Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

BROIDucr.wu~~~~SUT~~~=~~~=rie=S:~h=@=d~3 ~ Frenchman Ra ymond Roche finished first and second in Hungary to double his points lead over American Fred Merkel. Two-time and defending World Superbike Champion Merkel defeated Roche in the first leg. but had to settle for sixth in the second leg after a horrendous sta rt. Roche! Merkel split wins in Hungary By Bruce Newton File photos by Pa trick Gosling HUNGARORING, HUNGARY, MAYI f a ny body didn 't kn ow it before th e th ird ro u nd of th e World Ch ampionship Superbike Series at the Hungaroring they certa in ly kn ew it I 28 afterw ards - Raymond Roche ca n wi n a nywhere. The Du cati-mourued Roche went 2I to double hi s poi nts lead over Honda 's defe nding World Champio n Fred Merkel to 14. But the tight nature o f th is 2.48-mile circu it nea r Buda pest wasn 't su pposed to be Du cat i terri tory. T here's no d oubtin g th e terrific punch of the factory Vvtwins, but th ey weren't su pposed to handle. Last year Roche smashed a Duke to bits tryin g to stic k wit h Merk el. T his year, although he was never exac tly ha ppy with th e way it co rne red . th e Fren chman obv io us ly had it o perati ng well eno ugh to do th e job. . For Merkel it was a stra nge day. H e actually closed to within four poi nts o f his rival with a strong win in the first 25-lapper on hi s Rumi RCM T eam H onda RC30, bu t cou ld ma nage no better tha n sixth in the second thanks to an atrocious sta rt - even by hi s sta ndards - and tire p robl em s whi ch nearly pi tched him dow n th e road. Rothe's teammate Giancarlo Fal appa 's Worl d Ch ampionshi p cha lle nge su ffered a setback wh en he loo ped hi s Duca ti whi le chasing Merkel in race one, a nd struggled to seventh in race two on his spare. The sensa tion of th e meetin g was Austra lia n Malcol m Ca mpbel l. Ri ding Aus tria n Walter Adl er 's Ea gl e Racin g H onda RC30, he sco rched to pole pos itio n o n Su nday a nd a lways ra n in th e top group Monday. Fell owAuss ie a nd ca ree r- lo ng r iva l Rob Phill is had nothing but problems o n th e T eam Shin Etsu Kawasak i Internati on al ZXR7 50, th ough. Sho wi ng good form were Brit Rob McElnea on th e Loctite Yamaha and Belg ian Stephane Merten s. wh o challen ged Roch e hard in race two. Speci a l mention sho uld go to T erry Rymer , th e Londoner ridi ng well desp ite hi s injured wrist and a severe dos e of flu . But th e da y - despite expec ta tio ns - belon ged to Du cati. If Roch e ca n win here, what ca n he a nd Fa lappa do on th e wid e ope n spaces o f H ock enhei rn in th e next round? More to th e poi nt , wh at ca n Merkel a nd Co. do to sto p them? Q ualifying Several riders were m issing fro m th e previous ro u nd a t Doningt on , most _ not ably H onda Britain ' s duo Carl Fogarty a nd J am ie Wh ith am a nd th e Du rex Suzu ki o f Rog er Burnett. There was o ne importa nt addition th at was ' to prove very sign ifica nt - Ca mpbell. If th ere was o ne common co m p lai nt amongst th e ride rs it Was a bo u t th e li mited practice - just o ne hour befor e the two 45-m in u te qualifyin g sessions. It m eant m any wo u ld go into Su nday's qualifying still trying to ge t set-u ps sorted a nd so me had just th e hour to learn th e co m p lex track before qualifying sta rte d. Wh en th ey did ge t o ut, th e rid ers foun d th e track part icularl y th e ti ght co m binatio n o f left-rights a t th e back o f the ci rcu it - to be ro ugher th an ever. No doubt truck a nd F-I races had so me th ing to do w ith th a t. Mich elin react ed to it s drubbing a t the hands o f Merk el in Hungar y last year b y bringing o u t a new rear d evelopmental tir e for this meeting. Availabl e to th eir five top rid ers Roch e, Fa la p pa, Mert ens , Phillis a nd Fa bri zio Pi ro vano - th e tir e was a new co ns truct io n a nd new profi le u s in g th e 142 3 prod u ctio n tir e co m po u nd. Mich e li n ' s G erard Ca ba ntou s ex p la i n ed th a t bes id es bein g a n attemp t to redr ess th e bal ance with P irelf i, it wo uld also serve as a valua ble test for w he n th e Grand Prix ven tures to Hunga ry fo r the fir st time la ter in th e year. . It was Ca mpbell who ended up stu n n ing all th e usu al sta rs by pl acin g Adl er 's bike o n pole with a I minute. 48.394 second lap - th e fastest tim e ever recorded arou nd th e Hungarorin g - nearl y 0.5-of-a -seco nd a head o f Fal appa. Riding basically a kit H onda with carbs, igni tio n a nd a pi pe , the defendin g Au stralian S uperbike Ch ampion had brought from Au stral ia, alo ng with hi s H onda Ra cing Au stral ia mech anic Rod ' Works' Sharp. Campbell had not sta rred in ei the r practice or th e fir st q ua lifying sessio n. The co mbina tio n o f a longer swi ngarm for > sessio n two to help th e bike dr ift pr edi ctabl y, a new Mich elin radi al front and a clear lap o n a circuit wh ere th at rar el y occurs a nd th e o ld mast er took hi s cha nce. Still , he ex p ressed su rp rise (a nd deligh t) a t pol e, but a lso a tou ch o f reali sm th at co mes with nearly 20 years o f bik e racing: " I don 't think I ca n win . bei ng rea listi c . . . T he biggest probl em is tha t I do n 't ha ve the ho rsepo wer. La st year I qua lified well here (sixth) but th ey j ust wa lked past on th e straights a nd I kept slipping down the order. " Fal a ppa had hea ded qualifyin g afte r sessio n o ne b ut was unabl e to improve in session two an d had to sett le for seco nd pl ace o n 1:48.785. T eam mana ger Marco Lucch in elli co uld shed n o light on th e problem , if th ere was one. Merk el , riding a 1990 R&D chassis for th e first time, was third - th e Donington water lo ss p roblem s still per sist in g. Tha t co m b ined with a front-end tire p rob lem that cou ld be reduced but no t era dica ted by a switch from bias-p ly to radial front meant he cou ld not bett er hi s 1989 lap record (1:49.2), let a lo ne his even quicker '89 q ualifying time (1:48.86). Roche, plugging a way a t a race setup, was fourth afte r much shock and . front tir e cha nging and Mertens fifth despite all sorts of handling problems with th e T otal/Bel-Ray RC30, having modified o ne o f hi s R&D chassis and run a sho rte ned swingarm. H e set his fast tim e o n hi s sta ndard R&D frame fitt ed with a lon ger sw ingarm. At least hi s engines were holding th eir water. McEln ea, runn in g Ohlins inverted for ks a nd J apan ese Dunl ops for th e

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