Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Above) Noboru Ueda won the 125cc Grand Prix at Le Mans. The Japanese ace topped Takeshi Tsujimura (3) and championship leader Kazuto Sakata. (Right) Michael Doohan, John Koc inski and Alex Crlville celebrate on the winner's podium. , '. fI , Brle Y complicated, Not every bike i s exactly the ' early taps 01 everY race, The team has wilhapproved, 'The final 'inspection 'will be made at same, We will look Into it: ' , " " d rawn to 'regro'u p; and machin e, ride r, and , the beginning of August:, , , ••• ', ' . " , " ' ,' , " chief race engineer Jim Witteveen were absent , ,' ,: , ' , '.' " , '" , ----'-- - - - - '--- "There werea number of other practice crash- : from the French (>P pending further tests .and ' AmerleariDoimle 'Hough found himself in at ' NorlfumlAbe, the teenaged sensatton of the , es" with Michael Doonan's the most notab le, :,new parts ,:They were ' expected also to miss . the deep end in his first GP at Le Mans,Draft- , Japanese GP, is expected to return tothe ' He fell unhurt on Saturday morning, ~I 'd been , ' the Brit ish GP one week' later tragedy, " ed ,i n to replace' utsterman.Atan Patterson , GPs at next week 's British GP. at Doningto n endcrance-testinq .tees and I got In a little hot, ' ,because, RegQianl, had expected a possible' , alongside , Rodney Fee on the " Team Park, Abe , who was disputing second place and pulled the bike over a bit far, so the front , rostrum finish at.the sinuousBdtlsh track.ilt is ' CotonVBeckett RS Honda, hecrashed heaVily with Michael Doohanwhen he crashed out . fuckeo. J'd got It back , but I washall off the , , also expensive. IRTA 'rules ,specify that once , in practice, but qualified seven seconds off near the end oi the Japanese race, will take ' bike and couldn't get back on the seal Eventu- , entered a leam must participate In everY round, ' pole ' and ' two seconds down on ',Fee In Iasr the place of the injured Daryl Beattie on the ally I stepped off,probably ai aboul.10 'mph, It ': or be fined; Every race Aprilia rriisseswllf cost" position. He was lastin the race as well, He,did worksMarlboro Roberts Yamaha: The Tokyo was my own mistake: Doug Chandler, Alex " them '$10,000, "If we had told a lie, that Loris - not know if his posttion in the team was permarider won the All -Japan 500 Championship Barros and Sean Emmett were 'among a num-' " had hurt his finger dur ing testing, then we ' rient "1t hasn't beendecided yet," he sald .' ' last year at his first attempt, riding a works , ber of other crashers in :the 500cc class, .but would be allowed to miss the race, We told the ' " ' Honda sponsored by Blue Fox: This year; he , there wereno injurles. In the ,2506c 'class; 'truth,a nif so we' must pay: said .team chief 'After pulling out of the 'race ;;'; Mugello 10 col- . was rid ing 'a superbike for the same team Spaniard Luis d~Antln fell heavily and suffered ", Carlo Pernat He blamed the problems on out- ' lap se ,wllh, heat fat igue ; ·250cc Honda man ' after 'Japan dropped the 500 class, without ' concuss ion , but was: ready to race two days ' side suppliers , and did not expect to see the , Do riano Ro mbonl promised it wouldn't hapconspicuous success, However, he is ear : 'later 'after earty fears of .serious head Injuries ' bike at Donlngion' Park either, "We are sched- " Pen again ,because he'd been discussing nutrima rked for G P greatness , and ' Wa y n e , " proved groundless" Extra ' bumpson the track' uled to test Monday;Tuesday and Wednesday ','tion' with' Dr, Costa ,:The highly.strung Honda Rainey ' admitted 'in Itatythat he is hav ing as well asa dirty surface tock the blame 'for,', ' in italy: The close times of, 250s and 500s at rider had been cutting meals, which contributed talks with Abe which were: "nothing to do with , many crashes" ' " " ,, ' Donington were a major spur to creation of the , " to his Italian GP allack ,but 'said now: "I ' Marlboro, Kenny or Yamaha", Nowit seems " ' " , V-twin Aprilia'400 ; and it had beenexpeeied to ' . promise to ' enjoy some pasia every day, for , Rainey may release Abe at least for Ihe pre- Several riders criticized "the' danger at some of ' have its best race at the sinuous British track, ' lunch," . . , sent , to help h is old team , in their time of the Le Mans comers, thefirst one ' a sixth-gear dlstinqulshed .by str ings of sub tl e m ed ium need: " right