Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Alex Barros and Russell, with the lastnamed promptly losing five places with a lucky escape on the second comer. Cadalora put his head down and took off, pulling out almost three seconds by lap four, by when Doohan was leading the pursuit from Criville and the impressive Roberts, Barros, Okada and Russell, the rest falling away behind. Roberts even dived inside Criville at one point, only to be firmly pushed back again on the ensuing straigh l Doohan was pushing on, but not making that much of an impression, though the gap did dwindle a little. The crucial moment came on lap eight, when Cadalora ran wide on the bottom hairpin and barely managed to stay in front. Now it seemed a foregone conclusion, with Doohan poised to attack. But forgone conclusions aren't worth much, as it turned out; and as he explained later: "[ feU off twice on the downhill sections last year. When you get a bit of wheel-spin there you lose all grip, like you're on ice. I was thinking about finishing the race, and he was faster than me down there, though I was quicker through the chicane and into the last corner." That's where he did take the lead, on lap 10, but Cadalora kept with him, and was soon attacking again, getting ahead once along the straight, but repassed immediately at the end of it. They went on in this way, the Australian seeming to hold the advanta'ge, until Cadalora pulled a similar move into the chicane on lap 19. Doohan had let him through, he said later. His plans were already laid. He knew if he could just stay close at hand, he could dive inside at the chicane on the last lap, and make sure of his fifth successive win. It mayor may not have worked. As Cadalora observed: "[ was sliding around a bit more than Mick, but then 1 noticed that his tires were also going off, so [ thought maybe it would be all right." But the matter was never put to the test. The last lap came, and Doohan was still hanging back. It looked as though he'd given up the fight. The truth was stranger still. The disposition of the pits put all the crucial boards crow_ded together at the end of pit lane, where riders were lining up for the dive into the first turn. Doohan had long since abandoned the struggle of trying to read his, and was instead watching the digital lap counter on a gantry over the track. What he neglected to remember was that the figure changes only as the leaders pass it. He was poised to begin his last-lap campaign when he saw the checkered flag instead. "1 immediately thought of the time (Wayne) Rainey did the same thing in Japan, and 1 was really mad with myself," he said. "I'm not angry about finishing second - just that I made such a stupid error." Could he have pulled it off? It must remain a moot point. Cadalora was certainly on form, but maybe his tires wouldn't have been up to it. "We didn't have a spare rear, so at the second start it had already done four laps," he said. "[ was worrying about it all the time." Criville was dropped marginally by the speed of the finaJ lap, finishing once again just behind his teammate by half a second - close, but not close enough after a minor slip-up on the final lap. The two behind them had been losing ground, then were finally" separated for good when they ran through a group of lapped riders. Roberts got the worst of it. He had been sitting right on Russell's tail and looking threatening, but now he lost touch. Both Americans were happy, however. points, and Criville 109, with Cadalora clo ing on 106 and Barros falling away on 91. 250CC GRAND PRIX The menacing atmosphere of the day - with threatening weather and a track where there had already been too many crashes in praet?ce - was heightened by a first-comer pileup which put three riders down and out, and several others including Jurgen van den Goorbergh and Regis Laconi, dirt-tracking across the gravel. All some way behind the leaders, however, with Oliver Jacque aggressively seizing the lead from Biaggi, Jurgen Fuchs and WaJdmann. They'd shuffled a little by the end of lap one, with Lucchi shoving up past Fuchs and Waldmann on the charge as well, about to mount an aggressive attack, stuffing it up the inside of Biaggi, then outbraking Jacque one lap later at the bottom horseshoe to lead for the first time. Russell said: "I'd been pushing the front, and that kept me honest the whole race long. 1 lost positions at the start, but 1 don't think it made much difference. When the three Hondas pushed up the pace at the end 1 couldn't stay with them and be sure of staying on the bike." He was four seconds down on Criville, and three clear of the