Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127773
ing an ad ap te d bi ke with a right-foot shifter an d a thumb-ope rated rear brake. These later tim es ove rsha dowed the three earlier days, when a bakers' dozen of mi xed 500 riders had b een le d b y Checa's 1:45.20, with Bayle secon d, then Juan Borja mere hundredths slower than the factory Yamaha on the new all-Eu ropean Elf-ROC. The single-crank V-four, based on the Swiss auto engine which made a successful sidecar debut 18 months ago, was visibly fast, and pit-lane rumors put the rear-wheel power output at 195 hp, higher even than all-conquering Honda's 190 hp. Reliability remains an unanswered question, with Borja's muc h-s lower team mate Adrien Bosshard suffering a m ajor blow-u p on Saturday. (Left) Nor lfume Abe struggled at the test, riding an updated 1995 Yamaha YZR500. Only Wayne Rainey 's Lori s Capirossi was give n a new 1996 Yamaha YZR500. (Below ) World Champion Haruchika Aok i was outdone at the tes t by fellow 125cc riders Jorge Mart inez and Masaki Tokudome, both of whom rode Aprili as. (Left) Juan Borja rode the new Elf Swissau to 500 and ended up thirdquic kest du ring the Jerez test. French ma n Fred Protat w as fou rthfastest privateer o n hi s ROC-Yamah a, then came Jeremy McWill iams (ROC) and an impressive Jean-Pierre Jeanda t on the die ha rd, privately built V-four Pato n. Tetsuya Harad a p ro vid ed a d oub le sensation in th e 250cc class. The first shock was th e a ppearance o f hi s 1996 Marlboro-Rai ney Yama ha . Th e reedvalve machin e (the promising disc-valve pro ject ha s been shelved) sported a lar ge an d curiously shaped drooping seat-tail. The profile follows the arc of a crouching rid er's back d own to a kicked -up tail spo iler, with deep sid e skirts disguised by a swo opy paint job. A second version is without the spoil er lip. The o th er surprise ca me fr om th e Jap an ese rider' s performance. He w as slowes t of the fact or y 250 test er s, and even near the back of the privateer tim es in a brie f ou ting on the Sunday aftern oon. Tight-lipped teamst ers le ft the track with more question s than answers, but o ne diffi cul ty ma y b e w it h th e sw itch from Dun lop to Mic heli n tires. Ha ra d a has won at Jerez in 1995 and 1993, though his fastest pace lap last yea r was fractio nally slower than Max Biaggi's 1:45.628 record. Again, not unexpectedly, the factory testers set faster times in the private sessions, with defending double cha mpion Max Biaggi (Chesterfield Aprilia) domina ting only to be pip ped two-tenths in th e closin g st ages by Ralf Wa ldmann (HB Hond a) at 1:44.76. Aprilia factory tester Mar cellino Lu cch i was just fiveh undredths behind Biaggi . Th en a batch of cl o se tim es sa w Roberto Locatelli (Aprilia) headin g Jean Phill ipe Ru g gia (Elf Tec h -3 H on d a ), Es kil Su ter (Mohag Aprilia), Oli vier Jacque (Elf-Tech 3 Honda ), and Jurgen Fuchs (H B H ond a ). Lo catell i h a d switched from Miche lin to Du nlop tires to move fro m near the back to fou rth overall. The privateer sess ions h