Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) Pier"Francesco Chili tries to run down·Doug Chandler In their battle for sixth place in the second leg. (Above) World Champion Carl Fogarty left Laguna with a . solid hold on third in the championship point standings. Kocinski's lastlap fly_er_ _ Q ualifying doesn't get any better than this. With less than two minutes remaining in the final qualifying session for the U.S. round of the World Superbike Championship, Ducati Corse's John Kocinski (right) ripped off a stunning, laprecord-setting 1:25.715 to earn tbe pole position for his home race on the recently repaved Laguna Seca Raceway. [n a session that featured three meri rotating at the head of the tables, it appeared as though it would be Promotor Ducati's Troy Corser at the top as the final minutes wound down. Then the Australian crashed in turn six - his second getoff of the day - and he could only watch from a trackside wall as Kocinski one-upped him on his final lap. "1 knew from yesterday that we could step it up some," Kocinski said. "The biggest thing today was the weather change. [t was much hotter. This morning it seemed a lot harder to do consistent times that were fast. The team and my mechanics have been working very hard to get this bike to where [ can ride it. 1 have to be able to spin the rear wheel and slide this thing to be able to ride it fast. As you can see today, we had some new parts brought here, put t!'tem on the bike and it enabled me to slide the back wheel without it trying to throw me in the bushes. Most of the other Ducati riders, they ride'em and they never slide, but I can't ride that way. [ need to know where the limits are because when 1 retire I still want to be able to walk and talk. Everybody worked hard and they really deserve the credit." Kpcinski was tight-lipped as to what exactly was changed on his Ducati V-twin. "Just some rear-end changes that will allow you to get the thing to spin aod be able to control slides," he said. "When you ride a 500, from about the sixth lap to the 30th lap the thing is sideways and you have to ride 'em that way. And that's the way I've been trying to ride this Ducati, but in the beginning it was difficult. [t takes time to adapt to the bike' and l'm still learning every day. You can't forget that I didn't race last year and I've never ridden four-strokes, so... I'm learning every day and luckily I've got good mechanics that can help me and it's going okay." Kocinski's flyer caught third-fastest qualifier Anthony Gobert off guard, the Australian turning a 1:26.380 to lead the session early on with the Muzzy Kawasaki. ") wasn't really aware that John (Kocinski) could do a 25 (1:25)," Gobert explained. '1 felt confident that [ could maybe get a 26-flat out of the Muzzy Kawasaki. Every time I had a flyer there was somebody in the way and I never got a clear lap. I hammered a little bit too hard and nearly crashed at the top of the corkscrew." So why was he suddenly so competitive after a season full of struggles? "I don't want to say too much about myself, but - Laguna is a rider's circuit so it tends to make the power deficit a little bit less compared to the Ducatis," Gobert e.xplained. "t think 1 can make up for a lot of it in the turns and 1 think that's why we're up the front again come this race." Both of Corser's crashes - one in the moming in tum nine and then the final crash in turn six - occurred when the Ducati jumped out of gear on the entrance to the comer. It happened again in tum two just prior to his final session crash in tum six. ConfidenCt?-'inspiring stuff the day before the race. "It's Uke grabbing the throttle," Corser ellplained. "I was in the gravel just like that and I got it to glance off the wall. The same thing happened in two just before that and that pissed me off a bit. [ thought, 'You bastard: [ thought 1 was going to hit the wall there, too. 1 was just finishing the lap to start anoiher one and I was just cruising. The other bike handles better, but the engine's got some miles on it. We'lI put this engine in that bike for tomorrow. 1 was doing 27.0 consistent with the slow engine. "1 knew Jolm (Kocinski) would do a 25 because I knew I could do one," Corser added. "EarJy in the session there was cement dust everywhere from the Harley practice. It's a long race but you can count on 27s and SOme 26s at the start. I can do that on race tires without trying to hard. I've done three-quarters race distance on the tire we'll run tomorrow. There were a couple of tire choices, and even me and John prefer different tires:' The final spot on the front row would ultimately go to Kocinski's teammate Neil Hodgson, the Brit clicking off a 1:26.433 late in the session as less than a second separated the top four Cj)lalifiers. It was Hodgson's fourth front row start' of the 1996 season, his debut year in the series. "[t's all going pretty good," Hodgson said. "We're really looking for a good set up with rain tires, but overall we're very pleased to be on the front row. We're still not sure of what lire to use for the race:' Then came Yamaha World Superbike's Colin Edwards n, with the Texan stopping the clock at 1:26.800. "Then we sat and waited to see who'd done what," Edwards said. "We put a front tire on that was out of round with four minutes to go and did 27-flat. We can do that all day long. 1t's just a matter of getting in a race and doing itl! Edwards said he wasn't caught off guard by Kocinski's lap in the 1:25s. "[t doesn't surprise me when a Ducati does that," he said. "He (Kocinski) does it here and· (Troy) Corser does it everywhere else. They'll do 26s in the race - at least for the first 10 laps. They get out the.re and fart around; it's like that at every race. They'll get six seconds ahead and then sit there:' Castrol Honda's Aaron Slight seemed to have put aside his dislike for the race track at Laguna Seca after' last year's debacle, and the New Zealander was good enough to put the RC45 on the second row with a 1:26.974 - the final rider in the 26s. ''I'm pretty happy," he said. "I did a 1:27.2 lap on a soft tire then put a race tire on and managed to go even quicker. I had Gobert on my back before [ did my best lap, but [ didn't want to tow him around like I did at Monzo so [ let him through and had two clear laps on my own. The only change ['11 make overnight is to the first gear pn the RC45. 