Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eROAD RACE e W 'ship Road Race Series: Round 7 orldC u nder four seconds beh ind. R olf Bil and was fo u rth, cl o se b ehind, a n d Ku m a g a ya defeating the Zurbruegg b ro th ers for fi fth . W eb ster sti ll leads the title by a comforta b le 32 p o ints from Mi chel , looking for a fo urth successive win. T he .E n g lish rn a n a lso got a boost to h is confidence w hen it was a nnou nced that h e a n d former passenger T o ny H ewitt h ad won the MB E (Member of the Bri tish Empire ) a ward i n Q u een E liz a b eth 's birthda y h onors li st. l'N Results 125ccQ UAt.lFYING: J. j orge Martinez(I:37.191) ; 2. Stefan Prein (1:37.968); 3. A. C ramigni (1:38.291); 4. D. Ro mb o n i ( 1:38.3 15); 5. Bruno Casanova (1:38.313): 6. L Capirossi (1:38.399): 7. TiCIT)' Feuz (1:38.348): 8. Ari Stadler (1:38.759): 9. G. Debbia (1 :38.358); 10. Dirk Raudies (1:38.983): II. R. Waldmann (1:38.431): 12. Mauro Vitali (1:38.992): Gr~ini (1:39.010); IS. jul ian Miralles(1:38.619): 16. johnny Wicksuocm (1:39.258); 17 Hans Spaan (1 :39.077): . 18. Alex Waibel (1:39.301); 19. Manu el H erreros (1 :39.163): 20. Peter Oeul (1:39.398): 21. J. V an Dongen (1: 9.595): 22. Stefan Derflinger (1 :39.79 3 5): 23. Robin Milton (1:39.627): 24. S. Kurfiss(1:40.092); 25. Allan SCOll (1:39.653):26. Hans Abold (1:40.1 58): 27. E. Cuppini (1:.!J9.725); 28. Steven Pat rickson (1:40.171 ): 29. P. Galvin (1 :39.887): 30. Robin Appleyard(1:40.198);81.H. Koopman (I:39.896): 32. H . Une mot o ( 1:40.414); 33. Man uel Herna nd ez (1 :40.129): 34. B. H assa ine (1:40.614): 35. Mike Leimer (1 :40. 163): 36. Z. Matulja (1:40.701). ·1 25cc Q ualifyi ng wa s run in I WO groups wit h the tim es staggered acco rdingly. 500ccQUAt.lFYING: I. Wayne Rainey(1 :28.433): 2. Kevin Sch wan tz (1:28.911); 3. Niall Mackenzie (1:29.8SS):4. P.F. Chili (1:29.911): 5. MichaelDoohan (1:30.082): 6. Site Pons (1:30.254 ):7. Randy Mamola (1:30.378): 8. j .r . Ruggia (1:30.883): 9. juan Garriga (1:30871): 10. RonHaslam(1:32.198); II. AlexBarros (1:32.561): 12 Marco Papa (1:33.345): 13. V. Scaro la . (1 :33.905): 14. K. T ruchsess (1:34.634 ): IS. C. Doora kkers ( 1:36.09 3 ); 16. N igi Sc hmassma n (I :36.803). SIDECAR QUALIFYING: I. Biland/ Wallispcrg (1:33.391): 2. Michd lBirchali (1:33.451);3. Webster/ Simmons (1:33.879); 4. Streuer/ De Haas (1 :35.2SS): 5. Egloff/Egloff(I:35.332):6. Kumagaya/ Houghtcn (1 :35.400); 7. Abbon/Smith (1 :35.71 5): 8. Kumano/ Rocsinger (1:36.026):9. BrindleylTaillord (I:36.115): 10. Zurbruegg/ Zurbruegg ( I:36. 122); I I. Progin/ Irlam (1:36.269): 12. j ones/Brown (1:36.273): 13. Klafenb/ Parzer (1:36.535): 14. Smith zSmirh (1 :36.663): IS. Scherer/ Hitler (1:36.764): 16. Stoelale/ Stoe lete (1:37.030): 17. Van Kempen/Kuyt (1:37.276): 18. Bohnhorsr/B oeuch er (1:37.425); 19. Wyssen / Wyssen (1:38.122); 20. Thcrnaa/S trevens (1:38.296): 21. Stropek/Aichlseder (1:38.SS9): 22. Gallros/ Berglund (1:38.741); 28. Baker/Soon (1:38.776): 24. Boesinger/Markwalder (1:39.771): 25. Guedel/ Guedel (1:41.886). 