Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ROAD RACE World Championship 500cc Road Race Series: Round 2 ~ ~ The restarted 500cc GP gets underwa y with Kevin Schwantz (34) getting the j ump o n Wayne Rainey (2), Way ne Gardner (10), Sito Pons (6) and the rest of the pa ck. Rainey takes charge in U.S. Grand Prix By Pau l Carruthers P h o tos by H enn y R ay Abrams MONTEREY, CA, AP R 8 arlbo ro T eam Roberts' Wayne Rain ey n ot o n ly sco re d hi s seco nd success ive win in th e Un ited Sta tes Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, but he a lso took a giant stri de toward winn ing hi s first 500cc Worl d Cha mpions hi p - tha nks to the self destr uc t io n o f hi s cha m pio ns hip rival s. For the second year in a ro w th e U.S . GP became a race of attrition and un fortunately one of serio us injury. Australi an Kevin Magee suffered head injuries wh en he cras hed on th e second lap of the Grand Pri x in turn five. T he cras h brought o ut the red flag, and the T eam Lu cky Strike Suzuki rider was ai rl ifted to the San J ose Medi cal Center where he underwent surgery to evacuat e a hematoma (bru ise) of the bra in o n Sunday aftern oo n. T he two-hour surge ry was cla imed to be successfu l by Suzuki team ma nager Gary T aylor, b ut th e ex te n t of dam age is not expected to be known for 48 hours. Ironica lly, it was Magee wh o was involv ed in the post-G P accident at Laguna Seca last year that left Bubba Shobert wi th serious head in juries. Much lik e last year, th e Laguna Seca round of the 15-race series will likely be remembered more for its accident report tha n the titanic battle fought M 6 o ut between Yam ah a-m ounted Rainey and Team Lu cky Strik e Suzuki's Kevin Schwant z for 24 of the 35 laps. T he two ri ders had the esti ma ted 40,000 race fans on their feet as th ey da nced thei r 500s o n the ragged edge for 24 laps, but that 24th lap proved Iatelulfor Schwa ntz as he high-sided from the Su zuk i exiti ng turn II whi le giving chase to Rainey. The lan ky T exan bro ke o ne bone and ch ipped ano ther in his left wris t in the mi shap , and i t is unknown whe the r he will be fi t enough to compete in th e next G P in Spa in o n May 6. Foll o win g Sch wan tz' demise, Ca lifornian Rainey went un chall enged as ' he fin essed hi s way to the win, averagi ng 90.560 mph for the 35-la p, 76.860-mi le race. Sec o n d pl a ce wa s in h eri ted by Rothmans Honda 's Mich ael Doohan. T he Austral ian was a lonely third for the majority of th e GP, a nd ended up , fin ish in g 30.386 seconds adrift of Rainey. ROC/ Elf Honda 's Pier-Fran cesco Chi li rode his NSR500 to a third-p lace finish, ano ther 28.847 second s behind .Doohan. Frenchman Christian Sarron outd ue led h is Gauloises Yamaha teammate a nd fello w co untryman J ean -Ph ilippe R u gg ia as th e duo ro unded o ut the top five finish ers. Bu t this was a race wh ere th e a ttritio n list was mor e impressive than the result sheet, and nobody ben efited more from the miscues of o thers than steadfas t cha mpionsh ip lead er Rainey. Defendin g Worl d Ch ampion Eddi e Lawson was th e first of Ra iney's foes to a ll -but eli mi na te him self . from cha mpionship co nten tio n wh en he. cras hed during the secon d qual ifyin g sessio n o n Friday afternoon, breaking his rig ht heel when the pads fell o ut of h is front di sc brake caliper. The mech an ical mi scu e left him brakeless as he ente red turn two, a nd Law son cras hed into the hay ba le covered cras h wall. T he four-tim e World Ch ampion watched the GP from the roof of hi s mot or h orn e, a n d is sc he d u le d to undergo surgery o n th e heel in San Fran cisco th is week; he wi ll likely no t return to action unti l the fifth ro und of the series in Germany on May 27. Ano ther rider wh o will likely miss a few G Ps is Cagiva's Ran dy Marnola. The Californian broke his . left wrist while ma king a miracu lous save from a vicio us tank slapper o n the 32nd la p of the GP, bu t the super-h uman effort was enough to badl y break the wrist. Quite remarkabl y, Mam ola carried o n to fin ish seventh in the race with the broken wrist. He is sched u led to undergo surgery this week and the broken bon e will be pinned. Pole-sitt er Wayne Gardner also put a crimp in his cha nces of cha llenging the no w-dominant Rainey wh en he cras he d o n th e seco nd lap of th e restarted GP in turn five, the site of hi s cras h a year ago that left him with a badl y brok en leg. Although Gardner o n ly su ffered a bruised right foot in this year's get-off, Rainey now has a 23-po int adva ntage over him after on ly two races. Rainey's closest cham pionship chid lenger is now Chili, but the Italian . trail s the California n, 40-24. Third p lace in th e cha mp ionsh ip is held by Ruggia with 19 points, and Gardner a nd Doo han are tied for fou rt h with 17. Ducados Yam aha's J uan Garri ga , sixth today , is sixth in the champ ion sh ip with 16 po ints ; Schwa ntz (15) is sevent h, Magee and Sarro n are tied for eig h th wit h 13 and Ca m psa Honda's Si to Po ns is 10th with I I point s. Pons, the no n -defen d i ng 250cc World Cha mp ion, was running fifth whe n his H onda NSR500 suffered a suspected broken gearbox. So wh at o n paper appeared to be a season' full of suspense, now looks

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