taken under heavy braking '- having virtual- speed bends. ' " , Serge ROsSel'S all-new French engine made ' , Iy no run-off area. Kevin , Schwantz was the ,' , , jts public, appearance , at a special launch on , Daryl Be'attie crashed heavily In the. first minmost expressive. "It seems less 'safe than three , Spanish Team -Roc rider Julian Mlralles has Sunday; mounted on a stand. But it had been" utesot practice for.the French GP, badly injuryears ago: Since ,the track hasn't changed it. ', been forced to withdraw . from the ' 500 , series ' ridderi at the track on the prev ious-Thursday, ' ing his left foot and severing five toes after It must be my altitude, Back then Itelt 10 feet till after his sponsors Repsol andOoronas let him ' the first time' said Rosset - it 'had ever run: was trapped by the drive chain. The 23-yearand, bullet-proot, Now I'mjust bullet-proOf: ' ..' down, 'Unable to afford to continue, his place , "Until then 'we had only tested a 125cc slave old Australian hadn't even completed his first " was taken 'by' German' Superbike star udc " cylinder,"'the' Roc big boss said, The englne'ls , lap on his first visit to the circu lt, Acccrding to ' " Doug ' Ctiand16r, gave the Caglva"uel"lnJec- , ,Mark " whose flrst .GP was In G,ermany ' this ' ' basically :simlJ 'to the Yamaha, though the ' ar his team, neblamedthe accident on cold tires" tlon system lts first public test ,at [e Mans " ;' year, Mark eamed the .lre ot Kevln ,Schwantz , same can be said o,f the ,Suzuk i ,and Cag!va At the end of the back straight he tipped it in to ' using the machine In both morning ~untimed" during practice when he' failed to make room ',' motors" The, Rocuses ,l BO-degree timing for. , the chicane only for the bike to slidethen throw ' sessions. But he discarded ~ In the afternoon ', for the World Champion after rejoininQ the cir-' the individual cylinder,pairs, and an B4-degree' him over the hlghside , Then his foot was , sessions, not because there was 'anything cult from the rather. dange rous pit exit road , '" Big Bang interval. Changes, inch,ide repositton - : trapped by the still-spinning rear wheel. At firSt ' wrong w~h it, but because having a third bike ' Schwantz managed 'to avoid hlm ,'and then Ing the ignition magneto for a narrower 'it was feared he may lose his foot but, after '" tctest 'at ,a 'race diluted the ,team's effort: slowed to .make his feelings clear,with half a ' crankcase; a 'smaller included angle between ' tapot fist-and head-shaking. ' the vee (76 degrees) , differehtlyangled reed surgery in Paris, Gp medico Dr" Claudio Costa ·Engine running-wise ~'s good," said Chandler. announced ,that though he had lost the first ' "It comes on smooth 'but theihrottle seems ' , valves and revised porting, and a flap-type ' joint 01 all five toes, he would be mobile within stiffer as you open It up: He had testedtns ' The FrenchGP organizers made a tiugefesli~ exhaust power valve, compared wiih Yamaha's , 5 a week and might only miss this race and the " system at Mugello' earlier.in the week, and said ' val of the event; and were rewarded with a fair , 'rotary barrel vafva.Tests Indicate about '17. ' .nextBeattlewas treated at Boucicot hospital it had improved in the last few 'week's, They ' crowd of some 4O,OOO:,A rock concert, a pit ', horsepower at ,12,000 rpm; while rider reports , in Paris, Which specializes' in re-attaching sev- ' had brought it to Le Mans to compare It with .' ' tour and sundry stunts includirig,a 'rocket car (it ' are that the motor ls.torquler than a Yamaha, , erer:! digits ; but they were unable to do 'so in , the other bikes. "It feels so smooth you think, ',fiZZled out ontne line) formed a backdrop to ' , but less free-~evving : The next stage will be to this 'case (the toes had been retrieved and ' ii's slow, but you're coming out with the other : the GP; while a bungeecjumping crane outside , .put theeng'ne into production -' if,there' is the ' ,went to hosp ital with Beattie) . Accordirig to . guys and they're not gettlr19 away from you: the ,pit corner ,was very pcpular..Thls tco .demand. "I must nave enough orders, or else , Costa , after further amputations his foot was Chandler-also tested new carbon-fiber forks, ', eamed the opprobrium of Schwanlz,who corn- ' the' price will be too high ,~ said Bosset, But the suCcessfully reconstructed, and sldn was graft; ' but rejected them also not