Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eROAD RACE e ~ ~ 1992 World Championship_P_rev ie_ _ w ----,-- T he n th er e's th e Fr en ch team, formerl y entere d by Son auto, bu t now by Yam ah a Motor France, with '92spec YZRs. They have signed up Niall Mackenzie aft er th e Scotsman put up some strong performan ces wh en he was drafted in at th e end of last season. Hi s teammate will be AMA Superbike sta r Migu el DuHamel. As a Frenchspea king Cana dian, he sa tisfies the requirem ents of havin g at least one vag uely Gallic rider; as son of a fam ous father Yvon he also has a reputation as a fearl ess cha rger. As last year, the team will be run by Serge Rosser, wh ose ROC engineering o utfit also builds seven of the 13 Yam aha-pow ered YZR replicas for whi ch th e factory has mad e . engi nes and chassis speci fica tio ns available. Rosset will also be enteri ng Adrien Morillas and Dominique Sarron on ROC- Yam ah as, making h is team the biggest on the block. Other ROC-Yamaha entrants are Swiss privateers Niggi Schmass ma n and Ser ge David , Au strian Sepp Doppl er, and American Larry Moreno. Perh ap s th e most notable of th e new works-po wered privateers is Australian Peter Goddard, wh o rid es a RO CYamah a in a new team backed by American sponsor Bob Maclean. Ther e are ' a lso si x British -built Harris Yama has, do wn to be ridden by Dutchman Cees Doo rakk ers, German s Micha el Rud roff a nd H an s Becker, and Brits Peter Graves, Simo n Buckm aster and Kevin Mit chell. Now we will really see if the V-four mo ns ters are trul y barely ridea ble excep t by a _ This trio took the lion 's sha re of wins last season, and it is certain that th ere will be as mu ch co nflict betwee n their in dependent teams as wit h the ot her bi kes. Last year, Cadalora found the edge wit h the help of tuning guru Erv Kanemoto; thi s year Kanerno to's attention will be spread to include Ga rd ner 's 500cc team as well , and the focus wi ll be less sha rp. Brad l is my personal favorite, assuming HRC can provide h im wi th ade quate equipment. Whi ch seems highly probable. Masah iro Shimizu will also get an NSR; whi le Honda also has a strong B-tea m, riding kitted RS bi kes, includin g two-tim e l 25cc cha m p Loris Capirossi, wh o is ridi ng for Pileri Corse, J ean-Pierre j ean da t, Doriano Rom boni and Stefa n Prein. Katsuyo (Left)Miguel DuHam el will debut in the 500cc class after an impressive season of AMA Superbike racing, (Right) Nia ll Mackenzie will ride a So na uto Yamaha. (Below) I25cc champ Loris Capirossi moves to the 250cc class. (Above) Six H arris Yamahas will race this year. (Left) Carlos Cardus will attem p t to win the 250cc cro wn in 1992. 18 han dful of supermen, as the FI M has arg ued; or wh eth er they are the amenabl e ma chines that Ken ny Roberts and o thers have insisted. There is one ot her Yamaha - the one-year -old YZR ridden last year and th is by Irishman Eddie Laycock. T h e ot her works b i kes are th e Cagivas - whic h im proved so mu ch last year in the han ds of Eddie La wso n. Hi s team ma te Al exandre Barro s proved cras h-prone , bu t also went fast (faster than La wson at J erez), and the same pair will return in 1992. T he team were expe cted to switch to Dunlop tires, bu t a more signi fica nt cha nge ma y be tha t they have recruited Giacomo Agosti ni to run the team. Lawson was credi ted with havin g led the Italian team 's revival , but he and Ago are adversaries from way back, wh en Law son rode in th e Italian mu lti cha mpion 's Marlbor o Yamaha team . It is hard to know how Ago will be able to remo tivate Laws o n, whose pati en ce will be sorely tried by having to ride for a man he has criticized stro ng ly in the pa st. T his leaves on ly the odd ball ent ries Marco ' Pa p a 's h om e-brew ed Libren ti , Lu cio Pedercirii' s simi la r Pato n, and Andreas Leuthe's likewise VRP . . If all those wh o pl an to ent er can actually get to the races (and severa l of the privateers 'were skating o n thin finan cial ice before th e season began ), we will see the strongest 500cc class gri ds for severa l years. T he return of Mam ola and Mackenzie ~Iso suggests the pr em ier class 'is returning to health again. Let 's hope so. 250cc T her e are 36 names o n the provisio na l ent ry list for the 250cc class , and a brand -new works bik e - the G ilera . - to join the existi ng struggle between H onda, Yamaha , Suzuki and Ap ri lia. Dom in a nt H o n da h a s already revealed th eir p lans - an a ll-new works bike for their top three riders of 1991. Racing numbers one to three are taken by Lu ca Cadalora (Ro th man s), H elmu t Bradl (H B), a nd Carlos Ca rd us (Repsol). Then , with o n ly weeks before the first race, it was rumor ed that they would withdraw the new bike for further testi ng. shi Kozono, who showed well last year on Bridgestone ti res, is also Honda mo unted, whil e Adi Stadler and Antoni o Sanchez both move up from the I 25cc cla ss, the latter to ride alongside Cardus in the Kel Carru thers -prepa red Repsol team . Four newcom ers conclude th e Big H p la too n. Thus Honda has lost the services of Wileo Zeelenberg, who has take n over Martin Wimmer's ride o n the Luckv Strike Suzu ki; and lon g-serving race tes ter J o ch en Schmid , wh o has switch ed to Yamah a , alo ng with Paolo . Casa li back for a second attem p t on th e low -key Yamaha TZ-M . Zeelenber g's case is mor e promisi ng . The R G V Suzuki mad e stea dy. if undramati c progr ess in Wimmer 's hands last year, a nd returns substantia lly revised for a second season. His team ma te will be for mer 80cc star Herri T o rro nt eg ui, who had an 11 th pl ace in his sole o ut ing o n the bike last season . Aprilia has been im proving consistent ly over the pas t two years, with a stea dy p rog ram of develo p ment. Wor ks riders Pier-Fran cesco Chili and Lori s Reggiani both won a GP last year; this year th ey are joined by the European cham p io n Massimilian o Biaggi, a major hope for the Ital ian factory. The seco nd and third -pl aced Eu rocham p io ns hip men also join the fray on Aprilias, Eskil Su ter and J urgen van den Goorb ergh both had a couple of outin gs last year, the latter scori ng po ints.

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