Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·.R AD RACE .Race Series Round 2: Indonesian Grand Prix O . World Championship Road (Above) Tetsuya Harada (31) won his lirst 250cc Grand Prix 01 the season alter holding off two-time World Champion Max Blaggl (1). (Below) Team owner Wayne Rainey - far rlght- . celebrates with the top three finishers, Rail Waldmann, Harada and Blaggl. laps," Russell said, add ing he knew they wou ldn't last in the race. "I did the best th e bike was ca pab le of d oing ." The morning warmup had been prom ising, w ith Russell dropping nearly a second off his qualifying time after changing his comer sp eed and sp ring rates on th e Suzuki. Once the race starte d, lie knew that he wou ldn'tbe able to keep up wi th the leaders. . "Our bike has to be just right in the corners to race with them ," he said . "I cou ld have push ed h arder in th e ra ce and maybe race w ith Cad a lora, but 1 k ne w I d idn 't h a ve th e m otor to get around him:' Russell came under atta ck from Bay le near the halfway mar k just as he began to hear engine noises. "I wa s wai ting on h im," Russell sai d, and once he got close... "I dropped him like a bad habit. " The engine noises went away and Russell pulled ou t to a secure seventh. Bayle en ded up eig ht h and th ought he might do better before erro rs cost him any advancement. "I m anaged to catch Russell an d w as right behind him for six or seven laps , I thou ght I'd be ab le to overtake him, bu t 1 mad e a few mistakes an d he was able to ge t away from me. From there, eig h th was the best I cou ld do," he said . H is te am mate Abe was nin th and und er little threat from Pui g u ntil the very end. Another lap and it migh t have been d ifferen t, 'b u t on th is d ay it w as Abe's ninth. "I was thinking of mak ing the move on Abe in the final lap, but despite scoring my fastest time, it was not possible. One position in the standi ngs is not so importan t now," Puig said. 1:\ Sentul Circuit Sentul, Indones ia Results : April7, 1996 ( R~und 2 of 15) i zs ee QUA LIFYING : 1. Haruchik.a Aoki (1:35.138); V-fours return to to S ...... ... . '-< 0... -< 8 ome sem blance of order w as restored to the 500cc class w ith Rep sol Honda's Micha el Doohan ta kin g hi s usual pole position for Sunday's race follow ed very closely by another V-fou r, thi s on e b el ongin g to M arlboro Yama ha Rainey's Loris Capirossi. It wa s the 29th ca reer pole for the 30year -old Australian, even though he struggled with a migraine head ach e th at wa sn't h elped by a skittis h front en d on h is Honda NSRSOO. Despite this bein g the inau gu ral Grand Prix for the 2.46-mile Sentul Groot, nea r Boger, a town about 25 m iles south ofthe Ind onesian capital of Jakarta, most of the top teams had tested exten sively here over the winter and came in with a we alth of da ta . Though Doohan was quickest, he didn't come with in half a second of his best time during tests her e earJier in the month. He earned the pole position, and 29th consecutive appearance on the fro nt row of the grid , with a lap of 1:26.883 at an average clip of 102.089 mph. "I was trying to go fast all the time, trying an d hopefull y see what the race setup will be like," Dooh an said . "And that's p retty much what we're running. Right from the word go we started getting down to tho se times. It's just that I could never seem to piece them together. I kep t overshooting the tu rns and the bike wants to lose the front end turning into the turns. And naturally I'm turning back in to get back on the line. A couple of times I'd jus t lea ve it a mill isecond too late on the brakes and ]' d just ha ve to let it run out wide . Basical ly, it's all tria l and error and tod ay there was more error than an ything else." Dire warni ng s had been broadcast ab out th e tra ck , mu ch ha vin g to do with the sur face wh ich could easily be com plicated by bad weather. Becau se the race carne at the end of the rainy season, and Bogor is k nown as the "City of Rain" for its more than 300 thunderstorm s a yea r. there was consi de rable concern that the race would not run .Water tends to come up from un der the tarmac an d it takes a n' inord inate amount of tim e for the track to be comp letely dry. But for practic e and qualifyin g, at least, there were no worries and Doohan wa s gene ro us in his assessment of the 12-tum, stop-and-go circuit. "I think it's as good as anywhere," he "lid. "The nature of the tra ck is going to produce close racing becau se just the way it is so flowi ng. excep t the first-gear chicane. I th ink tomorrow is going to be a bit of a dingdong of a race because the re's going to be that much draftin g. Whe n you 're togeth er wit h a bu nch of people it's goin g to be hard to make a break. 