Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GROAD RACE ~ Su erbikeSeries: Round 10 Georgian Scott Russell (left) finished second in both legs in Holland; he was beaten both times by Brit Carl Fogarty (right). Carl Fogarty is now only seven points behind Scott Russell in the championship. Fogarty,Russellt-2 in Holland By Johan Vndekerckhove ASSEN, HOLLAND, SEPT. 12 ilh his double victory in the Dutch round of the Victors Superbike World Championship, Carl Fogarty has resumed his winning ways after having crashed in the second leg of the Japanese round at Sugo. After his faux pas in Japan, where his impressive series of victories came to a (provisional) halt, the Englishman from Blackburn struck again in Holland. Two wins from the factory Ducati rider in Holland have reduced Scott Russell's lead in the championship to only seven points, but his Muzzy Kawasaki-mounted rival hasn't given up. With a fresh engine in his luggage after the Japan trip, Russell may just be able to keep up W 20 the fight for the rest of the season. But there is still a long way to go - four rounds, and Ducati is throwing their best engines at anyone who might possibly be able to beat Russell At a first glance, the results of the Dutch Superbike round would not have made bookmakers very happy. As expected, Fogarty won both races, beating his arch rival Russell each time, with the rest of the field battling it out for third place...at a distance. Very seldom have two riders dllminated their discipline as much as Fogarty and Russell are right now. They represent not only a man-to-man duel, but also a hard-boiled battle between two racing philosophies. The purpose-built Ducati still holds the World Superbike races in a stranglehold, and only a perfectly dialed in combination of a first-class rider and the best Japanese four-stroke, four-eylinder technology can match them. Nevertheless, even the die-hard determination of Russell can take a blow, and it is not surprising that more and more rumors surfaced that the Georgian was scheduled to meet the Castiglione brothers (owners of Ducati/Cagiva) a few days after the Assen race. Qualifying Assen has always been very much appreciated by spectators and riders alike. And nothing's changed. The four stroke specialists were using the big (3.78-mile) Grand Prix circuit. Last year, they had to satisfy themselves with the smaller circuit, which uses about half of the infrastructu re. But since the organizers had been overwhelmed by people wanting tickets to the event, they opted to open up the entire circuit. For several riders, the Assen round marked their return to World Superbike racing. Most of the privateers had stayed at home while the big boys were spending their money in the Malaysian and Japanese races, and other riders had just taken the Asian rounds as an excellent opportunity to heal their wounds at home after a sometimes very fraught first half of the season. The list of comeback riders included Tripp Nobles, Baldassare Monti, Dominique Sarron and Alex Vieira. The Honda Rumi team had stayed at home in Italy in order to prepare for the last coup le of races for the Honda RC30 in all serenity, and in order to prepare for the racing debut of the Rumi mono, tha t was to be entered in the intema tional single-cylinder race at Assen one week before the World Championship race, but it didn't make it. Georgian Nobles didn't really enjoy his return, as he crashed on Saturday in the infamous Geert Timmer-corner, where so many Grand Prix victories had been won or lost in the past (remember Sito Pons and Dominique Sarron a couple of years ago). Nobles, who had been 18th quickest, sprained his wrist in the process, but did not lose his well-appreciated ability to tell about his adventure. "I lost the front end in that comer, but somehow I managed to hold on to the bike," Nobles said. " I remember slamming my fist on the gas tank as I got to the grass. Th en the bike went down. You can still see a big dent in the tank." Nobles eventually qualified 32nd and was in for two demanding races on Sunday, thanks to his injured wrist. Monti was competing for the first time since the crash at Bmo that left him with multiple fractures of the shoulder. The Italian managed only the 31st quickest time. Sarron was another who had spent some time in a hospital bed of late; the former endurance and Grand Prix ace finally had the time to have his arm operated on, but he was still suffering when he rode his Yamaha to the 27th fastest qualifying time. Jean-Marc Deletang, who had ridden Sarron's bike during his absence, had to make do with a loaned Yamaha. Due to several problems, the promising French rookie did not qualify. And Alex Vieira was back after taking some time off following his victory in the French Superbike Championship one week before. At the other end of the starting grid things were back to normal. After a very exciting final dash during the second session, Fogarty got hold of yet another pole position. This was not really a surprise to the Briton nor to his team. "This is the third time I've ridden on the big circuit," Fogarty said. "We've tried some new gearing and tires, but we haven't touched the bike since Sugo. I believe the races tomorrow will be another duel between me and Scott. I would appreciate if Ducati could give some of their other riders some faster bikes, as it's really very hard to see Scott coming home second each time, keeping his points loss to an absolute minimum. But apart from my teammate (Giancarlo) Falappa, I don't know who will be able to keep pace with us two. (Stephane) Mertens has got a slower bike; that was obvious in Anderstorp, but apparently Fred Merkel is now getting some more support from our team. We'll see how things tum out." Surprisingly, it was not Russell who filled the second spot onthe starting grid. Instead it was Falappa. The Italian had lost some time during the first session when water got into the semi-automatic shifting system. In the second session, he made up for that loss and bettered his time by almost three seconds to tum in a two-minute, 6.66-second lap (as compared to Fogarty's pole time of 2:06.20). Only two-hundredths of a second down was Russell. The American had found some more power in the mid -range, but lost his chance to get back at Fogarty in the closing stages of the final session when his fuel pump went dead. "First I thought I'd run out of gas, but there was still enough juice in the tank," Russell said. "I had to walk back from the first comer to the pit lane, which cost me some time. Still, I'm quite confident for tomorrow's race. This is neither a Kawasaki or a Ducati track, but it is damn hard to learn the track. Too bad I don't have the same experience Carl has here." Aaron Slight had fought his way through heavy traffic to the fourth best time; and fifth was a very surprising Fred Merkel "I have been using the bike 1 had loaned to a Japanese rider in Sugo," Merkel said. "That guy had finished

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