---------'--------l:Briefl'"' ••••
McCoy, on l ap 13, after w o rking his way
up to 12th.
Aoki n ow l eads the ch am p ion sh i p
from Sakata, 50-39. with Saito third on
33. Nakajoh is fou r th with 24 followed
by Manako and Alzamora, lied for fifth
with 22.
~
Suzuka Circuit
Suzuka City, Japan
Resuhs:April23,1995
12Scettl /
Takehi ro Ya ma moto (5) ; 20 . (T I E) M a s a k i
Tokudome /Dirk Raudies (4.5).
250« WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POtNT STANDINGS (Aft... 3 of 14 roundsl: 1. Ralf Waldma nn (63/2
wins); 2. Tetsuya Hara da (53~ 3. Max Biaggi (48/ 1 win);
4. Nob~atsu Ao ki (40); 5. Ie an-Phillipe Ruggia (22~ 6.
Jose Lws Cardoso (20); 7r (ITE) Sadanori Hikita lJ urg en
Van den Goorbergh/ Tadayuki Ok.ada/Kenny Robe rts
Jr. (16); I I. E_kil Suter (IS); 12. Ca rles Checa (13); 13.
(T IE) O . M iya z z ald lJur g en Fu chs/jean- Michel
Bayle /Doriano Romboni (10); 17. Luis D' Ant in (8~ 18.
Takes hi Ts uji mura (7); 19. O liver Jacq ue (6); 20. Lu is
Car loo Maurel (5).
500« WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS (Aft... 3 of 14 roun ds): I . Michael Doohan r;D/2
wins); 2. Daryl Beatti e (65/ 1 win); 3. Kevin Schwantz
(34~ 4. Alex Criville (32); 5. Alberto Puig (31); 6. Luea
Cad alora (26); 7. Alex Barros (20); 8. Loris Reggiani (19);
9. Takumi Aoki /J uan Borja (16); I I. Shinichi Uoh (15~
12. (ITE) Norifumi Abe /Bernard Garcia (14 ~ 14. (ITE) T.
Ara k.aki /Loris Ca pirossi (8); 16. Sean Emme tt (i); 17.
C r is tia n o Mi g liora t i (6 ); 18. (T IE) And r ew
Stro ud / Frederic Protat (5); 20. Marc Garda (3).
Upcoming Rounds;
Round 4 - Jerez, Spain, May 7
Round 5 - Nurburg, Germany, May 21
T eam Mariboro Roberts Yamaha was
embroiled in .embarrassing tire wars in Japan ,
aner problems with their Dunlops in the first
two races led to a midstream switch to MicheIins.,Although both riders Luca Cadalora and
Norifumi Abe finished in Australia, Cadalora
pined in the Malaysian GP the next weekend,
saying if he had continued with his front tire
the way it was he would have crashed, while
Abe actually did crash. Roberts and his riders
were quick to blame their Dunlop 'l ires, while
making clear that the loss of their factory in
the Kobe earthqua ke made thei r proble ms
"understandable." Four days after the race,
Roberts sent a formal request to Michelin for
tires . Eight days later came the ,reply from
Michelin bo ss Pierre Dupasqu ier - that
because of existing contracts, 'cooperationoperat ion would be "impossible in the short
term," and suggesting that . Rob. rts should
e
"buy comm ercia lly ava ilable tires ." ' Mean,While , team test rider Randy Mamo la was
running tests at Albacete with the ,"production" Michelins like those sold to privateers,
as well as testing four new Dunlop lronttires.
At Suzuka, both Dunlop and Team Roberts
made formal announcements that the team
.would be "testing" Miche lins , because (as
Dunlop put it) "it has taken longer than tore -.'.
seen 10 recover from the effects of the Kobe
earthquake, that effectively destroyed our
race-tire manufacturing capac ity in Japan ."
Both riders set thelr qualifying time s (Abe
seventh , Cadal ora eighth - he was on pole
last year) using Michelin fronts, but when the
rain began on the second day, both switChed
to Dunlops front and rear. Cadatora was second-fastest in the wet, Abe a disappointed
17th. .
..
,
Kenny Roberts would not discuss rumors
·that the team would switch to Michelin ', used
b{ all the other work's teams .. as 'soon as
possible. "'Ne need to tie competitive and finish races, and everyone at Dunlop lias been
really good abo ut thi s. They are going full .
.steam ahead to get back to normal. This is a
short-term move .' We
discuss the long.term implications in the long term." Footnote:
Japanese Wdd Card rider Toshihiko Honrna's :
· factory Yamaha remained on Dunlops . He
ou t-qualified both full -ti me rid ers', pl acing
fourth overall.on thef~ont row of the grid .
froma pr ivate 500 ROC-Yamaha ; mainly
because he expected the Ap rilia factory-kitted.
engine woul d not be too different from the
works bikes . The Doc-Shop bike has proved
both slow and unreliable, with two non-finish- '
es in the first races, and a spate of engine
seizures. In desperation, he approached the
factory. "They told me that they might be able
to improve the performance - but only if my
name was Pier-Francesco Chili," he said..
.
.
Marlboro had an interesting innovation for
the ir VIP 'guests at the ir pit-top hosp itality
suite - a TV monitor connected to a closed,
circuit camera inside the Team Roberts pit.
The camera could be controlled by a joystick,
giving guests (not to mention Honda personnel in an adjoining area) 'a highly privileged .
peek be hind firmly closed doors . W hen
Kenny Roberts found out that all and sundry
were able' to zoom in on his secret tires and
cylinder heads, he acted promptly to have the
·camera switched off. .
.
.
Honda has denied rumors that Alex Barros
is about.to have ' his NSR500 Honda taken '
'back because sponsorship didn1' materialize,
and he has not been able to pay for the bike. .
