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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127269
World Championship Road Race Series:Round 8.
(Fro m left to right) Rainey, Schwantz and Lawson celebrate. Schwan tz pi cked
up three points on Rainey, but the la tter still hol ds a comfortable points lead.
Doriano Ro m boni rode his H on da to the 125cc G P win at Assen . The Italian
rider dominated the class, beating Bruno Casanova by II.ISS seconds.
fou r-rider battle fo r eig ht h . H e would
hold h is spo t, bu t th rough attri tion
woul d finish fifth.
On th e 15th lap Cornu cras hed ,
un h u rt , destroy i ng hi s bike. H e
returned to the pi ts, handed h is front
brake reservo ir to his team ma nager
and said: ' 'I' m afra id th at' s all that's
left of the bike." H e a lso said the crash
was his own fau lt and that he j ust go t
on the gas too ear ly and slid off.
When Cornu crashed the field sprea d
out sligh tly an d Kocinski emerged
with th e lead. Ca rd us was second with
Cadalora thi rd ahea d of Zeelenberg
and Schmid.
Two laps la ter and Cadalora was in
the lead, a si tuation that Koc ins ki had
dealt with badl y in previou s races . This
time it wou ld be different , tho ugh not
entirely of Kocins ki's doing.
Cadalora led the last lap out of
"Stru bben " and down the backstraight
befor e Kocinski drafted past befor e the
dou b le ri gh ts. Kocins ki was cleanly
p ast a ba ck marke r, but Cad a lora
bot ched his pass and slid off into the
grass. He got restarted quickl y and
took off withou t checki ng hi s front
brakes. Wh en he arrived at the chica ne
for the last time, in sixth place, he had
no brakes and slid into the gravel.
Kocinski too k th e win, Cardus was
second, Zeelen berg third a nd Schmid
fourt h.
" I was in th e right pl ace at the righ t
time then," Kocinski said. " I stayed
back for a whi le becau se 1 didn 't want
to waste my energy a t the front. T he
last few races have been to ug h and 1
had mad e a lo t of mi stak es before I
go t to Assen. T ha t's just inexperien ce,
but I'm begin n in g to learn. "
£N
Resu lts
T hree of the o ther four ri ders on the
front row were Marlboro Yam ahas
with Roberts' J ohn Kocinski second
fastest o n h is fir st visit to Assen .
Kocinski called the track: "The most
di fficult I've had to learn." Before
adding, " If I'd man aged to get in
another lap, we would have been in
th e eig h ts."
Kocinski said tha t bein g 6 m ph
down o n to p speed made i t more
diff icult since he had to bo th learn the
track and set the bike up . " T here are
so man y combi natio ns and the surface
is so smoo th that 1 th ink a lot of guys
are havin g cha tter probl ems," he said.
T here was a prevail ing belief that
wh en Kocinski go t to E uro pe h e
wo uld n 't fin d it as easy as th e earl ier
ro unds in Japan and Lagu na Seca,
tracks he knew well, and a t Assen he
agreed.
" I have to learn not to get beat on
the last lap ," he said. " T here are so
many guys slipstreaming and battling
and 1 never ha d tha t in my professio nal
career. If I've learn ed any th ing it's
wh ere to be o n the last lap. "
T h ird fastest was L ucky Strike Elf's
J acq ues Cornu , o n the fro nt row fo r
the first tim e th is year. The Mar lboro
Agostini Yamah as of Cada lo ra and
Alex Crivill e fill ed the fro nt row .
Cada lora sai d hi s a ttem p t to gra b the
pole wa s hampered by a gearshi ft
problem in the last session , but he was
convinced he had th e proper set up for
the race.
The secon d row of the gr id consisted
of th ree Ap rilias and a Honda. Aprilia's Didier de Radigues was sixth
followed by HB Aprilia's Lori s Reg-
g iani , Shimizu, a nd Ma rcellin o
Lucch i.
