Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Ap r ); 16. Devide Bule ga (Apr); 17. Massimo Ottobre (Ap r ); 18. Yasumasa Ha tekeya ma (Ha n ); 19. Giovani Scalvini (Han); 20. Eskil Suter (Ap r); 21. J. Marsella (Hon); 22. Jurgen van den Goo rbergh C Hon); 23. Oliver Hon ); 25. C. Cog an (Han); Petrucciani CApr); 24. M. Tey C 26. Regi s Laconi (Hon); 27. Nobuatsu Aoki (Hon); 28. jo se Ba rre si (Yam ); 29. Roberto Locatelli (Ap r); 30. Christian Boudinot (Apr); 31. V. Esparragoso (Han). TI m e: 46 min.. 06.154 sec. Distance: 26 laps. 71.298 miles. Averege Speed: 92.791 mph. Margin of Victory: 12.238 sec. Fastest up: Max Bi a ~ 1:45.270/ 93.785 mph. Lap 3. 500cc G RA~"D PRIX: 1. Michael Ooohan (Ha n ); 2. Luca Cadalora (Hon); 3. Tadayuki Okada (Hon); 4. Loris Capi rossi (Yam); 5. Alb e r to Pu ig (H o n ); 6. Ke n n y Roberts Jr. (Yam); 7. Jean-Michel Bayle (Yam ); 8. Alex Barros (Han); 9. Shinichi Itoh (Han); 10. Carles Checa (Hon); 11. Jua n Borja (Elf); 12. James Hayd on (Yam) ; 13. Frederic Protat (Yam) ; 14. Jeremy McWil liams (Yam ); 15. Sea n Emmett (Yam ); 16. Eugene McManus (Yam) ; 17. Toshi Arakaki (Ya m); 18. Jea n jeendat (Pa t); 19. Adrien Bosshard (Elf); 20. Lucio Pedercini (Yam); 21. Alex Cri vtlle (Han); 22. Dary l Beattie (Suz); 23. Doriano Rombo ni (Ap r); 24. Norifume Abe (Yam ). Tim e: 47 min . 28.064 sec. Distance: 74.041 miles. Average Speed: 93.589 mph. Margin of Victory: 2.671 sec. Fast est Lap : Luca Cad alora, 1:44.812/ 94.187 mph, Lap 16. 125cc WORLD CISHlP POI!'oT STANDIN GS (Afte r 4 o f 14 rounds): 1. Haruchika Aoki (85/1 win); 2. Mesak! Tokudome (73/2 wim); 3. Noboru Veda (49); 4. Stefano Perugini (46/ 1 win); 5. Tomomi Manako (39); 6. Peter Oettl (3i); 7. Valen tin o Rossi (33); 8. Emilio Alzamor a (31); 9 . (TI E) Jorge Ma rtine z /Kazuta Sakata (19); 11. Dirk Raudies (16); 12. (TIE) Manfred Ge issle r /Akira Saito (15): l-t.Lucio Cecchinellc (13); 15.M. Azuma (10). 250cr WORLD ClSMIP POU.T STANDINGS (Afte r 4 of 14 rounds): 1. Ma x Btaggt (~5/3 wins ); 2. Te tsuya Harada (65/ 1 win); 3. Luis diAntm (46); 4. Oliver Jacqu e (43 ); 5. Ralf Waldmann (40); 6. Jur gen Fuchs (36); 7. (TIE) Tohru Ukawa /Nobuatsu Aoki /Jean·Philippe Ruggia (31); 10 . N . N u mat a (20); II. (TIE ) Luca Boscoscuro /D. Kat o (16); 13. (TIE) Ju rge n va n den Cocrbe rghy lami e Robinson (12): 15. (TIE ) Sebastian Por co /Takeshi Tsujimura (11). 500« WORLD CiSHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 4 of 14 rou nd s): 1. Michael Doohan (71/2 wins) ; 2. Luca Cadalora (55/ 1 win) ; 3. Alex Barros (48); 4. Norifume Abe (40 /1 win); 5. Ca rles Checa (39); 6. Scott Rus sell (38); 7. Jean -Michel Bay le (35); 8. (TIE ) Alberto P uig / Al ex Criville (33) ; 10. (TlE) Lori s Cap irossi /Tadayuki Okada (29); 12. Shinich i Itoh (15); 13. (TIE) Kenny Robe rts Jr./ Doriano Rombo ni (14); 15. Frederic Protat (12). Defen ding Wo rld Champion Har u c hi ka Ao ki won the 125cc Spanis h Grand Prix after a hectic battle that w ent to t h e wire. Upcomin g Roun ds: Round 5 " Mugello , Italy, May 26 Round 6 " Pau l Ricard, France, June 9 time means h'e has to try to~ hard . It' s dangero us . W e' re here··to· spo rt for reasons o f passion, and the co mmercial int erest s who race, not to see how quick ly we can change a chass is. " . wa nted the same thing in o rder to make more mo ney . ' The future of our spo rt w ill be linked to the future of ot her 'motorThe IRTA tests at P aul" Ricard the week before the Spanish sports · and, I can assure you, bikes will not be at a lower level but at an equal leve l. W e mus t look to deve lopment in areas of GP cast a long shadow, with a spate of. accidents there leaving M ick Doohan expects to test the Honda V ,twin in the coming huge potential inte rest - India, China , S outh East Asia and the Far several costly residual injuries. The tests at the ve nue for the weeks, and may race the handy lightweight at the British G P at East. All motorcycle interests should be uriited withi n the FIM to Frenc h GP we re scheduled because after an