It seems Honda Brazil will pick up at least ,
part otthe tab for leasing a pa il' of works
bikes, believed to be about $1 million.
Japanese works 250 .Hond~ rider Tad ayuki
· Okada has followed his 500cc-class HRC
teammate Michael Doohan In installi ng a
hand-operated rear brake lever. "I'm still try ing to get used to it, but I .believe that it will
allow me, to be more sensitive with the rear
brake,.especially wtien the tires have gone .
off later in the race," he 'explained, adding: "I
still hav e the tootbrake." Doohan acknowledged .the compurnent; but said; ~I only fitied
one because I couldn't use the rear brak e
properly with my injured right leg: If t 'could,
I'd prefer to 'have a tootbrake." Others to' use
· a supplem entary hand rear brake Include
long-le gged' privateer Seari Emmett, whose '
fo ot gets in the way in right-handers; and
Wo~ d Superbike rider Aaron S l i g ~t. ·
.
.
..
.
After tests in Malaysia the week after the GP:
an? more tests in Japan, with test rider Nagai
· and works star Tetsuya Harade; Yamaha' s
new 250 disc-valve racer could be -ready for
the German GP attna Nurburgri ng on May
21. The machine, destined for exclusive use
: by Harada and Kenny Roberts Jr. of Marlboro
Team Rainey, recorded lap times similar to .
'Johif Kocinski to H onda World Supernikes? · the current ree d-valvemachine withi n 20
laps, according to sources,close to the team.
Yes, according to -rumors circulating the pad'dock at Suzuka : the former bad boy of GP · But with reliability irievitably ope n to question
racing has ended his time of unemployment in ' in' an unraced design , they have elected tei
'a buy-out deal that means he will take the · stay ,with th,e slower butdependable old bike
until !he new one has ooen deveJc?pE>d more.:
place of Doug Polen in the Castrnl Honda
works tea m . No , ac cording to ' HRC ch ief · Rether th an the ris k a premature debut at
Yolchl Oguma, Who 'later admitted he had Jerez for the next GP, it is now notIlkely to '
be seen' before the following rac e in Ge r-.
·been totally surprised even to be asked the
many. ' .
.
.
question. Since Oguma is known not to be a
' Kocinski fan, this was inierpreted as an exampl e of the "only over my dead bod y~ synIt pays to keep on the right side of your travel '
drome . However, since the whole thing had
agent - as the Aprlila tea m discovered to
apparently been done by Amedcari Honda, .thei r cost , after a marathon 23 -hour fligh t
corpse placement may not .be a factor. Casfrom Italy to Japan via most of Europe. Team
trol, _
how. ver, was less definite, " Nothing's
e
boss Carlo' P ern at 's usp ec ted a n ac t of
been settled yet," said a spokesman at Suzu- : revenge by their sacked travel agents of the
ka. GP regulars saw the move .as another previous year , who had made bogu s bookblow. They had been ,hoping that Kocinski ings for the team on direct flights, using their
whose riding talent is a towering counterpoint
correct names, which meant the computer
to his difficun personality - might return to GPs blocked them from making their own book- .
somehow this year as a replacement rider.
. ings . The bogus bookings ·were then can...
.
celled: Meanwhile, the Italian, team had to
Max Blaggi is relying on the luck of the Irish
lake second best ' a ffight from Italy to P aris,
for his 250Cc campaign. The defending 250 " Moscow, Tokyo and Nagoya: Instead Of 11
cl1ampion has Changed the number ' I "· On his
hours for the direct ffight, the'2 1-strong team
Chesterfield Aprilia fairing -to green. "It is the . spent 23 hours en route, .counting siops.
.
color of hope," he explained . · . .
' . '
American privateer Scott Gray increased his
·The LuckY Strike Suzukl250, which made a . unpopularity among the'500ce riders when he
GP retum at Suzuka after 'a year's absence, was blamed for tak ing out Sean Emmett in
was nearly the firsttop,lirie victim of the . practice When he crashed into the Shell Harmuch-eferided one- bike rule in ' the 250 and
ris'rider at Degner Orie. "1 was on a fast lap '
125 'classes , whe'n rider Noriyasu Numata
and running round 'the outside ofhim'-and he.
·suffered a first-lap seize in Friday's first timed . j ust tried to go straight on," 'said Emmett, who
.practice session. Sirice rain was predicted for
was ' unh'urt in the high- speed crash . "I tiad .
Saturday, the rider.feared he might not quali- .. some wo rds .with him aft erward." Paddock
!y, and pushed his stricken machIne all the
rumors .already suggest thai Gray, the slow.way. back from the Spoon Curve , 'one of the
est .o f the curre nt SOD, riders, may soon be
most distant. points of ,the track.. Framic work ' ditched from the series by IRTA.
.
·ensued to get .him out in the closing minutes ,
where he managed to place .12th. In the ' · British p'rhlateer .Nell Hodgson', who ' has .
.mo rnlng "unti med" session he ' had 'been . taken over from Niall Mackenzie 'in the Bob
among ·:he fastesl. In fact , the 'old "pole plus " · MaC lean-backed World C hampionship
·10 percent" qualifying cUt-{)f!point has been
Motorsporls ,team', waited until this ra~ e
dropped, and his 14-minute lap,.haft on fOot, · before installing a Big Bang 'engirie in ·his·
.would have bOOn eoougtito ensure a Start. "
ROC-Yamaha chassis. Th e 1994 privateer
.
'
'."
~lg Bangs had sus~ CrankSh~dts; acCord-: ,
' NI.a li Mackenzle hoped to 'jh,prove his GF> . ing to his team , so they waited until the . 995.
1
fortunes .when .he switched to a 250 . Aprllia ' versions became available :
. . ..
..
.. '.
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will
