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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127269
pas t Merkel. McE lnea was ru nn ing a
new Du nl op wet front that didn 't lik e
the deep wet that much . but once a drier
line eme rged it hoo ked up. Mc filn ea
went o n to set th e fastest lap of the race.
a 2:14.92.
Mert en s took Vieira into the S-be nd
on lap n in e and a lap la ter repeated
the effort o n Piro van o , who promp tly
repassed h im . It looked slow. bu t the
front three were giving no quarter as
Vieira di scovered on la p 1·1.. Enteri ng
the sweepi ng left after the Bosch Kurve,
he lost the front end and went down.
escaping with a damaged finger. Later.
he claimed Mertens had forced h im o ff
the eme rg ing dry lin e while tryi ng to
pass. but Merten s den ied it. .
" I was very surprised he said th at. H e
sa w me pass h im on th e dry line . . . it
was my ad vantage. Wha t can I do? I
can 't go o nto the grass .to let Vieira o n
the dry lin e," said Merten s.
" I am u n ha p py abo u t th is thing wit h
V ieira," co nt in ued Merten s. "I don 't
wan t to fa ll o u t wi th a nyo ne - pa rticul arl y wit h Vieira wh o is a frien d a nd
a tea m ma te."
I
Mertens wasn 't o n ly tal ki ng to Vieira
after race o ne. He nearl y went down
h imself sta rt ing th e la st lap when
Spa n iard Juan Lopez-Mella crashed hi s
Nivea RC30 co mi ng onto the front
straigh t an d Mert ens got tangled up
wit h the slid ing bik e. Mell a cla im ed he
was hit . but agai n . Mert ens den ied it.
" We never to uched. I was in fron t
of him a nd th en I felt something
p u lli ng me back a nd I didn 't kn ow wha t
it was. I sh u t the th ro ttle and sta rted
weaving a nd th en it was a lright. I
loo ked down a nd saw Mella 's bike
slid ing o n the gr ound next to me,"
exp la ined Mert en s.
Mella sus ta ined a cu t finger, whi le
the pi t lane wa tched in a maze me nt as
h is bike skidded u p th e tra ck for
hundreds of yards before fina lly co mi ng
to rest.
T ha t ga ve Piro va no the breath in g
space he needed to win by so me four
seco nds. Al the chec kered flag . Phillis
too k thi rd for h is best result of the year.
just holding o ff Andersson.
. " I just abo u t go t h im ," smiled the
a miab le Swede, " b u t I went o ff th e dry
line to pass so me backmark ers a nd lost
ti me."
Gschwe nder took a n unexpected a nd
de ligh ted fifth to give Suzu ki so me thi ng
to sm ile ab out, while McEln ea fo ugh t
back lO sixth.
Merkel a nd Roch e ba ttled arou nd for
sevent h a nd eigh th , bot h still sma rting
a fter they'd tried to ga in a n extra 30mi nu te wai t before the sta rt and been
reb u ked by the o ther riders. Monti. li ke
Merkel unhapp y wi th hi s Pirell i wets .
was n int h a nd Amatriain ca me in a
deserved 10th a fter a ba tt lin g rid e.
Ra ce tw o
T he weather was g lori ous for race two
and so was th e battle for th e win. In
the early laps. a 15-bike lead gr oup
sna ked its way arou nd th e rises, fall s
a nd swoops. Gradua lly , six bikes p u lled
clear - Mert en s a nd Piro vano , who
wert' swa pp ing th e lead frequentl y, p lus
Roch e. Mer kel , Ph ill is a nd Mont i.
McE lnt'a was tryin g despera te ly to
br idge the ga p, while a seco nd, eq ua lly
fierce g ro up co m pr ise d Mou n ier .
Viei ra, Andersso n , Su honen a nd Ma rk.
Vieira's bik e refused to run clean ly for
the first five la ps, p rob ab ly beca use it
~ad in gested so me cr ud wh en he crashed
III race one.
