Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

befo re the start/finish line. Fortunately, the Italian go t awa y scot-free. The victo ry was now up for g ra bs between Fogarty and Slight. But at tha t m o m ent , the N e w Ze al and e r had already given up hope, as it would turn ou t after the finish. "We should have pu sh ed mor e in the beginning of the race," said Sligh t. "My rear tire was finished in the last couple of rounds. Too bad, because I had decided to take th e same tire a s Ca rl. But a p parently the y d o not work the sa me way under a Honda as they d o under a Ducati. For the seco nd race, I will have to try to find a better tire combination." Fogarty was happy to have won his fifth race of the year. " I d id not have any problems," the Briton reported , "excep t the high er top speed of the Ho nda. Fortunately I could get back in the corners." Ed w a rds wa s the s u rp risi n g - but d es erving - third man on the rostrum. "We have been struggling all year," the Yamaha rid er said. "So thi rd is great. I had to w ork hard to ge t th is re sult, because of my going straight on the first lap." Crafar and N agai finis hed fourth and fifth, respectively. RACE TWO Two hours later, the 29-strong field would enter the track for another go at the hi gh-speed circuit. Ag ai n, it was Co rser who took th e honor of lead ing the field toward the first chicane . There .end ed the race of David Jefferies' after a sp ectacu lar crash in th e mid field. One lap later, Fogarty was a lready in comm and, a nd a g ai n he would n o t be threatened except by fellow Ducatisti. Gobert mad e one of his best performances in Europe at Monza, and even challenged the reigning World Champion several times in one lap wh ile braking for the chican es. Th en another crash in th e firs t chica n e after the start / fini sh line caused mayhe m in the leading g ro u p : Corser just managed to ge t past Bon tem pi in the first pa rt of the chica ne . But the Italian lost con trol, s lid aga in st Corser' s bi ke and both -w ent down . Bon te m pi walked a way, but at first sight Corse r was more bad ly damaged . After a trip to th e medics only a severe ly bruised p a lm w as diagnosed . Th e Australian h ad tried to dampen his crash on the curbstones with his hands. Th e crash split the leading gro up int o three smaller ones wi th Fogarty lead ing Sligh t, then Gobe rt and Chili in the first grou p with a small margin to the Yamah a duo of Nagai and Edwards in th e next, and th e trio of Andreas Meklau , Crafar a nd Pirovano trailing. Of the lead in g g roup, Chili turned out to be the hottest candida te for victory. Out bra king two of his colleagues in some chicanes, th e Italian despera tely wanted to have his first world supe rbike victory in fron t of his home crowd. Five la ps b efore the end, things s tarted to look good for him . Sligh t had overshot at th e chicane ("stupid mistake," he sa id) , and Gobert was starti ng to have clutch problems. Still, the outcome was unknown until the very last lap. Fogarty started the las t miles in first, and stayed in front despite the desperate attacks of Chili . At the last chicane, things turned sour for Fogarty a n d he su d den ly lo st power , seeing Chili sh ooting p ast in the last straigh t line before the Parab olica. "The bike had been vibrating all through the race," the Bri ton sai d. " I am just g lad to have made it to the end." Chili w a s ove rwh el me d w it h joy after hi s fi rs t v icto ry. "I h a d n ev er thought to be able to win here; especial- (Left) Troy Corser (11) led the pac k int o the first turn in both races . (Above) Carl Fogarty won the first race without too much trouble, and on ly a slight power loss at the end of the second kept him from getting that one too. (Right) A happy Pier-Francesco Chili wears the winner's laurels after race two. . ly not in a duel with Ca rl. But everything wo rked ou t well, and I d idn 't try too hard as I had done in the first race." Gobert lost an almost certain th ird place whe n his clutch blew in th e last lap; he finished 12th . . Slight got home third and Edward s finished fifth , just behind his teammate N agai. " I actu all y go t a slig h tly better start than the first race," said the American. "And the bike felt goo d, but I found it a bit more slippery than this morning b ecause th e tr a ck was so hot. Abo ut halfw a y I got a slight vibra tion in a straight line after the Parabolica and so I took it easy for a lap to make su re eve rything was okay. After that I didn't feel co n fid en t in th e left-hand turns. So I took it sl owly to th e finish. After th e race, t he me cha ni cs noticed that th e vibration had been caused by th e tir e I'X slip ping on the rim ." Monza Milan, Italy Results: June 1S, 1995 (Round 4 of 12) QUAUFYING: I . Aaron Slight (1:48.219); 2. Ctrl Fogarty 0 :48.629); 3. Troy Corser (1:48.662); 4. PierFrancesco Chili 0 :48.743); 5. Yasutomo Nagai (148.802); 6. Piergiorgio Bontempi (1:48.902); 7. Colin Edwards Il 0 :49.236); 8. Fabrizio Pirovano (1:49.397) ; 9. Simon Crefar 0 ;49.416); 10. Massimo Meregalli 0:49.419) ; II . A ntho ny Gobe rt 0:49.606) ; 12. Andreas Mek la u 0 :49.760); 13. Mau ro Lucchiari (1;49.769); 14. Paolo Casali (1:49.795); IS. Gianm aria Livera ni 0'-'0.032); 16. John Reynolds 0'-'0.250); 17. Michele Gallina 0 ,s1.174); 18 . Bruno Ci ragici (1:51.461) ; 19. Ad ri en Morilla s (1:51.596); 20. Jean -Yves Mouni er (1:51.873); 21. Sat oshi Teugimotc (U2. 103); 22. Terry Rymer 0 :S2.299); 23. Ferd tna ndc Oi Maso (1:52.478); 24. And rea Perselll 0:52.644); 25. David Ieffer ies (1:52.677); 26. Ru ss ell Wood 0:53.402); 27. Aldeo Pre sciutn 0 :S3.767); 28. Bruno Scato le (1:56.310); 29. Gyorgy Loria (2:04.342). RACE 0 NI;, 1. Ctrl Fogarty (Due); 2. Aaro n Sli>:ht (H on); 3. Colin Edwards II (Yam ); 4. Sim on C ral ar (Hen): 5. Yasutomo Nagai (Yam ); 6. Mau ro Lucchiari (Du c); 7. Piergiorg io Bontempi (Kaw): 8. Fabrizio Pirovano (Due); 9. John Reynolds (Ka w ); 10. Gianmaria Live rani (Du e); 11. Sato shi Tsugimoto (H o n); 12. Michele Gallina (Du e); 13. David Jefferies (Ka w ); 14. Jean-Yves Mo unier (Duc); 15. Ferdinando Di Ma so 15

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