Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

sidecar race from Klaus Klaffenboek - a su rviv or of the fatal pileup at Hockenheim two weeks before - and Briton Derek Brindley. SOOcc GRAND PRIX There was n't much d oubt before the race about who was going to win, nor in the last lap. It was only th e bit in th e middle that was unexpected, as clear favorite Doohan found himself unable to sha ke off the pursuit of Barros and a dogged Criville, and was obliged to put his earlier hopes on hold. "1 thought I might clear off at the beginning, but I got a bad start, then I thought I might do the same thing in the middle of the race, and that didn't work either. Then I dec ided to wait until the last two laps, and if that didn't wo rk there was nothing left." . The pole qualifier had gotten a wa y fourth, wi th Kocinski gra bbing the early lead, Schwantz on his tail, and Barr os next. It an order they held for two more laps, all in each others pockets, until Schwantz - arm in a plaster cast, teeth gritted - made his move at the end of the pit straig ht, amazed to be leading in his condition. "I thought there must ha ve been a crash behind me." Barros followed pas t at the end of the back straight, then Kocinski was consigned to fourt h b y Doohan where Schwantz had gotten by. Then it was Criville's tum, and the Ame rica n was fifth at the end of lap four in a much closer race than anyone had expected. Now Schwantz's injury started to tell and he slowed marginally, leaving Barros in front, with Doohan shadow in g and preparing to pounce. He d id so at the Stru bben, and was in the lead at last. , But' the anticipated escape simply d idn't happen. Doohan went faster to break up the gro up, and Barros and Criv ille jus t went along with him. . At half-distance, Barros nosed in fron t again for two laps; then Doohan took his tum, seei ng that he was faster in some parts. "But wh en he followed me after that he must have picked up some tips," grinned Doohan, for when the Brazilian passed again on lap 15 he was noticabl y quicker. Doohan elected to play it cool to the finish, tucking in beh ind as Cri ville dropped off the back of the gro up, complainin g later about a sp innin g rear tire . Two la ps fro m the end, the s howdown began. Ba rros was tight into the bends, then on the kink after the pits he was too tight, and Doohan swept past on the outside. Head down, he charged away. Head down, Barros followed him. Both riders made their fastest laps now Barros on lap 19 and Doohan on 20 although shor t of Schwantz's 1991 record. The gap never really closed right down, no r did it open up. The likelihood of a repeat of Barros's crash last year grew. He was in the lead, with Doohan just tantalizingly out of reach, and the temptation to try that bit harde r must have been almost unbearable. It is to the young Brazilian 's credit that the resisted. "The Honda was faster past the pits, bu t the Suzuki was faster on the back straight," he said, rather surprisingly. "1 was hoping to attack, but I ha d a couple of whee lspins, and he was too far away. I decided second wo uld be bet ter than nothing." Thu s Doohan flashed across the line 1.9 seconds ahead, a far smaller margin than he would have wa nted after a race most un expectedly tens e and difficult. Criville had m eanwhile. dropped back in to th e clu tches of Pu ig, but he fought back, hanging on his back wheel. The issue was resol ved on the last la p when Puig had a huge slide and was (Left) Max Biagg l ran away and hid In the 250cc Grand Prix , winn ing by nearty 29 seco nds to take over the lead in the Wor ld Championship po int standings. (Below) Spaniard Alex Crtvllle f1nls!'ed th ird In the SOOcc GP on his .HRC-backed Honda. thrown out of the sea t, smashing th e screen with his helmet. Some wa y back , Schwantz had been d og ging Chandler's ba ck wheel, conserving his strength for a last-lap attack on the back straight that wen t pe rfectly according to plan, so he led the Cagiva across the line by half-a-seco nd. "Doug was riding well, but the bike seemed to be leaking oil, with his feet coming off the pegs," said Schwantz. Cha ndler in t u rn complained that tho ugh he was fine on his own, anyone in fro nt would slow him mi d corner. "The engine was d roppin g ou t of the power band coming ou t of the turns." This came after the exciteme nt w ith arch-e nemy Kocinski, who comp lained later he'd been blocked by Schwa ntz on lap eight, as he and Puig caug ht the fading champion. "He let the other gu ys through then closed the d oor on me. I gu ess I sho uld have expected that of him." Schwantz had his own version: "1could see