Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

braking move. But I knew I could do it again." He was more than a second ahead across the line. Tsujimura had been with the pair, but dropped away at t'he finish, almost caught by Petrucciani. . Harada's race lasted only four laps before he pitted. "Tetsuya's a bit demotivated at t'he moment," said team boss Rainey. A Yamaha spokesman said, "We were trying a new carburetor here, but we were short of practice time, and it didn't work." Biaggi still leads the title with 199 points, but Waldmann is closing on 171. Fuchs has 112, d'Antin 100. Harada is now fifth, with 97. 125cc GP Tokudome led from the start, but there was a pack of 10 right with him, and Jorge Martinez (Airtel Aprilia) was the first to nose ahead out of the brawling pack. Emilio Alzamora (Cepsa Honda) was next, but only momentarily, before he pulled off the track with igni- Russell, who had been glued together for the last 10 laps or more. This was the culmination of Russell's "wild ride." He'd cut through from 26th to 18th on the first lap alone, and kept on picking riders off until he joined a huge battle on lap 10. This comprised Checa, Barros, Okada, Borja and Bayle, swapping back and forth in the sort of SOOcc racing that makes the hairs stand up On the back of the neck. Russell picked them off one by one, until with eight laps left he had only Barros to go. The Brazilian proved too hard a nut to crack. "He brakes really late and his bike is really fast in a straight line. I could get back on him through the corners, but I was never close enough to outbrake him," said Russell. At the same time, Capirossi was catching the remains of the group, after trying a different' style. "My front was sliding, so I started to go into the corners slower and coming out faster," he said. Just the technique team boss Rainey has been trying to teach him, and it worked well enough to bring him through to eighth, less than a tenth behind Checa. Bayle was t'hree-tenths behind him, with Borja dropping away by two seconds at the finish, and Okada another four seconds down, his V-twin simply overwhelmed on the steep uphill top-gear climb between the first and second bends. Terry Rymer was 12th, having lost too much ground at the start to join the party, but happy with his first fulllength race finish in four races on the Lucky Strike Suzuki (he finished at Assen too, but the race was.in two legs). Then came Alberto Puig, disappointed after his good practice, but "never comfortable on the bike," with Jeremy McWilliams' ROC another 40 seconds away in 14th, top privateer. Promising British youngster Chris WaIker was 15th on the Elf, the first time both of the European machines have finished in the points. Marchellino Lucchi was 18th on the V-twin Aprilia, with 21 finishers. There was just one crash - Kenny Roberts Jr. slid off on the second lap, without injury. Shinichi !toh retired his V-twin Honda after pitting once to change the rear tire. Doohan's point lead is still commanding - 211 points to Criville's 154. Then comes Cadalora on 126, Barros 111 and Abe 110. (Above) Scott Russell (11) came from the second row of the grid to lead the Austrian SOOcc Grand Prix; Norlfuml Abe (9), Jean-Michel Bayle (12), Alberto Pulg (17), Michael Doohan (1) and Alex Crlville (hidden) follow. (Right) Alex Criville (4) leads Norlfumi Abe (9), Luca Cadalora (3) and Michael Doohan (1) early In the 500cc GP. 250Cc GRAND PRIX After t'he second-corner crash, there was very little excitement. Biaggi blamed Jacque, saying he had braked way too hard; t'he Frenchman blamed Biaggi. This is t'he second time he has been hit from behind fhis year. "Maybe I should paint a target on the back of my seat," he said. Waldmann was already" in front, and he continued to pull away, setting fastest lap in the process. "I didn't know t'hat Biaggi and Jacque were out, but I was able to go at my own speed from the start. The bike felt perfect, and his best lap was eight-tenths better than anybody else's. Luis d' Antin did close up in the early laps, bu t it was not for long, and he also had a smooth ride once he had settled for second. Fuchs had to pick his way through from sixth on lap one after he'd been slowed by t'he Biaggi /Jacque crash, but he did it quite easily. He couldn't close on d' Antin, and also settled for the point. Locatelli had been with the front men on the first lap, but had the unusual problem of a handlebar working loose, so he too was quickly out of contention, eventually retiring; so that Tohru Ukawa's Benetton Honda could continue to a lonely fourth, almost five seconds ahead of an equally solitary Ruggia. Truly, the 250cc class lacks spectacle this year, though in the early stages this trio had been back and forth a little with the works Aprilias of Miyazaki and Suter, until the latter T-boned t'he former on lap seven. Miyazaki crashed; Suter continued to retire soon afterward. There was a good scrap for sixth, with Nobuatsu Aoki's works Honda trailing Luca BoscosCuro's private Aprilia until seven laps from the end. The Italian didn't give up trying, however, and was less than a tenth adrift at the flag. Behind them, van den Goorbergh had been trailing Laconi as they cut through the field. The Dutchman had got away well, 12th at the end of lap one from 26t'h on t'he grid, and was waiting his chance. "Everything was going well, and I think I am quite good at waiting for t'he right moment," he said. "Actually I passed him on t'he second-last lap, but he got me back with a stupid out- tion failure. Then his young teammate Goi went ahead on lap four, holding it until the 11th lap when Tokudome kicked again. The Japanese Aprilia rider moved steadily ahead, and seemed to have the race in the bag. Likewise Goi was safe in second, with t'he battle raging behind. Then, with two laps left, Tokudome suddenly slowed, his bike misfiring wit'h his own ignition bot'hers. Dirk Raudies, in his best race of the year, had broken the lap record as he worked his way through t'he group, and ~ he too passed Tokudome. So too did the ultra-daring Rossi, on t'he last lap, to claim his first rostrum by less than half a second from t'he disappointed Japanese rider. ~ Peter Oettl was fiffh, barely a second 0\ behind on his Marlboro Aprilia; Mar- ....-I tinez was a close sixth; Youichi Vi (Kurz ~~ Yamaha) was lucky to hang on to sev- ....-I enth, after being in t'he thick of the battle ti only to blow up on t'he last lap. He free- ;:l wheeled across t'he line. CO Loek Bodelier was 20t'h after finding that his choice of top gear was too high ....... for the bike to pull up the hill. Non-finisher Aoki retains the lead with 154 e .3 7

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