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/127255
Big contingency money paid: to end the sessio n whe n he was goi ng to go for it. " Fal appa was th e b ig im p rover, tak in g over a second off h is best time to boun d into fourth spot. He, like Phill is and Mert ens , had been granted a 1900J rear Mich elin for sessio n two - th e next best thi ng to a 1900A. Ph ill is went q ui cker too , but so did McEl nea and the Eng lish ma n stayed o n the front row as the Australia n went back to head up row two in sixth spot. Mert e n s cou ldn't improve an d stayed seventh , Lo pez-Mella stayed eig h th, T ardozzi muscled the 851 up the gr id, while th e hard-ridin g Andreas Hofmann p ut hi s Honda into 10th . Burnett impro ved for 12th, b ut Piro vano langu ished in 17th , Fogarty 18th , And ersson 21st, Su honen 22nd and Wh ith am a misera ble 34th. And how did all these tim es compare to the lap record? Well, th e sta ff were courteous and friendl y, but they did n ' t kn ow everyt hi ng. Pit scuttlebut had Do ug Polen at a 1:53.5. And the race pace was set for 1:52s - loo k out lap record. Race o n e Phillis ma de a great start from row two to lead into the first comer wh ile Pi ro vano made a screa mer from row four to be fourth. Go ing backward s just as quickly were Roche (the ta ll first gea r in his four-speed gea rbox making it difficu lt to get off the lin e), Merkel ("1 couldn't keep the front whee l on the ground" ) and Mertens. T he Austra lian led much of the first la p o nly to have Rymer and Falap pa du ck by. Makin g a mockery of his p ractice for m, Piro vano shot into the lead briefly the second time around, but skin-hea d Falappa came booming by at the hai rp in onto pit straight under brakes. T he lead in g 10 or so were running nose-to-t ail wi th the two Italians being harried by Rymer and Phillis, faststar ti ng Germ an Suzuki rid er Ernst G ersch wender , Mcf.Inea . . Mer kel , Roch e, Lopez-Mella and Mert ens. T he big mover was Roche, takin g a lead he was never to lose o n lap five. From there he steadi ly drew away to lead by as much as nine seconds befor e easing u p at th e end to win by fo ur. Behind him was th e real fu n and ga mes. Fal ap p a was n 't that quick aroun d th e corne rs, but his 851 was undou b ted ly ' super -fas t do wn the straigh ts, as Ph illis i n p articul ar discovered as he attacked for second pl ace. Severa l ti mes he d ucked undernea th at the tight corners, on ly to have the Ital ian dr ive right by on the next stra igh t. By la p 10, Falappa was leading a banked up group of P hill is, Rymer, Mertens ( I), Piro van o, Merkel and McElnea with Gescwender taggi ng a lo ng a few yards beh ind. These entertai ning fun and games were going o n at a slow pace - 1:53s a nd I :54s - allowing Roche the gap he needed. Ph ill is fin all y succeeded in holding th e Du cati o ff down th e straig h t o n lap II and looked set to a ttac k the ga p until he was held up by a lapper and was dumped back behind Fal appa and Mert en s. Mertens im mediately attac ked and twice pa ssed the Ducat i with dar in g ou t-bra king moves a t the chica ne , but Falap pa g rimly stuck with him. That was until he ran wid e a t th e hairp in - a sig n of hi s fading Ohlins shoc k. With just a few la ps to go, Merkel had caugh t up to Mert en s wh ile Ph ill is was still stuck behind th e big twin. He go t by o n lap 20 a nd immed iat ely pr essed up o n Mert ens and Merkel. The battle reached its climax at th e tigh t rig ht -ha nder at the far end of th e Teams rob Bank of Miku • I NORTI-IRIDG E CA. , JA NUARY 17, 1990 By We R. Broke T h ree team s us m g Mikuni carburetors got away with Championships at the end of 1989. Their tracks left a clear message to other racers: Using Mikuni is like having a licens e to steal... Championships. 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