Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127659
World Championship Road Race Series osseo lJ neers with their frighteningly sophisticated chemicals . The Witches' Brew syndrome takes another st ep forward in importance. Just in passing, consider the test ing performance of the 250cc works Hondas. They were pretty average in early tests. Then they appeared at Jerez with their tanks brimming with Elf's latest fuel - suddenly they were rocketships once again. . The new fuel rule, intended as a first step towards a lead-free future, is far from popular. It's another troubling element in a season which has many disturbing ingredients. Being felt most acutely is a shaky financi al background. The new IRTAI Ecclestone / Do r n a reg im e was co n ceived at a time of economic growth, and relied on continu ing prosperity. It has been hit ha rd by world wide recession. Eccles tone has sold ou t. Dorna's hol d ing company , Banesto Bank , has go ne bu st. There has been no replacemen t fo r Honda's departed sp o ns o r, Rothmans, and many other teams are al so facing financial or sponsorship problems. Meanwhile, promoters are losing heavily at several key events, especially in Britain and Germany, while the last training ground for potential 500cc-c1ass ri ders - the factory-backed All-Japan championship - suddenly sw itched to superbikes, instead. IRTA's entry lists were also ra ther thin - skating on the ed ge of the supposed contractual minimum in the 500cc . class, in parti~u1arl' wbith somde newcolm I er s an d previous y anne S low 0 dtimers being welcomed in to make up numbers. Remember Andy Leuthe (pronounced Loiter), the target of many an el bo w or foot from lapp ing rid ers in past times? Well, he's back. All this without even mentioning the vacuum on the 500cc grid left by the sad By Michael Scott Photos by Bernie McGuire, Michael Rohanna and Henny Ray Abrams ne can sa y it with con fidenc e - the 1994 Grand Prix road racing seaso n w ill be a gas. Or several gases - and it w ill take an expert with a laboratory to know the full truth abou t them all. The low- lead lID-octane Avgas rule that comes into force in 1994 cuts right across the GP spec trum, pos ing a new set of technic al qu estions to lay across those already in pla y. It brings with it the threat of power losses and the risk of deto nation and piston seizu re as the fuel octane number d rop s from the special brews used up until last year. (H ow much each team stands to lose depends largely on the stre ngth of their old fuel formula tion - always a controversial area, with each team reluctant to protest against the next one for fear of opening a can of worms.) . Hand in hand come the fu el en gi- (Above) The last thing Kevin Schwantz needed to start the defense of hi s 500cc World Championship was a pre-seaso n Injury, bul that's exactly what happened to th e Texan. Schwantz sutfer8d a broken arm whil e mountain biking only three weeks pri or to th e season-ope nlng Grand Prix In Australia. He says he'll be ready for Eastern Creek, th ough. (Right) SuzukJ have refin ed their RGvSOO for the 1994 seaso n, changing lillie more" than t he paint job. Why mess with success? an~ loss of Wayne Rainey. "I guess it leaves space on the rostrum for some new guys," he said recently. What GP racing needs is a damn good shot in the arm. Happily, it might actuall y happen. We have all the ingredients in place for a fine season of racing, with ma ny interesting new trends. One is a possible nemesis for the V-four 500s, facing a .proposed tw in-cylinder "super-250 " challenge from Aprilia. Another is the notion that Cagiva might now be really good enough to defeat the Japanese factori es a t their own game. All that's needed is a bit of good luck to see things through without problems, so that racing may provide its own impetus to mend itself. SOOcc: A S HRINKING ESTABLISHMENT Predictions over the past three years or more have been easy in the premier class - pick one name out of three : RaineyISchwantz/Doohan. " The list is shorter now, but the choice remains the same, with a few new wrinkles. The most likely overall winner is still either defend ing champion Kevin Schwantz, on the Lucky Strike Suzuki, or the nearly man-of-1992 Michael Doohan, on the unsponsored HRC Honda . But the establishment faces stronger opposition than ever from a handful of new , or otherwise renewed, challengers. Most of the sma rt money is on Doohan right now, especially since Schwantz broke h is arm just three weeks before the first race. Doohan was set to walk away with the title in '92 when h e suffered a ru inous crash in practice at Assen. That left him with leg inju ries that troubled him throughou t '93, and he was subjected to a bizarre bone-straightening technique at the end of the yea r. But the Queenslander is now fitter than he's been in a long time,