Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Not before Philli s had two long runs in th ird, but the Australian was never able to shake off the pu rsu ing trio. He managed to keep out Pirovano for fourth wh il e Merkel hung on bu t could do nothing about getting to the front of the group as the weather got hotter and the V-four 's temperature cli m bed. A tiring Falappa, hampered by injury an d a fading rear tire , managed to just beat home Monti, while Rus sell's Fr ench -Cana d ia n teammate Jacq ues Gu enette Jr. took a creditable ninth from a slow-starting De Vries. Vance Be Hines' Jamie James, who ha d been running eigh th, and T om Kip p were both claimed by tum 10 crashes while James' teammate Thomas Stevens went in and out of the pi ts trying to resolve his persistent earburetion problems. Kipp would be back for race two but Vance Be Hines ha d had enough an d started packing up for the trip to the AMA Natio na l at Loudon. "We don't want to just do okay," said Team Manager Steve Johnson. "We do this to be excellent and we just can 't be competitive with wor ld superbike level of equi pment. The carbs are a big handicap for us, we're losing 10 ho rsepower." Race two Not one but two red flags were hung out in th is race, the first after backmar ker J ohn Hopperstad sent the hay bales flying and some pho tograp hers ducking at tum nine when he decked his Yamaha, the second time after Falappa had a harm less fall at tum 10 and the red was prod uced again somewhat hastily. The race was restarted from the 10lap mark when the order across the line had been Rus sell , Mertens and Polen with hardly any tim e between them. That meant a 10-lap spri nt to decide things. Unfortunately for the Belgian - and Merkel and Monti for that matter - Pirelli had ru n out of the preferred rear and he kept the same tire whi le both Russell and Pol en pu t on fresh Dunlops. Add that to more clu tch probl ems and it became a two-bike race. Then, after six laps, the Texan decided it was time to go, and he pulled away for the accumulated victory. "T he stop seemed to work to my disadvantage," said Russell. "In the firs t leg I was more in the groove." Polen, for his part, di dn't accept the stop pa ge as necessary: " When you come around an d see 'no th in g on the track or in the im pact zone, then obvi ously that's a mistake." Russe ll was second, while Mertens cou ld only manage fifth but was still third overall, ahead of the hard-trying Merkel and Ph illis. The latter had actually put in a stirri ng charge from ninth to nearly catch the Muzzy Kawasaki, bu t had to settl e for th ird which became fifth. The Australian ha d been slow in the first . part because of traction problem s, but a rushed cha nge of tire duri ng the stoppage put him back on the pace. Others benefitted from the red flag also. Pirovano had suffered fro m a slip ping clutch through the first half, bu t a pl ate chan ge on the lin e go t him back up near the front. Juan-Lopez Mella was another fortunate one, an oil seal had failed and he was headed for a sure crash if the race hadn't been stopped. Falappa was un inj ured in th e cr ash, wh i ch was caused b y yet another stretched chain j u mping off the rear sprocket. T eam Manag er Marco Lucchinelli believes the problem is being caused by a new design Australian Rob Phillis leads Merkel and Ita lian Fabrizio Pirovano during their first leg battle for fourth. cus h dr ive wh ich is allowing the sp roc ket to sli p. So for Ducati a weekend of mixed fortu ne, bu t for Po len on home soil , a complete and utter triumph. He now leads Phillis in the championship chase by 31 points. CI SCOIl Russell was impressive at Brainerd, fin ishi ng second to Polen in both legs. Results Q UALI FYING : I. Stephane Mcnens (1:41.574): 2. Doug Polen (1:41.597): ~ . Fred Merkel ( 1:42.016); 4. Sco u R ussel l ( 1:42.202); 5. Rob Phi llis ( 1:42. 55~ ) : 6. Jamie James (1:42.846); 7. Fabrizio Pirovano (\ :42.872); 8. G ianculo Falappa (1:42.940); 9. T erry Rymer ( 1 :4~. 1 83) ; 10. Baldassarre Mon ti (1:43.286): ll . Thomas Steven s (1:13.685) ; 12. Ra ym ond Roch e (1:44.064); I~ . Tom Kipp ( 1 :44.~88): 14. Rueben McM urtel (1:14. 935 ); 15. Jacq ues Cue-neu e ( 1 :45. 