Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE World Championship Road Race Series Perugini's tum to try to break away, and as his pit crew frantically signaled to the youngster not to try too hard, he moved steadily into the middle distance. The only interruption came when he mistook the last lap, and celebrated too early, allowing the gap to shrink to 2.6 seconds at the line. Rossi's race was not to last until the end, and he abruptly disappeared from the scrap. Not a crash this time - just a breakdown. Tokudome defeated Manako by four seconds at the end, with Martinez hanging onto fourth ahead of dosing Kazuto Sakata, heading a close group of four finishing within just over three seconds: Ueda, Katoh and Aoki, the defending champion's worst finish this year. Garry McCoy had moved through to 11th, looking foi a second top-10 finish of the season, when a misfire in the last six laps saw him drop back to 14th. Aoki's lead shrunk by 12 points, to 154, with Tokudome on 120, Perugini 119, and Manako 101. (N Donlngton Park Donlngton, England Results: July 21, 1996 (Round 9 of 15) 12Scc QUALIFYING: 1. Masaki Tokudome (1:39.935); 2. Jorge Martinez (1:40.147): 3. Stefano Perugini (1:40.]8]); 4. Noburu Ueda (]:40.352); 5. Haruihika Aoki (1:40.416), 6. DiJ'k Raudies (1:4O.443~ 7. Emilio AlzamOr.l (1:40.728), 8. Akira Saito (1:40.795), 9. Valentino Rossi (1:4O.820~ 10. Yosrnaki Katoh (1:4O.B71), n. Tomomi Manako (1:40.907); 12. Darron Barton (1:40.973); 13. Frederic Petit (1:41.001); 14. Lucio CecchJnello (1:41.010), 15. Ja..lav Holes (1:41.073), 16. Pete, Oeltl (1:41.082), 17. Youisrn Ui (1:41.l00t 18. Katzuto Sakata (1:41.306), 19. Ivan Goi (1:41.356), 20. Josep Sarda (1:41.416~ 21. Manfred Geissler (1:41.678), 22. Herri Torrontegui (1:41.680): 23. Gabriele Debbia (1:41.688),24. Loek Bodell... (1:41.694), 25. Pete' Tessari (1:41.718),26. Gan')' McCoy (1:41.864),27. Andrea Ballerini (1:42.547), 28. C. Palmer (1:42.732), 29. R. Appleya.d (1:42.860), 30. F. Mendes (H3.148), 31. P. Jennings (1:43.463), 32 A. Nieto (1:43.515) 250cc QUALIFYING: 1. Olive, Jacque (1:34.397), 2. Mil)( Biaggi (1:34.459),3. Ralf Waimann (1:34.477),'4. Jean-Philippe Rug'gia (1:34.873): 5. Tetsuya Harada (1:35.029), 6. Iw-gen Fuchs (1:35.056), 7. Nobualsu Aoki (1:35.520), 8. Luis d'Antin (1:35.636), 9. Tohru Ukawa (1:35.777), 10. Eskil Sute' (1:35.811), 11. Olive, Petrucciani (1:35.844); 12. Takeshi Tsujimura (1:35.647); 13. Marchellino Lucchi (1:35.872); 14. Jurgen van der Goo,be'gh (1:36.188), 15. Luc. Bosooscuro (1,)6.247), 16. Regis Laconi (1:36.247); 17. Yasumasa Hatakeyama (1:36.322),18. C. Miglio,ati (1,)6.354), 19. A. Antonello (1,)6.6OS), 20. J. Robmson (1:36.709), 21. O. Miyazaki (1,)6.754),22. Gianluigi Scalviro (1,)6.B54~ 23. J. Vincent (1:36.924),24. C. Cogan (1:37.200), 2S. S. Sawfo,d ~1:37.424), 26. S. Bibemau (1:37,442), 27. D. Bulega (1:37.444),28. C. Boudinot (1:36.711), 29. S. Sm..t (1:38.046),30. O. Sainz (1:39:559), 31. L. Dickinson (1:39.552),32. J. Barresi (1:42.076). 500« QUALIFYING: 1. Michael Doohan (1:32.426~ 2. Loris Capirossi (1:32.594); 3. Kenny Roberts Jr. •(1:32.794),4. Alex Barros (1:33.224), 5. Jean·Michel Bayle (1:33.282),6. Norilumi Abe (1:33.333), 7. Alex Criville (1:33.403~ 8. ShiruchJ Itoh (1:33.513), 9. Tadayuki Okada (1:33.550),10. Luca Cadalo", (1:33.562); 11. Cadas Checa (1:33.663), 12. Scott Russell (1:33.762), 13. Alberto Puig (1:34.043), 14. Juan Bo~a (1:34.218), 15. Te")' Rymer (1:34.264),16. Jeremy McWilliams (1:34.963),17. Lucio Pedercini (1:35.106), 18. Eugene McManus (1:35.601~ 19. F,ederic Prot.t (1:35.653), 20. Sean Emmett (1:35.787), 21. Chris Walker (1:35.990); 22. James Hayd'On (1:36.134), 23. Jean Jeandat (1:37.638), 24. P. Young (1:39.808). 125« GRAND PRIX: 1. Stefano Perugini (Ap'), 2. Masaki Tokudome (Apr); 3. Tomomi Manako (Hon); 4. Jorge Martinez (Apr); 5. Kazuto Sakata (Apr); 6. Noboru Ueda (Hon): 7. Yoshiaki Katoh (Yam); 8. Ha,ruchika Aoki (Hon); 9. Lucio Ceccrunello (Hon); 10. Youishi Ui (Yam), 11. Peter Oetll (Apr), 12. Ivan Goi (Hon), 13. Darren Barton (Ap'), 14, Ga")' McCoy (Ap'), 15. Hem Torrontegui (Hon); 16. Gabriele Debbia (Yam); 17. Peter Tessari (Hon); 18. Jaroslav Hules (Hon); ]9. Andrea Ballerini (Apr); 20. Manfred Geissler (Apr); 21. Angel Nieto (Apr); 22. C. Palmer (Hon); 23. Robin Appleyard (Hon), 24. P. Jennings (Hon). Time: 43 min., 41.678 sec. Distance: 26 laps, 64.994 miles. Avenge Speed, 89.24Bmph. Mar,gin of Victory: 2.553 sec. Fastest Lap: Masaki Tokudome, 1:39.704/90.060 mph, lap 18. 