absence ·fr om D onington Park in July. The move comes after Honda asked him achieve this goal." Zerbi faced tough questioning over Eccle c Ricard since 199 1 it is classified a " new track ." But a cornblnato tes t the machine at the IRTA tests at Paul Ricard in France the stone's motives . in the light o f the .fact tha, othermotorsports he non of co ld weather and a shortage ofleft-hand com ers meanta week before the Spanish GP. He declined, because they to ld him number of riders were caught out when that side of the lire did had. taken over · world sports cars, the world rally championship there was no chance he'd be able to race it at J erez eve n if he . . and F-30 00 - had apparently been allowed to lose grou nd in favor · not reach fuji wo rking temperature. . did lik e it. and he pre ferred t o concentrate on his suspension of F-l , and t hat he was active .in kee ping Indy Car racin g well pro ble ms with his V -four. But ttie door is not closed. " I expect to Only luckless 250cc Chesterfield Aprilia rider Jos e Lui s Car away from areas where. F· l was .stro ng. W ould he not do the tes t it in the co ming weeks, and there' s '8 chance - thouqh only a same to th e bikes? " What is important is not wha t has hap - · dose was actually out of the race in Spain, w ith a broken bone in slfm chance at be st - I might race it ill Dcinington Park, " he said. pe ned, but what will happen. ~ said Zerbi. As ked wheth er he saw his hand: but othe r vic tims were clearly below par. Lucky Strike.' At the previous race three w eeks ·ago, HRC managing director Suzuki man Scott Russell .broke six toes, one in· two places, IRTA /ISL as formi ng a rival championsh ip , he said: " I can see Suguru .Kanazawa said there was little c hance D oohan w ould they may have so me races, but I do not se e another charnpl- : and wa s hampered by the pain when changing direc tion , when race the bik e. "There are only enough for our two development . onship. " He also pointed ou t that IRTA had never had ·any agree " you need to puta lot of w eight on the footpeg s," and wh en . riders: he said. . . . ment wi th the FIM , adding: " We are not interested in waging w ar. . down shift ing. The team moved the gear lever, and on Satu rday The riders arid teams will be asked to coo perate; thei r voic es will w ent to w or k on his latest to o-big plas ter cast w it h an angle Four spect~tors at J erez w ere reported . seriously injured be heard and listened to. Remeniber that IRTA w as fonnerly a grinde r so it could fit ·into his specia l rear-entry boot s. However ; after all unmanned p olice car ran away down a ramp and into the on S aturd ay ·aftemoon ·he felt something " go pop ' in his right membe r of the AM, but they decided freely to leave to have a crowd. ' . .. free hand. I feel extreme personal goodwilHo the . members o( foot , and on Sund ay morning he w ith dre w fro m th e race o n . . IRTA. " . . .. advice from Dr. Co st a, to jrnp rcve his chances of a quick recovBernie ~cclesto~e' s .retum to bike GP "racing came onestep ery, Carles Checa fr actured bot h bone s in his left fore arm, but closer at J erez with the announcement of a new accord between . Bernie Ecclestone has o ffered to buy D orna, co nfirmed man- . was able to ride in Spain, if not at full speed, while V-twin riders . .Eccle stone and the FIM , the official World Champion ship. saneDoriano Romboni and Tadayuki Okada both also crashed: tioning body. At the sam e time , the FIM was set to regain lrnpor- . aging dlre ctorEzpeleta at the sam e co nferenc e. ."He has no t bought our motorcycle ·rights_ but he has offered to buy them . If · with ·the Italian fractu ring bones in his left hand, wi thout seno us .tant .p owers t hat they lo st w hen they leased racing righ ts to he does so. · Dorna will not cease to exist." Ezpeleta said. This .