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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127270
eROAD RACE
World Championship Road Race Series: Round 9
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Egb ert Streuer and his passenger Geral de H aas ran away and hid in th e Sideca r
Grand Prix, topping Alain Michel and Simon Birchall in the we t GP.
ever o n th e Cagiva . Barros passed
Schwantz o n th e ni nth la p moving u p
to six th in th e p ro cess. Wh en he passed
t he Texa n , h e sai d h e th ou ght
Sch wa n tz must have had a p roblem
with th e bik e or th e tires.
The 11th lap would p rove to be
Mamol a' s undo ing, th ough his day
nearly ended three laps ea rlier. H e'd
lost th e fro nt end in th e sa me spot
, wh ere he wou ld lat er cras h, saving it
with h is kn ee. When he d id fall, he
didn 't know if it was the front or th e
rear because both ends were sliding;
he said.
Aft er Mam ol a cras h ed, Ru g g i a
moved into seco nd behind Rainey and
ahead of La wso n, Sarron, and Barros
and th e order o f th e top five was set.
But th e drama wasn't over as Ruggia
began chip p ing away a t Ra iney's lead.
The lead was abo ut four a nd a half
seco nds when Ruggia m ov ed into
seco nd and he was able to ge t it under
fou r, prompting Rainey to run two of
his fastest laps o n th e fin al two o f th e
race.
" I was hoping to slo w down a t th e
end, but I ac tu all y gassed it up,"
Rainey said. "He ro de a very good race.
I was goi ng faster th an I wanted, I'm
gl ad it's o ver, I was so side ways a t times
I could hardly see th e trac k in front
of m e."
Ruggia was a ll sm iles o n the victory
sta nd, a second pl ace mad e swee ter
becaus e hi s spo n so r, G aul oi ses
Blondes, a lso sponsors th e rac e.
La wso n finished 16 seconds behind
Ru ggi a in th ird , after findi ng he'd
cho sen the wrong rear tire. " I wen t for
too so ft a rea r tire a nd as the race went
on I co uld n ' t ge t grip," La wso n said.
"Ruggia came past a nd h is tires were
hook in g up. There was n ' t mu ch I
co uld do, i t was spin ning in a straigh t
line. " H e also said th at hi s foo t was
sti ll sore m aking it hard to get back
a nd forth on th e bike.
As he pulled in at th e race's end,
Sarron was di sconsol ate. H e remo ved
th e p iece o f blue gaffer's tape he'd
taped over his nose to keep his visor
clear - a stra tegy th at hadn 't wo rked
- and exp laine d that he had nothing
but problems. " The tires were good
eno ugh to win th e race. That's why
I'm so pissed off," he said.
Barros ended up fifth with Doohan
ta king sixth from Schwantz with five
laps to go. Behind Schwantz came
H asl am , a head of Du cad os Yam aha 's
Juan G arriga , and G a rdn er , who
fini sh ed 10th.
250 Qualifying
Pol e position was n 't decid ed in the
250cc class until nea r th e end o f the
fourth sessio n, a nd th en , just bar ely.
Kocinski was runnin g wh at he felt was
h is best lap when it started to rain with
one -quarter o f the la p left.
" Wha t I'd done u nti l the n I wasn 't
go ing to stop. I just hoped I wou ldn 't
find so meone in th e roa d," he sai d , a nd
he didn't, clocki ng a new lap record
o f 2:31.06 for a n ave rage speed o f
102.742 mph.
Kocinski has compla ine d th is year
th at hi s Yam aha is dow n on to p speed
to th e H o ndas and it was no different
at Spa, though th e gap was closing.
The fastest bike, un offi cially, o n the
radar gun was ' Masa hiro Shimizu 's
Ajin o mo to H onda wh ich topped out
a t 156.779 mph . A slew o f H on das
foll ow ed wi th Kocinski's th e fastest
Yama ha at 152.492 mph, a top spee d
eq ua lled by Martin Wimmer 's H ein
Gericke Ap rilia . The differen ce was a
new engi ne set u p , sim ila r to th e o ne
that helped Rainey, th at Bud Aksla nd
had developed o n the dyno d uring one
o f his three tr ip s ho me during th e
seaso n.
Surprisingly, it was n 't a H onda that
was seco nd fastest, it was th e Ap ri lia
o f Belg ian Did ier de Rad igu es. H is
ti me, clocked in the thi rd session , was
a little more than ha lf a seco nd slow er
tha n Koci nski 's, though he, too, felt
down on power to th e H ondas.
" If m y bike accelera ted as fast as the
Hondas and was better o n top spee d.
I wo u ld be able to go faster , bu t o n
my best la p I was ri ding as har d as
possib le," he said. " Last year my
co ncentra tio n wa s s po iled b y t he
H ondas co m ing by so fast on the
stra ig h ts on th e firs t la p , I ho pe the
sa me won 't happen to morro w. "
T he fir st o f the fast H o ndas was
Sw iss rid er J acq ues Corn u o n th e
Lucky Str ike Elf bike. H e was in a
cl us ter wit h Cardus , and HB Apri lia 's
Loris Reggiani all withi n fo ur- tent hs
of a seco nd of eac h o the r as th ey fill ed
alit th e front row o f the grid.
