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:§ :R · OAD· RA.CE, .<. < . .- . Round 12: United States Grand Prix .' " World Championship Road Race 5enes . ~ 5OOcc ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - By Michael Scott Photos by Henny Ray Abrams MONTEREY, CA, sm.11 inally, the luck of Team Marlboro Roberts has turned, At the race closest to te am owner Ke nny Roberts ' Modesto home, Luca Cadalora swept to his first win of the season. It was also the works Yamaha squad's first win since last year, in a season that threatened to be their first ever without a race victory , '1 tried a little bit harder because it is th e team's home GP ," sa id the Ita lian former 250 and 125cc World Champion after the race. "Bu t.my real advantage was my front tire choice. It stayed good all race long:' The Italian broke a run of home wins by American riders in their own Grand Prix since the first race at Laguna Seca in 1988. His triumphant progress was watched by a crowd estimated at about 30,000. But it was not an exciting race. Thrills galore came in the smaller classes, put tension in the blue-ribbon class petered out by half distance in a procession with little battling and almost no overtaking. Cadalora had 'd iv e d underneath early race leader Michael Doohan to take control at the start of the eighth out of 33 laps, and wa s never headed again. But he was severely pressured by 1993 U.S. GP winner John Kocinski, whose Cagiva shadowed the Yamaha's back wheel after swoop ing inside Doohan, as th e n e w World Champion d ropped back cautiously once he saw an easy victory slipping from his gra sp . The Italian was steadfast, and even.tu ally Kocinsk i w as forced to let him escape, blaming a poor tire choice for a lack of front-wheel bite. "I wa s scraping my boots on the road and my knee on the curbs in the comers. 1 figured that was the limit," he sa id . Doohan admitted he had chosen safety after having his own tire problems. "The bike was consistent in the morning, but it was warmer in the afternoon and my front was sliding. 1 had a couple of scares af ter John passed me. He was sliding too, bu t since there was no one behind me 1 decided there was nothing to gain b y going down the road." After that, the excitement came from Doug Chandler. The Cagiva rider spent the first part of the racin g fend ing off a determined Norifume Abe . The Japanese Marlboro Yamaha man faded after two-thirds distance, but by now Chandler was closing on lone fourth-placed man Shinich Itoh and the HRC-backed Honda. He failed to catch him by five unimaginable thousandths of a second, with the issue decided on ly by a photofinish . 6 World Champion Michael Doohan (4) leads Lues Cadalora (5) and John Koc inski (hidden) down the Corkscrew early in the 500cc United States Grand Prix at Laguna sees R _ y.