Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

rbikeR oadRace S eries Round 3: Hockenheimring • By Johan Vandeke rckhove Photo s by Gold & Goose HOCKENHEIMRING, GERMANY, MAY12 ust when everybody had giv en up hopes of seein g Carl Fogarty return to the rostrum, the double champion got back on his feet and took his first victory on the RC45 at Hockenheirnring, round three o f th e World Superb ik e Championship. It was a fine day for the Briton who w as keen to po int out at the post-ra ce confere n ce th at h e "s how ed th ose who h ad sa id th at Carl Fog a rt y could not win on a four -cylinder." Fogarty finished fifth in the first race. An oth e r h app y H onda rider was Aaron Slight. The Ne w Zea lander prevai le d in ra ce on e - gi v in g H onda ' s RC45 two wins at the German round aft er a tou gh scrap with pol e qu alifi er Pier -France sco Chili, who crashed after com ing in to co ntac t with Sligh t' s bik e on ly moments from the finish. And w hile Fogarty and Slight were certai n ly p leased with th e ir performance, John Kocinski, too , had something to be happy abo ut . Despite the fact tha t he d idn't win either race, the California resident moved into the championship points lead with second- and third -p lace fini shes . Former poi n ts leader Troy Corser had much to do wit h Kocinski' s new position at the top of the standi ngs - he cras he d in both ou tings, leaving the fast Ge rman track batt ered, bruised and running 'in third overall on the sam e 90 po ints he held after his pair of w ins at Don in gton Park. Kocinski lea d s th e w ay with 105 p oints with Slight second on 97. Simon Crafar and Fogarty are tied for fourth place with 72 points. Yam aha's Colin Edward 11 moves into sixth place afte r a podium finish in race one and a sixth later in the da y. J RACE ONE Pole qu alifier Chili sho t off the line with th e ea rly advantage, di vin g into the first lon g straight after the stadiu m section with Slight and Corser follow ing in h ot pursuit. After so me fiv e laps, Kocinsk i had joine d th e three leading men, an d slowly the lead group pulled . away from the rest of the field . Colin Edwards II was han gin g on to fifth at the head of the next gro u p, with Sim on Crafar on his tail. Paolo Casoli and Fogarty kept each ot her com pany in seventh and eighth p osition. While. th e p ositions in each of th e sm all packs of ride rs chan ged every lap, nob od y see me d to be able to hook up with the gro up in front of him, and by the same tok en , nob ody lost enough gr ound to be pa ssed by th e following group. Then, with four laps left to race, Kocin s ki was first to fa lte r as h e dropped off the p ace. The Du cati rider starti ng having some difficulty keep ing the rear of his Ducati in line wi th the fr o n t and he slow ly lo st touch with Corser, Slight and Chili. Two laps befo re the end, the leading trio was reduced to a duo when disa ste r struck for Corser. " I think that the engine slowed down, because coming into the comer it felt comp letely differe nt fro m all other la p s, " Corse r exp laine d . "I lost the back, was able to catch it, lost it a second time, ca ugh t it again but h it the grass and crashed ." As so often in Hockenheim, victo ry w as decided only in the last moments right in fro n t of th e 25,000 specta to rs that had gathered in the fam ou s sta di um section . Slight and Ch ili dived int o th e g ran dstand sections side by sid e, though Slight seemed to ha ve the best line . The Honda rider acceler ated with a small lead to the Sachs Kurve, but then saw Chil i com ing back agai n in the corner of his eye. The Italian was going too fast, how ever, ran wide and nearly hit the grass at the exit of the comer. At the ' sam e tim e, Sligh t exited, letting it a ll hang out and now unab le to see where the Italian was. Then it all went wron g for the Italian. "As I was leaning over, I could not at all see w h e re Pier -Fr ancesco wa s, " Slight said . "I think that if any one could have avo ided the accident, it was Chil i. I hit the fro n t of hi s bi ke an d d own he wen t. Chili' s bike was obvious ly fas ter than everyth ing else on the tra ck - eve n (faster) than Troy Corser's . I was losin g th e rear, but in the chicane I sa w th at Ch ili w as also slow. So I guess he had the same problem. Here we used a hard tire and we got away wit h it." For Sligh t this wa s his first victo ry of the season . On the rostrum, he go t the company of Kocinski, who by virtue of the pair of crashes in fron t of h im was promoted to second, and Edwards finished third. Despite tire problems and an injured foot from an earlier crash, Kocinski was still fairly pleased wi th his resu lt. "My m ain problem w a s that the rear tire overheated and that my foot still hurts," said the California resident. "All in all, I am pret ty hap p y with t h is resu lt, because it's th e first time I am on th e podium in Hockenheim . I seem to either no t be able to' finish here or land in the hospi tal." Edwards go t ano ther rostrum position und er hi s belt, after having bat tl ed m o st o f th e r a ce w ith Mu z z y Kawasaki's Crafar. The two riders had never been more th an a second apart. " I had a g o od s ta r t and go t behind . Kocinski, " Edwards said. "Bu t I lost a bit of tow and there was no way I cou ld get it back. I als o had a cha tte r problem. I h ad plenty of en gine, but I d id not get th e machine to turn . We shou ld have changed geometry before th e ra ce. I kn ew that th ere w as going to be some attrition up fron t and I saw Chili had crash ed, (but) I didn't kno w wh at p o sit ion I was in . It was o nly when I got off m y bike tha t I kn ew I was th ird." Crafar lost this battle with the Texan, and was pretty disappointed. "I should ha ve bea ten Colin," the Kiw i said. "The problem is that I need mo re pow er. That would make life a bit easier for me on the stra ights. I also had so me trouble with the rear tire that went off." Fogarty came home fifth after a du el with Paolo Casoli. The surprising Italian (on a private Du ca ti) had lost anoth er p lace in th e last coup le of laps when Gobert go t past him to tak e sixth position. Kirk McCarth y finis hed 10th after a somewhat problematic race outing tha t ended with his not bei ng able to make a pass on Jochen Sch m id. "From the fourth lap on , the brake started to come in," McCarthv said. "So I had to take it e a s y . I tr ie d to catch Schmid and tho ught I could do it on the first chicane . Unfortunately some of m y com panions caine on the ou tside an d it didn't work out as I wanted it to . The bike is okay th ou gh, a n d is g e tt in g b etter all the time ." World Superbike rookie Mike Hale had to par k his bike after 12 lap s while he was running close to the top 10. "The rear wheel sta rt ed to vibrate heavily, and I tried to keep it under con trol for about five, six laps ," said Hale. "At the en d I knew that I had to come in the pit. When I saw what the prob lem w as, I knew I should have sto pped in the first

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