Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE ,PADDOCK By Michael Scott e World champion was in a chatty mood, as he often is in this year of the changed personality, "I think:' e mused, "You might see something ew from Honda before the end of the ear." This was not in itself an earthshaking tatement, rather one of Grand Prix racg's universal truths - an article of faith. What made Michael Doohan's coments significant was what had gone fore: a highly lucid peroration upon h y the 500cc lap times are in decline, d what is needed to stop the rot. The ew, chatty Doohan had done nothing ss than suggest the return of those hooping old monsters of the 500cc lass and a revival of those tire-shreding, rider-high-siding, lap-recordmashing days that were lost apparenty forever soon after we first heard the lat drone of Honda's first Big Bang ngine. The close-firing-order engine, he nsisted, was as responsible for the stagant lap times as the oft-blamed crease in minimum weigh - from 253 ounds to '286 pounds at the beginning f 1990. Reducing the latter would of ourse help the crucial corner-entry hase, where the V-fours lose most time ompared with the 250s and the pesky -twin 500s. But ditching the former ould make more difference stilI. "Ever since the big bang carne, the ing hooks up really good, but you ow if you ope!" the throttle too far the orque will spin the wheel out of control d you've lost it," Doohan explained. 'You have to wait that second longer. e old ones, you rode them like a twotroke. It'd spin up, but you're higher I" the rev range with shorter gearing, nd you could let it go and it would orne to the end of the revs. You could ven hook another gear and do it again. hat's what we've lost with the Big ang, that acceleration." Well, certainly something has gone. . e other classes of racing bikes have ontinued to improve steadily, with lap cords under constant erosion, the top lass of all has become static. Nowhere 's this more evident than at Donington ark, where the 500 times are under ttack from both sides, by 250s and uperbikes. The smaller GP bikes are ow only fractions of a second away; while at the Donington World Superbike meeting this year, Troy Corser actually punted his Duke round faster than the 500s in practice. This is as much a reflection on the circuit as anything. You don't get any of that sort of nonsense at Assen or the _ Hockenheimring, but they are the real race tracks - full-size arenas wi th the space to let a 500 have its head; at Donington you're forever feathering the throttle. . Bu t the reflection remains, even when the distorting mirror is removed. Even at those real race tracks, the 500ceclass records haven't been tumbling at the same rate as in the other classes; Assen's record in particular has stood unbroken since 1991. It doesn't take much to realize that the decay has coindded exactly with the arrival of the Big Bang engine, which Honda introdw::ed in 1992, to be copied by all their rivals by midseason. At that point Doohan was in complete com.mand, but fell and broke his leg, opening the door for Wayne Rainey's last title; and Kevin Schwantz's first the following year. Once fit again, he has firmly closed the door to any new pretenders to remain th~ consummate 500 racer. There is no doubt that tire and chassis technology, suspension and engine management systems have advanced in leaps and bounds during the intervening three years. But the lap times haven't gone with them. Yet here is the conundrum: Doohan was uncatchable when he got a Big Bang, until his rivals also got them. If the bike was slower, how so? Ah - look at the race averages, say the sages. This is where the Banger scores. It may not achieve the ultimate. lap times, but it can repeat them for much longer. Five years on, it is time to review the figures. They do not support this view, though they are hardly conclusive in either direction - it's very hard to find . any direct comparisons that remain valid over full race distance. There are just too many variables - resurfaced tracks, different weather conditions, different race circumstances. Nonetheless, some tracks bear out the theory. At Hockenheim, the race average went from 125.42 'mph in 1991 to 126.7 mph when the Big Bang came the next year, and it remained around about there until the circuit was dropped in 1994. Elsewhere the figures are less convincing. At Assen, for instance, race averages have remained almost uncannily constant since 1990, with one hiccup in 1992, the Big Bang year when Doohan crashed in practice, Schwantz and Eddie Lawson in the race, causing a drop in average speeds as lesser light Alex CriviIle won. The lap record, however, has stood since 1991. . Donington Park is even more of a puzzle. The lap record there is another old one, by the same rider (Schwantz) in that same final pre-bang year; but in fact race average speeds have dropped. Apologists for the big-bangers dte deteriorating surface grip and / or bumps in both cases, but the 250s don't seem to feel it. Let's rather go with Mick, as he conjures an image lost so recently - of 500 racers that shrieked and warbled rather than the hopped-up, shopping-scooter sound of a