Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

was in con tro l and never headed again. H e extended his lead to as mu ch as seven seconds and set a new lap record on lap seven, before th rottling back to win with 5.437 second s to spare. "It was pretty much straig h t for ward," he reported. " I di dn 't actua lly expect it to be like that ." just wh o was go ing to occupy that second positi on was in dis pu te for som etime. Goddard ha d led the 'pack from lap four to seven, then Sligh t retook the spot as th e pink Yama ha 's rear j apanese Dunlop faded. It was not until lap 13 that Ph ill is a sserted himseIf and by then it was too la te to do anything abo u t Polen . Kitagawa went out on lap four, the T eam Green ZXR750R cras hing ou t in spec tacu lar fash ion, somersau lt ing a lo n g the track verge. In ty p ica l japanese style, the rider ran to the edge of the tra ck and then co lla psed in apparent agony. H e was actually unhurt. The flier in the field was Magee. H e had j ust abo u t run off th e track on the firs t la p as a domino effect initiated by Falappa forced riders wide. H e was 12t h on lap three an d charged from there, passing in turn Carl Fogarty, Falappa, Russell , fast-starting Pirovano and finally Roche. By la p 20 he was onto Goddard and the two of them closed in o n Slight. Twice Magee got into fourth but each time he was beaten ba ck and that was how it finished, the four co lo n ials separa ted by under two seconds 'a nd six se conds a he a d o f th e World Champion. Roche battled his pumped up right arm for most of the race as well as Pirovano and he used th e superior power of the Du cati to just take sixth on the lin e by .067-of-a-secon d. Rus sell led home slo w-star ting Tardozzi and Fal appa, with Fogarty firs t Honda a hea d of Merkel for the th ird straig h t ti me. After th at resul t the Rum o team decided to alte r the car bura tio n to th eir setti ngs and cha nge the pi pe for one of their 4-1 systems, in an effor t to see if that would cure th e flat spot. No tables not to finish were Mackenzie (brakes) aft er running 12th , j eff DeVries (brakes) and j ari Su honen (ba ttery). Race two A cla ssica l Polen bli tz which saw him leading by 1.8 seconds after one lap, 3.7 seconds after two, 4.5 seco nds after three, 5.1 seconds after four, 5.6 seconds after five and a new lap record and 7.6 seconds after six. The reason th e last gap jumped so much was because Phillis had gone crashing out at th e righ t-ha nder onto th e main straight as he desperately tried to prevent Polen from breaking away. " It was my stupid fault," he admitted afte rwards. "I just gassed it up too hard trying to make up th e gap and get away from the rest. " Goddard was now second and even began working the gap down until he came to grief at the second turn in another big highside: "The' rear tire was drifting around th ere most of th e time, but this time it just kept going a nd it sent me flying. I was just trying to maintain the lap time s and I just went beyond that tir e's capa bi li ties." Roch e wa s the n ex t to inherit second, and with Magee - charging through from ano the r slow start - and Slight, . wh o Ro che had previously ca ught and passed, closing in , began to pull in the ga p to Polen also. But a cou ple of hard laps from the T exan a nd the win was secure . It was now a battle for second and as mu ch as th ey tried, Magee and Slight co uld do nothin g abo u t the Ducari 's Rob Phillis maintained his second place in the championship with a second place in the first leg; he crashed in the second. Fred Merkel's troubles continued in Japan; he finished 12th and ninth. power advant age. Time and again they would claw onto Roche's tail into the ch icane only to lose yards in th e drag race up the hill to the start/ finish line. " H e was ho lding me up maybe ha lfa-second a lap ," Magee said later. " I just co u ld n' t get him and i t was because the Du cati just jett ed off the , turns." On the last lap, Magee's final effort nearly came unstuck as Slight ranged up alongside, bu t th e former GP rider . was abl e to co me back at the young New Zealander and after pl ayfully (?) grabbing him o n the leg and getting a kick ba ck, he won out by just .005of-a-second ] Russell