1 wasn't getting enough acceleration out of the last comer today:' The first of the AMA regulars was Muzzy,Kawasaki's Doug Chandler, who with a 1:27.083 put himself right in the middle of the mix otthose who would likely run at the front. "I'm happy," Chandler> said. "I felt 1 could have done a 26, but I got screwed when I had the good tires on. I think this morning showed a lot about how the race will be. I think it was dead last. I passed some guys, but I never got back up to speed after that. I was a bit pissed off." Alessandro Grantini had crashed the second Fast By Ferracci Ducati in turn two with a stuck throttle while running 12th and battling with McCartl,y. RACE TWO Corser and Slight start.ed the second race tied for the lead in the World Championship. That would be their ·focus for the race. Kociinski and Gobert more indiCative of the race pace. I think you'll see a few 265 and the rest 27s, and 1 can do 27s steady. 1 wanted to be in the first group to show that the U.S. guys are as good as these guys:' Next carne Muzzy Kawasaki's second World Superbike regular, Kiwi Simon Crafar at 1:27.349 and the final rider on the second row. "I can't say I've been happy," Crafar said. "It just hasn't been working, but we've improved. You don't notice the power so much here, and Anthony (Gobert) has proven that. You have to have confidence in the front, but it's not the tire. You just have to be so aggressive here. You're just chucking it from side to side and it's a big difference from where we've been riding to here. We've just gone a lot harder (on setup) than anywhere before and it took us a while to figure it out. This is just one to get through and get some points." Behind Crafar came the third fastest of the Americans - Mike Hale and the second Promotor Ducati at 1:27.38S. The Texan was still suffering from the lingering pain in the foot he broke while testing prior to the Italian rQund of the series at Monza. "It's going a lot better," Hale said. "When I had the qualifying tire on the rear motot mount slid out like it did in the second race at Donington. We couldn't change it in time because there was only two and a half minutes to go. My foot is sore as hell, but I'll get some ice on it. We can go 275 on our race setup, so I think we'll be good for the race. We've made some changes here, trying to keep the front down in the comers. I'm still waiting on the bike in a few places, so we're going to try raising the back a little bit tomorrow. 1 left a pretty impressive blackie from the front tire in turn nine that last session." Right behind Hale came Smokin' Joe's Miguel DuHamel, back farther on the grid tha'n most would have predicted. Still, the French Canadian has proven in the past that he's not to be counted out, no matter his starting position. "I did a lot of low 28s and in the race that'll translate to 27s," DuHamel said. "I don't think they did 26s on race tires. We spent a lot of time testing tires and we had a carcass that was too stiff on one and that killed us. I think we could· do 26s on good rubber. Kirk McCarthy blocked me for a full lap. 1 don't know if I had been in his way before or what, but he felt the need to block me. I'm not too disgusted. 1 just know J need a real good start because there'll be four or five guys in a breakaway. Once we get past the halfway mark, we can shine in th~t area. When the tires get greasy ,,!,d it starts sliding, I can rear steer it and it gives me more confitlence - funnily enough. I think we cQl.l1d have ended up eighth or so if we didn't run out of lime. I'm well aware of what I have to do. 1 have to be seventh or eighth by the time we get to tum 11 on the first lap - if not, they'll be gone. To get top five, Thave to get a good start. A lot of these guys will be fast for the first five, six, seven laps then they'll go into uncharted territory." The third row would be filled by World Champion Carl Fogarty and Edwards'-Yamaha teammate Wataru Yoshikawa. "I did a fast lap early in the session but then panicked:' Fogarty said. "I watched my pit board and my position went: sixth, seventh, eight and nint:!:l. and [ tried too hard. 1 was running wide everywhere and making mistakes in a rush to get a faster lap. At least all of my limes were on race tires. I never used a soft compound Michelin tire for a quick lap and a lot of the riders ahead of me would be on Dunlop qualifiers, so [ should be able to get the better of them on Sunday:' The final Americans in the field were Muzzy Kawasaki's Mike Smith (16th), Fast By Feuacci's Larry Pegram (19th), and Michael Barnes (21st) and James Randolph (23rd) on rent-a-racers from Eraldo FertaceiIn all, 25 riders qualified for the race wi.th Californian Mark C Miller the final rider on the grid. 9

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