H om etown favorite Zeelenberg was
on th e pole . for the th ird row , qua lifying just tenths ahead of fello w
H onda riders J och en Schm id and
Pr eining, both ridin g in p lace of
injured rid ers. Zeelenberg was still
slo wed by h is cras h in Yugoslavia and
wasn' t confident of hi s cha nces.
The West Ge rman Schmid, who had
ridden the Lu cky. Strike Honda of
Corn u during hi s convalescence, was
now o n the HB Honda of Reinhold
Roth, wh o had crashed in Yugoslavia
su fferi ng a bro ken jaw a nd h ead
inj uri es.
250cc Gra n d Prix
Bad wrist and all, Zeelen berg led the
pack across the stri pe at the end of the
first lap while the cro wd cheere d hi m
on . Clos e beh ind were Cornu, Cardus,
Shi mizu, and Kocin ski, with Prein in g
at the tail end of th e gro up.
By the fourth lap tWO separat e races
had eme rged with Cardus lead ing the
top seven and Aprili's Carlos Lavad o
leading fellow Apri lia rider Mart in
Wim mer, Schmid, and de Radi gu es.
L ucchi was 12th.
The lead g ro u p swa pped p laces
every lap and th e rider who crossed the
finis h line first was rarely the fir st rider
thro ugh the " Stru bben ," th e loop ing
hairp in bend leadi ng do wn to a set of
kinks onto the backstraight.
T en laps int o the 20-lap race, Cornu
was still in the lead, margina ll y ahead
of Cardus, Cada lora, Kocin ski, Sh imizu and Zeelenberg. Prein in g rod e
alon e in sevent h, well ahead of the
125 Q UAU FYt NG : I. H an s Spaan (1:19.726 ); 2.
Dori ano Romboni (2:20.002); 3. Bru n o Casanova
(2:20.209 ); 4. Ar i Stad ler (2:20.422); 5. H ans L uethi
(2;20. 778); 6. R. Waldm an n (2:20.982); 7. J orge
Mar tina (2:21.064 ); 8. L. Ca piross i (2:2 1.212); 9. A.
Gramigni (2:2 1.219); 10. Peter Oe d l (2;2 1.320); 11.
S. Kurfiss (2:2 1.339); 12. Ro bin Milto n (2:21.57 1);
13. Dirk Ra udi es (2:21.660); 14. G . Debbi a (2:21.666);
15. Fau sto G resi n i (2:21.823) ; 16. S tefa n P rein
(2: 2 1.88 1); 17. D. Br iga gli a (2:22.25 1); 18. H .
Unemoto (2:22.502); 19. M. Vitali (2:22.590 ); 20.
Ro bin App leyar d (2 :22. 780) ; 2 1. Mik e Lei tner
(2:22.902): 22. Julian Miral les (2:22.940 ); 23. Man uel
H ern a n dez (2:23.083) ; 24. Man uel
H errer os
(2:23. 193); 25. Steve Pa tri ckson (2:23.368); 26. J oh nn y
Wickstroem (2:23.380); 27. E. Cuppini (2:23.394); 28.
F. Kistrup (2:23.440); 29. T. Feu z (2:23.486); 30. A.
Wa ibel (2:23.488); 3 1. H. Koo pman (2:23.497); 32.
S. Edwards (2:23 .585); 33. Hans Abold (2:23.622 ); 34.
J . Ma rian o (2:23.640 ); 35. P. Galv in (2:23.8 12); 36.
A. Sa nc hez (2:24.011).
250 Q UALIFYING: I. Ca rlos Cazdus (2:08.926);
2. J oh n Koc inski (2:09.05 1); 3. J acq ue, Cornu
(2:09.37 1); 4. L uca Cadalora (2:09.433); 5. Alex
Cr iville (2:09.583); 6. Didie r de Radi gu es (2:10.1( 9 );
7. Loris Regianni (2:10.165); 8. Masahir o Shimizu
(2: 10. 25 7); 9. M. L uce hi (2 : 10. 624) ; 10. Wileo
Zedenberg (2:10.738) ; I I. Jochen Sch mid (2;10.780);
l2. Alex Prein ing (2:11.163); 13. Car los Lavad o
(2: 11.360); 14. Hara ld Eckl (2: 11.378 ); 15. Martin
Wimm er (2:11.623 ); 16. Jo rge Mart inez (2:1 1.938); 17.
