Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE . Final round: Catalonian Grand Prix World Championship Road Race Series pack across the line. Fred Bayens was sixth on the DC Racing Honda after pulling through from a bad start, Stephane Mertens was eighth and Wilco Zeelenberg retired the second DC Honda with electrical problems. Only one title was left to be decided an all-British battle for sidecar honors. It was won by Darren Dixon and Andy Hetherington, after Steve Abbott and Julian Tailford retired after seizing early in the race. Dixon was a close second after a good battle with Rolf Biland, enough to secure the crown. , 500cc GRAND PRIX Beattie took a flyer and ran away, while Capirossi, Alex Barros and Doohan pursued. But things were far from normal for Doohan, who started dropping away at once. Pit-lane observers wondered if he had a problem with his suspected secret traction-control, but he explained it differently: "I guess we were caught out by the full fuel load. The forks were bottoming for the first laps and I couldn't get the thing turned. I was chaSing the front end everywhere." Accordingly, he dropped away while Beattie made hay and the pursuit sorted itself out. This took the form of Checa, riding with total commitment and inspiration so that in the course of the second lap he overtook Doohan into the chicane, Bar- By Michael Scott Photos by Gold & Goose BARCELONA, SPAIN, ocr. 8 he 1995 Grand Prix season came to an unexpected sort of climax at Catalunya, after a day of some of the best racing seen all year. The track had been altered without most tearns realizing it until they got there. The surface changed behavior and confounded tire choice almost by the hour. And the promoters even tried to change the name, to the GP of Catalunya - a perfectly good idea, but done unannounced so that nobody took much notice. But the 500cc GP sprung the final surprise. It was won by the wrong Repsol Honda, after having been fought out by three Honda riders from the back end of the team listings, with two of them having hardly been near the rostrum all year. The winner was hometown hero Alex Criville scoring, his second GP victory (the first at Assen in 1992, after the top riders crashed). Second was Shinichi Itoh on another Repsol Honda, after a desperate last-lap overtaking bid failed. Third was class rookie Loris Capirossi on the Marlboro Pileri Honda, in his first rostrum finish of the year. Capirossi also won the Rookie of the Year title in If) the.class. 0\ New double champion Michael 0\ Doohan was first non-ros......" trum finish offourth, his after handling the year, 00 problems in the early stages. But he had ...... caught and passed early leader Daryl ~ . Beattie in the last laps, leaving the ,.!:l Lucky Strike Suzuki rider desperately disappointed after he thought he had u the place wrapped up in spite of handling problems all weekend. But the most disappointed rider of all was Carles Checa, in only his fifth 500cc 7 e ~ .B a 6 (Above) Alex Crlville (6), Loris Capirossl (65) and Shlnichl Itoh (7) had a fierce battle at the front of the Catalonlan 500cc Grand Prix; In the end It was Crlvllle taking the win. (Right) Scott Russell tries to hold off the 400cc V-twin Aprllla ridden by Loris Regglanl. GP. Riding the injured Alberto Puig's Fortuna Honda, he first took the lead off Beattie, then fought of a challenge from Criville, only to lose it all when he crashed at the tricky downhill hairpin. The race was watched by 50,000 fans at the modern Montmelo Circuit on the outskirts of Barcelona, in warm, sunny conditions. . With the championships already decided in all three solo classes, the races in the other two went to the new title holders. Max Biaggi ran away with his eighth 250cc win of the season on the Chesterfield Aprilia, leaving the excitement for a relentless battle for second, between Marlboro Rainey Yamaha's Tetsuya Harada and HB Honda's Ralf Waldmann. The pair were glued together all race long, with Harada finally winning the tactical battle on the last bend, and claiming second place in the championship from the German in the process. Blumex-Rheos Honda's Harachuki Aoki won the 125cc race rather differently. Part of a fierce four-bike dice that saw the lead change hands twice on the last lap alone, he showed superb judgment to lead Emilio Alzamora, Tomomi Manako and Kazuto Sakata across the line. With Sakata second in the title points, Alzarnora's finish secured him third by two points over Akira Saito, who was seventh in today's race. Eustaquio Gavira won a thrilling Thunderbike race, with his brother Idalio second. Pere Riba was third, Manuel Lucque fourth and Yves Briguet fifth, all on Hondas and all in a tight ros when he ran wide on the hairpin, and Capirossi under braking for the last left-hander. And then he got his head down and started chasing Beattie. The Australian resisted as best he could, but he was battling his familiar understeer problems and did well to stay ahead until the start of lap five. At that point Checa used Honda power to move alongside on the straight, and better steering to clive into the chicane first. And he immediately started to open a gap, setting fastest lap on lap six, a new record at the revised track. Experienced race-watchers were expecting an accident momentarily, but Checa confounded predictions as he started to open a small gap of one-anda-half seconds. Meanwhile, Criville was coming through fast, exceeding his prac-

• Cover