(1 :57.285 ); 20. Ju ha n Seigefeld 0 ;57.840 ); 21. Will iam
Costes (1:57.852 ); 22. Emilio Al umora (1;, 7 .917); 23.
5
Estaquio Ga vira 0:58.413); 24. Ku rtilo ~ 0:58.4(9);
25. JWln Gal'tnt-r (t;5q.631) ; 26. Id aliu Gdvira (1 ;59.682) ,
2SOcc C RANO PRIX: 1. Olivier JA
cque (Hon): 2.
Trl..uya HoITdW (A pr); 3. To
hru Ulaw,a (Hon); 4. L
ori..
C a piro!> si (A pr); 5 . M,n Bi...g gi ( Hen ): 6 . S tefano
Pnug in i (A pr); 7. Jl aruchikd Au ki (lion); 8. Ta keshi
T'\oUjimura (fI o n); 9. SdM .'\ 1.Jn Port o (Apr); 10. jeremy
t
McWillia m. .. (fl o n); 11. Cri.'\ti.a no Migli or a ti IHon): 12.
.
Ralf Waldmann (Hon) ; 13. Luca ~ (Hon); H .
Emilio A17
...mora (I-I n l; 15. jose Luis Ca rd ~ (Ya m);
u
16. Gino Fiorillo (Apr); 17. Olin ... Pctrucciaru (A pr); lIt
Kurti.. l Roberts (H o n ); 19. E."lta q ulO G.1vira (A pr).
"
Time 42 nun. . 9.114 9CC.
Distance 22 laps. 67.308 mi b
Avenge Sp..-N : 95.776 mph
Margin of victory: 0.233 Sl."C.
Fastftot ~p: O livi..'t [acqce, t:54 .207 {%3 'Sl mph. la p 2
Briefl
250 ('(' WOR LD CHAM PION SIU P POINT
STANDI NGS (A fte r 10 of 15 ro un ds): 1. Te eeu y e
H a r a d a (162 /3 w in!» ; 2. M d X Biaggi (1 60 /3 ); 3 . Ralf
Waldmann 051/l); -I. O livit-t' Jdcqut" 026/2); 5. 'Io h ru
lAawa (07); 6 . Lc ris Capil'U!>'!oi (87); 7. H.uuchi ka Ao l i
(74); 8. (TIE) Ta kes hi T'!ouj im u rd / }t>Jt." m y Mcw lllta m..
(56); 10. Stl"fdnv Pt'nJ g ini (50) ; 11. Noriy""'u NUITldta
1 ; 12. St-b.l-.ti1n Po rio (33); 13. o...amu \t iya T
-12)
.
.il1ci (.11);
14 . Ma rcel lin o Lur-ch! (3 0 );. 15 . (TIE) lui ...
'
[)' An tin /Fra m:O 8.ltt", in i (29); 17. lhijim Kitto (25); 18.
(T IE) W illi o1l m Cor.tt"~ /E mil io A lumllra (23); 20 .
C ri..tiallO M ig litlrdti (20).
SOOcc Q UALlFYlNC ; 1. M ich.lI. 1 Dooban 051 .955);
·
2. l uea Ca d.l lora (152.353); 3. Carlos Checa (1 52-164); 4.
T a d a y u k i O L",d", (] :52.495); 5. Dori.. no Rom boni
0:52.653); 6. k an- Micht>l Bayle 0:52.991); 7. NobuabU
Aoki O :S3.aJO); 8. Daryl Bea"ie 0;53.111); 9. A n thony
Gobe- rt 0 :5 3.1%); 10. Se te Gibemau (1; 53 .3 86 ); 11.
No rifumj Abe 0 :53.794); 12. I urgen Fuchs (1:53.927); 13.
•••
T akuma Aoki w as o ne of, the few injury victims among several
crashers on the slippery track during -the first day of pract ice for
the Rio G P, fracturin g .his left shoulder efter sliding off his V-twin
Rep sol Honda, The first medica l decision was to ni le him out for
the rest of the wee ke nd; then co ntroversy exploded when track
and IRTA doctors chringedtheir minds tolet. him out the follOWing
a fternoon. It was said that pre ssure from spo nsor s had forced the
revision. Experienced G P observers watc hed w ith c'once m 8S' the
injured rider circled for three painful lops 30 seconds slower thon
the fas t men. Afterward. both the Brazilian track do ct or and the
doctor from tht:! IRTA-backed Clinica M obile h eld a pre ss co nference to try to ex plain the c hange in d ecision . A lth ough they
· denied a co nflict o f interes t , 'e il ch contrad icted the o ther w hen
,·asked w hether they conside red it dange:rous for a rider to ride at
such a slow spee d in an injured condition. -We let him go out
·without any painkillers to see if he wa s ot to ride, - .said the Chnica
Mob~ e doctor . On e imagines tha t if he had c rashed again, thi s
wOuld have been proo f enough that he was not fit. There is clearly
a co nflict of interest wh en the same doc tor who is trying to trea t a
rider to make him ftt can also influence the dec ision as to wh ether
or not · he should be allowed to ride. Lo ngt ime racing observers
foodly remem ber a time whe n an indepe ndent doc tor wa s charg ed
with this deci3ion: Hisrule-of-thumb test wa s to ask the rider to
perform 20 push-ups. If he wa s not capable of doing that. then he
wa s also considered incapable o f co ntrolli ng a SOOc c racing
motorcyde. Aoki went out again in the race-moming warmup, and
only after that was finnlly ruled oUt of the race .
