Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD·.RACE . . World ChampioilshipR Race Series ._ oad Round 13: Argentine Grand Prix Japan's Tadayukl Okada won the 250cc Grand Prix to keep his title hopes alive. I · I I I I Little John's fast la here were a number of near misses but no crashes worth mentioning, in spite of continuing complaints that the track was very treacherous off the racing line . As is often the case, the worst moans came from the fastest riders, which makes sense because if they were going slower they wouldn't be sliding around so much. Winner of what became a fierce contest in the last session was John Kocinski, his first pole since the first two races this year, but achieved by a substantial margin of seven-tenths over Michael Doohan. Kocinski was as unrevealing as usual, saying: "We stayed conservative with the bike, and worked through the tires for the race:' he said. Adding, in spite of the improving times: "I do n't think the surface continued to improve the way it did in the earlier sessions. I think it got worse, with oil on the track and cement dust on that. You had to avoid the oil and the guys cleaning it up." His posi tion reflected the na ture of the track, where tight comers as well as the unpredictable surface worked against the more accelerative machines, while the Cagiva's faithful handling helped to stay accurate on the narrow available line. Doohan was a steadfast critic of the surface, though he liked the track, finding several points of interest. One is a fast swerve at the end of the lap, braking from sixth to fourth and diving left over a brow and immediately into a fast right. The bike needed a lot of suspension travel there, but dialing this in left it unsettled elsewhere, and he was still looking for the right compromise. He was also caught out by carburetion problems that prevented his planned bid for pole in the closing minutes, and was still working on finding a tire that would slide consistently. "At least tire wear won't be a problem," he said dryly. "They're not wearing." With a lot of focus on the need for a good start on a one-line track with few passing places, Luca Cadalora was also happy to have secured the front row, placing a close third after leading for much of the last session. He was on the ragged edge as he tried to get it back, and happy with the latest Dunlops after finding a good combination on Saturday. But he was having trouble braking for the track's four very slow comers, where some (though not all) riders were using first gear. "There are a couple of places where I can't turn the bike until I'm off the brakes," he said. On the far end of the front row was Doug Chandler on the second Cagiva, the first time all yea r they have had a pair up there. In fact Chandler had held pole for the first half of the last session, continuing to improve his .form at every race. He felt he might have been better but for engine trouble with his better bike. "The times came really easy early in the session, then my best bike quit running. I guess it was a bad plug or something. When I T "'" 0\ 0\ ,..-4 N' ,..-4 l-< OJ E u o 10 again, and to fend off anoth er steadfast atta ck from Harada three com ers from the end, winning second place by just over a quarter of a second. "In th e last few laps I was sliding around like crazy," said Biaggi. "I even broke the screen with my head . That was a tough race, and the next one will be hard. I won at Barcelona last year on a Honda with Michelins, and that is what Okada is riding." Ruggia was less than one second behind, a little down on power, he said, but happy after a strong and enjoya ble ra ce . Th en came Cap irossi, a no ther seven seconds adrift by the finish. By then, the next group was within six seconds - and Rob erts was at the head of it. Until then Bayle had been making the pace, and Waldmann was with them until the last couple of laps; but the young American was right on form and his bike handling well . When Bayle had a big slide on the last lap the issue was settled . we nt out again I got stuck in the traffic." He was also p uzzled by the way the surface didn't work the tires. "This track is so strange there doesn't seem to be much difference between the tires, and we have quite a selection." Row two was led by Shini chi Itoh, clearly focused on aiming for a rocke t start. "We'll be queuing up for th e slow comers, and the leaders will get away." Alberto Puig pushed his way up alongside him in the closing minutes, displacing Alex Barros as he claimed sixth. The Spaniard didn't look comfortable, and admitted: "I prefer faster tracks:' Barros' case was interesting after his steady erosion of form over the last few races. Now he was not only using one of Schwantz's bikes , with slightly different chassis settings, but also had switched to Schwantz's crew chief. He found the steering quicker and the chassis more communicative than the direction he has been following with his own crew, which seemed to be enough to boost his confidence, probably more important than nuances of geometry. Daryl Beattie concluded the row , also ga ining strength and looking more aggressive as his own recov. ery from injury proceeds. He was one who used intermediates on day one and a hand-cut slick on Saturday. "We've been struggling with the front pushing," he said. "What works for Luca doesn't work for me, because our bikes are a lot different in settings:' Row three was led by Jeremy McWilliams, the Irish private Yamaha rider a revelation over the last two races as he moves clearly ahead of the p rivateer average. The improvement