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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127375
eROAD RACE u.s. Grand Prix Preview e ~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~ i~ ~ ~ ~~ ~----------------------- ------ ----- ---~~~~-~ practice get-off. H e mi ssed four races, but came back with a second place finis h in France. He fini shed hi s season with the gutty win in Australia. Gardner suffered mech an ical ill s during quali fying for th e season opener th is year in Japan, but still managed to finish fifth in the G P. H e too could be a factor in th e cha m pio nsh ip . Juan Garriga 1990 R esu lts: 6th in 500cc championship T eam Du cados Yamaha T he 27-year-old Spaniard moved up to th e 500cc ranks in 1990 after an effecti ve career of 250cc GP raci ng. Although Garri ga never won a titl e in the 250cc ranks, he came close and was always a facto r. The move up was Garriga 's second attempt at th e 500cc cla ss, the first coming on factory Cagivas back in 1986. He is backed heavil y by Ducados, Spai n 's largest cigarette mak er, and ar med with Dunlop-clad Yama has . T he chai n-smo king Garr iga didn 't really get to grip s wi th th e new class until lat e in the seaso n wh en he put togeth er a stri ng of fifth and sixth pl ace finishes. His second year on th e Yam ahas and second on th e Dunlops sho uld mak e things easi er for Ga rri ga in 1991. , He started th e seaso n with a seventh pl ace fin ish in Japan - three places better than he started th e '90 season. Eddie Lawson PAST U.S. GP WINNERS ATLAGUNASECA 1990 R esul ts. 7th in 500cc championship Team Ca giva even th is th e worst championship finishing position Lawson ha s has ever had in his eight years of GP racing. The winningest active rider on the . circu it, Lawson brings his 30 GP victories to the Cagiva camp in 1991 aft er a ra ther forgettable '90 season. Lawson was badly inj ured in his practice crash at Laguna Seca a year ago, and he missed th e majority of th e seaso n. When he returned at Assen for the eigh th round of -the series he finished third. The Cal ifornian didn't add to his win total last year, but he was always in the hunt - finishing second twice, th ird four tim es, fourth once and fifth once. This year marks the fourth team change in the last four years for th e fou r-time World Champion, and he's hoping to change Cagi va's fortune in the 500cc series. H e began his new 'mega -dollar Cagi va con trac t with a sixth pl ace finish in J apan. 1988' S 500cc Eddie Lawson (Yamaha) Average Speed 86.68 mph Fastest Lap Eddie Lawson 1:29.969 (87.869 mp h) Fastest Quali fier . : Wayne Rainey 1:29.214 250cc Jimmy Filice (Honda) Average Speed 85.14 mph Fastest Lap Bru no Casanova 1:32.321 (85.631 mph) Fastest Qualifier John Kocinski 1:32.958 1989 500cc Average Speed ' Fastest Lap Fastest Qu alifier 250cc Average Speed Fastest Lap Fastest Q ualifier 1990 R esults: 8th in 500cc cham pionship So nauto Yam aha true 500ccrookie, Ru ggia's best fin ish of th e season pu t him on the rost ru m in th e rain-sodd en Belgian GP. T he 24-year-o ld Frenchma n fin ished second behind Rain ey after an "im pressive displ ay of wet-wea ther ridi ng: Bu t th at was the h ighlight, and h is highest finish o ther than the Belgian resu lt was fifth, a feat he accomplishe d twice. , R uggia returns to the French Sona uto Yamah a team for '91, and his fan s are hoping he can match the success he had in the 250cc class, wh ere he pos ted two second place finishes in 1989. A : Webster/Hewitt (LCR) 85.454 mph Egloff/ Egloff 1:31.931 19 9 0 500 cc Wayne Rainey (Yamaha ) Average Speed 90.560 mph Fastest Lap Kevin Schwanu 1:25.838 (92.099 mph)" Fastest Qualifier Wayne Gardner 1:25.908 2 5 0cc John Kocinski (Yamaha) Average Speed 87.849 mph Fastest Lap John Kocin ski 1:29.178 (88.650 mph ) Fastest Qualifier Luca Cadalora 1:28.866 Sito Pons SIDECAR Average Speed Fastest Lap P 22 John Kocinski (Yamaha) 87.232 mph John Kocin ski 1:29.19 (88.635 mph ) John Kocinsk i 1:30.1 6 SIDECAR Average Speed Fastest Qualifier Jean-Philippe Ruggia 1990 R esul ts: l Oth in 500cc cham pionship Camp sa Honda ons turned in hi s 250cc World Cha mpions hi p for a second attempt at the 500cc cham p ions hip in 1990, and the popu lar Spaniard was making the most of it until a horrific accident in Yugos lavia took the wind ou t of h is season. Pons was beginnin g to ada p t to the power of the Honda NSR500 after po sting two fifth place finishe s and three sixths in the early going las t year. But th ings unraveled quickly in Yugoslavia wh en he crashed and was run over by P.F. Chili, su fferi ng II broken ribs and a punctured lung. H e returned for th e final three races of the season, but he wasn't the same. Pons opened this season with an eighth pl ace finish in J apan as he .tries to regain the con fidence tha t he had early in '90. The 31-yearold will again run hi s own Honda team in Campsa, a Spanish petroleum compan y, colors. Wayne Rainey (Yamaha) 89.423 mph Wayne Gardner 1:28.00 (89.833 mph) Wayne Rai ney 1:27.12 John Kocinski 1990 R esults: 250cc World Champion Team Marlboro Roberts Yamaha ha t mor e can be said of the rider who made 250cc Grand Prix raci ng his own in 1990? Kocinski earned his 250cc cro wn in his first full seaso n of GP racing, winning seven G Ps along the way, and now he's looking to make an immediate im pac t on the 500cc class. W Michel/B irchall (Kra-LCR) ~ 83.596 mph Rolf Biland 1:32.256 (85.692 mph) And he already has. After qualifyi ng third for th opening round in Japan, Kocinski fini shed fourth i the race after breaking the lap record with the race: fastest lap . Kocinski joins Rai ney on the all -powerful Marlbor Yamaha team, an d he's already being fin gered as cham p io nsh ip contender. Never one to lack con fi dence, Kocinski shou ld win his fair share of races i 1991.