Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Fourth 'wa s Ph ill is, seemi ng ly d istr acted by h is Su nda y Wo rl d Enduran ce Championship fi na le comm itment. On T hursda y he'd been dis grun tled wi th the setu p of the bike, o n Friday things improved and on Sa turday h e was sti ll making changes to the front end to try an d ' ma ke th e b i ke- steer th e wa y h e wanted. Much more relaxed, for once was Stephane Mer ten s. A qualifying tire run netted him the final time under the lap record. Magee was sixth, adjusting back from a 500 to hi s Dunlop -shod , Peter j ackson-liveried factory superbike and as at the Sugo superbike ro und working to fine tu ne the suspension to all ow him to run in deep and mainta in m idturn speed ra ther than try an d spi n the rear up and square off the turns as on a 500. Work centered on th e rear end , wh ich he comp lai ned was " tying the bike in kn ots" off the turns.. Magee was also battlin g with three bones dislocated in hi s right foot: He suffered th e injury at th e TBC Big Road Race wh en he ran the foo t over and then aggravated it a t the Su perpres tigio in Spain the weekend before J'hill ip Island. " It' s reall y bad through rights, lucky th ere's not man y o f them," he said. T eammate Scott Doohan had suffered a dreadful run , blowing an engine on Thursda y and being forced to spend much of the meeting on th e spare bike, as his repa ired machine then suffered el ectrical p robl ems whi ch were event ua lly traced to the ign itor box. By race morning he was back on his number one bike. Rounding out the top IO were the Ducati ride r Ro y Leslie - last man belo w 1:40 - Steve Martin on the Mick Hone Suzuki, th e GSXR bre ak ing :fifth- gear in session one and preventling him from going out in the after' noo n , and Doug Pitman, the T elecom lYamah a suffering clutch p rob lem s ,(ben t p ush-rod Th ursd ay and slip ping on Friday) and then a cam chain broke .in the second qual ifier o n Sa turday , forcin g him to in stall hi s endura nce race motor for Saturday. De Vries had the cras h of qual ifying after the rear en d flicked aro und. He hung on grim ly to th e handlebar as the b ik e dragged him al ong; but .eventuall y dropped to th e grou nd .wh ile th e Henk De Vries Racing Yamaha went on into the ban k. < Damage w as limited to th e fairing and 'a steering damper and j eff' s pride: " I th ink it was my fault," he con ceded . t g Race one The weather was even better on race 'da y and it matched the sunny mood of Kevin Magee, who with more susp ensio n ch a n ge s had recorded fastest time in the warm-up, a 1:38.57. As it turned out, it was an ominous sign for his rivals and he quickly burst into second behind Slight with Polen completing the top three on lap one. Phillis, Campbell and Mertens were close behind wh ile Martin was leading .th e rest. Doohan had made a poor start and found straightaway that carburaltion changes made after th e warm-up Jjust weren't working. I Slight led the early laps as the top six jockeyed for position, Mertens and Campbell alternating in th e ta il. gu nner spo t as they rapidly drew away . from the rest. On lap six Magee moved into the lead, Polen went into second and Phillis th ird as Sl ight elected to conserve: " I decided to wat ch ra ther than tow them aro und and try and save the tires." A lap la ter it was Polen 's turn and two laps after that Phillis had a brief ,I go at the lead before Polen again too k over. At th e halfway mark Polen, Magee and Slight were together and Phill is head ed Mertens and Campbell a sho rt distance fur ther back. Behind them Doohan was just lead ing Martin with Leslie all alone. All of a sudden Phill is' Challenge crumbled and he dropped righ t to the back ofthe leadin g group, u psetting Campbell in the process. " He waved me pas t and was in my road at the same time ," fum ed the Honda rid er. " I co uld stick wi th them while I had the tow, bu t once I lost them, that was it." Ph ill is said he slowed because, " I j ust didn 't feel right. I had a break in the mi ddle and then had a go again at the end . 