Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Then came Mertens, just clear of a seven- bike bunch comprising H offman , Bontempi, Fogarty, Moineau , G schwender, Morrison a nd Amatriain. Nine laps out, Polen looked in co n tro l, holding a few yards on a harging Russell, with Pi rovano a nd Phillis hanging in there too . So hwa a nd Sli gh t were a tad back, b ut engaged in their own battle. B'ut the next time into the stadium , Slight was on hi s own in fifth . " We both lost th e front end a t th e same ti me. I think we both tip ped in a bit lat e m aybe," sai d Slight. "I managed to hold mi ne, b ut So hwa went straight dow n in front of me . His bike sort o f stopped dead in the track and I had to pi ck mine up to a void it. ' Luckil y, I just managed to keep on the rumble stri ps on th e edge of the track, otherwise I wo uld have been down too. " Slight had to hook back two gears to get going again and never hit top befo re th e first ch ica ne. Put simpl y he had to catch up again. Sohwa suffered a broken collarbone and co ncussion in the high-speed crash. With three laps left, P olen came out the Sachskurve, tail end drifting. He was on a m issio n, grabbing a few , all -im portant yards of da yli g ht o n th e Pi rovan o /Russell ba tt le. Phillis had lost the dr aft du ring the Sohwa-caused yellow flag. r " I don 't really know wh y I lost grou n d. Ma ybe th ose guys speeded up. I was j us t hanging in th ere," said the Auss ie, hinting, tha t like Slight, he was stru ggling to ma tch the horsep ow er o f th e rival Muz zy Kaw asaki a nd Du cat is. " I know I was slower ou t o f the firs t . ch icane - they were a bit braver b ut 1 seemed to be losing out in a cou p le other p laces, coming out of corners." In the final two lap s, w ith Pol en looking the favorit e to secure his first win of the year , a ll hell let loose to cha nge th e complete picture of the race . First Russell went down in the first chicane, b ut rem o u n ted to rej oi n '. the race with the Roch e/ Falap pa scrap for what now was fifth. R ussell said: " I go t into the chicane a bit too hot , the draft kinda suc ked me in. I lifted up b ut went into th e gravel (p it). Ma n, they are deep !" Ru ssell went d ow n , b ut q uic kly remounted with no damage to the machi ne a nd was able to rejo in the race, o n ly losin g two places. "I p icked her up a nd was wai ting th er e for all th e gu ys to go by, but o nly Phillis an d Slig h t ca me. So I got goi ng again." Russell said he had no inten tion of attem p ting a pass un til th e last lap. " I was just going to bide m y time," he said. " My bike was faster th an Doug's a nd I was ha p p y to wait u n ti l the last lap to mak e m y m ove on th e pair of th em down th e straig ht. " At th e same time, Pirovano go t back on terms with Pol en , but o n the fin al lap, as th e 25,000 fans packed into th e Hocken hei mring stadium grandsta nds tensed for the final dr ama between the Ducati and th e Yamaha to be played o u t, Pol en came into view o n his own . P irovano had cras hed at th e O stkurve. " I looked back a t th e Os tku rve a nd there was nob od y th ere on th e las t lap," sai d Pol en as he p repared to m ount the rostrum. " I didn't ha ve a ny idea w h at happen ed to him." Phillis thus inheri ted second a nd Sl i g h t was th ird . Bot h witnessed Pirovano' s demise. Phill is sai d , " I just saw this huge cloud of smoke as his m otor blew and then a sheet o f flame. I feared for him. H e didn 't seem to know what to do." Slight added, " I saw Pirovano blow. It was lik e he was trying to make it around the last lap. Then the thing became a ball of flame and I went inside him. I didn 't see him go do wn , though. " Into the stadium th e last time, Roc he led from Russell bu t th e Mu zzy Kawas kai rider pulled an aggressive p ass undernea th th e Frenchma n going into the final sweeper. " Did you see th a t?" gloated R ussell. " I tell you, I had one eye closed waiting for us to hi t as I went under him !" Fa lappa, hampered by suspension problems with his Duca ti, ca me home a lone seventh, getting onto th e grass after h ittin g P irovano 's oil. " I cou ldn 't miss it," he sa id. 