Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE Round 5: Monza, Italy W ORLDSUPERBIKE C HAMPIONSH IP fini sh alter his fine re sult in Hocken heim two weeks ago . "First 01 all, I didn't want it to rain, " WI,itham sa id . "I've fallen off the bike three or lour times already in wet condition s this yea r, so tha t was enoug h. In th e dry, however, on ly lilth or sixth w ould have been the best 1 co u ld ' ve hoped lor. As the track began to dry, Ko cinski came past a nd 1 tucked in behind him. Then I had a massive slide wh en 1 selected the wrong gear and ran over th e cu rb, and 1 knew I'd only be ab le to stay with John il l took a load 01 risks. So 1 was happy to settle for third." Early leader Fogarty was a bit disappointed . "I was pleas ed with my rid ing in the early part 01 the race," he said . "I actual ly started to enjoy it. But w hen the track dried a little bit, the rear wheel sta rted locki ng up in the corner s, becau se we had geared the bike differently to feel more comfortable in th e rain . Som e six laps before the end, 1 ga ve op hope lor end ing up on the rostrum." Cra far finished seventh one 01 the many Dunl op riders to struggle with the Anglo-Japanes e rubber, which seemingly are not up to par wi th the Michelins in the w et . " I ju st wan ted to fi nish," th e New Zea lander said. "There is too big a dilfere nce between the performances of the wet Dunlo p s a n d the w et Mi ch eli ns. Their new front rain tire, whi ch I used > Briefl here lo r the first time, is better th an wh at we had up to now, but the rear is s till m ass iv el y la ckin g g r ip . I'm g lad that the Hockenheim and Mon za races a re now be hind u s; I've never liked these tracks, beca use they rely too mu ch on the motorcvcle and not on the rider." Ru ssell c ':ossed th e fin ish line in e ig h th p o sition . Wh en a dr y line a p pea red , th e American lost a lot of ground - wit h a hu ge slide toward the end topping it off. The incid ent cost him ano the r two places. "Th ere have been more rain races than J can ever rernember in one season, and we are not even hal fwa y through," Russell sa id . " It' ll probabl y rain in Californi a now. 1 keep losin g poi nts an d I' m very d isappoint ed , because none of th ese guys here arc better than me." Hale finished ninth: 'The sus pension wa s s ti ll a littl e bit too h ard ," he explained. "But toward the end , the lap times were coming down . My rain experi ence ha s be en quite limited up til l now, hut it's getting bett er." I~ Autodromo Nat lonale dl Monza (Lell) Chiliended up winning th e seco nd race, hi s second vi ct ory ol1he year. (Below) Jam ie Whitham holds off Fogarty, Koc inski and Chili earty In the race . Whitham finished third for a second slra lght weekend of World Superbike racin g. - Monza, Italy Results: June 22, 1997 QU A LIHING: I Scott RU5-'l4;'l1 (1:- 6.8&1); 2. Simon 1 Cra fa r O :4b."JlIb); 3. John Kocinsk i (1:47.306); 4. Aaron Slight (] :47.4b4 ); 5. And"'l'l. M",kL1U O :47ASS); b. PiL'J" Fr;lJ\C't"SCO Chili 0 :47,812); 7. earl ~J,rty (1:47.832'; S. Pie r~ior~io Bcntemp i O :47.lS88) 9 . Colin Ed'....a rd 'l n ; :48.068 ); 10 . Jdm~ Whitham (1:48 .328); 11. Alif,} (1 Ya ndKdwd (l -48.3Q2); 12. \ liL' H,IW (1 :48.%R) ; 13 . Jame!> Havdon O :50.186}; 14. [ochen Schmid (1:50.376 ); 15. UJ~ 1 Md rl. ( L Ij()fl2n); 16 }t-dn·"-t.t rc [Nlt.'ldn g 0 ;..100.944) ; ••• Carl i f e ver he g ot in front of him . But that is 0 very diffic ult thing to acc e pt for a profess ional rider . That is why we pre fer not to replace Neil for spent most o f tbe time In the Yamaha hospitality unit. The reigning Superth is one race or these bike World Champion admitted that his malden Gmnd Pnx seaso n wasn 't two races. " really working out as he'd hoped rt would , and that he was starting to look at several o ther options for next year •.. and even for this year . "The situa tion is very unclear tor me right now. ~ he admitted. ·We started neqotie t, Ev e n though he was Ing abou t thiS year"e con trac t for the 500cc campatg" three weeks ago. leading the championship but nothing has changed in themeentime . It's up to Yamaha and the new before the Monza race. team owner now. But I've stated c1earfy that I woutd like an answer by C ar' Fogarty repea ted M onday . I'm in a ve ry wea k position, with no certainty or con trac t w hatsothat he was not happy eve r. Apa rt fro m getting to learn the bike. I don 't want to take too many wi th his bi kes , • M ay be risks . cras h and then be replaced in the team for that excuse . I believe t h e people at D u c a t i Yamaha wants to keep me. but things. are nctqtnte clear on that SIde, have been m i sle d into either, becau se of the financial situation with Team Rainey and all. that. thinking that eve ryth ing is working pe rfec tly because I' m in the posi tio n A nd I hop e to stay wi th Yamaha and in the Grands Prix, because that' s I' m in now, ~ he said. "Maybe I should start finis hing 10th or so before where I wanted to go at the beginriing of the season, I haven 't changed someth ing reall y happens. Right aft er the first race, 1 already suggested to my mind about that. ~ The Au stral ian also admitted that he had been tal klet me try