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/127403
BROADRACE~d~~o~_R_~ _r_~_ _R_OC_e& :F_~_lr_oo_~~~~~~~~~~_ ~ Australian Michael Doo han (3) leads John Kocinski (19), Wayne Gardner (5) and Juan Garriga (6) early in the first-ever 500cc G ran d Prix of Malaysia . Kocinski was untouchable, qualifying fastest an d then running away in the GP. " Kocinski saves his best for last in Malaysia By Michael Scott Photos by Patrick Gosling SHAHALAM, M ALAY SEPT. 29 SIA, he Malaysian Grand Prix was a littl e bit of history. It was not on ly the first race in thi s cou ntry, and the last GP of the 1991 seaso n - bu t also the first 500cc-class victory for . J ohn Kocinski . The wi n , i n sweaty and hum id conditions at the gra ndiosely named Sha h Alam Mo tor Sport Parad ise o uts ide Kual a Lumpur , may have been achie ved in th e ab sen ce of two of the leadin g players. But it will surely not be the young American 's last. Double champion Wayne Rain ey and ri val Kevin Schwantz were both out , injured the week befor e in testing crashes. But the 1990 250cc World Champion's Marlboro Yamaha had already dominated th e tests by then, and he kept righ t on through tim ed practice and into the race itself , leading from the second lap to defeat Wayne Gardner's Ro thrnans Honda by six seconds. In the process, he also beat the Australian former champ ion for fourth place in the cham p ionship . After a first 500cc season that began with brash brilliance but soon ran into the doldrums, it was the second co ming of a massively talented rider. And this time, as he said before the race, he was here to stay. Michael Doohan was a distant third, after his Ro th mans Honda ran into T 22 handl in g probl em s. The resu lt meant that th e Australian , already second in the World Cha mp io nshi p, fail ed by ju st one point to match titl e winner Rainey's gross po ints sco re (fi na l resul ts are take n o nly after dr opping the two worst scores ). Du cados Yama ha's Juan Garriga was fourth, with fifth go ing to Kevin Magee, rid in g a Yam ah a in h is first GP sin ce April, wh en he rode a Suzuki in th e Austr al ian GP at Phillip Island. The 500cc race was processional and rather thin, wi th Edd ie Lawson also ab sent due to inj ury, and Cagiva teammate Alexandre Barros failing to return as hoped. But the 32,O O O -stro ng crowd had a thrilling 250 race, with Carlos Cardus and Luca Cadalora (Repsol and Roth mans Hondas , resp ective ly) battling virtually from start to finish. Oil the last lap alone, the lead changed hands five tim es - but it was new champion Cadalora who crossed the line first , by less than a tenth of a second. Title runner-up Helmut Bradl and his HB Honda was third; with Aprilia's Loris Regg ian i just fending off Martin Wimmer and the Lucky Strike Suzuki to take fourth . Wileo Zeelenberg had been up near the front, but crashed early on without injury. The I 25cc G P was a minor epic, with