Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

prisi ng ly, i t was mo re tha n a tenth of a seco nd slower than h is fas t lap in last yea r's race. Doohan was secon d, Rainey th ird. Criville was fo urt h ahead o f Ch andler wi th Barros sixth and Ko cin ski fighting hi s way up to seventh after nearl y p ulling o ff th e trac k. ," " Ken ny to ld me if I didn 't feel r igh t to pull off th e trac k," Kocinski sa id. 'iThe n after two or th ree laps I d idn 't feel righ t, I was' wobb ling aro u nd. T he n I th ought I'd stay o u t the re a nd ge t two poin ts, because you don't know if yo u ' ll need the m at th e en d o r th e yea r. I was jus t riding around and it go t better a nd better a nd I started wo rking m y way up." ' Rainey too k over the lead o n the 10th lap, leading the l l th before cras hing on th e 12th. It was hi s first dry-race crash since the Swedish GP in August o r 1989 and seco nd o r th e year. The front just rai ded on me go ing into th e esses," he said. "Like I was say ing all weekend, we've been having troubl e ge tt i ng feed back fr om the fro n t. It 's been a problem th at's bee n ~i th us all year. The rail was a shame because it looked lik e we were fin all y going to ge t th e better o f Doohan." The cras h eleva ted Schwantz to the fro nt, a posit ion he was loathed to rel inquish . By th e 16th lap , he had m ore th an a 3.5 second ga p on Dooh an, with Cha nd ler now third, bu t so me 28 seco nds back. Whil e foll owing Dooha n, Schw antz saw where their respective stre ng ths were a nd exploited th em . " Mick was better in all the long co rn ers. H e co uld just ge t in , get th e power down soo ne r. In the chicanes I had th e adva ntage," Sch wa ntz said. " We cha nge d th e sus pe ns io n a nd geomet ry on th e bi ke to mak e it work through th e chicanes, the quick leftrights. " A wi n like this is alwa ys good for th e mind , always go od to see that the ot her gu y is not invincibl e," Schwantz ad ded. " I was pretty well beat en fair a nd sq uar e," Doo han sai d. " I go t arou nd good Ior a la p tim e, bu t p utt ing 24' of th em together was a problem . Wh en they g o t back arou n d, th er e wa s nothin g I co uld do . T he fro nt tire was good, not a p roblem. The rea r was good. I think Kevin j ust rode better. " Well behind th e lead pai r th e battle fo r third heated up as th e laps ra n , down. Chandler held th e spot, but Kocinski had worked hi s wa y up to filth, passing Barros o n th e 16th la p and moving into fourth on the 20th. He quickl y closed the ga p and was past Cha nd ler wi th less than two laps to go . " Barros was tough to pass ; he 's a demon o n the brakes a nd introduced me to a wh o le new line in braking here;" .Kocinski said. "After tha t I was just £l yin g past the o ther guys." Chandler co u ld do nothi ng bu t watch Kocinski pull away, after choosin g a too -hard front tire. " At th e end, Kocins ki started catc h in g m e and th ere wasn 't much I cou ld do a bo u t it ," he said. " I tried to speed up and I lost the fro nt wheel again a nd ran reall y wide and he came past me o n th e in sid e. " I don't kn ow wh eth er it's better to choose a soft tire that goes away late in the race or a hard one that ska tes arou nd all th e time. All race I co u ldn 't rea lly load th e fro n t end up, that 's wh a t rea lly held me up," Chandl er added. The race for fifth came right down to th e lin e, Barros, DuHa mel , a nd G a rr iga going for it after ha ving passed Criville wh o was struggli ng with a rapidly Iad in g rear tire. " At th e start o r th e 14t h lap I came Team Marlboro Roberts' John Kocinski qualified seventh fastest, but finished third. u p on a rig h t-hand cu rve a nd wh en I opened the th ro ttl e, th e rear tire slid," the Spaniard sai d. "From th en on I knew I co uld do noth ing. I ,think it was a defec ti ve tire. " Out o r the sweep ing downhill left, the trio made a final ru n to th e £lag, wi th Barros just nipping G arri ga and Du H a mel. " I thought I had a good shot a t fifth th e last corner," Du Hame l said. " I had trouble a nt icipating where they wo u ld weave. -T hey zigged and I zagged. I th oug ht I had th e momentu m." After scoring h is best GP finish, DuHame l said he was still learning how th e ot her 500cc riders ro de a nd that "once I lea rn them more, I can be more aggressive." Garr iga had swi tched to Mi chelins fro m Dunlop for this race a nd was " worried abo u t how the tires wou ld last a nd wh a t th ey wo uld ac t like. " Once th ose rear s were assuaged , he sa id he was able to pass riders mo re easily than he'd a n tici pa ted, even tho ugh he'd gea red it wrong. MacKenz ie was dropped to ninth o n th e 22n d lap, his rear tire having go ne away ea rly on. "Once I go t past Barros, I th ought I'd h a ve to go at Koc in sk i," the Scotsman sai d. "Then the rear was coming arou nd in the corners and spi n ning on th e stra ig h ts. It started o n the six th a nd sevent h lap and by the end it was com pletely kn ackered." Rounding out the top 10 was Mam- 17

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