1 wasn't ha ppy wit h th e rear so I coo led it to let the tire come goo d ag ain. " So from lap 12 the leading group became four, wi th Magee doing th e leading, Sli ght second and Pol en an d Merten s chasing alo ng behind. It was noticeabl e th at Ma gee 's Ya m aha , wh ich had been th e slowest of th e group a t th e Su go round, was no t la ck ing for speed no w: " I com p laine d after that and they put i t on th e dyn o and found it was down on pow er ," Magee had exp la ine d, " T hey promised me it would be better for here." On lap 18 Mertens dropped ou t of th e battle wh en his usual problem with fal se neu trals flared . H e n early crashed , lost his co n fidence and fell ba ck into th e cl u tches of Cam pb ell and Phill is. The lead group was now three and the one struggling was Slight, th e ZXR battling to match the speed of th e Yamah a or the Du cati : "T he Yama ha was just that little bit faster, I couldn't pull out of his slipstream but he co u ld pull out of mine. I didn 't kn ow what to do, I cou ldn' t come up with a race pl an." Polen was not comple tely hap py either : " I was havin g a wheelspi n pr oblem co mi ng o nto the fro nt stra igh t, so I had to keep the pack coo l in th e lefts so I'd have the dr ive on to the straigh t wh en I needed it toward the end." Nevertheless both were abl e to record faster laps than Magee, Polen doing 1:38.12 on lap six , Slight th e same on lap 12, Magee and Phill is managed 1:38.32. . For the last few laps th e lead th ree foxed, wai ting for the final, inevitable, spr int to th e line. Onto th e straigh t it was Magee, Slight -e--; wh o had tried and failed to get by him during th e last lap - and Polen , hi s run slowed by lappers on the last lap. The Kawasaki drew up to the Yamaha, which was hugging the right side of the track, but cou ldn 't mak e it stick. Polen had to back off momentarily as he figured out which way to go and th en dived between th em. . At the line they were virtually inseparable, the hand triggered 'com puter timing gave th e win to Magee by 0.05 of a secon d, with Sl ight another 0.08 fu rther back. But. with an error margin of up to 0.07 i n th e system , that cou ld not be trusted . Instead the line judge and a 100% consensus of the ti mekeepers gave th e wi n to Magee. Po len did not agree and lod ged a prot est whi ch the FIM Internat ional jury rejected. The vario us T V replays couldn 't provide a defini te conclusion either. " I though t I wo n ," said Magee. " I figured he j us t p ulled o ut a sp litsecond too la te. He can prot est if he likes but he sho u ld have been three miles in front in first, I reckon. " I knew I had to be right up there fro m the start," he added , reflecting on h is first win since th e 1989 Suzuka Eight H o ur. " I didn' t wa n t to shag the tires ca tch ing up." Phillis came home fourth, wa king up in the last few laps to pass bo th Cam pbell and Mertens, the H onda rider stym ied by h is lack of grunt against the Ducat i. Martin had a similar problem wi th Doohan , able to close u p bu t u na ble to get by. Leslie was j us t hap py to finish , wh ile De Vries retired with th e bike ru nni ng on two cylinders, Guest blew a head gas ket and Pi tman las ted on ly a lap before a con-rod broke, forcing him to bolt in hi s thi rd engine of the