Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Edwards between storms Q ualifying at Sentul offered even ed raining a bit less and a few more ridmore surprises than usual in world ers went out and tried to get a time. superbike racing. The surprises this McCarthy was the fastest at this game, time came from the severe tropical and he took provisional pole position Frithunderstorms and rains that hit Jakarta day, leading Hale, Aaron Slight and John and the surrounding region Friday and Reynolds. Several top riders didn't even Saturday. But finally, for the last qualify- bother to put their leathers on and get ing session of the weekend, the rain their bike out of the pit. Carl Fogarty, stopped and it was Colin Edwards II John Kocinski, Anthony Gobert and who stepped up with the fastest time Simon Crafar were some of the men hopbefore the rain came again with just 15 ing for better weather Saturday. minutes left in the session. Their prayers - and the voodoo rain "I felt confident of getting pole posi- dolls in the Yamaha and Suzuki team pit tion even without the rain," Edwards boxes - seemed to do the trick. Well, said. "1 made a small mistake on my almost, anyway. During final qualifying, fastest lap, missing the apex and going the water came down again, but only in very wide in one comer, but 1 am happy the last 15 minutes of the session. At the that 1 did this lap time with my race moment the tropical heavy shower startsetup. I'll give the Ducatis a good run for ed, Edwards was leading Pier-Francesco their money tomorrow. For me, it will be Chili, John Kocinski and Corser. important to get into the first corner John Kocinski, third on the grid, ahead of them and try to stay in front. If 1 blamed the bad weather conditions for really want to have a shot at my first not having found a good race setup by world superbike victory, 1 can't afford to Saturday evening. "We lost a whole day let them go by." yesterday because of the bad weather," After the first practice day, Kirk he said. "When we tested here in FebruMcCarthy had led the starting' grid. It ary, things went okay. But in the meanhad been raining all of the session, and time, things have changed and evolved, for most of the time vision on the track so we do not have the same equipment was almost zero due to the heavy rains any more as during those private tests. and the dark thunderclouds. As a result, We also had some engine problems. The only a few riders had taken their bike out fact that we lack personnel makes my job for a ride - mostly in order to do at least very hard." the three compulsory practice laps in Corser, another regular pole-sitter, . was quite happy about the setup he had order to qualify. Troy Corser and Mike Hale were found, but would have liked to have among the few riders not afraid to get another try at the pole position. "With 15 their feet wet. For the first time this sea- minutes to go, 1 crashed the bike. Just my son. Hale went faster than his teammate, own fault. 1 lost the front running a bit happy finally to be able to slide the rear wide. That was pretty frustrating, of his bike on the treacherous and slip- because that was going to be my last lap pery track. In the last 15 minutes, it start- on that bike. At that time, my other bike John Kocinski (11) was unstoppable In Sentul, winning both races on his factory Ducat!. Here he leads Pier-Francesco Chili (7) and Aaron Slight (3). was waiting for me in the pit, complete with a new engine and new soft tires. But then it started to rain again. We still have to find a solution for the slight handling problem of the bike; it's not steering too well into the comers." Reigning World Champion Fogarty qualified fifth but was unhappy about the way the bike was handling. "Going into turns was a problem, and unlike most of the other riders, 1 could not relate to the setup we had used here last year." , Teammate Slight was sixth. "I had been waiting for the last 10 minutes to try to make a gQOd lap time on the softest tire Michelin has available," Slight said. "It didn't work out. But 1 don't worry too much; the times are pretty close and everybody seems to be struggling. For one reason or another the track seems to be slower than last year. When I took .pole in 1995, I did that time Friday already. Now we don't even come close. My main problem is going into the comer, when 1 slide. The exit is not too bad, but apparently the stones on the track make things not too easy." Slight also was still struggling with the toes on his left foot, which had been injured in Suzuka. Anthony Gobert qu.alified seventh, leading his teammate Simon Crafar. For Gobert, though, this would be the last exploit of the weekend - and even for the month. The young AustraliaQ. crashed and broke his collarbone, which will put him out of action for at least three weeks. He had put his rear tire on the painted line in a corner and was high-sided. the race, and it got worse and worse," Hale said. "Turning into corners got more and more difficult. Also, the rear started moving around quite a bit, probably due to a wrong setup of the damper. But nevertheless, the lap times stayed the same. It is curious that r seem to go better as the tires lose traction and r can slide more." Simon Crafar finished 12th, desperately trying to get the Kawasaki handling better. Kirk McCarthy took his Suzuki to 13th after having had a lot of trouble getting a good bike setup during practice. Dean Thomas finished 14th despite having burned his foot on the factory Honda engine, and Rob Phillis took the last point. RACE TWO Desperate to increase the hardfought lead he had earned in Laguna Seca, Corser was not willing to let Kocinski get away this time. For two corners, the American led the pack then he got passed by the determined Australian. At the end of the fiTst lap, Corser was leading Kocinski, with Chili, Edwards, Fogarty, Slight and Crafar giving chase. Just two laps later, it began to look as though Corser and Kocinski would run off and fight the battle for the lead all on their own, leaving Chili, Edwards and the Honda boys fighting it out among themselves for the third rostrum position. On the sixth lap, however, the situation at the front would change dramatically. In tum three, Kocinski dived into the inside of Corser, running a bit wide

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