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/127387
eRoIDucrw~o~~~~ _b_~_R_~_& _ri_~:_b_oo_d_8 e Wayn e Rainey sp rints away in th e early go ing of the 500cc GP, leavi ng Wayne Gardner, Kevin Sch wantz and Co. behind. Rainey back on track in GP ofEurope By Michael Scott Photos by Solo MOIO JARAMA, SPAIN, JUNE 1 6 rgan ized at short no tice as a lastmin ute repl acem ent for th e canceled Yugoslavian GP, at th e co n tro versia l j arama circui t which last hosted a G P in 1988, th e so-called G P o f Eu rope was a triumph for th e Spanish organizers , with a we llco ntrolled day of firs t cla ss racing for a ca pacity crowd that had poured in fro m nearby Madrid. It was a tri u mph also for defending Marlboro Yamaha' s World Champion Wayne Rainey, who dominated th e race alm ost from start to finish, r el eg a t in g cha m p io ns h i p leader Mich ael Doohan to seco nd. Third went to Doohan's Roth mans Honda teammate Wa yn e Gardner , as th e former World Ch ampion co nti n ues on th e comeback trail. It was Gardner's best fini sh this seaso n. Lucky Strike Suzu ki ' s Ke vin Schwantz sta rted from th e pol e po si-, tion , but co u ld do no better than fourth, plagued wit h whee lspin problems; j oh n Koc in ski was fifth as he battles with a Marl boro Yamaha tha t doesn 't suit him, while Eddie Lawson retired after a dogged attempt to keep his misfiring Cagiva going. It was his firs t non -finish this yea r. Doug Cha nd ler had a narrow escape on the Rober ts Ya ma ha , after ru n ni ng into the gravel early in th e rac e. Then he produced a storming ride that proved he really is getting to grips wi th 500cc two-stroke racing, demolis hing a 20-seco nd defici t to claim ninth fro m Campsa Honda's Sito Pons on the last lap. Luca Cadalora also put his 250cc O 12 titl e effort back o n the rails, ta king his Ro thman s-Kan e rno to H onda to a con vinci ng win o ver Helmut Bradl's HB Ho nda and Carlos Cardus's Rep sol Honda; defending cha m pio n Loris Capirossi won a spl endid 125cc race as ea rly ti tle leader Noboru Ueda crashed out for a second tim e th is year; and Steve Webster and Gavin Simmons pr eserved th eir near perfect record of wi ns in th e Sid ecar race. But it was almost more im portant, after fierce argument and opposition . within racing had seem ed to threaten th e revised and resu rfaced track a nd th e hastily arranged event itse lf with some sort o f a boycott, th at th e race not on ly went ahead, but did so wi thout a hitch. There was even a Royal Patron - Prin ce Felipe, heir to the Spanish th rone. The biggest problem s were blazin g sunshine a nd remorseless heat, and the fact that so many peop le came to th e last-minute race that th e co -promo ters Do rn a a nd Flammini Racing ran out of tickets. T he 65,OO O-stro ng crowd was swelled by a no ther 10,000 who broke down fen ces a nd joined the thronged hi llsides. The heat prompted G P medics to suggest th at all races shou ld be sho rtened on grou nds of safety, to avoid deh ydra tion. In fad, race da y was slig htly coo ler than practice, a nd o nly the Sideca r GP, last of th e da y, was cut. 500cc GP Dooha n leapt a way from the front row, with Rainey on his hind quarters, and they held that order until halfway .ro u nd the second la p. Then Doohan 's H o nda got into a co u p le o f wild sli des over th e hill , and Ra iney took th e cha nce to get past. He missed seeing th e Austra lia n 's worst moment, a front-wh eel heart-stopper that left a big black mark o n the track . In fine fighti ng form, th e defending cham pio n was never headed again, as he made quite sure o f breaking his fourrace drough t of wins. By th e end o f lap two, he and Doohan were already almo st 2.5-seconds ahead o f thirdplaced Schwantz, and th ey kept stretchin g away , with Rai ney's Yam aha also dra wing away from Doohan, It wasn 't exciting, but it was fraught. Rain ey had blo wn up h is best eng ine in morning warm-up, and was racing with a has tily set -up spare. He was far fro m sure it would go the dis tance. The o the r question was tires - would th e tro ubleso me Dunlops last in the heat? Well, they wo uld, a nd aft erwards Rainey paid th em his first com p lime nt of the year. "The tires worked in the hottest conditio ns we've ha d. Dunlop really