12Xc GP: l. Stefa n Prein (Han); 2. L Cap iro~ i (AGV ); 3. Bruno Casa no va (Ho n); 4. R. Waldma nn (Cob) ; 5. Dori an o Rom boni (Ha n); 6. Faus loGresini (Hon):7. Ad Sladler (Cob): 8. Mauro Vitali (Gal): oll 9. A. Gramigni (Apr): 10. Robin Millun (Hon); II. Hans Lu eth i (Hon); 12. Han s S ~a n (Han); 13. Dirk Raudies (Han): 14. johnny W,oo trocm (Cob): IS. Robin Appleyard (Hon); 16. S. Kurfiss (Hon): 17. Manuel H ern andez (H o n); 18. H . H oopman (Han); 19. P. Galvin (Han): 20. Z. Matulja (Hon): 21. J. Van Dong (Hon): 22. Alan Soon (Gar): 28. Sleve en Patrickson (Han); 24. Mike Leit ner (Hon); 25. T ierry FeUl (Hon): 26. Alex Waibel (Hon): 27. juli an Miralle, (Cob). Distance: 19 laps, 49.09 mi les. Time: 3 1 min., 36.931 S«. Average Speed: 93.180 mph. Margin o(Vietory: .030 sec. Fu .es. Lap: D. Romboni, 1:38.076,94.85 mph. :mice GP: I. Carlos Cardus (Hon): 2. j ohn 12 s th e 1990 Grand Prix road race season j inxed? Among grow ing sto rm clo uds o utside th e spo rt - a m i-to bacco leg slatio n th warting T V a m b itions , en viro n men ta l i issues crowd ing in - a n d the ever-sh rin king 500cc grid, th e Yu gosla vian G P was a horrib le meetin g , th at left a bitter taste in the m outh . There was a sea o f troubles, with wav e upon breaking wave, each rarsmg fresh a nd unco mfortable issues , a n d cu lm ina ting w ith a stupid a n d g hastly acci de nt that a t th e li m e o f writing has th e life o f a ffa ble and hard-riding veteran R einho ld R o th .ha n g in g in th e ba lance. It was as th ough GP road racing , after a pe ri od o f growing dep ressi on, was pi cking its scabs, 10 expose every thing unsav ory abo utitself. It reveal ed a co m p lex intertangled m ess, a nd it is hard 10 know w here to beg in to unravel it. P erha ps it is most important, in th e first p lace, to kno w all abo u t th e straw bales. These sta nd along the trackside in lieu of a p roper pit wa ll extensio n , a nd prevent riders (ba n king right a n d braking h ard from 160-plus mph) fro m cu tting across th e bumps o f th e pit ex it ro ad, to gain a more favorable position for th e flick -and-dive left 10 sta n o ne of th e tra ck's several specta cu la r three-or-m ore co rner co m bin a tions. In fact, as Sc h wa n u pointed o u t, th e last bal e in th e line is th e ta rget a nd clipping point a ll riders u se o n th e technicall y com p lex a p p ro ac h to the first co rner. N o w back to 1984, when u ltima te t hampion Eddie Lawson scored a n importa nt victory over Freddie Spencer here: During th e race, the latt er hit hi s knee o n th at crucia l last bale, a nd had to be lifted o ff his bike a fte rwards in agony . (M u ch later , Lawson aci d ly point o ut: " It was a lso possible to miss th e ba les.") Fast fo rward to the Nineti es, th ree. weeks before th e Yu GP (as it 's eco no m ically d ubbed, a nother exam p le o f cost-cu tting) , to a Eu ro pean Championship rou nd here. The tvpi rall y ho tl y contested 250cc race starts: a s alwa ys, th e riders fu nnel