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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127597
but it was a tight bunch, though no one
was too anxious to show their ha nd too
early.
The first to ma ke a mistake was
Ruggia, the Frenchman crashing on the
entrance to a slow left-hand carousel
"I'm very unhappy with this bad end
of a good season," Ruggia said. "I won
twice, I was compe titive, but in this last
race I crashed because of a big slide of
t he fr ont en d of my Apri li a at th e
mom en t I was lead ing. But now I ha ve a
fractu re in my left arm and I must wait
60 da ys to ride again."
Biag g i inherited th e lea d w ith
Reg g ia n i second , but the two would
(Righ t) Ralf
Walmann (2)won
his firs t 125cc GP
of th e season at
Jarama .
(Below) Th e
Sidecar Grand
Prix gels
und erw ay; th e
race and title was
won by Rolf
Biland and Kurt
Waltisperg (1) .
...
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H
OJ
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.....
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~ Marlboro
swap the lead for the next few laps with
Cap irossi and Harada ha rd behi nd.
The race would be d ecid ed , for the
mos t pa r t, on the 22nd lap w hen
Capirossi ran off the track w hile cha sing
H arada . H e dropped fro m third to
fo u rt h, but lo st va lu a ble g r ou n d to
Harada who wou ld take over the lead
on the next lap .
"When the bac k end sli d out dow n
the hill, I couldn't con trol it. I had to run
off the track," Capirossi said .
Th ou gh Reggiani d idn 't g ive h im
much breathing room, and dueled with
him for a while, Harada stayed in the
lead and crossed the line victorious, the
race and championship w inner.
"I went as fast as I could at the beginning. Capirossi was in front of me so I
decided to save the tires," Harada said.
" I di d n ' t think a bou t t he W o rld
Ch ampion sh ip fro m th e begin ni ng a t
all. Even if I dropped to second place I
would not be d isappointed."
But Reggian i was disappointed.
"When Harad a passed me he was too
much faster," Reggiani said. "He passed
me, I pa ssed him, he passed me again. I
think his performan ce at the end of the
race made it impossible for anybody to
beat him .
"I' m not satisfied w ith thi s se cond
pla ce," he continued. "Today I raced for
winning and to be second isn ' t good
enough for me . In th e la st laps I had
some problems -with th e rear tire and
was impossible to open the gas coming
out from the slowe r comer s and I wa s
al so very tired . I had some ph ysi cal
problems in braking, so it was impossible to beat Harada. I'm sa tisfied only
with third place in the championship. It
is a very good resu lt after the difficulty
in the beginning of the season."
Starting from the th ird ro w of the
grid made it difficult fo r Biag gi , th e
Italian finishing third about 5.5 seconds
behind Reggiani. He was the only one of
th e fron t-runners using Mich elin tires
and his rear wa s comp letely worn when
he came in.
"From the s ta rt I rode as ha rd as I
could and immediately I got up wi th the
leading group: ' Biaggi said. "It was no
p roblem to race with them, but towards
the end of the race my tires were comp letel y fini sh ed. As I didn't want to
crash like I d id in Misano and Lagu na
Seca, I d ecided to back off an d go for a
finish."
Fourth place was something of a sur prise, Duca dos Honda Po ns' Alberto
Puig taking the spo t after picking up the
pace and turning in his two fastest lap s
in the final s tages of the race. Puig had
been gi ven a sho t prior to the ra ce to
ease th e pain in his still-inju red right
w rist. Early on, his hand wa s numb and
he had no feeling until the middle of the
race. He pa ssed fellow H on da riders
Capirossi and Romboni with two lap s to
go. At that point Capirossi's hopes had
been somewhat diminished, bu t a fall by
the second or third placed riders would
ha ve guaranteed him the title.
Rornboni, however, ever the good
sol di er, sta yed behind h is fell o w
Honda-mounted Italian to take sixth.
" W hen Loris Cap iross i dropped
back, I could have passed him, but as I
wasn't sure what would happen in the
front, I didn't want to w reck his chance
to become World Champion:' Romboni
said . "For me, It didn't mak e any difference to finish fifth or sixth in this race,
so I decided to stay behind."
Exa ct Software-DC Sports Patrick
van den Goorbergh was a season best
se ven th in front o f the fadi ng Telkor
Valesi Yamaha of Chili.
Daytona-Pit Lane Racing' s Carlos
Checa also had hi s best fini sh of the
yea r, taking n in th , o ne better tha n
Mohag Aprilia's £Ski! Suter.
CN
Resu lts
125