meeting. R ace two If the first race left everyo ne searching for su p erlatives, the second deserved all of tha t and more, bu ilding throughout to a tremen do us final lap . climax. Pol en , who had gone to a much hard er compound rear tire won th e start from Merten s, Phillis, Magee who was again usin g the same rear as Polen - Camp bell , Sl ight, Stroud.. Martin and Doohan, the latter back on his spare bik e. Behind th e lead group chaos broke ou t in th e firs t turn as th e throttle stuck ope n on Leslie' s Du cati in fourth gear. H e went down and th e bik e hit Matt Blair's Suzuki: "Next thing I kn ew Roy was in front of me slidin g down the track wi th h is legs spread in front of my front wh eel ," recall ed Blair. "Someho w I didn 't hit him." Once they got to grass Blair went do wn as well , alt ho ug h he su ffered no serio us injury, whi le Leslie punched a hole in his righ t hand. Fortunately, the mess was well clear o f th e tr a ck a n d th e race wasn 't stopped. Over th ese early laps Polen eked ou t a few 10ths as Phillis, Magee, Ca mpbe ll a nd Slight bunch ed u p behind Mertens. Phillis, feeling the pressure, began hu nt in g for a way aro und the Belgian but co u ld n ' t mak e it stick under brakes. On lap six he mad e a big run down th e outs ide at a corner only to ru n off: " I go t past him but I didn 't make the corner," exp lai ned Robbie la ter. " I would have go t him excep t th at I locked up the rear wh eel." Phillis rejoin ed the track in seventh, righ t behind Doohan, and now it was Magee's turn to attack Merten s, com pl etin g the pass in efficie nt fash ion at the end of the front stra igh t as they comp leted lap seven . By th is stage Polen had a 1.59 second lead and by lap IO it was ou t to 2.07 seconds, but it was destined to stretch no further. Nor was Slight destined to finish the race, trying to stick it up the in side of Mertens in a corner and coming off by far the worse, tumbl ing to the ground claiming that the Belgian had tak en his front wh eel out from under him. Campbell, wh o watched it all and had to take to the grass to avo id the gro u nded Kiwi , didn 't agree, saying that he h ad si m p ly been over ambitious, while Mertens said that Slight had hit him! Whatever, th e in cident also seemed to trigger th e end of Merten s' challenge as th e Du ca ti lost p ow er a nd he gradua lly dropped ba ck to fin ish a lonely sixth . For the rema inder of th e race th e interest well and trul y lay at the front as Magee surged toward Pol en , erasing ' his advan tage completely by the 15th lap and taking the lead for the first time on lap 16. " I was' ball s out, I was getting out of sha pe," was Magee's exp lanationof his fight back. To wa tch hi m was to believe, the Yamaha running peri- lously close to the edge of the track in the fifth gear sweeper. Polen could go no harder either : " I was hav ing some pretty good slides and Kevin was getting a lit tle closer so I decided to coo l the tires and run with him for awhile." For the next few laps as the two of th em p lanned for the las t lap dash they felt each other ou t, the lead often swapping in to the first tu rn . Beh in d them, another great battl e was taking shape between Phillis and Campbell. The Kawasaki rid er had manag ed to get back in front of Doo h a n for sixth, which became fourth af ter Slight's crash. Then he ra n wide again to allow Doohan back into fou rth before he reasserted himself a nd began to p ull away as the front-end of the Yamaha lost gri p. Campbell was flying, and reeled in Doohan and then Phill is and th ese two sett led down for the fight to th e flag. But the pri mary interest was the last lap lead battle, and both riders wante