Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

that his request for an Italian technician on the team had been denied. Rainey was not available for further comment as he had returned to hospital, but not for his own treatment: This time the patient was his younger brother Rodney, who broke his shoulder after crashing an A TV in impromptu races at Rainey's home in Monterey, California. Luckless Italian road racer Doriano Romboni is going to undergo surgery in an attempt to save his racing career. If the operation on his broken wrist is not successful, he may be forced to retire at the age of 28. Winner of two 125 and four 250cc GPs, Romboni has repu ta tion for being fast but fragile, and for several years has not had a GP season that was not interrupted by some sort of injury. In 1995, it was the scaphoid bone in his right wrist: an injury that is always slow to heal, especially when (as now) it is not the first time it has been broken. Now doctors have told Romboni that he did further damage by coming back too soon... for the Imola GP at the end of the season. A I though good race finishes on the 400cc Aprilia in 1996 were elusive for various reasons, usually mechanical, Romboni qualified on the front row of the 500cc GP grid for six consecutive races. Italian Loris Reggiani has been invited back to Aprilia, one year after being unceremoniously dropped from the team. The man who brought the factory into 250cc racing and claimed its first GP win in the class had spent the previous two years race-developing the V-twin 400. Now he has been asked to return after a year in the wilderness, as official factory tester for the 500cc-class project. This role would be like that of Marcellino Lucchi, who is the official test rider for the 250 and acts as a substitute rider when the factory men are injured. Aprilia boss Ivan Beggio has given tht! 3-year-old V-twin project one more season to prove itself. If it fails (and possibly even if it doesn't), the factory is considering a three-cylinder option for the future. The strength of the European 500cc Vfour - the Elf - should be greater next sea on, with the Big Bang engine up to speed and fast German Jurgen Fuchs set to join Spaniard Juan Borja on the bl ue bikes. The machine's best result in 1996 was eighth for Borja at Donington Park, but his injury at the Czech GP (broken bones in his hand) spoiled what might have been a better close to the season for the hard-charging rider. His injury also delayed the introduction of the c1ose-firing-order version of the low-friction motor, which has cylinder pairs sharing a common combustion chamber to reduce the number of main bearings. The 31-year-old Fuchs is an impressive late-comer to GP racing and he finished fourth in the 250cc World Championship in 1996 in his first season on factory bikes. Like Ralf Waldmann, Fuchs was left high and dry in the surprise withdrawal of HB from its longstanding racing sponsorship of the Honda Germany works team. The existing team members have rallied around Waldmann in the hope of finding a new sponsor for the same effort, but there was no room for Fuchs in the new tight-budget plans. He considered an Aprilia offer from Docshop, but decided to take the Elf ride. Continued on page 86 Burning rubber hough the Daytona 200 is three months away, the race began this week with each of the tire makers bringing their best rubber and riders to the famed Daytona International Speedway. And though the weather was dodgy - Michelin was rained out its first day early indications are that Muzzy Kawasaki's Doug Chandler is back up to the pace which carried him to the AMA Superbike title last year. Using a new spec 16.5-inch Dunlop rear, Chandler turned the best lap of the day on Monday, December 9, the first of the three-day Dunlop test - a 1:51.59. Though it was almost a second off the best time anyone turned in at this test a year ago, Chandler knew it was a good start. "It was pretty steady. I did nine laps all in the SIs," Chandler said on a chilly Monday afternoon, adding that he was riding his titlewinning ZX-7R with a few modifications. "I reckon that's pretty good for the first day. I reckon I can do 50s with the race tire pretty steady." The Dunlop riders arrived Monday, following the Michelin test on the weekend. Since Saturday was rained out, the brands shared most of Monday with Fast By Ferracci's new recruit Mat Mladin clocking the best time. His was a ] :51.3, done on Sunday, and not improved upon on Monday, partially because the team suffered a number of mechanical problems that kept them off the track. Ferracci was the only AMA Superb ike team at the Michelin test. "This is just to have a bit of a shakedown on the bike, test a few tires," the Australian Mladin said. '1t feels good, ~o problem. I don't know what they raced in last year, but I'm sure it won't be any quicker than mid-50s or so, I suppose. Qualifying will be a bit quicker. So we're still two and a half seconds off what we have to do as far as racing goes." Also testing the Ferracci V-twin was Gerald Rothman Jr., the former Moto Liberty rider who has a verbal agreement with Ferracci and expects to sign a contract this week. Though Rothman had ridden SuperTeams machinery, the Ducati was a different animal. "Ferracci really didn't want to change the bike too much on me. We pretty much left the bike the way it was," said Rothman, who had a best lap of ]:52.96. "If I did 52s or SIs I'd want to go faster. The bike was tired." Among the other riders testing new machinery was Larry Pegram, the former FBF Ducati rider who switched to the Yoshimura Suzuki squad. "It feels good. I feel real confident on it," P~ram said after a best lap of 1:53.9 following hIS 40 laps on the GSXR750-based Superbike. "The power comes in at a lot higher revs. It's a different riding style. We changed some suspension settings and the shock. I want to get used to the bike before we go through 10 different tires." Having more trouble adjusting to a new bike was three-time AMA 250cc GP champion . Rich Oliver. Oliver had his first outing on the Yamaha FZR600 that he'll be campaigning in the 600cc Supersport class and, afterward, was a bit flustered. "Everything is different," Oliver said. "I wouldn't say I can relate anything from the 250 to this bike. Though it is really fast. I got a good one. I know very little. I'm just trying to learn. I followed Tom Kipp for a while. We were doing two-flats. I have to drop two seconds to be competitive. I'm not used to being this far off the pace." Dunlop will contin.ue to test through Wednesday, followed by Pirelli/Metzeler. Bridgestone will not be testing at Daytona this year. Henny Ray Abrams T (Above) Mat Mladln had his first ride on the Fast By Farraccl Ducatl during Michelin tlra tests Monday. December 9. (Below) Ditto for teammate Gerald Rothman Jr. (Above) Rich Oliver at speed on his Yamaha YZF600 during the Dunlop tests at Daytona; the ride was Oliver's first on the new Yamaha. (Below) In a day of firsts, larry Pegram had his initial outing on a Yoshimura Suzuki GSXR750 Superblke.

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