Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

-Po len , Phillis, Russell and Moineau - four different manufacturers in the " iE,to p ·seven . Almost two seconds further ,-!Oback ca me Sli ght, lead ing Bontempi , bib Vi rgin ia Ferrari , a nd th e rest. iJ5 U I Mo in eau sto p ped o ut on th e ci rc u it · ne x t tim e a ro und with a blown mo to r, :Jnl 'a n d th ird ,time around, Mert en s was be off th e back of th e group a nd loo ked v'I to be fading. (ill " My spare bike had better suspen , ~ ' lJ sia n a nd was more stable, but it had )~j(a brand new engine and was not so 'ldJfa st," said the la n ky Belgia n . ." 1 was ,G ' b ehind Pirova no at th e start bu t co u ld ,llu not hold hi s slipstream. T he n Pol en d passed me a nd I co u ld no t stay w it h ~ (1 1 hi m ." . I II Up front , th e pace wa s h ecti c with JO positionsc h an ging several times a la p. :uo Pirovano led, th en Falappa would go back in front. At six la p s, Po len di al ed in the fastest lap of th e ra ce - a 2:30.37 ~J t _ to take up th e running, towing h Falappa along with what looked to be '::l;',th e first break of the race. One lap later lV' the leading five were ba ck as one with ' .~ Falappa in front. j nI ' On th e II th la p , Pirovano went ba ck ,£win front with Phillis running him deep - :i nto La Source, th e final hairpin , but 'Uth e T eam Moving rider backed o ff at hl'th e la st minute to let the Yamaha ba ck on in front . Phillis lat er ad m itte d h e wa s ,d assessin g th e situation . ,!m At this stage , Falappa was third, ,,~r Russell fourth , Pol en fifth a nd Mertens . Im wa s back o n th e gro up. Russell wa s : co nt ent to hang in th er e. Jill . " I was j us t wai tin g for th ose guys ,~>Ito crash. My bik e was n't so fast o ff the co rners. Maybe th er e' s a p roblem wi th ml m y mo tor ," he co m me nted. ,lfl c Phill is led la p 12 but Piro vano was - Iba ck in fro nt for the penul timat e la p '.,!Ca nd every th ing was in place for an epic er last lap. ~)k And we go t one! Ph ill is snea ked by uo P irovano in one of th e down h ill tu rns ,I£' o n th e br ak es, o n ly for Pol en to try no for th e lead in th e fa st left leading to "~ t h e bus sto p ch ica ne . But Phillis wa sn 't fIl having any. " Do ug pa ssed me in th e si x th gea r left , but on th e way out I .rir got under him and braked late for th e '0 bus stop. I figured I could block th em ·H all 'to th e lin e from th ere." ~Jlr; Behind Phillis however, everyth in g 1Lb roke loose. Pirovano dropped to •f fo u rt h behind Polen and Falappa , th en lnulo st the front end to cras h in virtually Ifl, the same place as Ro che had earlier. 1 s, ) Then going into th e final ch ica ne , nl Pol en got o n th e brakes slightly earlier iiI than usual to get good drive out of .W the corner but Fa lap pa got suc ked in b y th e draft a nd oversh o t. As he picked up to go wide, h e sn agged Polen 's , fI brake lever and nearl y pulled th e bars 'c from Polen 's grip. E gn " He (Fa la p pa) sa id h e got in too w i (jeep a nd while he was tr yin g to save [ 151i t, h e ca ugh t m y lever. T hat 's th e way lO' th in gs go, " sa id a philo soph ical Polen. qrrr Fal appa added : " Polen braked ear(,v li er than usu al and I had to go o u tside d 'h im to try a nd mi ss th e back of hi s · b ike. I got by but as I went into the ,d ea m er, I just hit him wi th m y arm ." ~ :> , Fa lappa sa ved it a nd ca rried o n :>elth ro ugh th e turn wit hou t lo sing time, 5)? b u t Pol en got a ll crossed u p a nd h ad q to gathe r h im self before co nt in ui ng, ~ll1::rha t let Russell th rough. ,b l . " I have to th ank Fal a ppa for ta king If! o u t P ol en, " sa id Ru s sel l with a grin . 