Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127369
Yamaha Grand Prix tests in Australia TEST SESSION Marlboro Roberts invades Australia ith th e G rand Prix road ra ce seaso n rapidl y approachi ng its Mar ch 24 kickoff in j apan , th e top tea ms ha ve been test in g a ll over th e g lobe. T ea m Marlboro Roberts ' World Cha m pi ons Wayn e Ra iney a nd j ohn Ko cinski were joined by Un cin i Yam ah a 's Doug Ch an dl er a nd Duca dos Ya ma ha 's j uan Garriga a t both th e Ph ill ip Island a nd Eastern Creek test sessio ns in Austral ia. Poor weat her in Phill ip Island kept lap times h igh er th an normal with Koci nski failing to bett er his 250cc lap record o f 1:36.681 despite being o n a 500. Bell er wea th er greeted th e team s a t Eastern Creek, however , and Rai ney wa s close to hi s record time set at th e end of the 1990 seaso n d ur ing an IRT A test at the new faci lity . Koci nsk i was a lso imp ressive, o n ly half a seco nd o ff Ra in e y' s t i m es, w i t h Ch a nd ler a seco nd slo wer th a n Rainey. Alth ou gh n o d eci si o n h as been officia lly made, it a p pea rs that the ent ire Yam aha fleet will use Dun lop tires in 1991, a nd th e ma jority o f the tires tested in Austral ia were Dunlo ps. As o f February 19, the day prior to leaving for th e IRTA test session in jerez, Spa in , C ha nd ler still had no idea wh o wou ld be spo nsoring hi s learn . " H opefu lly, I'll know more after thi s weekend, " Chand ler sa id. " Su ppos ed ly, (Fra nco) U nci ni is in vo lved a nd he's su p posed to be in Spai n. H e was go ing to co me to Austra lia , bu t Ken n y (Ro berts) tol d him th a t I woul d just be riding a ro u n d ge ll ing used to W the bike and it reall y wouldn 't be worth th e trip. I rod e Eddi e' s (La wso n) o ld bik e down th ere, bu t hopefully I'll ha ve my new bike in Sp ain. " Ko c i n ski sou n d ed co n fi de n t i n Au stra lia a nd wi d Aus tra lia n MOlOrcycle News: ''I' m going to lea rn as I win ," in response to wh ether he was p la n ni ng on using th e co mi ng seaso n as a lea rn in g year in th e 500cc class. Foll o win g the IR T A tests in j erez, the Robert s sq ua d is expected to test a t Lagu na Seca Internatio na l Raceway in Monter ey, Californ ia , in ea rly Mar ch. T he J erez tests, in cidently, will a lso mark the deb u t o f four-time World C ha m p io n Eddi e Law so n o n th e c. factory Cagiva. (Above) Doug Chandler participated in the Yam aha tests in Australia, riding Edd ie Law son 's 1990 Yam aha YlR500. (Below) John Kocinski was also in Australia , ridi ng a 1991 Yamaha Yl R500 during the T eam Marlboro Roberts test. Photo by J oh n Ford. ONLY ONE MOTORCYCLE IN THE WORLD COMES WITH BUILT-IN'INSURANCE. ~/~ /~