BUI th e pace wasn 't tha t hard up
fro nt, on ly I:5:lS.
" We were no t so Ia st," sa id Merten s.
" Pirovano a nd Roch e were no t riding
perfect - it was not fun ."
Sti ll. it was en tertai ni ng. T he six of
thl'm would co me o nto th e stra igh t stem
to stem. the leader weavin g to brea k th e
o
Ci'l
Ci'l
-
~
00
World Endurance Champion Alex Vieira (15) was impressive. running as high as third before crashing in the wet first race.
d raft, then th ey'd fan ou t across the tra ck
t o brake for th e S-bend. One la p .
Mertens a nd Roche rod e the circu it's
o n ly series of tight turns side-by-side.
the former event ua lly g iving wa y. much
lO the joy of the Duca ti fa ns. Phillis
a nd Monti were performing simila r
ant ics at th e rea r of the trai n.
Ph ill is di sappeared on lap n in e. th e
Ka wasa ki's engine hav ing go ne onto
two cylinders. Phill is was a lso suf fering
the usu a l brak e fading prob lems so met h ing th e Au stra lian team ha s
banled to solve a ll year. Need less to say,
t he A us tra l ia n wa s d esperatel y
disappointed.
" I was a ll over them. I don 't kn ow
if I wo uld have won . but 1 wou ld ha ve
been right there, I co u ld ha ve passed
them ' a ll un der brakes if th ey'd been
working," Phill is claimed.
McEl nea hri efly mad e it o nto th e ta il
of the lead group , riding fiercely on th e
u nd erpowered Loctit e Yamaha . but a
moment a t the ch icane lost h im 20
yards. th e draft, and a ny cha nce of
ge tting o n terms wit h the leaders.
Merkel and Monti were next to feel
the hea t: " We just d id n 't ha ve th e
stra ig h tli ne spe ed ," lamented tuner
Norris Farrow. The World Champion
was passed by h is teammate o n the last
la p. but was wa ved back past a nd took
fourth . Monti now knows how th in gs
work a fter fin ish ing ahead of. Merkel
in Ca nada.
Finally. Mertens and Roche shook
o ff Pirovano. With three laps to go.
th e Fren chman put th e h ammer down
a nd th e two of them streaked away.
~ ha tteri ng. th e la p record th ree ti mes
III su ccessio n.
R oche led into th e la st lap as h e
h ad agains t Mertens a t Hocken heirn
a n d Bra in erd . a n d o nce a ga in h e lost
0 111.
" I p assed him down into the Bosch
Kurve," Mertens exp la ined lat er, " I had
top end on h im righ t at the end o f th e
long stra ig ht, It was th e on ly p lace I
co u ld gel him beca use he was rid in g
a lo t hard er, br ak in g a lot ha rder. T he n .
I was anx ious , a nd in the lasI co rn er
I mi ssed fourth gear and I though t
Roc he wou ld get me."
•
He d id n 't. T he ga p was j us t 0.2 o f
a seco nd. and a new la p recor d o f
I:53.875 was :\1ertens: as well. set On the
last lap.
In the absence of Terry R ym er . R o b McElnea (19) was the sole Loctite Yamaha
entry, posting a pair o f sixth-place finishes. Anders Andersson (5) wen I 4-9 .
So a n noyed was Roche to lose out
again that he refused to parta ke in th e
lap o f honor .
P iro vano racked u p h is biggest points
haul of the year wit h thi rd ahea d o f
th e two scrapp ing R u m i men. McElnea
was a lonel y six th , while Vieira came
0'
o u t o n top o f th e seco nd grOllI"
Ra ymo nd Roche (Due): 9. Baldassarre Monu (lion ):
10. Dan iel Ama l.riain (Ha n); I I. J Qn . ~1ichd ~fa ujol i
(Hon): 12. Stefano Carccchi (Due); 13. Mauro Rin :i
(Ka w); 14. j ean Yves Me unier (Yam): 15. Ren e Deb by
(Ho n); 16. T on i Mar in o Ga rcia (Yam); 17. Rob i
Sch lafli (Ho n); 18. Bruno Bon h uil (Ha n); 19. ~fa u ro
Masue lli (D uc); 20. Wolfl:"n ~ Mockd (lion); 21.
