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/127384
B ROAD RACE~dO~~~_R_W_dR K_eS_W_'~_:R_OO~~_6~~~~~~~~~~ _ e Texan Kevin Schwantz won a dramatic German Grand Prix, narrowly beating Wayne Rainey to the flag . Michael Doohan (3), Rainey (I ) and Schwantz (34) do battle early in the GP. -__.r1 • Schwantz stops Rainey inGerman thriller By Michael ScOIl Photos by Solo Mota HOCK ENHEIM GERMANY, MAY 16 , o short-story writer cou ld have thought of a better twist in the ta il for the climax of the German Grand Prix. The weekend started wit h Dun lo p in disgrace fo r a second weekend in successio n, their tires falling to p ieces on th e fast straights. Then came an emergency Friday-nigh t air drop of new ru bber. And o n Sunday Dunlop riders fin ished first and second, afte r Michael Doohan 's rear Michelin fell to pi eces ins tead. T he surprise winner, after h is problems in the past few races, was Lu cky Stri ke Suzuki's Kevin Schwa ntz, by barely a Dunlop's bread th , after he 'd outpoi nte d hi s old riva l Wayne Rainey o n br in kman sh ip in a hero ic last-lap du el. T he decisive mo ve was a stunnin g o u tb ra k i ng man eu ver b y Sch wan tz, th e bike hopping sideways as he dodged inside Rainey into the fast right into th e rela tively tight stadium sectio n. T he pair ente red the corne r almos t abreast, but Schwantz was inside, and try as he might (and he certa in ly did ) Rain ey was unable to get back at him in th e th ree rema ining corne rs. Doohan , wh o had earlier mad e the N 6 running o n his Rothmans Ho nda , limped home third. When his rear Mich elin had started to disintegrate, it smashed th e rear-wheel fairi ng, which flew off and almost hit Rainey. After that, the Australian pole-sitter consi dered h imself lucky to finis h at all. Schwantz a lso smashed th e la p recor d, both he an d Marlbo ro Yama hamo unted Rainey breaking the H ocken hei m two-min ute barrier for the first time o n two wheels. T he Texa n's average speed was an exciti ng 126.493 mph ; and the race was shortened by a lap to avo id po tentia l fue lcons ump tion problems at the fastes t track in the world. Eddie Lawson was fourth, another exce lle nt a n d un exp ected Cagiva success ; with th e i n j ured Wayn e Gardner and his Rothmans Honda fifth. T here were ju st 11 finis hers o ut of 15 starters, wit h J ohn Kocinski cras hing un hu rt out of sixth place at half -distance. The Hockenheim race was a grea t day for the German crow d, wi th hom erider victor ies in all o ther classes. HB H onda' s Helmut Bradl walk ed awa y with the 250 race, hi s second win thi s year; wi th Repsol Hon da' s Ca rl os Cardus narro wly defeating Dutchman Wi leo Zeele n berg 's Sharp -Sa mso n H onda for second . Rothmans Honda's title leader Lu ca Cada lora was fourth, rid ing in pa in a fte r cras h i ng in practice. Ralph Wa ldmann won a thrilling l25cc G P, the 24-year-o ld's first victory, narrowly ahead o f Loris Ca pirossi and Heinz Leuthi (all o n . Honda s), the victors of an astonishi ng 11 bik e pack. Then German sidecar driver Ralph Bohnhorst took a surprise victory in anot her ultra-close race, after early lead er Steve Webster had seized and retired. Wo rl d Champion Alai n Michel was second, Rolf Biland th ird, with Egbe rt Streue r and American passenger Peter Essaff prevai li ng over a five-machine battle for fourth , and taking the lap record. . A great day of raci ng at the H ocken heimri ng saw a fillip to cha mpionship cha nces in all classes, wit h the leading conte nders closing up aga in . And it was a lso proof that the best and closest raci ng takes pla ce at fast .tracks - a nd rha t whe n it comes to tire technology p ushed 10 the o uter limits, there are often unexpected results. The da u n ti ng H ock enh eimrin g comprises two di st in ct p ans: th e stadium section, of four relat ively tight corners whic h starts and fin ishes each lap, and the long lozen ge-shaped run through the forest, cu lminating in the dauntingly fast ISO -degree Ostk urve, O n these straigh ts, each interrup ted by a 100 mph chicane, the fastest 500 (Doo ha n 's Ho nda) was reaching 19o mph , an d it was here that the o verstressed ' Dunlops had been bli stering and chun king . Pole-starter Doohan took off ah ead of Lawson and