Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE World Championship Superbike Series: Round 1 Subscription Rate Schedule First Class Service DO MESTIC 1 year 50 issues 6 months 25 issues Trial sub. 15 issues $108.0r $55.00 $33.00 CANADA 1 year 50 issues 6 months 25 issues Trial sub. 15 issues $122.00 $60.00 $36.00 MEXICO 1 year 50 issues $122.00 6 months 25 issues . $60.00 Trial sub. 15 issues $36.00 ALL OTHER 1 year 50 issues $127..00 $62.00 COUNTRIES 6 months 25 issues $38.00 Trial sub. 15 issues Second Class Service OOMESTIC 1 year 50 issues 6 months 25 issues Trial sub. 15 issues $35.00 $18.00 $11.00 CANADA 1 year 50 issues 6 months 25 issues Trial sub. 15 issues $75.00 $38.00 $23.00 MEXICO 1 year 50 issues 6 months 25 issues Trial sub. 15 issues $75.00 $38.00 $2300 ALL O THER 1 year 50 issues CO UNTRIES· 6 months 25 issues Trial sub. 15 issues $75.00 $38.00 $23.00 Air Mail Service DOMESTIC Not available CANADA ME XICO 1 year 50 issues $137.00 6 months 25 issues $70.00 Trial sub. 15 issues $42.00 1 year 50 issues $137.00 6 months 25 issues $70.00 Trial sub. 15 issues $42.00 ALL OTHER 1 year 50 issues $224.00 CO UNTRIES 6 months 25 issues $11 4.00 Trial sub. 15 issues $68.00 Two and three year subscription prices available upon request. Use the order form on the table of contents page or send your order, including payment (check , money order, charge to Visa or MasterCard/payable in U.S. funds, to: Cycle News, Inc. Attn. Circulation P.O. Box 498 long Beach, CA 90801-0498 Phone (213) 427-7433 24 hr. FAX order line (213) 427-6685 30 (charge orders on lv , please) Roche worked his way through the pack after poor starts to wi n both legs. His closest challenge came from new Ducati teammate Giancarlo Falappa in leg two. circu it.: Mert en s had second , Merkel wanted it and shoved h is way in , th e two hit, · the Belg ian ran wide a nd Phillis sneak ed into third - on ly to have th e Total H onda flash back underneath at the fast left. There had been a bit of elb owing involv ed in th e clash as Merk el freel y admitted: " He mightbe a bit mad at me, but I'm sure he'll be sticking h is elbo w o u t a t me once or twice thi s year so it will even out. " At the flag second th rough four-th were separa ted by 0.46of-a-second. Next ca me the casua lt ies, Fa lap pa h eld o nto fifth despite his fad ing shoc k, Pirovano cou ldn 't a ttac k as his front brakes lost power whi le Rym er ac tu all y out-braked Fab rizi o go ing into the last corn er but lost" out in the drag to the line. . McElnea, with severe rear tir e problems (which also hit Rym er ) tra iled in ei g h t h and worri ed : " We' re in unknown territory now ," he grimaced when asked about tir e cho ice for leg two . And ersson a n d C es chwerider rounded out the top 10. Most notab le non-finishers wer e Burnett (loss of horsepower - thought to be a crim ped fuel line), Monti (shock fade) a nd DeVries, who had a spectacular looking spill. A new lap record went to Mertens at 1:52.23s - just 0.01 faster than Ro che. R a ce two Fal appa, his shock having spent time being do ctored in th e Ohlins truc k betw een races, go t th e start from Mcf. Inea, Phillis, Monti, Rym er a nd Mert ens, but it was Phill is wh o was in the lead as they crossed th e line for the first tim e. Once again, Ro che a nd Merkel had made poor starts. Phillis ' even pulled a small gap before Fal appa reassert ed himself on . lap three, wi th Mert ens pr essing up ahea d of the charging Ro che, McEInea, Rymer, Lopez-Mella , Pirovano, Geschwender, Fogarty and Merk el. The order of proceedings quickly became' ap parent, th e leading four pulling a gap on the Loc tite Yamahas - both McElnea and Rymer lacking th e grip to pose a threat - LopezMell a heading the rest while Merk el carved his way through . Ro che picked th e lead group off oneby-on e until he hi t the lead on la p seven. His move on his teammate was lovely into the chicane, but Fa lappa signall ed that he was n 't about to give up, tig ering around the outside coming out - but Roch e held on. U nt il la p 10 anyway, when Fa lappa retook the lead and held it, until Roche decid ed enough was enough. Back in the lead on lap 13, a lap record on the 14th (1:51.83) and a 3.61-second lead on lap 15. He 'd exte nd it to nearl y seven