14~ ); 16. Jeffry Vries (1;45.346); 17. Bru no ' Bonhuil ( 1:45.350): 18. J imm y Adamo (1:45,370); 19. Carl Fogarty (1:45.469); 20. j ean-Yves Mounier (1:45.54 1): 21. Niall Mackenzie (1:45.733): 22. juanLoper Mella (1:46.200); 23. Mike Hanh (1:46.755); 24. Christophe Guyot (1:47.238); 25. Brill T urkiag'on (1:48.643); 26. J oh n Hoppers tad (1:48.852); 27. Adr iano Narducci ( 1:48.868); 28 . R ick Kirk (1:48.971); 29. Bob Sandy (1:49.244): ~O. Ray Yoder (1:50. 107); 31. Todd Strang (1:50.138); 32. Christian Gardner (1:50.331): 33. Bobby Franklin (1:57.290/. RACE I: I. Doug Polen (Due); 2. Seen Russe I (Ra w): ~ . Stephane Mertens (Due); 4. Rob Ph illis (Kaw); 5. Fabrizio Pirova no (Yam); 6. Fred Merkel (H o n): 7. Gianca rlo Fa1appa (Du e); 8. Ba lda ssarre Monti (Han); 9. jacques Gue nette (Ka w }; 10. Je ffry de Vries (Yam): I I. Carl Fogarty (Hon); 12. Reuben McMurter (Hon); IS. jean-Yves Meunier (Yam ); 14. Juan·LoperMella(Hon ): 15. Niall Mackenrie (Hon ): 16. Bru no Bonhul1 (Yam): 17. Christophe Guy ot (Hon); 18. John Hopperstid (Yam): 19. Christian Gardner (Yam); 20. Britt T urki ngton (Sur); 21. Ray Yoder. J r. (Sur ): 22. Bob Sandy (Ra w); 23. Adriano Nard ucci (Due): 24. J imm y Adamo (Due): 25. Tom Kipp (Yam); 26. Todd Strang (Yam): 27. Rick Kirk (Hon); 28. ThOfTUs Stevens (Yam ); 29. J ami e James (Yam); 30. Mike Hanh (Yam). RACE 2: I. Dou g Polen (Due); 2. Sco tt Russell (Ra w ); 3. Step hane Mertens (Due): 4. Fred Merkel (Hon): 5. Rob P hill is (Kaw); 6. Fabrizio Pirovan o (Yam ); 7. Baldassarre Monti {He n ): 8. Jacques Guenette (Kaw); 9. Yves Mo urner (Yam); 10. JeHry de Vries (Yam): II. Carl Foga rty (Ho n); 12. IIrian Bonhuil (Yam); IS. Bri tt Turkington (Sur); 14. Niall Mackenzie (H an); IS. Adria no Narduchi (Duc); 16. Reuben McMurte r (Hon): 17. Bob Sandy (Ra w); 18. Christian Gardner (Yam): 19. Todd Stra ng (Yam); 20. G iancarl o Falappa (Duc); 21. Chri stophe Gu yot (Hon ); 22. Jimmy Adamo (Due); 23. Mike Harth (Yam); 24. 'tom Kipp (Yam). WO RLD C'SHIP SUP ER BIKE PO INT STAND1NGs : I. Doug Polen (100): 2. Rob Philli s (69); 3. Stephane Mertens (67); 4. Fab rizio Pir ovan o (66); 5. juan -Lopez Mella (40); 6. Terry Rymer (3~); 7. Seen Russell (34); 8. (TI E) Raym ond Roch e/Carl Fogarty (32); 10. (T IE) Linnley Clark e/Yv es Brisson (30): 12. Baldassarre Monti (27); 13. (TIE) Dan ia! Amalria n! Steve Crevier/ Jeffry de Vries (26); 16. Fred Merkel (23): 17. Rob McEl nea (22); 18. Niall Mackenzie (21); 19. (TIE) Brian Morri son /Pasca l .Picottez'Tom Kipp /Pilon (20). Polen and R usse ll stand fo r the pla ying of the nationa l an them. Roche, R crash outin gualify-ing_ y-mer W orld Champion Raymond Roche an d British Loctite Yamaha rider T erry Rymer were both elim inated from raci ng at Brainerd after they crashed during qualifying. Roche broke the big toe on his left foot in the first q ua lifying session, highsiding coming out of tum six. Im mediately after the crash, which he blam ed on tires still being cold despite com pleting several laps, he attempted to rid e hi s other Ducati 888 but found gear-shifting too painful. He was taken to St. Josep h' s Hospital by series ph ysician Dr. Massimo Corbascio for X-rays. 'Dr Corbascio la ter said Roche would need a month to recover fro m the injury but was a possibility to star t the Austrian round on J une 30. Roche flew home Sunday morning. This is Roche's second qualifying crash of the year. The Frenchman also went down at Donington trying to match Doug Polen 's times in the final session and broke a bone in his thumb. Roche had been testing a new Michelin rear tire at the time of the accident. He had been highly eomperitive up to that point, setting fastest lap of the day Friday with a one-minute, 47.792-second lap . Rymer's was potentially the more dangerous of the two crashes, the rear Dunlop tire deflating and locking the rear wheel as he accelerated out of the top gear tum one. The bike was wrecked and Rymer pummelled, suffering a separated collarbone, ligament damage and bruises. The Yamaha awol was wrecked in the incident and Vance Be H ines generously loaned the LXtite team a frame to use if Rymer elected to race. He didn't . 13

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