d to lead on to the straight for the final spri nt. Polen led as they di ved into th e first turn but off th e sweeper Magee gun ned th e Yamaha to th e inside, brak ed deep into th e turn and took the lead , a rar e experien ce for the Texa n to be passed in such a situa tion. Up to the Siberia turn th ey went, but from the exi t Magee had a slide and Polen went past him for the lead even th ough Magee showed him his wh eel and tri ed to han g on. He coul dn' t. Polen led onto the straigh t and wo n by 0.23s; " It was pre tty tough at th e end and I figu red it would be best to lead on and he wouldn 't have been able to catc h me." . Added Magee: "I was surprised he let me by at H onda Comer, but ma ybe he didn't have a Choice. I thou gh t he'd come through after I had my slide ouf of Siberia." Phillis held off the frustrated Campbell for third, with Doohan a lonely fifth ahead of Mertens. A strong ride gave Martin seventh, ahead of O'Connor, Pitman and Guest. DeVries comp leted an ordi nary weekend by retiri ng when th e fro nt brak e lever mo u nt bolts unwound. (;N Results Q UAUFYlNG: 1. Doug Polen (I min.. 39.08 sea./; 2. Aaron Sligh' (1:38.16); 3. Malcolm Campbe I (1:38.56); 4. Rob Phillis (1:38.64); 5. Stepha ne Mertens (1:38.79); 6. Kevin Ma ~ (1:39.11); 7. Scott Doohan (1:39.45); 8. Roy Leslie (1;39.56); 9. Steve Martin (1:40.35); 10. Doug Piunan (1:40.74); 11. Michael O'Connor (1:40.94); 12. Martin Craggill (1:41.74); 13. ; Mall Blair (1:41.77) 14. j effrey De Vries (1:41.89); 15. Peter Guest (1:41.93); 16. Eddie Kauenberg (1:42.32); 17. Shawn Giles (1:42.73); 18. Andrew Stroud (1:43.13); 19. Steph en Tozer (1:34.28); 20. Chris Bombardiere (1:43.54); 21. jan Shott (1:43.54); 22. Bruno Bonh uil (1:43.97); 2.3. jean-Michel Mattiol i (1:44.02); 24. Tony Roes (1:44.17); 25. Mark Fissenden (1:44.25); 26. Andrew Roberts (1:44.91); 27. Michel Bubb (1:45.03);28. Robert Va nolini (1:45.63); 29. Christoph er Price (1:45.72); 30. Ru ssellj osiah (1:46.27); 31. Mark Draper (1:46.88 32. ); Phi lip pe Mcnneret (1:48.2.3). : RACEONE: 1. Kevin Magee (Yam) ; 2. Dou g Pol en (Duc); 3. Aaro n Sligh t (Kaw); 4. Rob Phillis (Kaw); 5. Srep hane Mertens (Duc); 6. Malcolm Cam pbe ll (Ho n); 7. Scott Dooh an (Ya m ); 8. Steve Martin (Suz); 9. Ro y Leslie (Duc ); 10. Michael O 'Conn o r (H e n): 11. Andre w Stro ud (Kaw); 12. Shawn Gi les (H on ); 13. Mar tin Crnggill (Ho n); 14. Matt Blair (SU1); 15. Eddie Kanenberg (Kaw); 16. Andrew Roberta (Yam ); 17. jan Short (Suz); 18. T ony Roes (Ya m) ; 19. Ste phen T ozer (H a n); 20. Marie. Fissenden (H a n ); 21. Ru ssell Josiah (Kaw): 22. Robert Vanolini (H a n ); 23. Christopher Price (Han ); 24. Mark-Drape r (Kaw ). Time: 36:22.2.3. Distance: 22 laps. 60.67 miles. Average speed: 100.037 mph. Margin o' Victory: 0.05 sec. FastC'. Lap: Dou g Polen (lap 6)/ Aaro n Slight (la p 12). I min.. 38.12 scc./JOl.I84 mph. RACE TWO: 1. Dou g Pol en (Duc); 2. Kevin Magee (Yam ); 3. Rob Ph illi s (Kaw); 4. Malco lm Campbell (Ha n) ; 5. Seen Doo ha n (Yam); 6. Stephane Mertens (Duc) ; 7. Steven Martin (Suz); 8. Michael O 'Connor (Ha n); 9. Doug Pitman (f aro); 10. Peter Guest (Yam); 11. Shawn G iles (Ho n ); 12. Martin Graggi ll (Ho n ); 13. Ian Short (SU1); 14. T on y Roes (Yam); 15. Andr ew Ro bert s (Yam ); 16. Mark Fissend en (Ho n ); 17. Ru ssell j osiah (Kaw); 18. Christopher Pr ice (Han); 19. Ro ben Vanolini (H a n); 20. Mark Draper (Ka w): 21. Michael Bubb (Hon); 22. Andrew Str oud (Kaw). Time: 36 min., 26.4:8 sec. Distance: 22 laps. 60.67 mil es. Avrragr Speed : 99.89 m ph. Margin o(Victory : 0.31 sec. Fastes t La p: j effry De Vries (la p 5), I min., 38.2.3 sec.:' JO I.072 mp h. 25

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