ra ce. Iorci ng Pirovano to set the fa stest la p of leg two a t I: 13. 120 in h is endeavors to get a way. SCI>!t Doo ha n, eld er - bro th er o f Roth m a ns Honda G P star Mich ael Doohan , had a sp ecta cu lar get-off on la p 18 w hen he hi t the wa ll at Castrol Corner. h is back ti re fina lly ca ll ing en o ug h. T h is. how ever . pal ed into in sign ifican ce beside w ha t la y in store on la p 25. .As th e h igh -speed freig ht tra in o f Roch e, Pi rovano a nd Campbell ra n o u t of Yamaha Co rn er o n la p 25. th ey ca m e u po n a la p ped rid er. All three go t by cl ean ly, but the run through th e flip- flop was per haps not 'as smooth as it wo u ld ha ve been giv en a n ideal racing lin e, and nobody wan ted to lo se the mom ent um . Wh a tever th e reason, th e resu lt wa s horrific. Ca m p bell cl ip ped th e back o f Pirovano 's bike with h is fro nt wh eel ; some sai d P irova n o was slow er tha n previously, o th ers that Campbell had gone in too hard. Th e res u lt was a tang le of 0\\'01 and RC30 tum bl in g and slidi ng a lo ng th e track at high velocity, befo re slamm ing into the tire retaini ng wa ll. Campbell esca ped with a grazed elbo w a nd battered ank le, while P iro va no was taken to th e hospital with a sus pec ted broken a n k le - hi s title hopes dashed. A hard-riding Rym er, o u t to prove th at you ng Brits ca n go just as hard as yo u ng Aussj es , m et with hi s second mi sfortune o f th e da y when he hit some o il in th e dip leadin g to Ca strol , an d gav e his Loctire OWOI its second dose o f gra vel ra sh . H is finger su ffered so me w h a t more severely, and he a lso went to th e hosp ital. T he interest now lay in ' wh et her Roch e co u ld ca tch Dowso n , and he ga ve it h is best shot wi th so m e bri llia nt d isp lays o f power slid in g a nd g u tsy ridi ng. Bu t th e Austra lia n wa s u p to the task , and co m me nt ed lat er th at he had rea lly tak en thi ngs to th e lim it. '" wa s having to dig my knee in first before dragging th e bike do wn a nd slid ing it through . Wow, tha t was hard work," he sa id. And so it .was Dowso n w ho gave rh e Marl bo ro Yama ha tea m its seco n d victory of the day, and fourth in a ro w in Au stralian World Superhik e Series rou nd s. H is win lifted h im into third o vera ll on th e da y. Roch e claimed seco n d in the race. a nd seco nd o vera ll on th e da y, while Phillis pe rsevered as others falt ered to no t onl y. claim thi rd in the race, but th e overall win , despite th e fact th at hi s ZX R750 was visibl y slower th an th e, o p pos i t io n d own th e stra igh t. Mert en s o nce again fo ught o ff Merkel , th e two cha m p io ns h ip co n tender s fin ishi ng fourth and fifth a nd o nly .262 seco nd a part . T hen came Slig ht , Sohw a and Bon ger s. th e la tter having an excelle n t meeting wi th bo th h is q ua lifyi ng positio n a nd race resul ts bein g in the top 10. Matt Bla ir cla im ed n inth o n the Action Suzuki GS X R750R R, wh ile a n ela ted C rae me Morris gra bbed eig h th o n the Si las tic Duca ri, brea ki l\~ intn the 1:14 la p ti me bracket with th e help of some new O h lins upsid e-down forks. And ersson ret ired wit h a m