was the result, he said, of stopping taking advice from others, and rid ing the bike his own way. Rather than trying to spin and slide, he is instead going for high comer speed and lots of revs, and along with much aggression it paid dividends. He was up to fourth more than once during the sessions, and still well-placed in a close batch including some works bikes . Alex Criville was alongside, the Spaniard wearing a dressing on injured left hand after his U.S. GP practice crash. With a fracture and tendon damage, he was far from strong, having trouble changing direction, as well as under braking, when hi s fam iliar front-tire chatter would rattle the injury painfully. Then came Sean Emmett, punting-his ex-Schwantz . Suzuki round with an impressive combin ation of safety and steady improvement The temptation to try too hard must have been considerable, but while he was still far from familiar with the bewildering choice of Michelins after racing only Dunlops, he was moving steadily in the right direction, improving every session to cut better than three seconds off from day one to day two, and promising more on Sunday. John Reyn old s co mpleted row three, having been placed higher at a track that clearly suits British shortcircuit scratchers. He ended up three-tenths ahead of the usual top privateer Niall Mackenzie, who led row four from Jean [ean dat, Bernard Garcia, Laurent Naveau, and local Wild Card Nestor Amoroso. All 31 entrants qualified; among them 125 rider Neil Luis D'Antin pre vailed in a race-long battle fo r ninth wi t h Carles Checa , works Honda overtaking kitted RS with only three lap s left . A full 20 seconds back came Wilco Zeelenberg, who had been duelling the whole afternoon with Juan Borja. At the end they both caught Adrien Bosshard, and while Zeelenberg got past, the Spaniard didn't, the trio crossing the line in just over one second. Biaggi's .title lead had shrunk to just eight points over Okada, promising a thrill ing fin ale in Barcelona in two weeks. The Italian has 209 po ints to Okada's 201; Capiro ssi 179, Romboni 154, Waldmann 147 and Ruggia 139. Much change is still possible. 125cc GRA ND PRIX The lead changed hands five times in a heart-stopping last lap of the fiercest race of the day, if not the year, with veteran former champion Jorge Martinez's Team Aspar Yamaha taking the flag by less than four-tenths of a second. Nobbie Ueda's Givi Honda weaved across the line on his tail , with rising Italian Aprilia star Stefano Perugini another second away, awestruck after a Hodgson in 22nd on Emmett's bike, and Juan LopezMella last after breaking his arm in the USA. As the best-planned things sometimes degenerate into farce, practice for the 250cc Grand Prix did the opposite. After a tentative start wi th many complaints about the slippery track, the last 15 minutes were thrill-a-min ute, with a fierce contest for the front row illustra ted by the fact that Kenny Roberts Jr. dropped from second to seventh, while Max Biaggi moved from 12th to second, but ended up thir d. So hot was the pace at that stage that Loris Capirossi, having already secured pole by an impressive seventenths, managed to run off the track, very lucky not to fall, after getting into a comer too hot and running wide onto the marbles. By that stage, Doriano Romboni had already crashed - unhurt, since, like most of the relatively few get-offs, it was at one of the many low-speed bends. He crashed again in warm-up the next morning, and this time did hurt his hand badly enough to be out of the race . There was still a big question mark over Capirossi's injured hand and his ability to go full race distance. Not that it slowed him down, but he was concerned. "It's hard to predict how it will react. If 1 can break away and keep my rhythm it may be okay," he said. The focus remained on the battle between him and Biaggi, and the pair had one close encounter with lucidly no serious consequences. But just to remind everyone of the true title position, Tadayuki Okada moved smoothly and unobtrusively through in the closing stages to claim second place. "Everything is reall y good," he sa id. "I only did a little fine tuning. I'm ready to race, and very relaxed." Not so Biaggi, showing the pressure mainly by his fraught reaction to the track, and by going fast only in the closing stages. "If we 're in a big group, it will be a risky race," he said. "The bike is good enough, but not the track." Romboni was fourth, but after his race-morning injury his place on the front row went to [ean-Philippe Ruggia's Aprilia. All times were very close except for Capirossi's, so that second to 12th were all within the same second. Ruggia complained of rear suspension problems - all three Chesterfield Aprilia riders were playing about with a big selection of different swingarms, but he said: "As soon as you open the throttle it slides." Tetsuya Harada was alongside, and complaining only a little. A "handling" circuit suits both the Yamaha and the rider, and he was again looking like a serious threat, sixth overall but less than four-tenths slower than second-placed Okada. And next to him, Kenny Roberts Jr . with a really strong showing in only his third race of the year and earlier threatening a front-row start after tucking in behind Capirossi for a good tow. Some said it was beca use the circuit is similar to many in the USA - tight and slippery. "Maybe so," he said. "I think it's more because we've done a few things to the bike that have worked, and I'm beginning to feel really confident on it."

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