1 reall y th ink it's going to come down to the last five, 10 laps to see w ho's doing what and who 's go t it togeth er best." Another concern was tires. Becau se tem peratures were in the 90-deg ree ran ge, tir e conse rvation wo uld be par amount. Th at the track features mos tly cons tant -radi us, flat turns, which tend not to abuse tires as much as the ba nked turns at last week's stop in Shah Alarn, Malaysia, only slightly eased the concern. Capiross i wa s nearly as quick as Doohan, his best time just 0.020 clicks off and coming at the very end of the second qualifying session. Like Doohan, he was hu rtin'!; - the right heel he hurt in the Malaysian GP crash - and also trying to find somethin g that steere d well th rough the comers. "Tha t lap tim e wasn' t too difficult," the Ita lian sa id. "We wer e ha ving a few pr oblems in the m idd le of the com ers, so I came into the pits for new tires wi th 15 minutes to go. We also mad e a couple of adju stm en ts to the bike, but when I wen t out again the track was far too busy, so I wait ed for a gap and then d id my best." Re psol Hon d a ' s V-t wi n- mo u n te d Ta day u ki Okada was th ird-fastest after holdin g provi sio nal po le follow ing th e first d ay. The pros and cons of the V-twin were again debat ed , but wi th a lot of stop-and-go comers, and onl y one long stra igh t, the agile -new Honda was able to stay on the pace. Okada' s tim e wa s less than a secon d beh ind Capirossi's, though he thou gh t it might have been more. "The dif ference between the V-four and the V-twin was a bit smalle r than expected he re," Okada said . After testing here in the winter, Oka da knew that he wo uld be able to draft the fourcylinder bikes in a straight line without th e V-fou rs pulling awa y. He also knew tha t he was faster in the comers and split times confirm ed it. . Fortuna Hond a Pons' Carles Checa sa t at the en d of the front row, the Spaniard slightly inj ured in a practice sp ill, but not ser iously . "Despite my injured finger, I've had to give m y best in th e la st la ps be cause m y fro nt -row spot w as no t certain," Checa said . "But I feel ph ysically ve ry good an d I think that I can keep a fast pace throu gho u t the whole race : ' A pair of private Hondas belo ngin g to Kanernoto Ho nda' s Luc a Cada lora and Honda Pileri ' s Alex Barros started off the second row, th en the first Marl boro Robert s Yama ha bike of Jean-Michel Bayle, and finally Alberto Puig on the second Fortun a Hond a Pons entry.. Cadalora was outs poken in his disl ike for the tr ac k and struggled to bu ild confide nce in his front end. He finally hit on a solu tion well into the secon d sess ion and didn 't im prove over 2. Peter Oettl (1:35.366); 3. Masaki Tokudome (1:35.760); 4. Dirk Rau dl es (1:35.787); 5. Tomomi Manske (1:35.816); 6. Stefano Peru gini (1:35.8-l6~ 7. Noboru Ueda (1:35.9Q.l); 8. Jorge Martinez ( 1 :35.972~ 9. Garry McCoy (1:36.022); 10. Manfred Geissler ( 1 :36. 1 20~ II. Akira Saito (1:36.136); 12. An drea Ballerini (1:36 .183); 13. Emilio Alzamora (1:36.224~ 14. Lucio Cecclunetlo (1:36.244); IS. Iaros la v H u le s (1:36.322 ); 16. Fr ederic Petit (1:36 .341 ); 17. Yoshiaki Katoh (1:36.529); 18. Valentino Ross i (1:36.577); 19. Ga briele Debbie (1:36.749 ); 20. jose David de Gea (1:36.993); 21. Kazuto Sakata (1:37.074); 22. P. Tessari (1:37 .296); 23. Ivan Goi (1:37.562); 24. Darren Barton (1:37.730); 25. J05eP Sarda (1:37.822); 26. Stefano Crudani (1:38.610); 27. J""" Ramirez (1:38.758); 28. Leek Bodelier (1:39 .029); 29. Ange l Nie to (1:39.493); 30. A. Iayadie (1:40.%9~ 31. P. Canisius (1:41.493). 250« Q UALIFYIN G: 1. Tetsuya Harada (1:29.257); 2. Max Biaggi (1 :29.271~ 3. Ralf Waldmann (1:29.830, 4. Nobuatsu Aoki (1:29.986); 5. Iurgen Fuchs (1:30.043); 6. Oliver Ja cq ue (1:30.130); 7. Luis d' Antin (1:30.430); 8. Tohru Ukawa (1:30.434); 9. J.P. Ruggia (1:30.646); 10. E.. kil Sut er (1:30.835); 11. Sebastian Porco (1:30.876); 12s Massimo O ttobre (1:30 .937 ); 13 . Robe r to Lo ca te lli (1:30.944); 14. Jurgen va n d im Coorbergh (1:30.944); 15. Jami e Robinso n (1~ .984) ; 16. Yasumcsa Ha tak eyama (1:31. 