Alberto Puig (2: 12.051 ); 18. C. Catalano (2: 12.053 );
19. B. Haen ggeli (2:12. 144); 20. A. Bor go novo
(2: 12.253) ; 2 1. U . J ucker (2: 12.764); 22 . Adri an
Mar illa s (2:12.936 ); 23. Pao ln Casoli (2:12.996); 24.
Eric N eu m a i r (2: 13.2 J8 ); 25 . Ren o C o l leo n i
(2:13.220); 26. Fau sto R icci (2: 13.239); 27. H ans
Becker (2:13.965); 28. A. Bron ec (2: 13.990) ; 29. Kevin
Mitchell (2:14.07 1); 30. Jean Fo ra y (22:14.270); 3 1.
B. Kassner (2:14.454); 32. R. Nicot te (2:1 4.777); 33.
J . Barresi (2:14.8 18).
500 Q UAUFYING: I. Kevin Schwa n tz (2:03.207);
2. Wa yne Rainey (2:03.381); 3. Edd ie Lawson
(2:03.886); 4. Wayne Gard ner (2:04.0 17); 5. N iall
Mackenzie (2:04.4. 4); 6. Ch ris tia n Sarron (2:04.740);
5
7. Michael Dooh a n (2:05.006); 8. Ran dy Mamola
(2:05. 1470 ; 9. J ua n Garri ga (2:05.490 ); 10. J.P.
Ruggia (2:05.504 ); II. P .F. Chil i (2:05.828 ); 12.
Nor ih iko Fuj iwa ra (2:06.397); 13. Ro n H aslam
(2:07. 122); 14. Alex Barr os (2:07.742); 15. V. Sca rola
(2: 10.595); 16. Mar co Pa pa (2: 12.0 16); 17. Eddie
La ycock (2: 12.083); 18. K. T ruchsess (2: 12.52 1); 19.
E. Ku pa r ine n (2: 13.238) : 20 . C. Doo ra kkers
(2: 13.238); 21. Nigg i Schm assma n (2:14.972).
Sln EC AR Q UALI FYISG: I. !\. Iidwl Hirc-hall
(2 : 11.766) ; 2 . Webster /S imm ons (2: 12.025 ); 3.
Bila nd /Wahisperg (2:13.070); 4. Zurb ru egg/ Zurbru egg (2:13.275); 5. Streuer vDe H aas (2: I H 83); 6.
Eg lof UEg loff (2: 13.958); 7. Abb ot t/ Sm ith (2: 14.000);
8. Kum ano / Roesinger (2:14.218); 9. Kum aga ya/
Houghton (2:14.4 10); 10. Guedd /G uedel (2: 15.040 );
II. Van Kem pen / Kuyt (2: 15.10 1); 12. Progin /lrlan
(2: 15.2 47); 13. Jones/ Bro wn (2: 15.554); 14. Brin dley/
T ailford (2: 15. 840 ); 15. Bo h n b ot s tvBc ett ch er
(2 : 15.995 ); 16. Kl a ffe n h /Pa rze r (2 : 16. 150 ); 17.
St oelz le/Stoelz le (2: 16.248 ); 18. Huegli / H aen n i
(2:2: 17.448); 19 . Ga llro s/ Mela nd er (2: 17.469); 20.
Sm i rh vSm i rh (2: 17.55 4) ; 2 1. H o wl es/P oi nt er
(2 : 18.003 ); 22. Wyssen / Wyssen (2 : 18. 123 ); 23.
S