wo n the race fo r me , a n d everybody a t Oh lin s did a heck of a job getti ng th e bike set u p." At the finish , he had stre tched hi s advantage over Dooh an to 7.6 seconds, leavin g th e Australian to a lonely race. " Fro m practice a nd th e warm-up th is morning I. kne w Wa yn e was going to go well ," Doohan sai d. " Whe n he ca me past me and just leapt away, I knew I co uld n' t ca tch him. I had trouble with my front tire, but th e main thi ng was he was j ust ridi ng better than me." _ There was a bit more to-and-fro behind, with Gardner starting o ff in th ird, a nd Sch wa n tz forcing pas t him o n th e second lap. But Schwan tz co uldn't find a ny decisive adva n tage, a nd th e Austra lia n kept o n p ressing him, moving back in front o n lap six. Gardner was racing with a new frame, bu ilt to en rnu late last year's NS R Honda, and it obviously su ited his pres s-on rid ing style. It seemed their battle migh t last u n ti l the end of the race, the n after 12 laps Sch wa ntz ra n into trouble. " I felt a vibration, and I sta rted getti ng rea l bad wheelspi n right in the middle of the co rners. " A fact obvious to TV viewe rs, wh o were trea ted to close -u ps o f smoke pouring from his rear tir e. " After tha t, I decide d just to go for a good fin ish and get as many points as I co uld," said th e T exan , who had spoi led hi s perfect cra sh reco rd thi s year with a minor spill in mo rni ng warm- up, This left Ga rdner unch all en ged, an d he kep t pressing on to make absolutely sure of his firs t rostrum fin ish a ll season . " It 's great to be back, but third is not good enough, " he said. " I like it when m y critics say I'm fini shed, because it makes me even mo re deter m ined to prove them wro ng. Bu t the best th in g is that I'm getti ng the plaster cas t off my broken foot today - I on ly left it on to be o n the safe side ." Behind th e firs t four, a ha rd race soo n d evel oped bet ween La wson, Ko cinski a nd Spanis h hero juan Garriga o n the Du cados Yamaha , They di dn 't actually cha nge p laces a t a ll , but th ey were all p ressi ng o n. T he n Lawson started to open u p a sma ll ga p, a nd 'was even closi ng o n Sch wa ntz. , It didn 't last. On lap 1.4, it was ob vious that he was in tro ub le, fo r Koc inski was clos ing rapidly, and ahead two laps late r. It took Garriga a nother two laps, but by no w Lawson 's Cagiva was sp lu ttering and mi ssing, a nd he was sho rt-s hifting a t low revs. It tak es a lot for the four -time World Champion to give u p , bu t he eventua lly retired with I I laps left aft er losing two more places. T he Ital ians blamed a fau lty ignition system. In th e closin g stages, Garriga sta rte d to close on Koci nsk i, to the delight o f th e highly partisan crow d. The America n was fighting with h is slidi ng machine, but he was eq ua l to th e cha llenge, a nd set his per sonal best lap las t time ro und to hang on to fifth , some three seco nds a he ad. "Tha t proves the Dunlop tir es were good," Kocinski sa id. But his sto rming start to his first 500cc GP season had clearly run int o trou bled wa ters, fo llowing his crash in Germa ny, " I need a di fferent chassis," he said . "Unti l I get o ne, I' m fighting with th e bik e a ll the tim e, and I know if I keep pushing I' ll crash." T eam bos s Ken ny Ro berts a p parent ly disagrees, say in g j ohn is still trying to rid e it like a 250, using too much corn er speed, then trying to hold the bike tigh t on th e corner exits, rather th an turning ea rl ier and slower, th en givi ng th e bike its head. j ean -P h il i p pe R u g g ia on the Sona uto Yama ha was puttin g up a typ icall y spirited performance beh ind him , in his first race since break ing hi s co llarbo ne in Germany. Hea vil y strapped u p , he pai d no a ttention to his co ndition , a nd had th e bl ue YZR wobbling a nd sh rie ki ng as usual as he di sposed, after 12 laps of a persi stent challe nge, hi s teammat e Adri en Morillas, wh o fin ished a lon el y eig ht h. Then ca me another tense race. In the ea rly stages th er e we re t h ree Ch andl er , h om e h ero Si to . P ons, making a prem ature racing return fro m earl y-season testing inj u ries to satisfy hi s Spanish fans and spo nsors, a nd second Lucky Strike Suzuki rider