'I hit the oil, went on the grass go ing maybe 200 kph (125 m p h) with bo th feet off the footrests," said Falap pa, m imi cking his lock to lo ck o n -t he -grass ex cursion t he n po inting to th e badly scuffe d hole a top th e ri ght toe of h is boo t, where he had flat- tracked i t out of th e rough back onto the ta rmac. Mert en s was seventh with a hig hspeed stability prob lem , Moi neau a n impress i ve e ig h th in . his firs t o u ting on th e Suzuki, Hoffman ni n th a nd Fogarty, th e star of Donington, a d isappoi nting 10th. The bike' s not ru nnin g right," he said '6 f his overnight rebmlt V-twilL " I t's d ead flat , t here 's someth i ng wrong - it won 't keep pulling." Fogarty had also been slowed whe n he was almost taken ou t by the crashing Gsch wender on th e ninth lap in the final corner before the start/finish line - and he had to ta ke avoiding action for severa l other cras hes, including one trip u p th e first ch icane slip road on lap two. "This place is more frightening than the Isle o f Man, " he exclaimed. "I've never seen so many people riding so crazy. There wer e crashes everywhere. " Then when th e results were publi sh ed , five riders, Fal appa, Fogarty, Morr ison , Jeffry de Vries and Udo Mark ha d all been penalized o ne minute eac h fo r taking sh ort cu ts through chican es. Fala p pa , like Fogarty, had gone up a slip road to avoid Udo Mark's second lap cra sh and lost th ree p laces but was still docked th e time and dro p ped out of the points. Falappa could not believe his luck. With m uch arm wav ing he said, "I was a t the rear of Roche and Fogarty was at th e rear of me. I only saw the yellow flag when Roche went into the corner. By th en it was too la te so I went into the slip road and so di d Fogarty. There were three rid ers beh ind me before th e ch ica ne, Mert en s, Gs chwender a nd another and I went back into the race behind th em an d Fogarty was behind me." The FI M jury refu sed to hear their ap peal a t th e meeting and to ld Fa lappa a nd Fogarty to make official appeals, in wr it ing to th e FI M through their federa tions. Race t wo The second leg was vintage Pol en , even th ou gh he was on h is number two bi ke. " We changed bikes because the mot or didn't feel so crisp at the en d of the first race as it should have," sai d Pol en . Roche had a panic on the line when he came back from the warm-up lap wi th th e engine temperature reading over 110 degrees. T he tea m topped up th e radia tor with coolan t and prayed. . Pol en grabbed the ho lesho t, but the n backed off wh en Russell cut across him as .they peeled o ff for turn one. An d Pol en lo st another pl ace when . Pirova no tried to come th ro ugh . " Sco tt came over a nd pinch ed me off and then I caugh t P irovano in th e co rn er of my eye wobbling around, so I slowed to let him th ough," Pol en said. " H e went wide so I took him on th e straight a nd th en caught Sco tt (R ussell ) and passed hi m between the Ostkurve and the second chicane." Russell cl u ng o n to second with the gap ho veri n g aro u nd the 1.35-1.65 second ra nge , b u t it was obvious Pol en intended ta king com m and early on in the overcast, but o therw ise dry, con ditions. Polen said, "I planned to hi t the fron t early j ust in case it rained. I like to have an advantage early o n. " Then Russell too k a nother tri p up the first chica ne escape road o n the eighth lap and dropped to seventh