Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

INSIDE THE TEXAS TORNADO BYCOUNE ARDS II DW e ll , H ock enhe im and M onza w er e su p posed to be Yamahafriendly tracks, but they we ren't too friendly for me! I was really lookin g forward to both ra ces, but th in gs didn't work o u t th e way I thou gh t they wo uld . At practice at Hockenh eim, we just we nt backwa rd in bike setup. We we re trying to ge t better stability, bu t end ed up with not being able to turn the thing - th e worst it's been all year . Yeah, we strayed off ou r ba seline, and ended up screwing o urse lves. As I've said befo re, we have to try to get the last one percent gain in o rder to be competitive, bu t if we ge t it wro ng , the bike becomes a different animal. It was a d isappointment and I was n' t really hap py wit h everything. I coul d n' t draft past any body all week end, except Scali Russell. Sco tt and I ro de aro u nd together for a bit in practice, taking it in turns to lea d and see how each other' s bike wa s d oing. It definitely he lp s u s progress more quickly . It's coincide ntal that Scott and I have very simi lar setu ps and there's really on ly a millimeter di fference here and th ere between us.'We even normally use the same tires, compounds, e tc. Te n times ou t of 10, we seem to agree on what's what. At Hock en he irn, we tried ou t so me new forks, but Scott d idn ' t make as many changes as I did , so ma ybe I tried a bit too mu ch. I feel I'm still learning eve ry time I go ou t on the bike. It's all valuable experie nce and at this stage in my career, I need all the experienc e I can get . A seventh and fifth was no t really what I was after, but it was all I coul d manage. I lost tou ch with the lead pa ck in the firs t race, and at Hockenheim , that's fatal. All credit to Scott, th ough; he go t on the podium after a great fight with the Ducks. Th e second race wa s better for me, even thou gh I made a poo r start due to the d u tc h ge tt ing to o ho t. My si xth place on the grid became ninth after lap one, so I began chas ing the leaders to try to get ba ck in touch . Th en I go t some grit in my eye and I could n' t see where I wa s goi ng. I had to ease the pace for a w hile, b u t w hen it started ra in ing , I knew I had to go for it. But by the time I caug ht up with the lead group, it was too la te, a nd a ll I cou ld d o was fini sh fifth, behin d Scott. Both Hockenheim races must have been rea ll y good for th e fans . Th er e we re lots of drafting a n d p a ssing maneu vers and the crowd loved it all. I've watched the videos of the races, and th e mo ve th at Scott made o n Fogarty, Chili a nd Hod gson was just u nbelievab le. It's ju st a pi ty that I wasn' t right there with him as well . I wa s re all y lo oki n g fo rwa rd to Monza . I like an y track that the Yam aha likes and I'd had two podiums there in th e la st tw o years, so I thought tha t ano the r was a lmo st a gi ve n . In m y mind, I could almost see myself stand ing on the podium - this time on top of the box. First we test ed a t Monz a, a w ee k before the race, and what we achieved made us really confi dent. Scott and I se t some good tim es - all on race rubber, so we were pr etty happy. We had a good loo k at all the telemetry stuff on the co mputer and decided tha t the front was riding a litt le high. So w e dropped i t 4 or 5 millimet ers by cha ng ing the spri ngs an d preload and it seemed to improve. . Afte r the tests, we we nt sightseeing u p to Lu gan o . We (m e a nd m y gir lfriend, Alyssia) we re crui sing a ro u nd wit h Aaro n Slight an d his wife, Megan, and Scott and his cousin Chris, jus t havi ng so me fun a n d spen ding a little mo ney. It's good when yo u' re trav eling w ith friends - relaxing an d fu n a t the same time with no press ure to rush around. Then we came back to Milan, met up wit h Mi ke (Hale) an d s o m e It alian called Georgia and played so me golf. When I play golf at home, I d on't normally play wi th other racers and we just pl ay . Bu t so meti mes, w he n yo u pl a y o ther racers, it can all get a bit hy per every body wants to wi n! The first day was