1 £1 As th e remainder of th e grou p ca me 110 into La Source th e fin al ti me, Phillis ,iq h ad a clear gap to cro ss th e line 1.55 10 s eco n ds a head of th e battling second · p lace trio. H'" "It was a tough race but not too , , tough for me. I went out there expect !II ing nothing and everyone else made 10 II', Doug Polen won the second race and extended his series points lead. mi stakes," Philli s under stated . " W he re I was fast, I was fa st, but I was too slow co m ing ou t of th e bus stop. That's why I wanted to get in front before there a nd bl ock everyo ne to the line. " Russell , Falappa a nd Mert ens a ll arrived at the final h airpin together. Russell tri ed to go under Fal appa but o vershot slig h tly, ta king the Du cati wide. Mert en s was in p rime position' to see th e acti on. ' H e got ins ide b oth of th em to sne ak seco nd - hi s best result of a n o therw ise d isappo in tin g season to da te. " It was good they were fig hting together," sai d Mertens of th e leading battle. " It gave me a ch a nce to catch up. I m ad e a mista ke at L a Radian on the pe n u lt imate la p but I tried very hard o n the last la p to ca tch up. I ex pected some m istakes from the o ther riders on th e last lap - but not so many. I sa w Ru ssell braking too la te for La Source a nd decided to go ou t wi de" lea ve m y bra king to the last minu te, then go ins ide th e gap they left. " Russell got a way from La So urce just ahead o f Falappa to clinc h third whil e Polen, having sorted himself o u t a t the bus stop , a rrived late, just · holding off Slight a t th e line. Further back, Amatrian finished a lone seventh - he had been down in 15th place at th e end o f th e first lap. Andy Hoffman on th e German Kawasaki was eighth, leading home a gro u p o f four. You had to feel sorry for Ferrari. H e was second in th e grou p going into L a Source but hi s motor bogged coming out. His Du ca ti doesn 't seem to pick up on wh en th e fuel load is down a nd Monti was able to duck in side to tak e ninth o n th e Hon da. , Jeffery de Vri es co mpleted th e fo u rsome cros si n g th e line II th o Race Two For th e second race, Pol en went up a tooth o n th e rear sprocket, after ge tt ing hi s first real chance in rac e o ne, to get hi s Du ca ti full y dialed in fo r th e ci rcuit. Pi rovan o , w ith a badl y bruised u p per left arm , and Roch e lin ed u p on th eir spare bikes but as Roch e co mpleted hi s warm -up lap, he disco vered th e steering da m pe r h ad q uit! U n fort u na tely th er e was n o tim e to change it. With th e air tem pera ture now up to 82 degrees, but m ore muggy th a n ea rlier , Mert en s gra bbed the lead into Eau Rouge but was back to fourth at the en d of the la p behind P ir ovano, Phillis and Fal appa . Fogarty, ba ck on th e narr ow si x-inc h rear he qualified with, was in fifth with P o len, Moineau, Russell , Slight, Monti and a n unnerved Roche, co p in g Rob Phillis won the first race, but dropped to fifth in the second. with some lu ri d tankslappers , completing the fron t-runners. Monti was out on the second lap. His cre w said it wa s a tire problem, but th e word o n pit lane was a wre cked motor. Moineau was quickly going backwards. H e was running his spare motor and was unable to hold th e draft. " I made a mistake on th e braking one lap and 1 los t to u ch with th e leaders. I did n ot have enou gh spee d to catch ba ck u p ," sa id th e Fren chman. T he race was develop ing into a ca rbo n o f the fir st leg wi th Phillis and Pi rov a no duki ng it o ut up fro nt w h ile Fa la ppa , Fogarty a n d P ol en sa t b eh ind. Fogart y, al though q u icker through the tighter , fro n t end type o f turns , was losin g out big lime go ing through th e bi g sweeper exit o f Ea u Ro uge. " I jus t co u ld n 't get the drive and t hat meant I co u ld never ge t close enough to pass o n th e brakes a t the esses a t the top o f th e hill ," said Foga r ty. At mi ddle distance we h ad six bi kes up fro nt: Pi rovano, Fa la p pa, Phill is, Po len, Fo ga rt y and Mert en s but behind th em , Ro che, Russell and Slight were closing and by 10 la p s th ere was th e most beautiful sigh t of a nine bike tra in barrelling down from La Source hairpin onto th e start straight. But Slight was in trouble. " I had brake fade, so I was trying to ease off th e brakes earl y an d let them cool. That me ant 1 maintained co rner speed but I was pushing th e front too h ard," he exp la in ed. On th e 10th lap Roche h ad picked up tw o p laces, even thou gh hi s motor wa s now beginning to overheat, an d was lo oking men acing in fourth. One o f th e people he pi cked off was Pol en but th e T exan was just hanging in there wa iting for h is mome nt. . Sure e no ugh, P ol en pi ck ed o ff Roch e a nd Phillis o n lap 12 a nd was lea d ing wi th two la p s left , h aving