p lace, having ob eyed a marshall's orders in waiting until th e track was clear to rejoin th e ra ce. So now with Polen clear, the battle fo r second place beca me th e hi ghl ight of the race with Roche, Falappa a nd P hillis. Sli ght was again trying to make u p ground, this time held up by P irovano who was o n hi s sp ar e bike. He eventually go t on the back of .the ever -changing second place tri o by lap 10, th e same tim e as Phillis tri ed to get Roche for second by riding around the outs ide a t the Sac hskurve. Pol en built a comfortable cu shion but stillJooked to _be pushing Q¥d, especi ally as he came in to sight in th e first sta diu m right-hander. The rear tire look ed to be working really hard. " We u sed th e n umber two bike a nd it wasn 't quire dial ed in perfect. Some places I could push it, some p laces I cou ldn 't . That particular corner was part of my lap time, I co u ld gain tim e the re," Pol en explained. . Wit h Pol en over four seco nds u p with two laps to go, all a ttention focused on the seco nd pl ace dice as Phillis made a pass stick by suckering Ro ch e coming into th e stadium. As the y charged ou t of the final corner, Phillis held off th e two booming Du catis, with Falappa just edging Roche into fourth place. Phillis was really happy wi th his performance, particularly his pass of Roche. " Raym o nd was leaving roo m down the inside for me coming into the sta di um and I was go ing up there to pass showing him my wh eel eac h time. Bu t I knew he'd try to cu t me off if I really had to go th ere so I made my move around the outside whe n it mattered," P h illis sai d. " It was the best line I had th rough there all weekend. Then I held a tigh t line in the next two corners and came ou t th e last corner fast to keep the Du catis behind. We used a harder compound Michelin in th e second race which lasted lon ger. 'T hat made all the differe nce. I cou ld maintain bett er brak in g an d corn er speed. " Fa la p pa had ma naged to ge t between th e Kawasaki a nd th e Du ca ti on th e last lap by chargi ng up between the two bikes as th ey peeled into the Ostkurve. Bu t Fa lappa was not able to mou nt a final challe nge o n Phillis. " Last five laps I had th e brake lever bac k to th e bar," he said. " I had to pump i t to make it work, th at's wh y I didn ' t try to get Phillis. And my bike was not so fast. We used the numb er two bike beca use the suspension was no t good in the first race ." Roche, too, claimed his bike lacked power in the second leg, possibly due to a blowi ng head gasket - which would go some way to explai ning hi s overheati ng problem on the warm-up lap . Sligh t took fifth , never q uite able to mount a challenge on th e Ducatis. " I co uld j us t about slips trea m th e Duca tis bu t they cou ld ou tbrake me everytime because the y are ligh ter," he said. "I've go t th e br ak es o n so hard th e rear wh eel is in th e air a nd sti ll can 't gai n on th em . It's not much, m ayb e a few yards each time - but i t' s enou gh. And the y are fast er o ut of th e corne rs too." On th e last lap, Pirovano mustered the strength to have a go back at Russell and passed him just befo re th e first chicane and th en held him o ff for sixth place at th e flag. P irovano was dejected back in hi s pit. " I thought I could have won the first race ," he said. "And I'm su re that if I had had m y number .one bi ke in the second leg, I wo uld have won. Even with my hands h u rt , I would have m ore motivation. My seco nd bike is not so fast." Russell wasn 't too ha ppy eithe r. " I cha nged t he su spensio n be tw een races," he said. "And the sp ring was load ing u p in the chicanes and trying to flick me. I sh o ul d have left it a lone . Ma ybe I cou ld have h u ng in th ere with Pol en ." , And Pirovano passing him