Rainey for the first fast ru n o ut east. By the end of the lap, Rainey was ahead and Doohan seco nd, and Schwa ntz ahead of Gard ner and sta rting to close up on the Cagiva, Any hopes of preserving tir es or fuel went o ut of th e window, as Doohan and Rainey battled back and forth, ' and Sch wan tz go t hi s head down after passing Laws on o n lap three so as not to lose the vital draft. Th e H onda a nd th e Yamah a cha nge d pl aces severa l ti mes, th en Rain ey had a very near miss on lap three on the exit from th e Sachskurve in th e stadi um section , thrown right o ut of the seat as he tried to force pa st Doohan on th e inside. After that, he settled back in second, and Schwantz tag ged on behind, with th e race pa ce alread y close to two-minu te laps. Then Schwantz turned up the pres- sure, selling his best ti me on lap I I, and passi ng Rainey one lap later. The next lap , he moved inside Doo han into the stadium section, and too k the lead for the first time. . But Doo han was back in front again next time, and trying to make a break when suddenly grandstand viewers of the giant TV screens saw somet hing large and black fly off h is H onda. It was the rear whee l fair ing, dislodged by his disintegrating Michelin - and his race was ru n. " At one stage I thought I could win," said the Australian. " But then I ran into backmarkers at both chicanes. Five laps from the end, I started to push it to try and get away, then my tire wen t." What had he felt when his chunking Michelin ripped off the rear -wheel fender, which then damaged the seat as the 190 mph breeze ri pped it from the bike? Doohan is nothin g if not understat ed. " I j ust felt a bad vibration . I slo wed, and just ho ped I could keep my pos iti on - I can' t say the bike was sliding around after that , because I didn't push it hard enough." T he flyin g object gave Rainey an anxious mom ent. " I thought it was a piece of tire, and I moved over, because I th ought the whole bike was going to go . Wh en I went by I pointed at hi s back. " Schw antz saw so me th ing flash by, but ' was intent on his own business, a n d kept close o n Rainey's tai l, awaiti ng a certain last-lap battle. Rainey led th e first half , then they came on backmarker Eddi e La ycock o n the way into the u ltra-fast O stkurve. · The leading pair passed h im one each side and Rainey led o nto the penu ltimate straight. Bu t it was Schwantz in fro nt into the last chicane - a poss ible tact ical error. Sure eno ug h, Rainey drafted past h im o n the last straigh t, and would seem to have had the race won. But Schwan tz was read y for him, and as Rainey hit the brak es for the com er into the stadium sectio n, Schwanu swerved o ut from behind and ou tbraked him. With th e rear wheel slewing from side to side, it seemed he ma y have left it too late, but he later praised th e power of his exclusive six: pis ton AP car bo n brakes. They ente red the corne r side by side, but Schwantz had the in side lin e and emerged in front. Ra iney tried round th e o utside into th e way into the looping (tall ) first-gear Sachskurve, on th e in side o n th e ex i t. Schwan tz wou ld n 't gi ve an inch. Rainey had o ne last at tempt, co ming o ut tighter and harder from the final go-degree righthander o nto the straigh t and pulling almost alo ngs ide of hi s rival's Suzuki as it slewed sid ways and its rider loo ked over the wrong sho u lder. Over th e line, th e computers made the ga p just 0.016 ofa second, and everyo ne cou ld see it was in Schwanu's favo ur. The 26-year-old's second victory this season was lik e the first in Japan narrowly .won with a breathtaking .disp lay of skill and daring. "It seems there aren 't an y easy races any more ," he gr imaced. "I don't know how I managed that last lap. When he came by on the last stra ig h t, I knew which side he'd come, and I got straight into hi s draf t. When he hit th e brakes I had to dod ge to avoid hi tting him. That's wh y the bike was hopping around. " Ra in ey was ru eful. " I cam e out of his draft too soon on th e last straight," he said. " It gave him the chance to outbrake me." Behind th is breathtaking battle, Lawson 's Ca giva had been sounding sick, and on lap five he succumbed to Gardner. He said: "Maybe a reed valve