Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.ROAD .RACE '..:: :'.: Round 3: 24 Heures de Liege ..WorId fndIm:e ~lShIp Sera . 24 HEURES DE UEGE A fast start in a 24-hour race might not be very important, but it is appreciated by sponsors, who like to see one of their bikes at the front of the field during this critical and much-~ part of the race. Mertens is well awace of that, and the Belgian grabbed the holeshot and led the pack for the opening two laps. After that performance, the blue Honda RC45 was forced to give way to the factory Kawasaki and Honda. After 30 minutes of racing, there was quite a gap separating the factory teams from the fast privateers - and then another gap to the rest of the field. The lap charts had the official Honda of Vieira in the lead after one hour, but that was due mainly to the fact that the Honda had pitted for a rider change later than the other leams. On the track, the official Kawasaki ridden by Rymer was leading, followed by Vieira, the private Honda ridden by Mertens, the Phase One Endurance Kawasaki ridden by Steve Manley, the private Honda of Christophe Guyot and the official Suzuki of Moineau: . Fifteen minutes later, things really went wrong for Manley. The Briton had just taken over fourth place when he was highsi~ed off the white-and-red Kawasaki. Manley got up again and tried to get back to his bike, but the marshals thought it better to take him to the medical center. "It was the wisest decision," said Manley, who had originally started to ByJohanV8~khOve SPA·FRANCORCHAMPS, BELGIUM, JULY 16 he privateer Honda team of former Grand Prix rider Jean-Louis Guignabodet may have won the Six Hours of Assen race, but skeptics never really considered this victory as the real thing - mainly because the factory teams had stayed home. Things were different at Spa-Francorchamps, however, with three of the official factory bikes entered. Guignaboedet riders Stepli.ane Mertens, Jean-Michel Mattioli and Michael Simeon never put a wheel wrong, even when it started pouring rain on the Belgian Ardennes, in taking victory in the 24 Heures de liege. And if that weren't enough, the team also took over the lead in the World Championship. With two races to go, all is not lost for the factories - but it will take some work to prevent another privateer (remember Doug Toland in 1993) from taking the title. T QUAUFYING After the disappointing race at Assen - in which there was very little interest from the factory teams - things came alive again at the famous race track in the Belgian Ardennes. More than 50 teams'had entered and when final qua1ifying was completed, 53 teams had parked their bikes on the starting grid. Kawasaki, Suzuki and Honda all sent one official team to Spa - and they were the teams who ended up with the best starting positions for the race. The fastest time went to the Kawasaki team of Terry Rymer, Jean-Louis Battistini and Jehan d'Orgeix. Apart from some chassis set-up worries, their practice sessions went smoothly. They ended up just ahead of the factory Honda, ridden by Alex Vieira, Rachel Nicotte and Brian (Above) The I'lICe that lItJIr1II the 1'lICe: on foot Le Mana style. Stephane Mertens (lI8COfld from left) hlId the quickest legs and got away first (Right) MIc:haal Simeon takes his tum on the prlvat_ Gulgnabodat Honda; the llIIIm flnlshed first Morrison. The Honda boys also had a pretty calm qualifying session. Suzuki, on the other hand, had a little tougher go of it. The official team (Herve Moineau, Bruno Bonhuil and Eric Gomez) didn't get into the top three. Just a few days before the 24-hour race, the team received some new parts for the front and rear suspension of the GSXR750R. After a brief private practice session at the Le Mans circuit, everything seemed to be working fine. On the fast Francorchamps layout, however, the bike simply didn't handle. And Moineau and his mates were forced to be happy with the fourth-fastest qualifying time, behind the first privateer team of Mertens, Simeon and Mattioli. The Guignabodet-run team had also done some testing on the Le Castellet circuit two weeks before, a test which brought out some modifications to the chassis and the construction of the gearbox. This, together with the excellent circuit knowledge of local boys Mertens and Simeon, resulted in the third-quiclcest practice times. Sixth on the grid was taken by the British Phase One Endurance team with riders Steve Manley, Robert Holden and Mike Edwards. Fifth was reserved for the French Honda team of Christophe Guyot, Bernard Cazade and Eric Mizera. Most of the teams complained about a new layer of tarmac between the famous Raidillon (the fast, sweeping turn after start and finish) and Les Combes chicane. It would be right there that no less than 19 riders would crash during the race... argue vehemently with the Belgian medics. "I could have passed out on the bike and hurt myself or another rider even more." Manley had in fact broken an ankle, a rib and a bone in his wrist. The team would later announce their official retirement from the race. At about the same time, Vieira definitely lost his hiad to the fa'ctory Kawasaki. Rymer was now leading from Vieira's and Mertens' Hondas and Moineau's Suzuki When, at 7:15 p.m., the first raindrops fell on the circuit, everybody expected the hierarchy to be changed quite radically. Still, it would take more than an hour before the first heads would roll At roughly 8:30 p.m, Vieira and Eric Go~ez both crashed while braking for Les Combes. Fortunately, the damages

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