Cada lo ra - was o n th e pol e fo r th e
seco nd ro w, just a hea d o f th e resu rgent
Lava do and Zeelenberg. Ca da lora was,
also, bemoa n ing h is lack o f speed, but
he felt th at if he co u ld ' stay in th e
H on da 's draft , he co uld be co m pe titive. Lava do was sti ll worki ng o n his
gearing an d Zeelenberg was rid ing his
first race without hi s left hand in a
brace. Inst ead. he said, he ha d more
p robl em s with hi s left knee , "especia lly in left-hand 'co rne rs a nd th e
ch ica nes. " Zeelen berg did say that he
would be getting sp ecial factory engine
pans for the British GP in fo u r weeks
time, the sa me parts Ca rd us a lready
has.
In all. there were 3 I riders to qua li fy
for th e race .
.
250 Race
T he 250cc race starte d in a lig h t rai n,
but i t didn 't stop Kocinski from
cha rg ing to th e fro n t a nd leadin g
go ing into the chica ne a t th e top of
th e hill. Mu ch to hi s surprise a cluster
of four riders, led by de Radigues, went
a ro u nd him on the o u tside and he
found h im self in fifth pl ace a t th e end
o f th e first o f 15 laps.
It would tak e four laps for Kocinski
to re-establish himself and when he
d id, he led Cad alora, de Radigues,
Regg iani , Zeelenberg a nd Lav ado.
"After th e start I didn't know where
th e limit o f the tir es was ," Kocinski
said. "I waited and th en ga ssed it up.
About lap seven I sta rted getting my
corner speed up and ge tt ing into a
rhythm, a flow with th e bike."
On' th e seventh lap Cadalora, th en
in third, a nd also su ffering from a
vision prob lem , mad e the first o f his
two mi stakes by running str ai g h t
th rough th e bus sto p ch ica ne and
having to slow to get through th e foam
blocks bl ocking hi s-exit. H e rejoined
th e race ha vin g lost th ree spots, but
o n th e ninth lap fell in turn 14.
A lap ea rl ie r, Zeel enb er g had
crashed, un hun, in tum I I.
After th e halfway point the rain
began to let up, but Kocinski didn 't.
H e contin ued to pull away from de
Rad igu es a nd would win easily, havin g turned hi s fastest lap three from
the end. It was his seco nd wi n in a
row, and though he made it look easy,
it was a ny th ing but.
" Last ni ght I was praying tha t it
wou ld be dr y, but th is morning it
bega n to ra in . Once the race started
I forg o t abo u t t he we t a n d j ust
th rought a bout" wi n ni ng," Koci nski
said.
De Radi gu es e n ded up seco nd,
though he found himself being pressed
by Cardus a t th e end. The Spaniard
had passed Lavado with two la ps to
go a nd, if he'd had a no ther two, co uld
probab ly have gotten the Belgian. As
it was, he cam e up j us t over a second
and a ha lf short.
De Ra di g u es ex p la in ed w hy h e
sudde nly beca me vulnera ble. " Three
la ps from the end my engine sto p ped ,"
he bega n . " I lo st n in e seco nds to
Cardus. At th e begi n ni ng I was Io llo wing J ohn a nd it was very tough.
The seat was very slip pe ry," he said, .
a lluding to th e fact th a t he lost the
ru bber seat pad. " For th e last few la ps
I was on ly using fourth gear o n th e
stra igh t a nd I d idn 't even expec t to
fin ish , so o f co urse I'm happy to be
seco nd ."
Cardus had co ll ided wit h Regg ian i
on th e first la p ca using hi m to slow
a nd he completed the first la p in 10th
p lace. H e gained sp eed th e ent ire race,
turning his fast est la p on th e last o f
the da y. H e felt he cou ld have done
better had he not been slowed by a
ca rb u re tio n p robl em that hun h is
accelerat io n ou t of th e corne rs.
Lavado fini sh ed ahead of Cornu in
fo urt h wi th Alberto Puig sixth o n th e
Ducad os Yamaha.
TN
Resu lts
125cc QUAUFYt NG : I. j orge Martinez (2:41.8t Ii:'
2. Hans Spaa n (2:. 2.805); 3. Dorian o Rom bOni
4
(2:42.9 t9) : 4. Ste fan Prein (2:43.124): 5. Bruno
Casa no va (2:43.490): 6. Lori s Capirossi (2:43.4991:
7. Ari Stadler (2:44.325): 8. Han s Lueth i (2:44.840):
9. Fau sto Gresin i (2:45.193); 10. J ohnny Wickstroem
(2:45. t93): I I. Mau rizio Vital i (2:45.t98): 12. Gabriele
Dcbbi a (2:45.540): 13. Ral! Waldmann (2:45.602): H.