la te in the race? " H e looked like he'd given u p when I went by him, Then he drafted by me a nd it was to o late for me to get him back. " There was drama further back when Mertens lo st e ight h p lace in th e Sachscurve when th e engine sudden ly lost .revs thanks to a suspected electronic fault. Mertens had had a difficult ra ce, unabl e to use th e dra ft because o f a stabi li ty problem with his bike 111 traffic. Merten s' problem meant John Reyn olds took eig~t!J. pl ace ahead of a five-bike slipstreaming group which consisted of H o fm ann , Moin eau , Fogarty an d the lu ckless Belgi an. f,N Results Q UAUFYtNG: 1. Doug Pole n (2:06.271120.058); 2. Ra ymond Roche (2:06.81 ); 3. SCO ll Ru ssell (2:06.93); 4. Gianearlo Falappa (2:06.95); 5. T. Soh wa (2:07.38); 6. Rob Phillis (2:07.59); 7. Fabrizio P irova no (2:08.19); 8. Aaron Slight (2:08.62); 9. H erve Moi neau (2:08.62); 10. Step hane Mertens ( 2:08. 6~) ; 11. j o hn Reynolds (2:08.66); 12. Andreas Hofmann (2:09.03); 13. Carl Fogarty (2:09. 11); 14. Edwin Weibe l (2:09.17); 15. Brian Morrison (2:09.27); 16. Ernst Gschwender (2:09.54); 17. Dan iel Ama triai n (2:09.82); 18. S. Seidel (2:09.88); 19. Udo Mark (2:09.89); 20. Pierre Bontempi (2:10.0); 21. M. Broccoli (2:10.09); 22. Virginio Ferra ri (2:10.31); 23. 5 Ba ldassarre Mo nt i (2:10.1: ); 24. J.v - Moun ier (2:10.48); 25. Dav ide T ard ozzi (2:10.57); 26. Chris Lindholm (2:10.68); 27. A. Meklau (2:11.0); 28. W. Hambach (2:11.07); 29. B. Sch ick (2:11.14); 30. I. Simpson (2:11.15); 31. R. Rasm ussen (2:11.16); 32. K. L iegi bel (2:11.62); 33. Peter Ruha tto (2:11.63); 34. K.U . Schmid (2:11.96); 35. J. De Vries (2:12. 13); 36. M. Meregalli (2:12.49). RACE 1: 1. Doug Pol en (Du e); 2. Rob Phill is (Kaw) : 3. Aaron Sligh t (Ka w }; 4. Scott Ru ssell (Ka w): 5. Raymo nd Roche (Due); 6. Srephane Merten s (Due); 7. H erve Moi neau (SUI); 8. Andreas H ofm ann (Ka w) ; 9. Dan ia ] Amatriaian (Due) ; 10. P ierg iorgi o Bon tempi (Kaw ); II. Virgi nia FeIT3.ri (Due); 12. Klau s Liegibel (Ya m); 13. Andreas Mellau (Due); 14. j ean-Yves Meuni er (Yam ): 15. Sven Seide l (SUI ); 16. Chris Lindholm (Ya m ); 17. Ian Simpso n (Ka w }; . 18. Davide Tardozzi (Duc); 19. Gi an carl o Fal ap pa (Du e); 20. Carl Fogany (Due); 21. Brian Momson (Kaw ); 22. Ren e Rasm ussen (Ya m ); 23. Wolf gan g Hamhach (Kaw): 24. Massim o Brocco li (Kaw) . Time: 29 m in. 52.33 sec. Distance: 14 laps, 58.954 m iles. Average Sneed . 118.413 mph. Margin o(Vietory: 5.09 .sec . Fastest Lap: Fa brizio Pi rovan o, 2:06.671119.678 mph. Lap 8. RACE 2: 1. Doug Pol en (Due); 2. Rob Phillis (Kaw); S. Gia ncarl o Falappa (Duc); 4. Ra ymond Roch e (Duc ); 5. Aaro n Sligh t (Ka w); 6. Fabr izio Pirovan o (Ya m ); 7. Seo tt Russell (Kaw) : 8. john Reynol ds (Ka w); 9. And reas Hofman n ( Kaw) : 10. H erve Moi nea u (Suz): 11. Carl Fogarty (Due); 12. Edwin Weibel (Due ); 13. Step ha ne Merte ns (Due); 14. Massimo Brocolli (Kaw); 15. Virgi nio Ferrari (Due); 16. Klau s Leigibel (Ya m); 17. Brian Morr ison (Ka w) ; 18. Chris Li ndho lm (Yam ); 19. j ell ry De Vries (Ya m); 20. Ian Sim pson (Kaw ): 21. P iergi o rgi o Bontempi (Kaw); 22. jean -Yves Mounier (Yam); 23. Ren e Rasmu ssen (Yam); 24. Massim o MeragalIi (Ya m ). Time: 29 min ., 51.83 sec. Distance: 14 laps, 58.954 miles. Avera geSPttd: 118.686 mph. Margin o(Viclory: 2.99 sec. F 'slCSI La p: Rob Ph illi s. 2:06.92/ 119.443 mp h. Lap 8. WORLD C' SH IP POINT STANDINGS: 1. (T IE) Doug Polen/Raymo nd Roche (90 ); 3. Rob Phi llis (80); 4. Aaro n Sligh t (67); 5. Fabrizio Pirovano (66); 6. Sca li Russell (61); 7. G iancar lo Falappa (47); 8. Da niel Ama u-iaian (43); 9. Carl Fogarty (43); 10. Stepha ne Merten s (31); II. john Reyno lds (26); 12. Baldassarre Mo nt i (19); 13. (T IE) And reas H ofman n/ Herve Moin eau ( 15); 15. T . Sohwa (13). 15

• Cover