Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ROADRACE e J ohn Kocinski (I) leads Wi1co l eeienberg (5), J ochen Schmid (8) an d the rest of th e 250cc field at the Superpresti gio. Kocinski wo n all three hea ts on h is Marlboro Yamaha, breaking Calafat's lap reco rd in the p rocess . Didier de Radigues fin ished second with Sch m id third. Kocinski slays'em in Spain By Dennis N o yes TARRAGONA, SPAIN, SEPT. 30 he 10th ru n ni ng of the Solo Moto Superprestigio was billed as " la reva ncha" or the grudge match . betw een 1990 250cc World Champion John Kocinski and his championship rival Spaniard Car los Cardus. Also entered were Germany's Helmut Bradl, Holland's Wileo Zeelen berg, and th ree of Spain's top riders, Alex Criville, Alberto Puig and, ba ck' from a good 500cc season [or a o ne0 [[ ride on one of P uig 's spare 250s, Juan Garriga. The pr essu re was on in Spain as th e en tire country wanted to see somebody, some Spaniard , beat the insolent kid on the Marlboro Rob erts Yamaha. Kocins ki's arrival was a major event in Sp ain . He a rri ved the same day as Los Angeles La ker Magic Johnson, who was in town to officia lly open the new O lympic Sant j ord i Sta di um wit h a slam dun k. J o h nson is a litt le over a [00 1 ta lIer and is considerab ly bett er kno wn in the U.S . than J oh n, but in Spain it was a toss-up as to who was the bigger supers tar. If hou rs of television covera ge was the key indication, it was Li ttle Joh n who got th e tip [rom Magic. T 12 Cardus a nd Koci nski first sq uared off in a 30 -minute, head-to-h ead interview o n live national TV, and both of them p layed down the rough sides of their rivalry. Kocinski was shown video clips of Cardus giving him th e Spanish " b u tifa rra" gesture (a rather explicit fist and forearm sign for up yours) after winning the Czechoslovakia n G P and th e interviewer tried h is best to get som e spar ks flying. But Cardus praised Kocinski's riding, sayi ng: " H e's th e toughest riva l I have ever had a nd I ho pe he 's back in 250cc next year beca use 1 want another crack at him. I want to win th e tit le, bu t mos t of all I want to bea t J o h n for the tit le." Kocinski sho wed some o f th e verbal flash th a t has fed the fires of Eu ro pe 's ra th er sensatio na l press by saying: " I' ve come to Spain to show him, in case he doesn 't know it yet, wh o is th e real Kin g." Kocinski said after the interview that he thought there was more pr essure at the Superprestigio than in th e. Grand Prix s: "Cardus , P uig, G arriga, Cr iville...if th ese guys don't beat me the crowd will haf.lg'em." John Kocinski showers th e crowd after his impressive p erformance. Rich Oliver (9) im pressed many in his first European o u tin g. He finished second in the first race, sixth in the second, bu t crashed in the third, bre aking his wri st. But the big ra ce started to unravel on Th urs day when P uig announced he wou ld be u nable to ride beca use hi s a rm, broken in Hunga ry, was not healed. Puig had u p u ntil that point refused to let Garriga use eit her o f h is bikes and w hen he fina lly ca lled Garriga to tell him both bi kes were his to use , the hot -tem pe red Garriga, wh o wanted a full week 's practice to get ready for Koc inski, lost h is coo l and said he was n't riding. . " I have been rid in g 500s all season a nd I can 't j ust jump o n a 250 a nd go o ut and bea t Kocinski," G arr iga said. "I ha ven ' t ridde n a 250 since 1 won th e Superprestigio here last yea r, and m y fans a nd sponsors expect me to rid e at my best and there is no wa y I ca n be co m pe titive agains t John with on ly tw o days practice." The nex t no-sh o w was Cr iville, whose co ntract wi th Gi acomo Ago stin i has not yet been ren ewed. Agostini " forgo t" to send the correct paperwork to custo ms a nd Cr iville's bikes were not released in time for ship ment to Spain. Kocinski wo ndered out loud: " Do n't a n y o f these guys wa n t to race me? I'd never let som e Spaniard co me over to. my cou ntry a nd beat me withou t a t least gett ing a bi ke to the gr id." Kocinski was quickest during friday 's o pen practice session, but in the last sessio n Card us, testi ng a 16-inch front wh eel and carbon bra kes, lost th e front end on th e fast left-bander at the en d o f th e straight a nd went tumbling some 140 yards. H is bike was destro yed wh en it h it a concrete wa ll protected by stac ks o f tires, but Cardus was fort u na te eno ugh to pass through a n opening in the wall less th an four' feet wi de ... a nd unlucky enough to have hi s long slide sto pped b y the doo r o f a marshall 's car parked in a pla ce so far from the ac tio n as to seem safe even to th e race d irector. Poor Cardus suffered a broken an kle, sm ashed kn ee joint, chip ped verta bra, one brok en ri b that bru ised hi s left lung a nd a slig ht concussio n. H e will be o u t o f action for two m onths and will m iss th e fir st part of h is extensive wi nter testing program. When official practice started the next day, Koc in ski went to th e fro nt and staye d the re, putting up a ti me of I minute, 27.61 seco nds. Brad l was the only ot her rider u nder 1:30 wh en he cras hed at the end of th e straigh t and b rok e hi s ri ght leg just above th e screws th a t were p u t in af ter his Du tch G P cras h. On Su nday morn ing th e ra ins cam e a nd it looked as th ou gh th e organizers of th e race were going to ta ke a bath a t th e ga tes, bu t to everyo ne's surp ris e over 30,000 fans ca me to see Kocinski put on a n exhibitio n o f th e skill that ma de hi m World Ch ampion. He wo n all three hea ts easi ly, ta king th e first by 30 seco nds in th e ra in from hi s teamma te Rich Ol iver, having his first Eu ropean rid e and his first-ever ride on a factory YZR250. Didier de Radigu es was th ird o n the works Ap r i l ia ah ead of Zeelenberg and

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