by the flag. Mert en s had di sp osed of Phillis, whose rear Mich elin wa s g ivi ng out i n th e heat, a nd brid ged the gap to . Fal appa bu t cou ld not pass. Merk el now ca ugh t up after taking several laps to ge t by Phillis and th e three of th em raced around together for the last few laps. . . Al m o st i ne vi ta b ly Merkel a n d Mertens clashed again o n the last lap. Merkel passed Mert en s a ro u nd th e back, Mert ens ca me back braking very deeply into the fina l ha irpin a nd actually retook th ird onl y to drift wide onto the paint coming out, allowing Merk el back underneath for the sprint to the flag . Merkel went straight for the line and as Stephane cam e back onto the track proper his front wh eel hit th e right rear of the Rumi bik e sending him into a vicious wobble, which he managed to contro l to cross the line 0.5-of-asecond behind th e Am erican. Afterwards Mert en s' father J ean a ngr ily confronted Merkel claiming that th e second incident had been his fau lt. Merk el remained commendably coo l in the situation and defended himself: " I had th e line. He came in on me. It wasn 't m y fault. " Behind the fracas Phillis took fifth , just over. a second ahead of McElnea. Phillis had been reading Rymer's pi t board a nd tho ught he had a big gap. It wa sn' t until he spotted th e Loct ite Yamaha on hi s ta il on th e last lap that he got going again a nd hung on by a second. McElne a a nd Rymer ran aro und in for ma tio n througho ut. Simply unabl e to cha lle nge a nyo ne in front or behind or each ot her. A frustrati ng culmination to 10 days a t th e ci rcu it and two days of excl usive tire testing. A massive 19 seconds further back a t the flag, Pirovano just head ed off th e enthusiastic adva nces of Ge scwender, Danny Amatrian (Honda), Monti a nd Andersson . This di ce had been a beauty th roughout a nd had also invo lved Fogert y until he crashed o ut the vict im of a front Michelin tha t sim ply wouldn' t wor k. Morrison had been using a n iden tical tire a nd also cras hed. H e escape d injury but th e 'H onda was wrecked. Burnett was out earl y again with hi s mysterious horsepow er loss. Sadd est case was German Michael Galinski wh o dropped out of 14th a nd the points with just a lap to go , similarly Lopez-Mella DNF after a very strong ride. CN Results 1ST LEG: I. Raymond Roche (Due); 2. fred Merkel (Hon); 3. Steph ane Mertens (Han ); 4. Rob Phillis (Kaw); 5. Gia nca rlo Fa lappa (Due ); 6. Fab rizio Pir ovan o (Yam ); 7. Terry Rymer (Ya m ); 8. Rob McElnea (Yam) ; 9. And ers Andersson (Yam); 10. Ern st Geschwender (Suz); 11. Davide T ard ozzi (Due); 12. J ua n Lopez-Mell a (Han ); 13. Brian Mor rison (Han); 14. Carl Fogart y (Han); 15. Edwin Weihel (Raw); 16. Andreas Hormann (Hon); 17. j ari Su konen (Yam ); 18. Dani el Amatr iain (Ha n ); 19. Michael Galinski (Raw); 20. J ames Whitham (Ho n ); 21. Mauro Mastrelli (Due); 22. T oni Garcia (Yam); 23. Rene Delah y (Ha n ); 24. Marco Pa pa (Yam); 25. Marin o faheri (B·M); 26. Wolfgang Koeekel (Hon); 27. Pedro Bati sta (Hon). Time of race: 41 min., 47.36 sec. Fastest lap: Step hane Mertens, 1:52.23. 2N D LEG: 1. Raymond Roche (Due); 2. Gian carlo Falappa (Due); 3. fred Merkel (Hen): 4. Stephane Mertens (Han); 5. Rob Phil lis (Kaw ): 6. Rob McElnea (Yam); 7. T erry Rymer (Yam); ~. Fabri zio Pirovan o (Yam ); 9. Er ns t Gesch ender (Suz); 10. Da ni el Amatriain (Han ); 11. Baldasware Monti (Hon); 12. Anders Andersson (Yam); 13. Andreas Hofm ann (Hon ); 14. Jellry DeVries (Yam); 15. Udo Mark (Yam); 16. Xavier Arena s (Han); 17. Marco Papa (Yam): 18. Toni Garcia (Yam ); 19. Mauro Mastrelli (Due); 20. Wolfgang Moeckel (Ho n );21. Pelro Batista (Ho n). Time of race : 41 min. , 35.56 sec. fastest Lap: Raymond Roch e, 1:51.85. WO RLD CHAMPIONSHIP POIN T STAND· INGS: I. Raymond Roch e (40); 2. fred Merkel (32); 3. (T IE) Step'hane Merten s/Giancarlo f alappa (28); 5. Rob Phi llis (24); 6. (TIE) T erry Rymer/Rob McEln ealFabr izio Pirovan o (18); 9. Ernst Geschwend er (13); 10. Anders Andersson (II) ; II. Dan ial Amatri ain (6); 12. (TIE) Baldassarre MontilDavid e Tardozzi (5); 14. J uan Lopez-Mella (4); 15. (TIE) Andr eas Holmann/Brian Morrison (3); 17. (TIE) Jellry De Vries/Carl f ogarty (2); 19. (T IE) Udo Mark/Edwin Weibel (I).

• Cover