ystery mi sfir e, and Finn J a ri Suhonen wit h " bra kes th at feel lik e a rubber ball." Mert ens nnw leads th e seri es point sta nd ings with 245 points to Merkel 's 2·~ 2 , whil e Roc he (222) leapfrogs Pi ro van o (208). The fin al ro u nd in • New Zeal and will decide a ll. Results FIRSTLEG: 1. Peter Goddard (Vaml ; 2. Rob Phill is (Ka w ); 3 . Fabr izio Pi rovan o (Yam): 4 , Raymond Roc h e (Ducl ; 5 . Aaron Slight (Kaw); 6. Ander s Andersson (Yaml ; 7 . Michael Dawson {Yam I; 8 . Step han e M en en s (Hon); 9 . Rene Bongers (Yam); 10 Scan Doohan (Suzl; 11 . Fred Merkel (Hon); 12. J ari Suhonen (Yam); 13 . John Richards (Yam); 14 , Takah ir o Sohwa (Kaw) ; 15. Stev e Manin (Suz). RACE TIME; 52 min .• 55 .552 sec. AVERAGE SPEED: 7 1.626 mph FASTEST LA P; Malcolm Camp bell . 1:14 .i87, 78.807 mph SECOND LEG: 1. Dow son (Vam); 2. Roche (Due); 3. Phill is (Kawl; 4. Mertens (Hon): 5. Mer kel (Hon); 6. Slight (Kaw l; 7. Sohwa (Kawl: 8..Bongers (Vam); 9 . M att hew Bla ir (Suzl; 10 . Graeme M orr is {D uc); 11 . Robert Scoyl er (Ho n); 12 . St eve Crevi er (Yam); 13. Andy Roberts (Vaml; 14 . And y MeGlad dery (Honl; 15. Richard s (Vam). RACE TIM E: 48 mi n.. 5.32 1 sec. AVERAGE SPEED: 78.829 mph FASTEST LAP; Fabrizio Pirovano. 1:13. 120. 79 .76 mph WORLD CHAMP IONSHIP SUPERBIKE ROAD RACE SERIES POINT STAN DINGS: 1. Stephane M ert ens (2451 2. Fred Mer kel (2431 3 . Raymond : ; Roche (222); 4. Fabrozio Pirovanc (208 1 5. An ders ; Andersson 1' 42 ); 6 . Giancarlo Fa la ppa (139); 7. Terry Rym er (101); 8 . Baldassarre M ont i 1 99); 9 . M ,chael Dowson (76); 10. Mike Baldw in (74): 11. .Ien Suhonen (71); , 2. Patr ick Igoa (641: 13. Alex Vieira (511 14 . David Tardozzi ( 3 9 ~ 15. Rueben : McMurter (371. Order Now for Christmas! When would you pay $990 0 for. a piece of paper? Well, if that is import ed, museum quality D'Arches 22 nx19 n paper that carries an original Jeff Gundlach Supercross printed in nine perman ent colors and was breath ed on, signed and num bered by the art ist, I'd do it now. Supercross is the last limited edition fine art print in the . series commissioned by Cycle News for you, the reader. I am sure Supercross will deli~ht the dirt riding contingent as much as Isle of Man , Bol D Or and Daytona impressed th e road racers, so Cycle News is offering the same guarantee: Your money will be refunded cheerfully (grr!) if you are not completely satisfied with your brand new Supercross fine art print. . Charles Clayton Pres. Cycle News Inc. -----------·COUPON----------(No P.O . 80a: p.....) Okay, rush me _ _ prinus) of t he new Super cross limited ed ition at $9900 each. I understand I can sen d the product back for a full refund within 30 da ys if I a m not satisfied. Name _ Address _ State City Zip _ -'- Pho ne _ o Payment encl o sed (c heck or money order, payable to Cy cle News) ICA res . add 6% LA County res . add 6'h%) o Charge my Visa 0 Charge m y Maste rcard Charge Customers : W e m ust have =" " r ._ com plete account numbe and card ; el(pi~ahOn dat e Card No. Expi ra t ion D at e _ -;- S ig n at u r e _ _ Order Now O nl y $99.00 in do ship ping, ready to fram e c/o C ycle News P. O . Bo x 498, Lo ng Beach , CA 90801-0498 19

• Cover