ad see n rising sta r Fu chs, on a w orks bike for the first time, lea ding Ru ggia, with you ng Briton Jam ie Robin son third. Rob inson has taken over the ex-Mackenzie Docshop Ap rilia, Works H o n d a veteran Nob ua tso Aoki was next, ahead of se mi -works Aprilia man Eskil Sute r and rising Frenchman Jacque, who is on a fullworks NSR for 1996. The 125cc class was led by old-timer and former multi-champion 'lorge Martinez, after his switch from Yamaha to Aprilia. Then came h a r d -ch arg in g Ja p a n ese ri der Toku do me's A p rilia, both fa ster th an d e fending champion Hara chu ki Aoki's Hond a. Aoki, d omin a nt la s t season, was ri d in g a n unpainted machine after th e Holl an dbased team lost their Blu mex sponsorshi p. Young Briton D ar r e n Barton showed well in fifth . In ninth was Valentino Rossi, the rising son of a n famous father. Practice ti mes 500: 1. C. Checa (Spain) H o n d a 1:45.26; 2. J.M. Bay le (Fra nce) Yamaha 1:45 .90; 3. J. Bo rja (Spai n) Elf -RO C 1:45.96; 4. F. Protat (France) ROC-Y3)Ilaha 1:46.29; 5. J. McWilliam s (GB) ROCYamaha 1:46.66; 6. J.P. [eandat (Fran ce) Paton 1:47.56;7. A. Pui g (Spain) Honda 1:47.61; 8. N . Abe (Jap an ) Ya maha 1:47 .65; 9. L. Pe d e rcin i (Italy) RO CYamaha 1:47.80; 10. E. McM an us (GB) Yama ha 1:48.02; 11. T. Arakaki (Japa n) H arris-Yamah a 1:48.07; 12. J. Hayd on (G B) H a r ri s-Yamaha 1:48.77; 13. A. Bosshard (Switze rland) Elf-ROC 1:50.02. 250: 1. J. Fuchs (Ge r ma ny) Honda 1:45.85; 2. J.P. Ruggia (Fra nce) Honda 1:46. 09; 3. J. Rob in so n (G B) Apri lia 1:46 .35; 4. N . Aoki (Japan) Ho n da 1:46.55; 5. E. Suter (Switzerland) Aprilia 1:46.75; 6. O . Jacque (France) Honda 1:46.76; 7. R. Locatelli (Italy) Aprilia 1:46.86; 8. R. Laconi (France) Honda 1:47 .04; 9. M . Ottobre (Italy) Honda 1:47.33; 10. O. Miyazaki (Japan) Aprilia 1:47.34; 11. C. Cogan (France) Honda 1:47.79; 12. Y. Hatakeyama (Japan) Honda 1:47.90; 13. T. Tsujimura (Japan) Honda 1:48.13; 14. L. Boscoscuro (Italy) Aprilia 1:48.16; 15. T. Harada (Japan) Yamaha 1:48.89; 16. C. Miglorati (Ita ly) Honda 1:49.00; 17. S. Porco (Arge nt ina) Apri li a 1:49 .15; 18. D . Bul eg a (It a ly) Aprilia 1:50.72. 125 : 1. J. Mar tin ez (Spain) Aprilia 1:49.29; 2. M. Tokudome (Japan) Aprilia 1:49 .71; 3. H. Aoki (Japan) Honda 1:49.98; 4. L. Cecchinello (Italy) Honda 1:50.04; 5. D. Barton (GB) Aprilia 1:50.17; 6. N. .Ueda (Japan) Honda 1:50.21; 7. K. Sakata (Japan) Aprilia 1:50 .35; 8. Y. Katoh (Japan) Yamaha 1:50. 47; 9. V. Rossi (Italy) Aprilia 1:50.65; 10. A. Saito (Japan) Hon d a 1:50.75; 11. S. Perugini (Ita ly) Ap rilia 1:50.84; 12. M. Geissler (Germa ny) Aprilia 1:51.08; 13. J. Hules (Czech) Hond a 1:51.23; 14. D. Raudies (Germany ) H onda 1:51.29; 15. P. Oettl (Germ any) Aprilia 1:51.67; 16. G. Debbi a (Italy) Yamah a 1:51.79; 17. Y. Ui (Japan) Yam aha 1:51.88; 18. A. Baller ini (Italy) Aprilia 1:5 2.43; 19. A. N ie to (Spain) Aprilia 1:52.49; 20. G. McCoy (Australia) April ia 1:52 .71; 21. J de Ge a (Spain) Ho nda 1:52.79; 22. S. Cruciani (Italy) Apr il ia 1:53. 21; 23 . F. Petit (Fra nce) Honda 1:53.62.