Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

He 's s t ill s u ffe r ing fro m t he conse q uences o f a hea vy c rash h e wa s in vol ved in th ree months prior to th e Malaysian meeting . He wa s a bo ard a Kawasa ki tha t was not q u ite as fast as its Muzzy sisters that were rid d en by Russell and Slight, even though Phillis' bike had th e special Ohlins front for k that is usually reserv ed for the official Yamaha and Kawasaki team riders. Californian Fred Mer kel ro de his Ducati to 11th sta rting slot. "I am going as fast as the bike wants to," Merkel said, "but it is a little bit short on acceleration and top speed compared to the works bikes." Merkel now has almost all the parts need ed to build a bigger engine, but he is still waiting for pis tons. Race O ne During the warm-up lap for the first 25-lap race, Falappa su ffered an electrical problem that w as qui ckly diagnosed as being caused by a defective pl ug lead. That wa s replaced and Falappa jumped in to the lead at the start, ahead of tea mmate Fogarty, Mert ens, Russell and the rest of the field. After a few laps, Foga rty had taken the lead from Falappa an d Russell had gone in front of Mertens. After seven laps, Terry Rymer retired, ha rdly a m inute later followed by h is Dutch teammate Jeffry DeVri es . For Rymer, the long series .of technical mishaps jus t doesn't en d . "After a few laps, I fel t the right handlebar crack under braking. Fina lly it broke off a nd 1 had to reti re. I d o not believe w hat is ha ppeni ng the last co uple of mee tings. From now on, the question is not anymore where I will finish, but what will break next." DeVri es sha red in his teammate's misfortunes: "Apparently, this bad luck is contagious. In my bike, the cra nkshaft broke, which will force my mechanics to p u t a brand new engi ne in the chassis. This is a do uble problem, as the engine has no t been run in yet; we have not had the time to do that beca use of the very tight schedule we were on after the race at Anderstorp." In the meantime, Fogart y had broken awa y from his rivals and had already put the Ducati on cru ise control, followed at a d istan ce by Fala ppa and Russ ell and then another duo consisting of Pirovan o an d Sli gh t. Mertens, BIontempi and Marc o Lucchiari weree fighting for sixth, and Merk el , C h ris te r Lindholm a n d Phillis co u ld not agree as to who was going to ge t seven points for nin th spot. With eight lap s to go, Ph illis pulled ou t of the race. "I had a bad s tart, and la ter on the exhaust pi pe broke," Philli s said. "Still, 1 was a bit d isappointed at not getting near to the top five mo re easily. I lost so me tim e beh ind Lind hol m, but the n had to give it all up w hen a valve cracked ." Up front, in an a lt empt to stay in touch with Russell, Falappa got it all wrong, losing the front end of his Ducati and injuring h is leg in th e subseq ue n t cr as h . "I s till don ' t k now w h a t ha ppened," ad mi tted the Italian. "Perhaps 1 was not concentrating enou gh. La s t night, 1 had not been ab le to sleep, and I had tak en so me sleepi ng pills . But apparently these only s ta rted to work when the flag dropped ..." With Falappa ou t, the top two finishing position s we re se t, but there wa s less certain ty abo ut the third rostrum place. Slight had lon g been the logical favorite, until his tires started to lose grip in the last co u ple of la p s. "I am ve ry d isapp ointed abou t this race, because now I have lost m ore precious p oin ts in the World Ch am pionship," sa id Sligh t after finishing fourth behin d Pirovano, Fogarty crossed the fin ish line the winner wi th a 3.46 second le ad ov er The pair of wins moved Ducati's Ca rl Fogarty to within five points of Kawasaki's Scott Russell in the series point standings. Russe ll, wi th Pirovano over 12 seconds behind the American. Fogarty was, of co urse, quite hap p y with his sixth victory of the year. "I had a p re tty good s ta r t, and 1 followed Gianca rlo during a few laps, looking . where I could get in front. I d rafted past him, but after seven laps the bike started to s lide a lready, because o f a wrongly set-u p suspension. Still, th e ra ce went w ell. My o n ly concern w a s when Giancario crashed. He could have kept ano ther two points from Scott." Race T wo A badly bruised leg didn't prevent Falappa from taking the lead again at th e start of the second leg, followed by Russell, Foga rty, Bontempi and the rest. A few laps la ter, th e top three in the p oi nt s tand ings a nd in th e r ace had a lrea dy a sma ll le a d ove r thei r col lea gue s, wh ile Slig h t was struggling w ith a lost knee pad, which did not help him in th e n u m er o u s co rners of th e [orh or track. U n like in