· after-effects,. and Ok ada doin q . som et hinq .similar to his ankle. Doma/ TWP in 199 1,· whi le the team s' as sociation, IRTA, was Benett on-Honda 25Qrider Tohru Ukawa was also hurt, racing in ruled out .of racinq' s imme diate future . But in the end the latest . w as underst ood to mean tha tthe co mpany would become Eccle-' . . . political deve lopments In the growi ng .dispute left more confusion . sto ne' s property. B ut any su ch sale could on ly go·ahead with the · Spatnwlth a bro ken bone in his right foot. . appro val of the FIM, he stressed, while Zerbi added: ' In our dis" ·than ever, with none of the new deals yet signed. .cussions in M adrid, we planned to alter the terms of. the existing · Randy Mam';la made a racing return in Spain - as a TV comcont ract with Dom a (w hich lasts until 2006) so t hat the sport ing mentator. The former:clown prince of bike racing filled the roleof FIM President Francesco Zerbi : Do rna/TWP managing direc-' and tec hnical powers retum to the FIM . Other .term s rema in as rov ing pit -lane reporter. '- I'm .hoping if this goes· w ell I' ll do all the tor Carmelo Ezpeleta and Ecclestone met in Madrid on Friday, . . . before - and we have the right to rev oke the contract if we don't ·· races ," he said. . . and agreed in broad outline on a new initiative that will res tore approve of any sale of right s by D orna. ' . Ezpeleta said that they the AM 's rights to make sport ing and technical rules. It is also a On·bike cameras we re· back atderez, fitt ed tothe top 10 in first step towards coord inating .rnotorsports world wide, bringing· would honour the term s of t heir current co ntract w ith IRTA. w hich Grand Prix 'and Supe rbike racing into the same stable as Eccle- . expires at the end of this year . The failure last rear to renew this · each class. They were supposed to be there for the earlier races, co ntract for a furth er five years triggered IRTA's att empt to m ake but a dispute abo ut the extra w eight and bo dqe d-up bracke try stone's car F; 1 sertes.: suppos edly on an .equal footing rather a new deal with ISL " I met with ISL in January, and they told me saw them abandoned in the lndonesian GP , second round of the than as a jun ior partn er . Zerbi annou nced details at a pac ked that if the y signed an ag·reemen t with IRTA. t hen our co ntract champ ion ship: Then. in a race-day t urnaround, D oohan' s team press conference wh ich seemed to sound IRTA's death.knell, or removed the camera from h is Hond a, and report edly declined all with the FIM wo uld be worthless (because the tea;';s woul d ga else to make inevi tabl e t he threaten ed spli t In racing . Th e attempts at pers uading them to reins tate it: - . . . 'anno uncement put forward a vision of a bright" future in which . with IRTAl . I told them I had another idea, and that we "';ould co ntinue wi th our ~ rtnership wi th the FIM ." . bikes wo uld take an equal position with F-.l cars in an internatio nPepsi has come baCk into racing with backing for the Sf-ROC ally coordinated program of top-level motorsports. But it also B RM -pow er ed machine. The dealtncludes agreement to sell IRTA responded with a stronglyworded statement that accused awoke widespread fears that Zerbi has walked Willingly into the the FIM pres ident of being 'economical with the truth " concernPepsi product~ in Sf servi ce stations in France. . . lion 's den, and that EcCie stone will swallow up bike racing arid ing his real intentions. but reserving full com ment until a general spit out the bo nes . assembly" of. all members at the Italian GP in two weeks' time. . M ax B i aggi tried to clamp down on ,!"idespread speculation that ' IRTA are of the opinion that the strategy announced by the A M he is already negotiating for a ·500cc ride for next year .