Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

first Italian rider to win the 250cc race on .an Italian bike in the stronghold of the Japanese industry. . Wild ca rd Daijiro Kato on a Honda won a four-bike battle for third, hea ding Elf-Chesterfield Honda's Olivier Jacqu e, Benetton Hon da's Tohru Vkawa an d Rheos Hond a' s N ob uatso Aoki across the line after ano ther somewhat processional250cc race. Works Ap ri lia rider Ma saki Tokudom e took his second win in success ion at Suzuka, after a breathtaking race th at came do wn to a bump-an d-barge match in the last chicane. As d efending ch ampion Harachuki Aoki and pole starter No boru Veda ran each othe r stra ight across the first part of the slowest comer in GP racing, and Stefano Perugini crashed in sympathy inches behind, Toku-San kept his head do wn to win by more than a second after a battle of inch es, and move into the championship lead . Ao ki w as second a n d Veda third, w ith Tomomi M ana k o four th, an d Perugini rem ounting to finish 12th. Tokudo me move d in to a s le n der points le a d ; luckless Ka z uto Sakata slashed his own lap record by a m assive 1.7 second s before rattling to a stop on the track. 500cc GRAND PRIX Whil e fellow Du nlop rider Do riano Rom b oni bogged hi s 400cc Aprilia on the line, front -row starter Katsuaki Fujiwara jette d stra ight into an early lead on the Lucky Strike Suzuki, pulling ou t an advantage of three secon ds by lap two as the establishment waited for thei r more sensitive Michelins to warm up . But Fujiwara had tro ub le ahead. His ignit io n s ta r ted playi ng up, making downshifts d ifficult as he cou ld n't blip the throttle. He slip p ed back in to th e pack, even tually retiring after 12 laps wit h the bike mis firing too badly to continue. Ba rros w a s th e n ext to le a d , then Doohan, with Abe climbing all ove r both of th em, pain tin g black stri pe s on th e co r n e r exi ts with h is s p inning re a r' wheel, and threatening not only to crash but also to bring the others do wn at any moment. Wild card Takumi Aoki (Honda) wa s als o with th e gro u p, but it was Abe's da y. By lap eight he was in front, and was never headed again. But he did not slacken his p ace , ev en when h e drew away from Criville in the clos ing laps, and even though he was at maximum risk all the time. "I decided I was going to d o my best all ra ce long," he sa id . "In 1994, I w as with Doohan and Schwantz. This time it w as as though I w a s r a ci n g agai ns t myself. I never imagined myself winning today, but I did feel this morning that if I coul d n' t get into the top three I w ould rather crash." By now teammate Jean-Michel Bayle w as d ro p p ing awa y, bl am ing a b ad choice of tires after seve ral near -crashes in the opening laps; while Rainey Marlboro Yama ha rider Loris Cap iros si was never in contention, lying 12th before his gear-lever bo lt snapped and h e was forced to retire. It was Barros who d id crash, at the start of lap 12, trying too hard to capitalize on Doohan's problems . "I knew I was faster in th e firs t th ree co rners , but I went into the first one too fast," he said. Cadalora h ad already p it ted th ree Japs earlier, in a dis turbing repetition of his on-agai n/off-again form of the previous two years , which ea rned him th e criticism of only being able to race p roperly now and then. He'd dropped Jrom eigh th on lap one to 19th on lap seven. (Above) Norlluml Abe (9) turned In the race 01 his IIle to win his Ilrst-ever 500cc GP • and he did It In his homeland. (Above right) Kenny Roberts Jr. returned Irom his broken leg to linIsh an adm irable 12th. (Right) Scott Russell (11) leads Jea nMichel Bay le (12) and Takum i Aoki In the ir battle; Russell ended up thi rd, a 500cc GP career best. "The bike w asn' t steering right, and I was taking risks only to go backwa rds. There w as n o p oint ca rry ing on. We need more time to get the bike set tings right: ' he said . Criville steadily lost grou nd on Abe from mid-distance, saying afterw ard, "I had no problem s, but I could n't mat ch his pace." But