the firs t le g , tho ugh, Fog art y did n ot ma nage to get awa y from Russell , d espite the clea r advantage his Ducati offered him coming out of th e comers. Russell used every inch of as p halt, and even mo re, never looking however to be out of control. That coul d n o t b e sai d of Fa la ppa, who looked set th is time to score an easy ' th ird p lace, h a vin g a 12 second lead over the charging fivesome of Bontempi, Pirovano, Slight, Mertens and Phillis. Unfortu na tely, the Italian go t it all very wrong aro und halfway, crashing his second bi ke of th e weekend, again not knowi ng what exactly went w rong. Fala p pa wa s using - for the firs t time since the Misa no race - a conventional shifting system instead of the th u m bcontro lled alternative. Fre d Merkel a lso re tired after his engine w ent off so ng a fter a couple of laps. At the checker ed flag, it was Fogarty n otching up h is seventh vict ory o f the year and loo king se t to overtake Russell in the point standings. Russell came ho me second after hav ing given up th e figh t only three lap s before th e end . "My overall ra ce ti me w ou ld have been en ough for vic to ry in the first hea t," Russell sai d. "I rod e the fir st race in a very a ggressi ve s ty le, which made me s lide se ve ra l times. 1 made, how ever, on e mistake: 1 went too wide in the left-hander before the finish Giancarlo Falappa and Scott Russell ran 1-2 in the second leg until Fogarty got by both. line. 1 go t int o the g rass, but fortu na tely I ma naged to s tay on board. I couldn 't rid e the bike any harder." Pi rova no , a lways very st ro ng in Malaysia, go t his second rostrum pla ce of the weeken d after ha ving used for the first time this season a se mi -au to ma tic shifting system wh ich ha s been d eveloped in the Uni ted States . Pi rova no crossed the finish line only a fraction of a second in fron t of Bontempi, Mertens and Slight, Phillis having lost groun d in the last couple of laps. "I am still not in sha pe after my accident," Pirovano sai d . "Th ree w eeks after the cras h 1 entered a Na tion aI race, but yo u can not rea lly ca ll that an efficien t practice for th is work. And moreo ver, I am a bit too old for this." P irova n o's teamm ate Sligh t ha d ano ther disappointing res ult, losin g two places d uring the fina l lap and finishi ng sixth. Fifth p lace fin isher Me rte ns, on th e oth er ha nd, is slow ly ge tti ng back into th e g roove after hav ing ru n in to traction p roblems a t th e beginning of the season. (;N Resu lts Q UAUFYIN G : I. Carl Foga r ty (1:29.83); 2. Scott Russell (l ilO.1J); 3. Gian carl o Fala ppa (1:30.68); 4. Aaron Slight (1:30.99); 5. Piergtor gio Bonrem pi (1:31.27); 6. Stephane Mertens (1:31.31); 7. Fabrizi o Piro v a no (1:31.44); 8. Ma uro Lucc hia ri (1:31.87); 9. Rob Phill is (1:31.94); 10. Fabrizio Furlan (1:31.94); 11. Fred Merkel (1:32.02); 12. Terry Rym er (1:32.47); 13. Mark Farmer (1:32.49) ; 14. Benn Archib ald (1:32.70): 15. Christer Li nd ho lm (1:32.80); 16. Trev or jord a n (1:32.95); 17. H erve Moineau (1:32.97); 18. Ken waeson (1:33.03); 19. Alden Presciutti (1:33.06); 20. jeffry DeVries (1:33.13); 21. l ean-Ma rc Dele tang (1:33 .3 1); 22 . C hr is to p he r Haldane (1:335 1); 23. Cletu s Adi Haslam (1:35.32). RACE O N E: I. Carl Fogarty (Due); 2. Scott Russell (Ka w) ; 3. Fabrizio Pir ovano (Ya m) ; 4. Aaron Slight (Kaw ); ~ . Srephen e Mertens (D ue ); 6. P iergiorgio Bonrempl (!Caw); 7. Mauro Lucdtiari (Due); 8. Christer Lind ho lm (Yam ); 9. Fred Merk el (D ue) ; 10. Fab rizio Furla n (Kaw) ; 11. Boon Archibald (Yam); 12. Jean-Marc Deletang (Yam); 13. Ken Wa tson (Kaw ); 14. Cletus Ad i Haslam (Kaw) ; 15. Trevor Jordan (Kaw) . T""", 38 min., 14.21 sec. D istance: 25 lap s. Ave rage speed: 93.88 mph. Mal8 in of victory: 3.46 sec. RACE TW O: I. Foga~; 2. Russe ll; 3. Pirova no; 4Bontempi: 5. Mertens; 6. Shg ht; 7. Rob Phillis (Kaw); 8. Te rry Rymer (Yam ); 9. Lucehiari; 10. Lindholm; 11. He rve Moin eau (Suz) ; 12. Jeffry Devries (Yam); 13. Delerang: 14. Jordan ; 15. Arehibafd ; 16. Aldeo Presciutti (Due) ; 17. Haslam; 18. Watso n. TIme: 37 min ., 56.60 sec. Distance: 251ap s. Averag e speed: 94.60 m ph. Marg in of victory: 1.69 sec. WO RLD C SHIP PO INT STA NDI NGS (Afte r 8 of 14 ro un ds) : I. Scott Russell (231.5); 2. Carl Fogarty (226.5); 3. Ciancarlo Falappa (178 ); 4. Aa ron Slig ht (173); 5. Fabrizio Pirova no (169); 6. Stephane Mertens (122); 7. Piergfo rgic Bcnrempl (111.5); 8. Mauro Lua:hiari (785 ); 9. Fred Me rke l (745 ); 10. Juan Garda (71); l I, Terry Rymer (65); 12. j effr y De Vries (51.5); 13. Ch ristee Lindholm (49); 14. Adrien Ma riIlas (40); 15. Fab rizio Furlan (29). . 27

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