- but con IR T A arranqed an emergency committee meeting in response to firmed that he expects this will be his last year in the 250 cc class. president wou ld not just ob st ruct the futu re professional developthe surprise announcement. whi ch is the latest -twi st in even ts ini: I have read in many places I am asking for money and look ing for ti at ed by their own agreement with Olympic sports marketing . ment of the sport, but actually cause regression to the detriment a ride : That is not true . First .1want to make the most of my last of teams. manufacturers. spon sors and our spectators . In.consegroup ISL. The teams : associat ion had been prepa red to go it quence , IRTA tota lly rejects this incredible strategy: ' year in the 250 class ,' he said. Aprilia racing manager Carlo Peralone with ISL if Doma and the FIM would not fall into line: the - nat confirmed that he hopes to open.the bidding with Biaggi wi thin accord with Ecclestone is D orna' s response to what they saw as Padd o ck reaction to the announcement was mixed . wi th the coming weeks. ' He is diff icult to manage and diffi cult to ·deal an atte mpt at blackmail. Zerbi explained that he had taken the initeam s and sponsors p·u lling back from any off icial reaction . While with. but we want him to ride our 500 V-twin next year," he said. t iativein line with his earlier re solution to resto'ra the FIM ' s all felt. that if Ecclestone w as dedica ted to developing racing he power Within racing, most of w hich was lost when the series was could certainly offer enormous commer cial progress, major doubt Meanwhile, the V·twin designer JanWitteveen said they may taken over by Dom a, Ecclestone's TWP company: and IRTA in remained conceming his motives. "People should rememtoer the soon make the bike bigger than the ·current 4 1Occ configuration, . 1gg 1.' Ecclestone sold out his interest to D oma after one year , good things thatlRTA has done : · said one team manager , off the but still insists he w ill not follow Honda to the full 500cc. Earlier but is now abj~der to take over Doma once again. " A fter a long Ihis year he put his limit at " 430cc , possibly 450cc. ' reco rd. .' As well as sorti ng out the paddock, perma nent eritries and complex conversalion wit h D orna ·and Mr. Ecclest one, we an'd worthwhile prize money and travel expe nses for ali teams, agreed t hat all tec hnical and. spo rti ng rights wou ld retu m to the they hav e also introduced a powe rful riders' representative wh·o German fonner 250cc star .Helmu t B r ad l may make a racing fede ration: w ith' no exception;" said Ze rbi. ' All.requests.fro m the takes care oftrack safety, they have been instru mental in building ret umat his home GP at,the Nu rb.urgririg - o·n a V-twi n · 500cc FIM had b een accepted wi t h t he grea tes t unde rst andin g ·by up 500 grids to respect able numbers again, and they are respori-· Honda. But if the move by the live-w ire promot ers and the Honda ·Ecclestone," he cont inued , " but the de tails had yet to be finalimpo rters is successful. il is likely to upse t Dooh an, w ho was sible for the permanent presence of Dr . Claudio ·Costa's medical ized and the agree ments signed . That wou ld 'come in about a said by HRC .t o· have had ·his ow n request to have a V-twin made ·month. " If that took place as·he hoped, he wou ld crea te an advi faCility. " If we lose.any of thaI, it will be a great cost to,racing. " ·available ·t umed down . .. . . . sory comm ission inclu ding the FIM , ·D orna,. the manufacturers, riders and teams and spo nsors. But they wo uld have only co nsul- . O ne reason for a lack of sup port for IRTA by the major teams Other proposed W ild C ard s for th e N urburgring r ace are tati ve ·powers, and he wou ld reta in Ih e ove rall executive ·powers . w as hi ghlig h·t ed by W a yn·e Rainey on S at urday , when he Andreas Hoffman on a works Suzuki, and Udo M ark on a Yamablamed the controversial cost-cutting : one-bike" rule for Tetsuya as FIM president. . " All the times and means are yet to be agreed : ha: w hile there is also a·chance that Elf make one o f their V- · Harada' s pra ct ice crash . ·' It takes 20 minut es to make adjustbut th e go ai is clear," Z erb i said, citing a co mmon interest fo urs available. be tween t he am ateurs (the FIM) who wanted to improve the ments to a chassis, then the, guy .has to go out again. The .loss of may

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