Dooh an w as s lo w ing behind him as he grappled with his front tire problems, with Aoki passing him on lap 14 and Okada closing up behind. At the same time, Russell w as starting to move ahead, and pa ssed Oka da sho rtly before both go t by Doohan. H e gaine d ano ther p lace a lap later when Aoki fell heavily at the last of the Esses, slamming into the air-fence and lu cky to escape w ith a bro ken co llarbone. Russell was th rilled : "I've been despera te t o get o n th e ros trum, and I tho ugh t I might do it at Suzuka. Now I want to w in one:' he said. '''My brake lever came back ha lfwa y to the bar on the warmup lap, and I thought it was going to be a long day. But it didn't get any worse in th e ra ce, so after 1'd enjoyed some close racing with the p ack, I decided it was time to make my move. Because of ou r recent engine problem s my mechanics had played it safe, and we were d own on acce leration out of th e comers. But the chassis wa s good, and I was h avin g fun." He finished less than a second behi nd Criville, bu t alm ost six ahea d of Oka da, whose fou rth p lace w as the new light- weight V-tw in Repso l Honda's best finish yet, and his first of the season. Slo w star te r Dar yl Beattie w as th e la st m an to over take Dooha n, in h is comeba ck ride a fte r m issing th e firs t tw o rounds w it h preseason testing injuries. "I' m happy with the result, but not my performan ce: ' the Lucky Strike rid er said . "At the start I was am ong the traffic while the front gu ys disappeared. When I got some clear track later I starte d t o feel comfortabl e. I ju st n eeded so me time on the bi ke, and a t le ast I should be able to start the next race on equal footing." Doohan was happy to finish and gain a slender titl e poin ts lead . He ' d ju st t ak en the lea d o n the sixth lap a n d looked set for a win when his problems started. "I was feeling comfortable wh en the bike started running wide: ' he said. "I thought it was jus t a tire problem. I didn't realize I had a puncture. Later we found a hole in the m iddle of the crown of the tire. I think I picked up some gravel - I'd been shower ed in stones when Criville ran off the track when he passed Barros on the main straight. It got worse and worse, and for the last five laps it wa s just a matter of surviving ." Romboni was seventh, af ter havin g prob lems with hea vy t raffic after his slow start. "The V-fours w ere alw ays in my wa y so I couldn't use my cornering speed:' said the V-twin Ap rilia rid er. Then came Bayl e, narrowly ahea d of Alberto Puig a nd hi s Fortu na Hond a teamma te Ca rles Chec a, battling setu p problems, bu t able to hold off a hurting Shinichi Itch's V-twi n Honda. Returning injury v ictim Kenny Roberts Jr. wa s a distant 12th, also battling tire-choice d ifficulties. Jeremy McWilliams was again top pri vateer, the ROC-Yamaha rider fending off Padgett' s-Yamaha rider Toshiyuki Arakaki by less than a 'tenth across the line. Jam e s Hayd o n a lso narrowl y d efeat ed Eu gene McM anu s an d Sean Emm ett f'lr 15th in an all-British b attl e for the last point. .250c c GRAND PRIX Biag gi ' s w in le ft the Italian ri der dancing for joy. "This was a very special victory, " he said. "We fixed the chatter pro blem we had in practice, and I cou ld go faster qui te easily. I have given Ap rilia two world titles, one man ufacturers' t itle , and now th e ir first 250 win in Japan: I think we ha ve done quite a good job this weekend." Biaggi started strongly, tailing Nu mata's Su zuki in the V-twin's only GP of the year, sniffing first one side and then the othe r before moving cleanl y past on lap four and drawing inexorably away. By then, the th rea t ' of H ar a d a had been violen tly termina te d . The p ole qualifier h ad gotten away in fifth, bu t m o v e d q uickly past the H on das of Tohru V kawa and Olivie r Jacque to take up th e pursuit. But he was tryin g too ha rd on hi s new Michelins at a tr ack wh ere the left-han d side of the tire needs tim e to get warm. As he heeled over left

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