124); 17. Osam u Mivazaki (1:31.450) ; 18. Oliver Petrucciani (1:31.625); 19. bavide Bulega (1:31.711); 20. Luca Boscoscuro (1:31.804); 21. Sete Gibemau (1:32.105); 22. Takesh i Tsu jimura (1:32.180); 23. Cristiano Migliorati (1:32.541); 24. Chri stian Boud mot (1:32.693); 25. Giova ni Scalviru (1:32.930); 26. Jose Luis Card oso (1:33.048); 27. Chris tophe Cogan (1:33.384); 28. Regis Laro ni 0 :33.479); 29. Jose Barres i (1:36.166). SOOcc QUALIFYING: 1. Michae l Doohan (1:26.883); 2. Lo r is Capirossi (1:26 .903); 3 . Ta day uki O ka d a (1:26.980); 4. Car les Checa (1:27.008); 5. Luea Cadalora (1:27.()91); 6. Alex Barros (1:27.213); 7. jean-Mi chel Bayle (1:27.244) ; 8. Alberto Puig (1:27.352); 9. Alex Crtville (1:27.358) ; 10. Do rian o Romb on i (1:27 .500); 11. Sco tt Ru sse ll (1:28. 222); 12. Sh inichi It o h (1:28 .319); 13 . Norilumi Abe (1:28.669); 14. Jua n Borja (1:28.872); IS. Je re m y McWilliams (1:28 .945 ); 16. Tcshi Ar a kaki (1:29.182); 17. Laurent Naveau (1:29.768); 18. Frederic Pr otat (1:29.797); 19. James H ay d on (1:30.2 17); 20 . Eugene McManus (1:30.374); 21. Sean Emmett (1:30.604); 22 . Lucio Pedercin i (1:30.654 ); 23. Adrien Bosshard (1:30.855); 24. Jean Iean dat (1:31.275). . 12Scc GRAND PRI X: 1. Masaki Tok udome (Ap r ); 2. Haruchika Aoki (Hon); 3. Peter OettJ (Apr); 4. Dirk Raudies (H a n); 5. Jorge Ma rtinez (Apr); 6. No bo ru Veda (H on) ; 7. Tom omi Man ak o (H a n ); 8. Stefano Perugini (Ap r) ; 9. Akira Sa ito (Hon) ; 10. Andrea Ballerini (Apr); 11. Valentino Rossi (Apr ); 12. Luci o Cecchinello (H on); 13. Ivan Goi (Hen): 14. Kazuto Sakata (Apr ); 15. Frede ric Petit (H a n); 16. Da rren Barton (Apr); 17. Iaroslav Hules (Han); ·18. P. Tessari (Han); 19. Iosep Serda (Han); 20. P. Ca nisius (yam); 21. A. }ayadie (Ya m ); 22 . Manfred Gei ss ler (Ap r ); 23. Gabriela Debbia (Ya m ); 24. Ga r ry M cCoy (Apr) ; 25. Emilio Alzamora (Hon ); 26. Loek Bodelier (H an ); 27. Angel Nieto (Ap r ); 28. Iose Da vid de Gea (Hon); 29. Yoshi aki Katoh (Yam ); 30. S. Cruciani (Apr); 31. Jose Ram irez (Yam) . Tim e: 41 min., 38.197 sec. Di stance: 26 laps , 63.91 miles. Average Sp eed : 92.083 mp h. Margin of Victory: 0.0'J9 sec. Fast es t Lap : Haruchika Aoki, 1:35,('168. Lap 7. the final 15 minutes. After finish in g the first day in seve nth, the improvement wasn't unwelcome. "We finally fixed our front-end problem and we were very clo se to the fastest ti mes, and that's all th at matters," said Cada lora. "On ce we go t the bik e right, we spen t a lot of time trying different tires." Barros was next, continuing an impressive run on last year 's mach inery , inex plicably getting back on the fonn that w as missin g last year. Then came the fonner motocrosser Bayle, who benefited from a tow by Doohan. "I di d m y best time behind Doohan, wh en he wa s d oing his fastest lap:' Bayle said. "That' s the first time I've followed him for a w h o le lap. It wa s interesting a n d I pi ck ed up a few things. He 's very fast into corners, but there' s no magic in what he does . He made about 15 meter s on me during the lap ." Puig took eighth-fast est, say ing that he was still gettin g used to using the rear brake with his right hand, the fix-it cure for the serious leg injury he suffered in last year's French GP . Lucky Strike Suzuki's Scott Russell was on the third row, but we ll in. Before him came Team Reps ol Honda's Alex Cri ville. his left hand still wrapped from recent injuries, and then the othe r Vctwin. Aprilia's Dorian o Rombon i. Like many others, Romboni was havi ng trouble making the front end stick and worrie d about ho w much ground ther e w as to make up from the third row. Russell wa s similarly concern ed an d hop ing tha t qu alifying wasn 't an indication of the race. "N ot a good afternoon," he mo aned after coming 11th, better than a second and a half o ff the p ace. "The ot he rs all went qui cker, but we' re still struggling to find the las t few per cent you need to do that. 1 feel if I go any harder, I'll end up in the sa nd . en "We've be all of the map wi th bo th bik es an d if we can't sort it ou t for tom orrow I'll jus t get some po ints and look forward to Suz uka, where I think I can win," he added . The morn ing wa rmu p brought some encouragement with Russell kn ocking n e arly a seco n d o ff hi s t ime after s o fte n ing u p th e suspension and fitting a new front tire. The fina l fac tory H ond a, the V- twin of Rep sol Hon da ' s Shinichi Itoh, filled out the third row. Marlboro Yamaha Rober ts' Norifumi Abe be gan the fourth row, then the field was filled out by the first of the Elfs, then a h ost of privat e Yamahas, an ot her Elf a n d th e Paton. Abe's chances of makin g a late run up the grid came to an end when his machine broke in the chica ne with 10 min utes to go.

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