pretty good for me a nd I sho t 82, bu t th e seco nd d a y was no good - I could n't find my as> wit h both hands. Then it was over to Monza, arriving a t the track late Tuesd ay. The w ea th er was perfect, but it changed on Thursda y and the fo recas t was n' t good fo r the weeke nd. The first day of practice wa s hot and su nny, but frus trating because neither Scott no r I coul d get an ywher e nea r the lap tim e s w e did th e we ek before. The tires tha t Dunlop brought to the track were supposed to be improved ve rsions of w ha t we ran (and liked) at the tests , bu t they d idn't seem to want to w ork as well . The h e a v y ra i n ha d cle ane d the tra ck of lot s of rubber, so th e re ju s t wa s n't th e g rip th er e tha t there had been du ring the tests. So i t w as ba ck to th e baseline and start almost all over again. In the end, it did n't mailer to me, because I never even go t the chance to race. On Sat urday morning, in untimed practice, I got hit by so me m ad Fre nc h m a n . It ha ppened a t the Pa ra bo lica (the last turn before the start/finis h stra ight) jus t as I wa s tip ping in. Suddenly this blue bike comes hurtling in way too fast and hits m e. It w as th a t im pact that bro ke th e bones in my right ann, right up near the w ri st . I felt th em break when it happened, but I w as soon th inkin g abo ut other th ings - like cras hing. I slid along the ground and suddenly I saw the bike flipping up into the air and I knew tha t I was close to it - too close. It mu st hav e gone up abo ut IOfeet an d all I could think was, "Don' t land on me!" Luckily it did n't, but it wa s a bit too close for co m fort. Th e Fre nchman and his bike were mo re or less o kay , but my bike was a rea l mess. By the time th ey got me to sa fety and I had a bit of a rest, Davide (Brivio, the team manager) ha d arrived on his scooter. I d idn't feel too bad , so I hitched a lift wi th him back to the Clinica Mobile. I must have been a bit more beat up tha n I thou ght, because" I started feeling a bit woozy and I could feel myself fading a little. By the time I got to the Clinica Mobile, Davide said I looked as white as a sheet. Th e X- rays re vea led what we a ll knew, and my race weekend was over. It' s bad eno ug h crashing and hurting yourself in a race or when it' s all yo ur own fault. But it' s wo rse when you hurt you rse lf and it's so mebody else's fault . What was that dumb-ass guy doing?' lt wasn't even a timed session, for chrissake! I felt rea lly cheated. Even thou gh practice didn't start well, we were heading in the right direction and knew th e Yama ha wou ld go well. At the time of the cras h, I was secon d -fas te s t a nd wa s happy because I knew we were going to be qu icker in final qua lifyi ng . It' s always possible to pull some thing out of the bag when you ha ve to, and I was loo kin g forwa rd to the final session, so it was really d isappointing not to race. Mind you, when I saw the torren tial rain on Su nda y, I di d n' t mind too much sit ting Ins id e somewhere wa rm and dry and watching the race o n TV. Becau se of the cond itions, Scott never go t a cha nce to capita lize on his pole position, so there were no celebrations in th e tea m g a r a ge th a t n ight. The wea ther ru ined everythin g. It ' s ha rd to believe w e' ve h a d so mu ch rain at World Superbike races this y ea r - a n d we' re n ot e ve n halfw ay through the season. It's going to be a struggle getti ng fit in time for the next race - Laguna Seca bu t I'll get the plaster taken off thr ee or four d ays beforehand and see w hat I can do. I can move my finge rs, so at least I can keep the circulation going and that's important for qui ck heali ng. If I ca n' t manage La guna Seca, I'll rest it so me mo re a nd get it righ t for th e big one the Suzuka 8-Ho ur on Ju ly 27. Haga and I a r e th e Su zuka 8-H o u r defe nding cha mpions, so that's one race I want to be as fit as I can be for. . It's going to be a real tough o ne this yea r, but we're happy wit h the wa y the tes ts w ent in May a nd , if e ve ry thi ng goes acco rding to plan, we' ll ha ve a goo d chance of w inn ing