Yamaha. Roberts had by far outclassed his teammates. "I guess we found a good set-up, and 1 showed 1 could run with the fast guys pretty much all race long," he said. "We've talked the talk, now we have to walk the walk." Norifume Abe was closing up in the later stages after a cautious start - under instruction from team boss Kenny Roberts, but was still six seconds down at the flag. "I was very worried about falling on the cold track at the beginning," he explained; once he got going he'd moved steadily through from 10th, passing Okada five laps from the end. The V-twin rider hung on, crossing the line six-tenths behind his compatriot. Barros had been dropping back all race long after his strong start, mainly because of his own below-par physical condition. He finished all alone, but well clear of ninth-placed Shinichi Itoh. Some way back came Jean-Michel Bayle, his hopes foiled \'y a bad start, a poor bike setup, and also feeling below his best after his Assen crash. Alberto Puig was way behind him, in a similar state after his own practice crash. "We never did get the bike handling well," he said. "But most of the problem was me." Marlboro Rainey's Loris Capirossi was in an even more dismal state, although he had at least finished for the first time in four races. Already off the pace, he had a seriously out-of-balance front wheel from the start. "At one point it even made me run off the track," he said. That incident had a ripple effect. Juan Borja had made a storming start on the Elf 500, but had gradually been picked off by the works men. He was hard on Capirossi's tail when the Italian threw stones up into his fairing. One worked its way through the airbox into his carburetors, and he was forced to park the bike by the barrier after 16 laps. Almost simultaneously, his teammate Adrien Bosshard fell heavily. (Opposite page) Luca Cadalora (3) heads the pack at the start of the German 500cc Grand Prix. The Italian leads Alex Crivllle (4), Alex Barros (7), Michael Doohan (1) and Scott Russell (11) en route to his second win of the season. (Above) Cadalora and Doohan head for the shortcut as Crivllle gives chase. (Right) Kenny Roberts Jr. (10) holds off Scott Russell (11) In their battle for fourth; Russell ultimately moved around the young Californian to finish fourth for the second successive race. Lucio Pedercini was again top privateer, the ROC rider almost half a minute behind Capirossi, chased to the line by the similarly mounted Frenchman Fred Protat, six seconds behind. They were the last riders not to be lapped. Eugene McManus took the final point; there were 17 finishers, including the Paton, second from last, on its builder Giuseppe Pattoni's 70th birthday. Notable non-finishers included Romboni, who crashed on the last turn on the second lap. "The only way to race the Vfours is to open the throttle sooner - but I opened it a bit too soon and it high-Sided me," he explained ruefully. He broke his right navicular, the same injury that cost him dearly last year, and may keep him out for several more races. Rymer also tumbled, losing the front / wheel in a simple slide-off at tum one while lying 10th on lap nine, and looking set to climb through the field. By then, Carlos Checa was long gone, crashing out on the second lap. It was the Fortuna Pons Honda rider's third tumble of the weekend. Doohan claimed the lap record on lap 21, and stretched his title lead even though he didn't win. He now has 166 Already these five were pulling away, to proceed with a display of 250cc racing as it used to be, before Biaggi discovered dominance. One lap later Biaggi wa up to second; then both he and Jacque passed Waldmann simultaneously into the first turn. Even with the black Che terfield Aprilia in front for more than just the middle part of th.e race, from laps five to 19, the fun was far from over, and any on'e of the five might have won. Or indeed crashed. It was only after half distance that ~ Lucchi started to drop back; then he was suddenly gone. A lapse in concentration looking at the overhead laps-left scoreboard saw him miss his braking poin t and run on into the gravel to fall _ at low speed at the first corner - a rather amateurish effort for such a fast and seasoned professional: "The mis- \D take of a lS-year-old," as he ruefully ~ explained. Up front, Jacque seemed to have t-....~ seized control of second place as the _ final laps approached, but while Biaggi >.. • was tiring and in pain, the seasoned ~ Waldmann was choosing his moment to ~ attack. "1 realized that the others had used their tires quite a bit, while mine m 7

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