big banger; and of riders clinging wild-eyed to their backs as they shredded their tires in a non-stop whoop of glee. They did have a few disconcerting habits, mind you. The worst was to require a delicacy of throttle control that was very difficult to achieve on a bike that is bucking and twisting and launching itself both forward and sideways under an explosion of more than 175 hI'" Those who failed this test would be spat over the high-side like fleas shaken off a dog. Then just out of spite it would happen to the good guys as well. It can be no coincidence that the world fame of GP medico Claudio Costa was estab- Iished during this period. And who can forget the battle cry of the perpetually dazed-looking Christian Sarron, whose enthusiasm for exploiting the full performance of his V-four Yamaha so often exceeded his ability to keep it on the road: "I don't know what 'appened." But boy, could those things turn a lap time! And, says Mick, they'd be breaking lap records now, if they still made them. Be a bit harder to ride, mind... The very idea makes him smile. "That'd be the way to beat the twins - and if they don't do something like that, the 500 class is going to carry on losing status to the other classes." Clearly, Doohan has been having the same argument with Honda engineers, though his reference is oblique. "It takes time for the Japanese way of working. They have to write down everything the riders say, then eventually they make it. But I think you may see something from Honda before the end of the year." If so, will this be yet another HRC stab in the dark - they have a propensity for experimentation that is only sometimes fruitful. Or are the monsters really coming back? If so, Suzuki's recent move to an even bigger bang (closer firing order) than before will have been very ill-timed. But much remains to be proven. ot least whether today's stiffer chassis, more sophisticated forks and suspension, vastly improved engine management systems and much-developed racing tires will make the monsters less monstrous. Or whether the passage of time and a . few soft years on rider-friendly big bangers has bred the bravery out. f"X WINNER'S AVERAGE SPEEDS ASSEN 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 DONINGTON NOTES 104.66 108.68 108.91 107.37 108.43 108.45 108.80 108,69 94.21 96.17 95.32 94.45 94.21 94.67 94.78 Weight limit up/Assen widened & resurfaced AssenlDonington records set Big Bang engine introduced I,'LOOKING BACK~ ..· I 25 YEARS AGO... AUGUST 10, 1971 ycle News Assis- C tant Editor David Swift wrote a movie review entitled, "Why you should take a friend to see 'On Any Sunday.''' ... Czechoslovakian Vlastimil '.. _ I Valek wrapped up l'ho,l' ,' ...._~-the 250cc Inter"'....... AMA series cham- --:--.::'--' pionship with a progressively consistent 4-3-2 ride at Unadilla Valley, New York, also earning the event win. CZ teammate Dave Bickers took second in both the race, and the series.. Montessa-moun,led Peter Lamppu finished third for the day, while Gunnar Lindstrom's fifth at the race gave him third overall in the series point standings, .. Yamaha's Jimmy Odum became the fourth rider of the year to win more that one National with his win at the at the first-ever Corona, CaIi- fornia, Half Mile National. Harleymounted Mark Brelsford finished second and Jim Rice finished third on a BSA. 15 YEARS AGO... AUGUSTS, 1981 B WeUN'"S /.lndre! ritain's N e i I Hu d_' ,~", ;. son piloted ..J his works Yamaha to a ·'~~-o/~r~,. pair of sec- ',..,. n r n)' ~ ':,' \ . ... ~ ~. .:: ond place ,. '. ..........,'-"--""',......604' ... ... _~ I ,,. finishes and became the first European to claim the overall win in the 250cc U.S. Grand Prix at the Unadilla Valley Sports Center. American Steve Wise finished second on a Honda with a 4-1, followed by KTM-mounted K~es van der Ven in third with a 3-3... Mike Kidd led the way to victory in the DuQuoin Mile Winston Pro Series - ",':,' ", '. ational followed by Gary Scott and Randy Goss ... Marco LuccineIIi performed perfectly for his Italian fans, setting fast qualifying time, then taking the Italian GP win. Britain's Barry Sheene finished second and New Zealander Graeme Crosby got third. Luccinelli extended his points lead over American's Randy Mammola, who finished fourth, and Kenny Roberts, who did not race due to food poisoning, by 16 and 30 points, respectively. event. Larry Pegram and Dan Ingram finished second and third, respectively, making it a Honda podiUII! sweep... Defending World Champion Wayne Rainey won the French Grand Prix, held at Paul Ricard. Honda-mounted Michael Doohan and Cagiva's Eddie Lawson took second and third, respectively. {N '" ;.~ '~I~'~ " . 5YEARS AGO... AUGUST7,l991 K awasaki's Jeff Matiasevich scored the overall victory in the 250cc class at the AMA 125/250 MX National in Troy, Ohio. Suzuki's Larry Ward finished sewnd and Honda's Jean-Michel Bayle took third place. Suzuki's Guy Copper won the 125cc National, followed by Kawasaki's Mike Kiedrowski and Yam~a's Jeff Emig... Ronnie Jones was unstoppable at the Oklahoma City Half Mile by taking the win and co-promoting the successful 71

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