again. Mind you, I've heard that the ma d Fren chman will be there , so I'd bet ter watch out in practice, hadn't I? No, seriously , I'm hop ing that the bo nes heal quick and I ca n ge t ba ck a n d cha se some good resu lts. Scali and I knew th is year it w ould be tough, but we' re bo th up for the chal len ge. We're sim ilar rid ers, but di ffer ent charac ters, but we both wa nt to show that there' s life in the old girl yet. The YZF won Suzuka last year and we can do it agai n. With me and Hag a on Dunlops and Scott and Tro yan Michelins , it should be an in teresting experience. I'll let you know the inside info next time. Till then, keep cool. (:x 30 Y EARSAGO .., JULY 20, 1967 held off peren nial Trailbike-class wi nner Jack Mo rga n to cam the class win. DNFs in their other mo ta left the win to An dre Malherbe (3-2l, also on a KTM... Team Yamaha's Broc Glove r dominated ro und four of the AMA 125cc Na tional C hampions hi p M o to cross Serie s in Houston, Texas , with two resou nd ing moto wins on his Jim Felt-tuned OW27 wo rks bike... Mike Kidd won his sec ond consecutive Grand Na tio nal Dirt Track in San Jose, California. Eddi e Lawso n won the Junior Invitational race. Ho nd a ' s Wa yne Gardner and Lu ck y Strike Roberts' Randy Mamola. Anton Mang won the 250cc class and Fau si o Gres ini won the 125cc class... Hon d amo unted Ronnie Jon es took the me as ure of Scott Pearson and Bubba Sh obert , who finis hed seco nd and th ird , re spectiv el y , to win h is fifth ca re er Na tional at the Middleton Half Mile in New York... Team G reen Ka w asak i's La r ry Ro e se le r (250cc) edged o u t Husky's John Nielson (SOOcc) to win the Saxon two-day ISDE Qu a li fier in Belli n gha m , Wa s hi ng to n. Su zuki' s Charles Halcomb finish ed third overa ll and Mark Hy de won the 12Sec class on a Cagiva ... CN cond ucted a n interview w it h Yoshi m u ra Suzu ki' s Ke vin Schwantz ... Ty Davis , To m my Watts and Mike Fishe r won the 125, 250 'and SOOcc Expert classes at th e 20th annua l Mammot h Motocr oss in Californi a ...CN took a look at t he Bu ell RR1000, a Ha rley-Davidson-powered sportbike.cx W SA rid ers swe pt the five top positions at an Asco t Half Mile Race in Ca lifornia . Sammy T an n er too k the wi n, followed by Shorty Sea bourne, Ralp h Wh ite , Clyde Litch and Blackie Bruce ...H ar ley -Da vid son r id e r Mert Lawwill wo n the Cas tle Rock National IT in Washingto n over Norto n-mo unted D ave Pa l m e r an d Chri s D raay er, also on a Ha rley. Jim my Od om won the Amateu r fina l aga in on a Triumph... Ducati-mo u nied Rick Woods won th e 250cc main at the O range County Sho rt Tr ack ra ces in Ca lifornia . Sal Acos ta and Robert Soppelan d finished seco nd and thi rd , res pect ively... Howard Jac ks o n piloted his Bult a co to th e li gh twe ight Expert wi n at the Pacific Southwes t C ha m p io nsh i p Europea n Scramb les in EI Mi rage, Californi a . Hu s ky ' s J. N . Ro b e rts bes te d Larry Bergqu ist a nd Bob Ferro to win th e Heavyweight Expert class . Jack Froeli ch B 96 » 2 EAR G ••• 0Y SA O JULY 13,1m he "Flying Finn ," Heikki Mikkola, took the wi n at the Canadian rou nd of the SOOcc World Motocross Series and stretch ed out hi s points lead over Suzuki teammates C errit Wolsink and Roger DeCoster, who finished third and four th, r es pe cti ve ly . American Bra d Lackey finished sec ond and retained fourth in the points standin gs with 107 behind Mikkola (205), Wolsink (157) and DeC ost er (156 )...CN a lso ran an interview with Mikkola in the same isue... The Roger DeCos ter Story finally ended wi th Part X: Epilogue...Russ ian KTM teamm ates Gu enn ady Moisseev and Vladi mir Kavinov each won a moto at the ninth ro u nd of the 250cc Wo rl d Motocross Series in Wes t Germany, but T 1 EAR 0Y SAGO... JU Y15,1 7 L 98 a m Ho nda's Rick Johnson won the SOOcc class with a commanding I-I , and. teammate Mic ky Dymond won the 125cc class wi th a 1-2 a t the Red Bud Na tio na l MX in Buchanan, Michi gan .. . Marlboro Ya ma ha's Wa yn e Rainey wo n the twi ce rain-delayed 57th Dutch T T in Asse n o ve r Rothmans ~

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