because otprob- plained that ~ wasdistractinq wh'ile ,braklng for' formerbanker, who has bum upBee Engineer~ , ed from his left thigh to help heal the injury , ' lenis butbecause he wanted to ' get on with : the ,first corner to see some terrified .race fan:.. Ing as Ii 'research and racing organization for -T ha. remaininq sections of ,toes still had full 'race setting$, TeammateJohn Kocinskfplayed , plummeting earthwards. His complaints , how- ' both, cars and bikes, privately'admltted: ~I am ' articulation. so he will be able to walk normally; ' dumb on -the question. "Fuel 'Injection?, I've ever, were not enough 10, get the sideshow , fed up w~ bikes, and If I could sell that side of 'He was expected to remain,in the hospital for ' never seen lt, I dlein't even know we had II. 'removed, ' " " ," ' ' ,the business I would, But notiody wantS ~, so I '" ' , , , musl go forWard to make ,a profit, or else I will seven days to give the skin grafts time to setYou're asking the wrong guy, My bike's basi- ' tie, then atl being well to go home and begin '" cally the same it was in Eastem Creek: ' ,A lex ,Barros became a father in the interval " go bankrupt: , ' rehabilitation immediately. ' ' between Italian ' and French GPs;He flew : ' John KoCinski to Honda? The old story resur-' d irectly, home from Italy to Brazil, and his '..llhad been hoped that Herve.Molneau "the : '"I leel tiappy aboilt riding again," said Beattie In faced at te Mans, but the outcome Is,far from daiJghter Yasm ln arrived obligingly on cue endurance racing star who won a magazine a statement from the hospital. "The accident , certain. Kocinski would 'iove to race a Honda, three 'days' after his arrival. His wife Patricia ' readers' ', poli to be .ele'cted' 500cc-class wild was just part of racing and there's no point in and bothErv Kanemoto and Sito Pons would , and baby were both doing YJell. , ' , : ' , ca rd" would give the all-Fre'nch 'Roc 'a race , feeling sorry for,myseij, Olher guys have come ' " be willing 10 give him a bike, But, as happened ' 'debut at 'Le Mans. However Moineau was'left off worse , ~ The accident continued Team Marl- before , ttiere is the threat that Cagiva would ' , Anxlety'io go ahead if ,at all possible with the ' unconscious for five' hours after a heavy crash ' boro Roberts's awfUl ,season, after things had ' withdraw if their,star rider was ,taken away from ,hedlJled for September ' 'at the ' Spa 24-hour ,race,the weekend before; GP of Argentina, sC seemed to be looking up after the Italian GP, them: " " ,', 25 , ' ha s seen th e goalposts moved aga in , and was obliged to withdraw. "I still find It diffi- , 'where ,Luca Cadalora was second and Beattie ' Three ,weeks ago, a final deadline was ~t for ' cult io sYnchronize'my movements," he said: " sixth. , Loris Regglan i's V:four -chaJlenging 400cc v" 'the track to be comp,letely ready on July 12. ,in ' ' t w in Aprllia was expected to 'do well'.al. Le time Ior,insPection by Claude Danis (FIM roadStrict new French 'tobacco advertising laws The freak inj ury opened 'up i he quesiion of , Mans, 'a slow track' where ,the full 500s don't ..' race commisSion president) and riders' repre- ,obliged the top 500cc teams ,to' design new racwhether 'chain guards should be introduced get a rea l' c han c e to let r ip . Ins tead the " sentative Franco Uncini:At Le Mans an offiCia l ing'liver)' for their bikes, Marlboro's bikes were ' on'safety grounds, but Two Wheel Promotions , rriachine w asn't even there, The Italian factory .. announcement came from Dorna (on TWP let; only fa intly , isguised, but raced under,the ' d terhead) that the inspection had revealed ~e , name Team Red-and-Wh ite , Lucky Strike's technical director Jack Findlay was cautious, ' had withdrawn 'to regroup after' a problematic "I'll speak to' Beattie's'team this week, and try race debut that started well with ,11th al'Jerez, modifications requested on the first inspection , bikes were also in muted version of ,their and has qualified well at every track since, but ' , iri Maret) of this year are 90 percent compl,eted, usua l pa i[1twork , w ith the characteristic and ascertain exactly what did happen, If we , start Introducing rules like this, it becomes, very " ' has suffered a string of engine seizures In the and ..the safety requ irements have been roundels missing:, a as a

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