Alessandro Gra migni (2:45.62t): 15. E. Cuppini
(2:45.817); 16. J u lia n Mirallcs (2:46.039): 17. S' erao
Kurfiss (2:46.268): 18. J. Mari ano (2:46.5 18): i s,
Hi sash i Une motO (2: 46.659); 20 . S. Edwards
(2:46.785): 21. Stefan Der flinger (2:46.949): 22. Al!rcd
Wa ibel (2:46.99-1):23. H ans Koo pm an (2:47.150); 2i.
Rob in Appleyard (2:47.296): 25. Rob in Milton
(2:47.400): 26. Man uel H ernandez (2:47.422); 27.
Manuel Herreros (2:47.433); 28. Antonio Sanchez
(2:47.729): 29. Flem ming Kistrup (2:47.768); 30. Dirk
Ra udics (2:47.789); 31. Peter Ga lvin (2:48.046): 32H ans Abold (2:48.182): 33. Peter Ocul (2:48.352): 34.'
B. H assaine (2:48.370): 35. Thierry Feuz (2:48.488);
36. j oe Van Don gen (2:48.520): 37. Han s Duffartl
(2: 48.802): 38. J o se Saez (2:48.982); 39. Steve
Patrickson (2:49. t45).
•
250ccQUAUFYING: 1. J ohn Kocinski (2:31.106);
2. Didier de Radigu cs (2:31.612): 3. Jacques Gornu
(2:31.849); 4. Carl os Cardus (2:31.863); 5. Lo ris
Reggiam (2:3 1.887): 6. Lu ca Cadalora (2:! 2.292): 7.
Car los Lav ado (2:32.534); 8. Wilco Zeelenberg
(2:32.662):9. Gorrado Catalano (2:33.268): 10. jochen
Sch mid (2:33.323): I I. Andreas Proninr; (2:33.345);
12. Martin Wimmer (2:33.362): 13. Masahiro Shimizu
(2:33.742); 14. Alex Criville (2:33.838): 15. Alben.
Puig (2:34.332): 16. Paolo Casali (2:34.648); 17.
Andrea Borgonovo (2:34.864): 18. Marcellino Lucchi
(2:34.874): 19. Beroo Kasmer (2:34.911); 20. Adrien
Morillas (2:34.957): 21. Jorge Martinez (2:35.220); 22.
Renzo Golleon i (2:35.769); 23. Harald Eclt.1 (2:35.823);
24. Bernard Haenggeli (2:35.9 t4); 25. Alain Bronec
(2:35.945); 26. H an s Becker (2:35.970): 27. Un Juder
(2:36.920): 28. Kevin Mitch ell (2:37.352): 29. Rachel
Nicoue(2:38 . 124): 30. J ose Barresi (2:38.133); 31. Jean
Foray (2:38.350).
500cc QUAUFYING: 1. Kevin Schwarm (2:23.264);
2. Wayne Rain ey (2:24.063); 3. Eddie Lawson
(2:24.446): 4. Michael Doo~~ (2:24.880); 5. Wayne
Gardner (2:25.413): 6. Omsuan Sarron (2:25.702);
7. Nia ll Mackenzie (2:26.080): 8. Randy Mamola
(2:27.544): 9. Juan Garriga (2:28.(47); 10. I .P . RuggU
(2:28.243); 11. Norihiko Fuj iwara (2:28.354): 12. P.F.
Chili (2:28.880): 13. Ron Haslam (2:29.307); 14. Alex
Barros (2:29.726); 15. Marco Papa (2:33.870); 16. V.
5<::.. ola (2:34.222); 17. Eddi e Layrock (22:35.087); t8.
Karl 'Truchsess (2:36.523): 19. Cees Doorakkers
(2:36.765).
SIDECAR QUAUFYING: 1. Webster/Simmons
(2:33.955): 2. MichellBirchall (2:34.147): 3. Sueuerl
Dc:Haas (2:34.753): 4. BilandiWaltisperg (2:35.689):
5. Zurbruegg lZurbruegg C,2:!5 .692); 6. EglofflEgl.ofl
(2:35.888): 7. Abbott/Smith (2:36.834); 8. Prcgin/
trlam (2:37.586): 9. Kum agayaJHougron (2:37.748):
to . Brindley/Tailford (2:37.796): 11. Kumanol
Roesin ger (2:38.251): 12. Gucdel/Gucdel (2:38. 890~
13. J on es/Brow n (2:39.t29 ): 14. Van Kempcn/Kuy'
(2:39.198): 15. Bohnhont/Boettcher (2:40.27t ): 16.
K1affenb/Paner (2:40.400); 17. S.oclzle/Stoclzl.
(2:41.418): t8. Smith/Smi th (2:41.737): 19. WysscnJ
Wysscn (2:42.753): 20. NigrowskilBiggs (2:42.809):
21. Thomas/Suevens (2:42.850); 22. Hcwles/Poimer
(2:43. 430) ; 23. Baker/Coombes (2:43 .667 ); 24.
Huegli/Haenni (2:44.267): 25. GaliroslBcrgtund
(2:44.869): 26. Bocsing