Aldeo Presciuui (Yam); 22. Peter G rana th (Hon ); ~ .
T o ni Rechberger (Yam): 21. Havier Arenas (Han);
25. LUll Fa hr (Hon ).
Time 37 min.. 1. 51 5 ~ .
Resu lts
Margin O(Vic10ry: 4.031 sec,
Fastest Lap: Ro b M ~ El n ~ . 2:14.492. 97.I M mph
d
R AC E TI\'O: 1. Stepha ne Mer tens (Ho n); 2.
Ravm ond Roche (Due); 3. Fabrizi o Pirova no (Ya m );
.1. Fred Merkel (Ho n): 5. Baldassarre :\Iom i (Ho n);
Q UAu n 'ISG: I. Steph ane
~kfl.1l> (1:51.636); 2.
Fal appa ( I :5-1.968 ); ~ . Ra ymond Roc he
4. Fred ~f ('fkd (1:. 0.250); 5. 8a lda~!ioa rr('
'
Gia nca rlo
(1:55 .087 );
~ I oll ti ( 1:55.267 ); 6. AIt."X Vieira (1:55 .564); 7. R o b
Phil l i ~ (1 : 5 5.705 ): 8. Davide T ardozzi ( 1: 5 5 . i~1 ); 9. Rub
Mc£Jnrn ( 1:.')5.9 10, : 10. j ea n Yves Mo u n it'r ( 1:56.038 );
II. j ari Suhonm ( 1:56.086): 12. jt":," ~ M i( he! Ma tt io li
( 1:!'Xi. 126); I ~ . Anders Andersson ( 1:56. 135 ): 1·1. Stefa no
C
auuch i ( 1:56.299); 15. Fabrizio Pir o va no (1:;)6.3 16);
16. Odo Ma ll (I :56. ~ 28): 17. Ma u rn R irc i (1:56.35 4);
18. Ernst Clodlwender (1:56.539 ); 19. Peter Rubano
( 1:56..'>90 ): ~)(). Ant on Hei fer (1:;)7.062 ); 2 1. Aldeo
Pn-sciuui (1;.,)7 .067 ); :!2. Da niel Am.nriaiu ( 1:.17.27fi);
23. Christian Zwc m ( 1:57.365) ; 2·1. Rf'IH' Ot'I"li y
do
(\ :57.Si7 ); 25. Edwin w eibel (1:57.5-12); 26. juan
M t'i );t·l.opt'l ( I :57.6 13); 27. Mauro Mastn-lli ( I :5 ~. 2 1 1 ) ;
28. \\'olfKan~ Moc kel ( I :59. 366 ): 29 . I.U I I Fah r
( 1:58.896 ); 30. G er hard i\.birhl lft'T ( 1:58.986); 3 1. Bruno
Bon huil ( 1:5!:U 77 ); 32. Rn b i Sdalani (1:59.5+11; g3.
1·I;I\,jt'r An'nas ( I:59.576); 3·1. Cctard Vallee ( I ::)9.:)83);
3.1). P C-It 'l Gr ana th ( I:59.829): 36. T o n i Rc
rhbe-r ge-r
(2:00.027).
.
O~ E: I. Fabrizi o P iro va no (Ya m ); 2.
M t'rtm~ C
Hon ); 3, Ro h P h ill i ~ (lU w); 4.
AIltIt'r~ And("f ~n (Ya m); 5. EmM G!Khwrnckr (S UI) :
6. Ro b Mt Eln ~ (Ya m ): 7. Fred :\.fn l C"1 (Ho n); 8.
R AC E
Slt1 >hant"
Distance: 16 la ps . 55.552 milo
Av