Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

· ~' .: :'1l' ' ROAD':'R'AC'.E··:···,.:.:', '.:,"":<' ' : ' ':':"::' '. . .r.., :'Worid Chanipionshlp R~'Race ~:' R d3: Japanese G dP. Dun ran rlx (Left) The 125ce Grand Prix was won by Takesh l Tsu jlmura afte r a great battle with three of his countryme n. (Below) Jimmy Filice seeks adv ice from team owner Wayne Rainey during Saturday's wet qualifying session. Th is was between Barros, enjoying his revitalized Suzuki, and second wild-eard rider Toshihiko Honma on a factory Yamaha, banging fairings like production-bike racers. On the last lap, they ch anged p laces three ti m es , with the Brazilian ahead in fifth across the line. Criville h ad been with them, but d rop ped back at the finish to sev enth. Alberto Puig was eighth, after making the m istake of experimenting w ith the suspension on his Ducados Honda, and also losing ground with a bad start. But he managed to fend off Kocinski's Cagiva , the American saying later: "The clutch was slipping, so I just rode it home. The changes we made after first practice helped us go fast in the wet, and they would have worked in the dry too, though maybe not enough to get up with the leaders." Chandler was 10th, then came Bernard Garcia's Yamaha, top privateer John Reynolds's Padgetts-Harris Yamaha , Jeremy McWilliams's Millar Yamaha, with th e Rocs of Laurent Naveau and Juan Lopez-Mella taking the last points. Beattie was classified 28th after his tire test. "I didn't think I'd jumped the start, because I moved then stopped. If it would have made any difference, I might ha ve protested, but there's not much point," the former Honda works rider sa id . Apart from Abe, the onl y other retirement w as Dutchman Cees Doorakkers. Doohan's second place gave him the title lea d, with 61 poin ts to Koc inski's 52. Schwan tz m o ved up t o third o n 48; Cadalo ra has 46 and Itoh 43. 250cc GRAND PRIX After 19 breathtaking laps, Tadayuki Okada's Kanemoto Honda won. It was a brilliant vict ory, but also a lucky one. Capirossi, who finished second, had led down the s traig h t and thought he was secure; Biaggi, w ho fin ished fourth, dived through to lead for one crucial but short-lived moment in the chicane at the end of the last lap. Okada merely s u rviv e d , though it grossly undervalues his achi evement to say that. Okada had made a brilliant start on a track still slightly damp from the overnight rain. On a modem, artificial and twisty circuit, he might have been set to make a breakaway. But Suzuka is a real race track, and there was more action to come than could be described in anything less than a short book. The fir st attack came from Takumi Aoki, with fellow wild-eard rider Uka wa joining in at once. From the third lap, the works Honda trio were locked in thrilling combat. All the while, Capirossi was closing up and was amongst them on the fourth lap . All three Japanese ri ders led across the line at various stages, but nobody held any advantage for long. Then on lap 13 it was Capirossi's tum to lead past the pits for the first time. Though Aoki was soon to lose ground in the closing stages wi th his gearchange stiffening up, it was still anybody's race. It seemed highly likely that at least one of the combatants would crash, and probably more than one, since they were usually close enough to touch. It is a tribu te to th eir skill that they did not. All this time, Biagg i wa s behind, watching and waiting. Then at half-distance he started closing, repeatedly setting the fastest lap (though not breaking the record) as he prepared for a final attack. " I was faster through th e turns, but my bike wasn't accelerating too well, so [ knew then I'd have to wait until the last lap ." Convinced he could win, Biaggi wa s almost right. A heroic piece of late braking in to the chicane took him brief!y from fourth to first. But he was too fast and wide and had to cut the second apex, almost falling as he then ran into the gravel trap on the exit. His move had at least thwarted th e h opes of h is great rival, Capirossi. "I was leading into the chican e, and [ was sure that I co uld w in, b ecause nobody could pass me," said Lo ris. "Then this black aeroplan e went by." The surprise put him slightly off line, and ga ve Okada the inches he needed to take his first GP win. "That was the hardest race of my life, and th e best win of my career," Okad a said later. "It w as very emotional for me to hear the Japanese national anthem on the rostrum." Ukawa was on Capiross i's back wheel to take third. Biaggi recovered quickly to retain fourth, neither gaining nor losing from his ad venture. Aoki was almost two seconds behind in fifth. HB Honda-mounted Dorian o Romboni was a lone ly sixth, lacking the grip to go forward wi th early track-mate Biaggi. Ruggia was an other five seconds adrift, stri cken w ith minor motor problems, and also in trouble wi th his brakes after he was forced onto the d irt by a crashing Ralf Waldmann at the chic ane on lap seven. Nobuatsu Aoki, elder brother of the wild card Takumi, on his Jha Honda was also quite alone, almost 25 seconds behind. Then came the returned but still unfit World Champion Tetsuya Harada riding cautiously on his Yamaha, but eventually prevailing in a race-long battle with Luis d'Antin's Pepsi-Honda. Jean-Michel Bayle was 11th, also all alone. Dutchman Jurgen V.D. Goorbergh won the next four-strong private Aprilia tussle, with brother Patrick 13th. Andy Preining was with them, but had been penalized for jum p in g the start. Eskil Suter fell at the chicane on the last lap, remounting to take the last point for 15th behind Adi Stadler. There were 23 finishers, with neither Filice nor works-man Zeelenberg among them . Both had been skittied by Bosshard's NSR Honda barely three corners from the start, after the Swiss rider had touched a white line at the second of the esses. Other crashers included Alex Gramigni, Juan Borja and Rodney Fee. Biaggi retained the title lead w ith 63 po ints; Okada moved to second with 56; Capirossi has 52, while Romboni trails a little w ith 41, and Ruggia is fifth with 35. 125cc GRA ND PRIX The last race of the day was another Japanese benefit, wi th all the fierce racing and desperate battling that implies. Ueda had qualified on pole, spent the next day in a wheelchair with a painfu ll y wrenched left leg, then clim bed back on board to seize a command ing lead in the opening laps. It was better than five seconds after fiv e laps - but it was not to last. The pursuit w as three-s trong: Tsujimura, Sakata and Nakajyo (H o n d a, Aprilia, Honda), with the latter falling off behind as the other two d osed up. Then came a typically furious battle, wi th th e three countrymen sw a p p in g back an d forth, nobody able to break away. Sakata led across the line from laps 12 to 15; then Ueda on 16 and 17. And then came the final battle. Sakata took the lead at the esses, then Ueda ha d the red mist descend over his eyes. He fo rg ed h is w ay past on the approach to the ha irpin, led down the hill on the exit, then went flying into the Spoon Curve miles faster than the other two - too fast. As Ueda tipped towards the initial apex, his Givi Honda 's front wheel tucked under and he was down. He got up immediately, b u t the bike was too badly damaged for him to restart, and he trudged away to the barrier to slump fac e d own, bro ken-hearted as the race went on without him. Tsujimura judged it perfectly, and had managed to pull out jus t over half a second at the finish, to prevent Sakata from becoming the first Japanese rider to win his home GP on a foreign machine. . Nakajyo was 13 seconds down in third, with Dettl's Aprilia just two seconds behind being the first European finisher. Th e race was d isastrous for Wo rld Champion Dirk Raudies, who had qualified only 17th, then had a gearbox oil seal fail on the fifth lap - the first time his bike has stopped in a race in six years. Sakata maintained his huge title lead with 65 points to Tsujimura's 36. Ueda drops to third with 34; Oettl has 33, and Saito 29. C' Suzuka Circuit Suzuka City, Japen Resuns:ApriI~24, 1994 125

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