just bea t Mackenzi e home by ' .046, then Pirovano another h alf second beh ind after a last lunge at th e chicane also cost him time. Fogarty had run near the front of this group thro ughou t o nly to drop off at the end as a head gasket leak ed water a nd the throttle stiffened and becam e difficult to o perate . With Merkel ninth , losing th e flat -spot bu t also power, a nd Rymer depressed 14th , Fogarty no w moves into sixth in th e champions hip a nd becomes the first H o n da and Brit ish rider . . Mert ens had gone, after 10 laps as th e spa re Du cati co nsistent ly lost pow er. When he fell back to 17th pl ace he gave up the unequal struggle. The a Georgian Scott Russell raced in Sugo, finishing eighth and fifthin the two legs. Belgian has now go ne five straight races without a point. Polen , o n the o ther hand, ha s go ne seven stra ight races without losing. The closest he came to disaster in this meeting was wh en he fell off the top of the podi urn after th e second race while spraying th e vi ctory cha m pa gne. l;N Resul ts QUAUFYING: I. Doug Po len (1:32.859); 2. Rob Phill is (1:33.527); 3. Step ha ne Mert ens (1:34.002); 4. Kei i ch i Kitagaw a ( I :3 4.233 ); 5. Fred Merkel (1:34.344): 6. Peter Goddard (1:34.432): 7. Niall Macken zie (1:34.569); 8. Aaron Sli gh t (1:34.663): 9. Kevin Ma gee ( 1:34.742); 10. Ra ym ond Roch e (1:34.787); I I. Scott Ru ssell ( 1:34.912); 12. David e Tardoui (1:35.028); 13. Ryuji Tsu ruta (1:35.07 1): 14. Giancarlo Fa lappa (1:35.074); 15. Ca rl Fogarty (1:35.098); 16. Masanao Aoki (1:35.351); 17. Kenj i Ohsaka (1:35.415): 18. Fabriz io Pi rovan o (1:35.430); 19. Terry Rymer (1:35.595); 20. Kiyo kazu Tada (1:35.742); 21. Shi ngo Kato (1:36.3 19): 22. Shinichi ro Ohura (1:36.320); 23. T etsuya Sh ira t ( 1:36.376); 24. Jar i Suhonen (1 :36.422); 25. Dan iel Amatriai n Vila (1:36.498); 26. Malcolm Campbell (1:36.640); 27. T adaak i H a namu ra ( 1:37. 100) : 28. U do Ma rk ( 1:37. 161): 29. Juan M. Lopez Mella (1:37.247); 30. Tom Kipp (1:37.563 ); 3 1. J ean Yves Mou n ier (1:37.609): 32. Hirosh i Koba yashi (1:37.753); 33. ]eHry De Vries (1:38.157); 34. Hiroma sa Sakamoto (1:38.694): 35. Roy Leslie (1:38.799); 36. T oru Suzuki ( 1:40.801). RACE 1: I. Doug Pol en (Due): 2. Rob Philli s (Kaw); 3. Aaron Slight (Kaw); 4. Peter Goddard (Yam); 5. Kevin Magee (Yam); 6. Raym on d Roch e (Due); 7. Fab ri.zio Pirovano (Yam): 8. See n Ru ssell (Ka w): 9. Davide Tardozzi (Due) ; 10. Gi an ca rlo Fal appa (Duc ): 1I. Cazl Fogarty (H on); 12. Fred Merke l (H on ); 13. R yu ki Tsu ruta (Ka w); 14. Kiyokazu Tada (Kaw): 15. Masa nao Aok i (Suz); 16. Tetsu ya Shirai (H on); 17. Juan Lopez Mell a (Han) ; 18. Ud o Mark (Yam); 19, Ma lcol m Campbell (H o n ); 20. Tadaki H a na mu ra (Ya m ); 21. J ean Yves Mouni er (Ya m); 22. T om Kip p (Yam ); 23. Hiromasa Saka moto (Ya m); 24. H irosh i Kobayashi (Yam); 25. Toru Suzuki (Kaw): 26. J ari Su ho nen (Ya m). Time: 39 m in. , 40.7 16 sec. . Dutance: 25 laps. 57.25 m iles. Average S.,..d: 87.863 mph. Mar gin o(Victory: 5.437 sec. Fastest up: Dou g Po len, 1:34.201. Lap 7. RACE 2: l. Dou g Pol en (Due) ; 2. Ray mond Roche (Due); 3. Kevin Magee (Yam); 4. Aaro n Sl ight (Kaw); 5. Sco tt Ru ssell (Ka w); 6. Nia ll Mackenzi e (Yam ); 7. Fabrizio Pirovan o (Ya m ); 8. Carl Fogar ty (Han); 9. Fred Merk el (Hon); 10. Davide Tardo zzi (Due); ll. G iancarlo Falappa (Due); 12. Ryuji T suruta (Kaw); 13. Kiyokazu T ada (Kaw); 14. T erry Rymer (Yam); 15. M a~..m ao Aok i (Sua): 16. T etsu ya Shi ra i (Hon ); 17. Jari Su ho nen (Ya m ): 18. Juan M. Lopez Mella (Ho n); 19. Tadaaki Han am ura (Yam); 20. J ean Yves Mounter (Ya m ): 21. Malc olm Campbell (Hon); 22. Tom Kipp (Yam); 23. Hi rosh i Koba yashi (Yam ); 24. J elfry De Vries (Ya m ); 25. Toru Suzuki (Kaw); 26. Hirom asa Sa ka moto (Yam ). Time: 39 min, 39.825 sec. Distance: 25 1aps. 57.25 m ites. Average Speed s 87.633 m ph. Margin o(Vietory: 6.024 sec. Fastest Lap: Doug Polen . 1:34.065. Lap 5. SUPERllIKE C'SH IP POINTS STANDINGS: I. Doug Pol en (257): 2. Rob P hill is (178); 3. (T IE ) Fa brizio . P i ro va n o /Ra ym o n d Roch e (134 ); 5. Stephane Mertens ( 114); 6. Car l Foga rty (88); 7. Terry Rymer (86): 8. Fred Merkel (84); 9. (TIE) Davide Tardou l!Giancarlo Falappa (60). 21

• Cover