the old bike I wo n the title with in 1995. I did the same times ing to y amaha end to Ducati about a pos sible ride in W orld Superb ike . here in M onza with that bike, and w ith a smaller engine. In the c hicanes . possibly beg innir'g this year. B!Jt fra.nkly, neither of the tw o fact ory teams nobody went faster than me in 1995 - that is w here I wo n the race . But are likely to enter a third (or, in the case o f Du ceu. a fourth) factory bike now;'! struggle to let it change direction. "! hope the Ducat! people let me for a rider who doe sn 't stand a chance of winnin g the championship due try the old bike again in a bac k-to-beck com parison with the new one ." As to his mis sing the first five races. Theor etically speaking . things might be far as Virginio Ferrari is co nce rned , this w on 't happen. " It is logica l thot diff erent If a rider on one of the team s is injured and Corser doesn 't get 8 Carl felt more co mfort able on the old bike than on the new one. First of chance to co ntinue his season aboard the fact ory SCOcc Yamaha. Stay all, it w as less powerfu l. so it ' did not st rain the chass is as mu ch . and, tuned, mo st import ant o f all. it wa s a lot lighter than thi s year's bike (34 1 po unds co mpared to the present 356 po unds). Of course, we coul d build in the Form er Gra nd Prix star J ea n-P hilippe Rugg ia made a notable World old engi ne into the new bike, but then w e wou ld also have to move all the Superbrke deb ut aboa rd one o f the Team Yamt.l 8 VZFs ~ especially after h we ight we have put on the new 996cc bike in ord er to co mply "with the he cras hed into Co lin Edwards II in the secon d free pract ice session on new technical regulations (mos t of the ballast we ight is put near the heed Satu rday morn ing, which led to the American breaking his w rist and mrssframeJ. In other words. it would not change.a lot. except that Carl would ing the race, "This weekend is oniy a practice sess ion for me before the have to do w ith 143 bhp instead of 154 now . ~ . Suzuka a·Hours race . where I wil l probably run with J ean-Marc Deletanq. " the quiet Frenc hman' said. - I have no t raced a bike since the last G rand Hoc kenheim and M onza mIght be the two high-speed even ts of the seePrix of 1996 and the 24 ·hour race at Le M ans at the begi nning o f the season (with John Koc ins ki topping at 179.4 mph dUring t he fir st timedpracson . Things were dec ided quite late, and I onty got on the bike for the first tree se ssion> but M onza offers some ty pica l challen ges com pare d to , time on Friday mornin g during the first free practice. This seaso n is a tranHockenheim. First of all, grip conditio ns on the trac k can chang e very sitional one for me, and I should have a complete racing seaso n ahead raPidly, especelly in the section between the frees , where the track stays l!I~i n in 1998 - whether in W orld Superb ike or in G rand Prix. It is not to be we t lon ger than on the open parts. Addi tionally. the chicanes are slower excl uded that I wi ll show up on some o ther races in the second half of the than in Germany, which makes braking more critical. season; besides the Suzuka race. I wi ll probably do the 801 d'Or . and we are also talking to A prilie for a possible entry in a few 250 or 5 00cc The World Series Supe rspo rt race was run in appalling coedmcns. when Grands Prix." The bike Auggia.was using was exactly the same bike that rain started to pour on the Monza circUit one hour before the start. Cham had been running the 24 Hou rs 'o f Le Mans race . minus the electncel pionship leader M ichael Paquay had already been knocked ou t on Friday morn ing. after he broke his collarbone in three places in a crash during the equip ment that is indispensa ble on an endurance bike . first free practice session. The roce was led by Yves Briguet for so me frye N.il Hodg.on was absen t at M onza after br eaking a knee during a laps before F abrizio P lrovano took o...e~ and st aye d ahead of the Swiss gardener. The difference between them was never more than a few motocross incident just prior to the race . Hodgs on should be back in form seconds. but Pirovano had everything under control. The hardest charger fo r LaguM Seca , according to' team manager Virginio Ferrari. ~For a few was again ram·speciohst Stephane M ert ens. 'w ho came from the back of cfuys. we Md bee n co nsideri ng replacing him for the missed races with the field after havi ng had to avoid some fallen riders in the first chicane. Alessandro Gramignl, Paolo Cason or M at Mladin, in order to toke away On the last coupleof laps. the Belg,an clawed back from fift h to third. tak· as ma,:,y po int5 from the com peti tion in favor of Carl Fogarty , ~ Ferrari ing the lead in .the champ ions hip , ahead o f M assimo M ereg alli and said, ~ But finally we 'decided not to do that . It woul d be a wrong signal to Paquily.. Neil, a~ w e wo uld have to ord er the rep lEN?ement rider to fmish be hind Troy Corse-.- was a prominent gue st at the Monza round . where he 14 17. I ~ or Jerman 0 :51. 072 ); 18. Pe re Riba Caba na (1:51.$42); 19 . [ca n-P hilippe Ru gf;ia (1:51.n4 ); 20. G illr g in CAflt

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