250« GRAND PRIX: 1. Max Biagg; (Ap'), 2. Ralf Waldmann (Hon); 3. Olivier Jacque (Hon); 4. Jurgen Fuchs (Hon); 5. Tohru Ukawa (Hon); 6:- Takeshi Tsujimura (Hon); 7. Regis Laconi (Hon); 8. Nobuatsu Aoki (Hoo); 9. Cristiano Migliorati (Hon); 10. Eskil Suter (Apr); 11. Sete Gibemau (Hon); 12. Osamu Miyazaki Doohan beats "street bikes" T 24 Round 9: British Grand Prix roy Corser set the target of 1:33.00 with a new outright motorcycle lap record on his Ducati Superbike earlier this year, the first lime a modem GP SOOcc had ever been beaten by a four-stroke. 1t took time to pin it down. but by the end of the final practice not only the long-standing had '91 Schwantz lap record been pulverized by more than a second, but the top three SOOs had also reclaimed six-tenths on the Superbikes. "I ex~ we'd be able to beat a street bike," said Doohan. For it was Doohan again on pole position. head-shaven man of the moment in yet another last-minute charge that recJaimed the position from Loris Capirossi. Doohan's lap was a fine thing to watch - sliding the rear onto the back straight, slithering sideways on both sides under braking for the hairpin, making his ~tence on his usual refrain less than usuaDy plaUSIble. This was not a lap ridden by a man who "doesn't reaDy care about pole position. Anywhere on the front row is·okay." As long as it's ahead of Capirossi, one might have added, but Doohan made light of the effort. '1 didn't really expect pole. 1had new tires on. and I was planning another lap." As for the longawaited tumbling of the Donington records: "It may be that we haven't had these high temperatures for several years. It seems the tires are getting hotter and developing more bite," he said. Capirossi's time came barely halfway through the session. and looked unattainable for a fair while. His trick after a steady downward trend over the last few races had been to dump the more exPerimental chassis he'd been working with, and go back to standard, the bike he rode and enjoyed at the start of the year. It made him smile broadly. "The chassis we were using was way too sensitive," Capirossi said. "This bike llike. 1 feel comfortable again." Then came - Kemty Roberts Jr.! In only his seventh SOOcc GP, the "nice kid" from racing's first family had not only continued the impressive trick of improving steadily race by race, but had also arrived with the really fast guys - his lime was more than (Above) NorHuml Abe ended up third on the Marlboro Yamaha. (Left) Max Blagg; won the 250cc Brltlsh Grand Prix to further extend his lead In the World Championship point standings. three-tenths off Doohan's, but still comfortably inside Corser's Superbike record. "It's my team, and the way they have the bike," Roberts said. '11's so well balanced that it's really easy for me to ride. Donington's not a favorite of mine, but I managed to follow some fast riders, and J learned such a lot. That's what I'll try and do again tomorrow." Barros was the last man on the front row, an old Donington hand with a record of appalling luck - crashed in '92 in practice, knocked off (with Schwantz) by Doohan in '93, ran out of petrol while lying third in '95. "It's going to be really hard tomorrow," Barros said. You will have to go fast right from the start, but you will also have to save your tires. The winner will have the best . tires at the end." jean-MicheJ Bayle led row two, after setting tongues wagging after snatching provisional pole from Doohan on the first day. Another to share in the return to strength of the Yamaha, and only five-hundredths off Barros. Either the Yamaha is a good bike for class rookies, or it's an incredibly good bike that flatters their ability. If the latter, where is the man who can bring out its full potential? Norifumi Abe was next, practicing a little better than usual at a track where one might expect the opposite - ever unpredictable. Only then came Alex Criville, blaming traffic on the one-line track for an unexpected gap of almost .. second on Doohan. "There's no way I should be there. It'll be different in the race. My practice has gone quite well in other ways," he said. And only then came the first V-twin, at one track where they had been penciled in for a possible ~n. As surprisingly, the one on top was ridden by Shinichi Itoh, starting his end-of-season form improvement rather earlier than usual to outqualify Tadayuki Okada by one position. one rOw of the grid, and fourhundredths of a second. A reluctance to tum in was the Okada's complaint. "We're still working with suspensiqn, and we may fix it for the race," he said. The ever-puzzling Luca Cadalora dropped from a close fourth on day one to 10th on day two, the only rider among the fast men not to improve his lime. He had Carlos Checa alongside, then an out-of-sorts Scott Russell, unable to repeat his front-row qualifying position of last year at this favorite track. Now he was 12th - but his lap time was faster than Doohan's pole position of last year. (Apr); 13. A. Antonello (Apr); 14. Christophe Cogan (Hon~ 15. Davide Bolega (Ap,), 16. S. Smart (Hon); 17. S. Sawforil (Ap'), 18. Christian Boudinot (Aprt 19. Jose Barresi (Yam). Time: 43 min., 4.272 sec Distance: 27 laps. 67.345 miles. Average Speed: 93.815 mph. Margin of Victory: 4.637 sec. Fastest Lap: Max Biagg;. 1:34.968/94.551 mph, lap 2. 500ce GRAND PRIX: 1. Michael Doohan (Hon~ 2. Alex CriviJIe (Hon); 3. Norifumi Abe (Yam);. 4. Tadayuki Okada (Hon~ 5. Scott Russell (Suz), 6. Loris Capirossi (Yam): 7. Alexandro Barros (Hon); 8. Juan Bo~a (Elf), 9. Luc. C.dalo.. (Hon), 10. Shinichi Itoh (Hon), 11. Alberto Puig (Hon), 12. Ca.les Checa (Hon~ 13. James H;1ydon (yam), 14. Frederic Protat (yam), 15Lucio Pederdni (Ya.m); 16. Chris Walker (Elf); J7. Eugene McManus (Yam). Time: 47 min., 11.135 sec. Distance: 30 laps, 74.828 miles. Average Speed: 95.149 mph. Margin of Victory: 3.319 sec. Fastest Lap: Scott Russell, 1:33.574/95.960 mph, lap 27. SIDECAR GRAND PRIX: 1. Oitcon/Hetheringtol,l (Win); 2. Biland/Waltisperg (LCR); 3. Webster IJames Puig led row four from juan Borja, Terry Rymer (on Beattie's Suzuki again, but cauying an injury) and jeremy McWilliams, top privateer. Wild Card ROC rider Chris Walker was 21st out of 24 qualifiers. The message was plain in the 250cc class. Now almost fully recovered from his Assen injuries, Max was back. Biaggi dominated every session. Then, at the very last gasp, along carne Oliver jacque to spoil the party. He.did so only by half a tenth, but it was his second pole of the year and served notice of a second track where the Hondas' smooth power delivery might claw back the snappish disc-valve Aprilia's top-end advantage. "T didn't expect it," jacque said. "We had a lot of suspension problems earlier on, and the NSR is very delicate, very difficult to get right. But the bike is good now, and it's working well with the circuit." Blaggi allowed in response: "The Honda works well at this track. 1 am just doing the best I can to be ready for the rare. We tried a quicker steering angle in the last practice, but it wasn't good, and then I lost some time changing the bike back," he added, by way of explanation for being the only top-I9 rider not to go faster 00 day two. Ralf Waldmann was alongside, also less than a hundredth away, and enjoying the circuit to the full. "It should be dose: he grinned. And then, another four-tenths away, came former winner and still lap-record holder jean-Philippe Ruggia. "I thirik the record will go tomorrow, but I'm not sure that it will be me who breaks it," he said. Tetsuya Harada led row two, after having been higher in what his team was happy to greet as something of a reVival. Yet more new tires from Michelin, development and familiarity with Yamaha's latest cylinders, and a chassis geometry revision had all worked together, said Rainey. He was narrowly ahead of jurgen Fuchs in times still close-packed, the German blaming heavy traffic for his failure to hold on .to his provisional front-row pOSition. H

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