Alberto (Puig) was fast so I let him by, but I wasn't going to let John go. I'm racing him for th e cha m pi ons hip. " It almost ended in tear s, with Kocinski attem p ting an over-ambitious out -bra king move a t the first com er, and being forced to li ft and ru n straigh t onto th e grass, rejoinin g down in 15th. Beattie had a lo nely b u t at least untroubled race to claim seventh, a best of the year . "I feel at last we 're going in the right direction," he said, after noting that for once his front tire finished the race well-used but still working. He was still short of speed, though, a fact made obvious when he was dicing with Itoh before the Japanese rider crashed on lap six. "I'd pass him into the chicane, and he'd be ahead of me aga in w hen we crossed the finish line, barely 100 yards away." Kocinski wo rked his way back to finish 14 seconds adrift. His last victim was the painful Cadalo ra, who had earlier been tussling for his honor with privateer John Reynolds and Reggiani's Vtwin before the former ha d crashed and the latter suffered a crankshaft/con rod failure, reportedly the bike's first, ever. Berna rd Garcia was a soli tary LOth, with Jean Jeandat jus t beatin g Laurent N a veau to 11t h. The n came Julia n Miralles, Bruno Bonhu il and Jean Foray in a race w ith only 19 finishers. As well as those already mentioned , 12 ret irem ents included Sean Emmett afte r a crash, Cris tiano Migliorati and Lucio Pedercini after a p rivate collision, and th e luckless N ia ll Mack enzie, w hose bike dropped onto two cylinders on the second lap . '1 ' It may be too early to count chickens, but if you count points Doohan has an impressive lead over Schwantz, 161-119. Then comes Kocinski (87), Criville (83), Barros (81) an d Puig (77) all in a bun ch, w ith non-scorer Ito h d ro p p in g b ac k with 66. 250cc GRAND PRIX The race started with Romboni attempting a breakaway and Biaggi hot on his heels, then Capirossi and Harada emerging behind not only to chase the leaders but also scrap it out themselves. It didn't last very long. The first clash saw Capirossi try too hard to get underneath Harada at the looping Strubben, and he found himself running out of road with nowhere to go. He pushed Harada off the track before going into a looping high-side of his own tha t knocked him out. At first he blamed Harada, but later went and apologized . The Japanese rider had a simple tale. "1 was in the comer when something hit me from behind." At the far end of the same lap came Romboni's tumble, at the Bult left-ha nder. "1 don't really kn o w what happened. The front just slip ped away," he said . But Biaggi was happy to suggest that his rival was just pushing too ha rd in a vain att empt to escape. Anywa y, it left Biaggi, already almost 10 seco nds in the clea r, free to cha rge away to a magnificent third win of the year, his Aprili a faul tless . " I saw Romboni fall, then I got the signa l "Capirossi Ou t," but 1 continued to push hard. It was very important to win here ." The rea l race was for second, where Nobuatsu Aoki, Okada and Waldm ann were caught by Zeelenber g a nd Bayle by th e 10th lap, and a too th-and- na il battle commenced that lasted to the flag. It was a little s u rprising that Oka da wasn't able to break away, an d impressive tha t both Wald mann and especially Bayle were able to hold thei r own. And all the while Zeelenberg was at or nea r the back, watching and waiting. The last lap was a masterpiece of tension. Bayle was generally just out of touch as the other four went at it, finally arriving four abreast into the final chicane, where Aoki easily won the outbraking battle, only to run straight across the grass as the others battled on underneath his elbows. Okada, very properly, won out, while Zeelenberg's tactics turned out to be excellent for a popular and opportunistic third place, his first rostrum in almost three years. Waldmann was right up behind - then Aoki wobbled into fourth. Unfortunately, he had rejoined all crossed up and forced Bayle into the dirt. The Aprilia team lodged a protest, but without much hope of success . Luis D' An tin had been left 25 seconds adrift for a solitary seventh; Eskil Su ter defeated Jurgen van de r Goorberg fo r ei g hth, w hile Patrick survived a firs t-la p pu sh in g m atch to co me through to 10th, narrowly ahead of Carles Ch eca, Giuseppe Fiorillo and Assen fi rs t-ti me r Tosh ih iko Honrna, on the Rainey Yamaha. Others retirements includ ed the Aprilias of Jean-Philippe Ruggia and Andy Preining, both with engine trouble. Thus luck and the points lead swung 15

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