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/127372
BROADRACE lm G~ Nx p_ i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_ m_ ! A for survivalt fight 0) ...... Kenny Roberts (center) will field both 250cc World Champion John Kocinski (19) and 500cc World Champion Wayne Rainey (I) in the 500cc class in 1991. (Below) Rainey in testing action at Jerez, Spain. By Michael Scott Photos by Da vid Goldman t has been a winter of discontent, of dwindling resources, of political infighting, of shrinking employment opportunities, and of widespread gloom and despondency in response to a maj or future change of technical rul es by the FIM. Questions nave been asked as to whether Grand Prix racing can even survive in its present form . The answers stan coming in japan on March 24, when the flag drops on th e first of 15 races of the 43rd World Ch am p ion ship seaso n. T he circus moves rap idly on to Australia and then to th e U.S.A. on April 21. And by th e tim e they hit Laguna Seca, we shou ld kno w wheth er this season can fu lfill its promise of top-class racing in a way that last year's did not . . There is no need to be gloomy. The 500 field may lack strength in numbers, but it lacks nothing in class. Messrs Ra iney, Schwantz, Doohan, etc., are th e latest generation of riders who have learned not only to force unprecendent edly powerfu l 500cc motorcycles into sub mission, bu t to make child's play of thei r brute force. The 500cc class mach ines of 1991, heavier and more powerful than ever before, pu t up a spectacu lar figh t in the endless battle for new lap records and yet more race wins. And when you 've seen a modern G P rider un leash the full potential of a squirming, shrieking, sliding, 500cc rocketship in close combat with others doing the same thing, then you'll know you 've seen the absolute pinnacle of motorcycle road racing. I The main combatant factories and ' their ma chines are stri ctly evolutionary from last year's dominant 500cc class V-fours and 250cc class V-twins. The most significant tech ni ca l change comes in the 500cc class, where the minimum weight limit of 253 pounds has been increased to 286 pounds . This will hurt Suzuki the most, since th eir 1990 machine was the closest to the old lim it , whi le Rainey's titl e-winning Yamah a weighed in at a hefty 273 po unds. T here ha ve, a lso been .sign ificant shifts in ti re usage, triggered by Micheli n 's announcement last year that they were to quit GP racing. This turned out to mean that the financially beleagured French firm planned to start cha rging for a reduced version of a former ly free service; but since Michelin has lon g .held the high ground in the 500cc class, they found willi ng customers in H onda a nd Cagiva, Yamaha 's top team, however Kenny Robert 's victorious Marlborobacked sq ua d - declined to mee t Michelin 's bill , an d switched back to Dun lops after just one year away. The Lu cky Strike-b ack ed Su zu ki team followed suit, considerably streng thening the han d of the Ang lo-japanese ma nufacturers, but a lso putting a question mark over all the pre-seaso n predictions. ' . Among the riders, th e n o wcustomary wi nter resh uffle. led as usual by Eddie Lawson switchi ng somewhat unexpectedly to the hitherto ill -favored Italian Cagiva team, saw a few conseq uent real ign men ts, and topclass veteran Randy Mamo la out of a job . World Champ ion W a, ne Rai ney stayed put wi th Team Robert s, while Lawson's swi tch made way for the stun ni ng j ohn Kocin ski, who promises to brin g as much excitemen t to hi s 500cc class debut as he did to hi s victor ious 250cc debut season last year. been bli tzing Meant im e. Ra in ey the avai lab le opposition in pre-season tests in Australia and Spain; whi le the al ready computer-literate team in its usual im pressively conspicious high state of preparedn ess stole a march on has