into a jostl ing bra w l for th e first bend. This time, o ne h its a bale, knocking it in a mon g the pa ck, a n d himself crash in g in a mong th e w heels. His fu el tank breaks free, and . a you ng Ital ia n rider d ies in th e resu ltant fiery m elee. In Austria this ye r, FIM and IRTA m et to discuss rep lacing th e ba les wi th fixed a p las tic co nes, as in " Road work a head." This id ea wa s finnly vetoed by riders' representative Sito Pons. 11,e ba les stayed in pl ace. U ntil a bou t 10 seconds after th e sta n of th e fir st race of the day. . It was the 125cc class, which produ ced a let hal carbon co py o f the E uropean Championship crash, with II bik es goi n g do wn lik e dominoes - o n ly this time wi thou t flames a nd fata lit ies (the wo rst injury was Hisashi U nemoto's fractured hand). vas bei ng cleared away, the C lerk of th e Course, advised by FIM As th e debris v safely representatives, o rdered th e ba les remo ved co mpletely. Jury chairma n Max Deubel, clad in the regulati on suit, was a mong th ose frantically kicking th em o ut o f the way wh ile m arshalls busily swept a way the fa rmyard clutter , With much scurrying abo u t, a ll were informed that th e bal es were now hi story. To take accou nt o f th e compeiely a l tered (an d da ngerous ly bumpy) fir st -comet approach, eac h class wou ld gel five ins tead o f o ne sight ing la ps . R efu elling would be a llowed o n the grid. That was hastily rescinded; instead a ll races wou ld be shorte n ed by five laps. T he 125cc race would proc eed in half-a n -ho ur. " Is th at yo u r last decision ," a dangerous ly q uiet Kenny Rober ts as ked FIM road race bo ss J o Zegwaard, " o r wi ll th er e be another? " Most riders were dismayed at this sudden a ltera tio n to a crucial pan o f the circuit; the arguments smoldered in th e background. The 125s a n d sidecars raced w it hout them : for th e 500 and 250cc races, they wer e hastily replaced after the stan. . But anot her factor was now in pl a y. T he coveted a nd somewhat fragi le TV co ntracts - th e advertisi ng boar ding th ai dra ws th e big sponsors, a n d IRTA's to uchstone for the fu ture o f G P road racing - we re n o w in jeopardy . In short, the resc heduled 125cc race wo uld clash w ith th e narro w time slot a llo ted on the TV satellite for th e 500cc race, S ince th is was in brea ch o f the co n tract w ith Eurospon, in a packed sports week domina ted by th e W orld C u p soccer matches, the FI M J ury backed IRTA a nd ruled th at th e 125cc race would be reschedu led la ter. The 500cc rid ers started getti ng th eir leathers o n , a nd b ikes started asse m bling in the p re-race pad dock. This hi g h-handed treatm ent o f th e 125s enraged th e h ighly p artisa n Italian fed eratio n man. who was largel y bl amed for fo m enting th e su bseq ue n t rebe ll ion a mong th e 125cc riders, who wer e a lready in occupation o f th e pits, a nd now staged a si t-in o n th e sta n line. The Yugoslavian C lerk o f th e Course ' p rom p tly ca p itulated (a