got by Fa lappa a nd Pirova no in o ne swoop arou nd th e fast left whe re th e new circuit meets th e p ure ro ad sectio n. "Tha t wa s m y game p la n, " sa id the Wo rld Cha mpion, who cu t fastest la p of the ra ce on la p 13 - a 2:29.89, fas ter ' than h e man aged in q u alifyin g . "I p lanned to pass them two laps from th e en d a nd go for it. I had a good fro nt ti re 'ch o ice wh ich meant I co u ld rea ll y push i t in to th e turn s a n d ma in ta ingood co rner spee d ." Pol en crossed th e lin e 0.74 second in fro nf o f h is teammate, Falappa , but this time th ere were n o real la st-lap dramas. Pi ro vano p icked up third, Roche was fourth - just holding off a last turn effo rt by Phillis. The first race winner had tried to get inside at 'th e h airpin but dr ifted Out wide on th e exit. . Phillis sa id : "I'm pissed off. I was quicker th an most of those guys but everytime I tr ied to get by , I got baulked. Falappa and Pirovano were all over the place. Falappa in particular was scary. We banged fairings in one corner. I went under him and he didn't like it one bit and leaned right ov er on me." Mertens finish ed sixth a nd Slight was seventh a head of Fogarty and a dejected Russell who got passed by th em both on the final la p. The Muz zy ri der said: "The brakes just went away. If 1 tried drafting , I co ul dn 't pass. Then o n th e last la p the thrott le hung w ide o pe n . Tha t was worrying." Qual ifying h ad pointed to a Du cati field day , bu t the race p rove d that Superbike ra ci ng i s i n deed wi d e o pen. fN R esults QUALI FYING: I. Gi an car !o Fa lappa (2:29.73); 2. Raymond Roche (2:29.83); 3. Stephane Mertens (2:30.75); 4. Do ug Pole n (2:30.85); 5. H erve Mo in ea u (2:30.93); 6. Ca rl Fogarty (2:3 1.18); 7. Fabr izio Piro van o (2:31.19); 8. Sco t! Russell (2:3 1.37); 9. Ra ben Philli s (2:31.52); 10. Aaro n Slig ht (2:32.03); II. And reas H ofman n (2:32.50); 12. Pi erg ior gio Bon tem pi (2:32.59); 13. Ernest Gsch nender (2:32.60); 14. Daniel Ama tri an (2:33.03); 15. Davide T ardo zzi (2:33.17). RACE t: I. Rober t Phillis (Ka w); 2. Stephan e Mert en s (Du c); ~. Sco tt Ru ssell (Ka w); 4. Gia nca rlo Fala ppa (D ue): 5. Dou g Po len (Duc); 6. Aa ron Sl ight ( Ka w) ; 7. Daniel Am aui an ( Due): 8. Andrea s Hofmann (Kaw ); 9. Balda ssare Monti (H o n); 10. Virginio Ferrari (Due): 11. j effrey Devries (Yam ): 12. Ch rister Lindhol m (Ya m ): 13. R ichard Arnaiz (Hon) ; 14. Pi ergior g io Bont empi (Kaw); 15. Simso n Cra far (Ha n ); 16. Mila Pajic (Kaw ): 17. Florian Ferracci (Due);' 18. Udo Mark (Yam ); 19. Davide Tardo zzi (Duc); 20. Massin o Broccol i (Kaw): 21. Ch ris tian Lavieilla (5 uz); 22. T oni H eil er (Ya m ); 23. Ri chad Husin (Duc); 24. Peter Rubanc (Ya m ); 25. Ma uro Lucchja ri (Due) ; 26. Walter Arnan (Yam) . RACE 2: I. Dou g Po len (Due ); 2. Giancarlo Fal appa (Due ); 3. Fabrizio P iro va no (Ya m); 4. Raymond Roch e (Due) ; 5. Robe rt Ph illi s (Kaw); 6. Stephane Mert en s (Due); 7. Aaron Slig ht (Kaw ); 8. Ca rl Fogarty (Duc ); 9. See n Ru ssell (Kaw) : 10. H erve Mo ireau (Sur ): 11. Daniel Ama uian (Due); 12. Davide T ardo zzi (Due); 13. Piergi orgic Bon tempi (Ka w); -14. J effrey Devries ( Ya m) ; 15. Chriter Li nd ho lm (Yam ); 16. Si mon Cr afar (Hon ]: 17. Ri chad Am aiz (Han ); 18. Fab rizio Furlam (Duc); 19. Massimo Broccol i (Kaw); 20. Chr istian Lavi el le (Suz): 21. Wo lfgang Mambach (Ka w): 22. Ton i Heiler (Yam ); 23. Wa lter Am an (Yam ); 21. Joh n ny Verwijst (Ka w ): 25. Maur g Lucchiari (Due). CH AMP IO NSHI P STANDINGS: 1. D. Polen ( 12 1); 2. R. Phillis ( I I I); 3. R. Roch e ( 103); 4. R. Slig ht (86); 5. S. Ru ssell (85); 6. F. Piro va no (81); 7. G . Fa la p pa (77); 8. S. Mert ens (58); 9. D. Amatr ian (57): 10. C. Fog art y (43); I I. (T IE) J. Reyno lds/ B. Mo nt i (26); 13. A. Hofmann (23); 14. N. Mo inea u (2 1); I'>. v. Ferrar i (17); t6 . T . Sokna (13); 17. (T t E) C. Lindholm/P. Boru empi/ ']. Mou nier (11); 20. (T IE) j, DeVriesiT. Ryn er (9); 22. j. Lopez (8): 23. (T IE) R. Stringer,"], Whitham (7); 2'> . (T IE) E. Webe ll R. MacElnea/K. Li egi ebeI/D. Tardozzi (4); 29. (TIEr A. Mekl au /R. Arn at z/F. Furla m (3); 32. H . Broccoli (2); 33. (T IE) S. Seidel/s. Cra far (I). 15

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