nd w ill later be disciplined fo r it), overturned th e J u ry decision, a n d decreed th ai the 125cc race would go a head a fter a ll, by no w o ne a nd o ne- half hours late. Thankfull y, a clean race ens ued. NOI so fo r di e 5OOs. In th e firs t ben d , IwO Cagivas somersaulted fro m th e pack; o ne la p lat er, the th ird barrelled into the barri er, a n d caugh t fire. T he n a nast ier crash, w it h Sito Po n s g ra vely hurt a fter tumbling off under Pier- Francesco C h ili's w heels. The 2.:;Os were out stra ig ht away, bu t n o w th e weather was worsen ing. A brill iant race soon de veloped, with eigh t of th e world's best rider s jous ting a n d jostling , o nly . in ches separa ting the m a nd w ith five different lea ders. But as th e end appro ached, so a lso d id th e ra in get hea vier, a n d with four laps lef t, it a lrea dy see med o verd ue that th is banle o n slic k tires shou ld be stopped. In fact , the Ju ry h ad a lready decided to Stop it, but th e race o fficia ls dithered Koc in ski la ter reca lled seeing the red na g be ing readied by th e en d o f lap 24. 11,e tractio n was st ill good - b u t the rai n indirectl y ca used th e terminal cras h, fo r Auslralia n hol ida y racer Darren Milner had promiSt.'t! h is fiancee that he wo u ld pull in if it got too wet. Accordingl y, he was touring , hugging th e curb o n o ne side o f the tr;lck . a n d keeping a good lookout behind him as the leaders a p p roached to la p h im for the Ihird time. U n fortu nalely , when th e pack o f eig lu ca me u pon h im in the fin al esses, h is sa fety line was' a lso th e racing line, an d w h ile Ih e fir st six riders swerved p ast sa fely, onet im e race lea der a n d lap record h older R oth didn't see him in li m e, and ra n up Ihe hack o f him with a speed aifferentia l o f perha ps 70 mph. The Austra lia n wa s unconscio us, with a broken leg a nd shou lder, bUI the 39-yearo ld German was gra\dy injured, with a smashed face, a n d very serio u s head injuries. Fast m an, father of a five-yea r-old so n, and o ne of ra cing's n ice guys, R ein h o ld R o th was 100 ill to be moved by heli co pter, a nd was taken ca ref u lly by road to a n imensive C'dre ward in R ijeka. In another ward, h is breathing assisted by machine, lay Sito Pons , w h o had bea ten Roth to the 1989 250cc World C hampio ns hip. And a sad and widely destmct ive day of G P rdci n g was over at la st. I Reinhold Roth (2), Carl os Cardus (4), Joh n Kocinski (19), He lm ut Bradl (9) an d Luca Cadalora (5) ba ttle in the 250cc GP; Roth suffered serious injuries after colli di ng wit h backmarker Darren Mil ner on th e final lap. Cardus won the race. 1.3. H an s Leu rhi (1:38.557); 14. Fausto Asad da~ in Yug--,-os_la_via _ _ Kocin ski (Yam ); 3. Martin Wimmer (Apr); 4. L ua Cadalo (Yam):5. Helmu. Bradl (Hon);6.Reinhold ra Rot h (Han ); 7. Alex Cr ivi11e(Yam ); 8. J acques Co rnu (Hon): 9. Carlos Lava (Apr); 10. jccben Schmid dc (H a n ); II. Alex Preining (H a n ); 12. Masa h iro Sh imiz u (Han); 15. B. Kassner (Ya m); 16. Adr ian Mor ill as (Apr); 17. Alex Bron ec (Apr); 18. Eric Neu mai r (Yam ); 19. Paolo Casoli (Yam ); 20. Bru no am); 22. U. Haenggel i (Apr); 21. Hans Becker (Y j ucker (Yam): 23. Jean Foray (Yam): 24. Darren Milner (Apr): 25. Didier de Radigues (Apr): 26. Harald Eckl (Hon): 27. A. Borgonovo (Apr): 28.. Alb Puig (Yam); 29. Lo ri, Reggi ani (Apr): 30. ert Ren o Colleoni (Apr); 31. R. Nicoue (Ha n ); 32. Fa usto R icci (Apr); 33. Kevin Mitch ell (Yam ); 34. Albert o Ro ta (Apr). Dista nce: 23 la ps. 59.435 miles. T im e: 35 m in .• 46.457 sec. Average Speeds 99.684 mph . Margin o(Vid ory: .06 1 sec. Fastest Lap: Rei nhuld Ro th . 1:31.952. 101.172 mph . 500cc GP: I. Wayne Rainey (Ya m ); 2. Kevin Schwantz (SUl ); 3. Ni all Mackenzi e (Suz); 4. Mich ael Doohan (Ho n); 5. J .P.'R uggia (Ya m ); 6. Marco Papa (Hon): 7. C. Doorakkers (Hon); 8. K. Truchsess (H o n) : 9. Nigi Schmassman (H on ); 10. V. Scaro la (Han); I I. She Pons (Hon): 12. P.F. Chili (Hon): 13. Alex Barros (Gag ); 14. Juan Ga rriga (Yam ). Dista nce: 32 laps. 82.693 mil es. Time: 48 -m in.. 10.806 sec, Average Speed: 102.980 mph. Margin of Victory: 10.074 sec. Fas test Lap: Wayne Ra ine y, 1:29.220, 104.270 mph. SIDECAR GP: I. Michel/Birchall (Kra): 2. Streuer/De Haas (LCR); 3. Webster /Simmons (Kra) : 4. Bil a n d /Walt i sper g (LCR); 5. Kumagaya / Ho ug hto n (Win); 6. Zurbruegg/Zurbruegg (Ya m) : 7. Progin/lrlam (Kraj: 8. Kumano /Roesinger (LC R ); 9. Egloff/Egloff (Yam); 10. Brindlcy/Tailford (Yam): II. Klaffenh/P arzer (t.CR): 12. jo nes/Brown (t.CR); 13. Bohn horst/Boeucher (LCR); 14. Smlth/ Smi th (Win); 15. Sroelze/Stoelze (Kra ); 16. Van Kempen/Kun [Kra): 17 Abbott/Smith (Yam): 18. . Thomas/Suevens (KIa) ; 19. Sche rer/ H iller (LCR); 20. Wysscn/Wyssen (t.CR). Distance: 24 la ps, 62.0 19 mil es. Time: 38 min.. 8.059 sec. Average S~: 97.58 1 mph. Margin of Vict ory : .057 sec. Fastest Lap: Michel /Birchal l, 1:34.512. 98.131 mp h. 125cc WORLD C'SHIP POI~ T STANDINGS: I. L. Capirossi (83); 2. Stefan Prein (80); 3. Jorge Martinez (60); 4. Dirk Raudies (56); 5. Han s Spaan (54); 6. D. Romboni(41): 7. (TIE)T. Takada/Adolf Stadl er (39); 9. Man uel Hernandez (35); 10. Fa ust o Or esini (24). 2SOcc WORLD C'SHIP POINTSTANDINGS: I. j ohn Kocinski (109):2. Luca Cadalora (93);3. Carlos Cardus (90): 4. Wileo Zeelenberg (78): 5. Helmut Bradl (75):6. Martin Wimmer(66); 7. j cchenSchmid (SS): 8. Reinhold Roth (52); 9. Dominique Sarron (32): 10 Jacques Cornu (28).. . 500cc WORLD C SHIP POINT STANDINGS: I. Wa yne Ra iney (131); 2. Kevin Schwamz (104); 3. Michael Doohan (73); 4. Niall Ma ckenzie (60 ); 5. J.P. Ruggia (54); 6. Sito Pons(52):7. WayneGardner (SO): 8. P.F. Chili (48): 9. j uan Garriga (47); 10. Chri st ian Sarron (44). SIDECAR WORLD C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS, I. S. webster (106): 2. A. Michel (74): 3. R. Biland (67): 4. E. Streuer (63): 5. Kumagaya (54): 6. Gudel (51); 7. S. Abbou (49): 8. Egloff (45); 9. D. jones (40): 10. Kumano (29).

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