.
The third GP of Rio was notable for some h igh. p rOfi le absentees~ Team owners Kenny Roberts and Wayne Rainey both
stayed away. wh ile Erv . Kanemoto left before practice storted
because of the dea th of his mo ther. Rainey has neve r been to
Br l as a team owner. thOugh he has pJ
dZi
enty of expe rience test jng and .racing here himself in the past. Robert s stayed away to
fulfill cOmmitments at the S turgis rally.
'
Ale x eriville , who sustained serio us hand injuries 'in pract ice for
the Dut ch IT . may be back on a bike wi thin three weeks. The
Rcpsol Hondol rider hope s to te st in the week aft er the British GP ,
and if he is fit enoug h. he may race at the Czech Republic G P on
· Augu st 3 1.
pr ob ab ly te s.t at Ca taluny a. ·or · may be another
trac k, - C riville said. - Hondo and Rep sol .aren·t putting any pre ssure on me . but I wa nt to see fo r myse lf how well my hand has
recovere d.· Cri ville w ill re quire more s urgery to repa ir · ten don
.'damage and rest ore full movement to his thumb. but says h e Will
wait until after the season, ,
""u
.
.
Ale x Barros 11:5-1.091) ; 14 . JUdn 80 rjd 0:54.185 ); 15
Regi!o Leconi (1;. ;.&.2Jq); 16 . JII~ va n d om C.a)rht-rgh
J
0:54.340); 17. Komny Rllht-rt.. Jr. 0 54.628); 18. Takuma
Ao "i (l :54 .R10); 1q. Kirk M cCar t hy (1 :54 .918 ); 20 .
Alht'Tto l'uig (1;.~.94q); 21. Lucio Pedercini 0:55.262.);
22 . lau ren t Na veau (L57.1I5); 23 . Frederic Pro ta t
(157 .604).
SOOcc RACE: 1. M ichac:'1 Docba n (H on ); 2. Ta dyub
O kad a (Hon); J . Lcca Ca d a lo ra (Ya m ); 4. No b ua ts u
Aolci. (Hon); 5. No ri tu mi Abc (Yam) ; 6. JUrgC1l Fuchs
(80 ; 7. Doriano Romoom (A pr ); 8. ' can-Michcl & yle
(Mod); 9. Reps Laconi (H on); to. An thony Gobert (Suz);
) J. Jurgen van dl..>ft Goorbcrgh (Hon); 12. Kirk McCarthy
(Yam); 13. Da ryl Beattie (.5uz); 14. A1bt'rto Pu ig (Hon);
15 . Lucio Pedl"fri n i Jurv'" Fuch....J u.an 8orjo1 (221; 19. Jurgm van den
/
~h (15); 20. Troy COI"'\(>f (11).
Upcoming Rounds:
Round 11 -llonongton P8/1<. England, Aug ust 17
Round 12 - Brno, Czech Republic, A ugu st 3 1
said earlier in the season trot they may swit ch to a V -four In the
future. : W e' re gett ing closer and closer to the front guys. and we
have n 't ev en sc ratc hed th e surfa ce w ith this motorcycle ." . In a
wri tten statement. Roberts said , -W e're w orki ng on redesign to
build a better mot or . W e want mo re reliabili ty. Jess vibration: more .
horsepower. -and better coolin g. It' s a major redesign ; beca use it
doesn't really co st us any more to -do 'that than to manufacture
what we've already g ot . ~ The Mod e nas has achieved a best' of
three eighth place s so far this yea r. but has been plagued wi th 8
variety of problems , including vtbrutio n and crankshaft ~iluros on
the uniq ue d e sign : w i t h tw o cy l i nders s har i ng a co m mo n
. cra nkca se anda third operating -indepe ndently. The rear~mounted
, radiator has also caused problems , with diffi c ulties in keep ing
. water circulating to the dueted heat exchanger. Un·ique electronic
carburet~~ have also been erratic in perfo rmance.
.
.
a
. Laugh-a-minute tee nager Valentin'; Ross i put a new' angle on
t~ perennial problem of chatter. as well _as taking ,an'o ther qig at
country~an M ax Biaggi. • Fort unat ely , after 10 race s. we have
finall y bee n 'oble to get so me front -fork cho tter on our bike. It
. seems to be _the only way to w in. " Ros si said, with his usual wide
gri n. Biaggi. sworn ene my to the yo ung ride r as well as to his
Aprilia team. has co mplained abou t cha tter on his Honda all season. though other Honda nders do not seem to suffer in the same
Au stralian rider Kirk McCart·hy is to get a works Yamaha - one
WfYY. · Of course. l ,fIm only jOking ." Rossi co ntinued. - but ·we did
of the two machines left vacant after Superbike W orld Cha mpion
have the problem for the first time in Brazil - but I think we have
Troy Corser split with the_Red Bull-spo nsored tellm two races
cured it. - Chatter is a very high-frequency harmonic ·vibration of
ago. Corser's depa rture came afte r the near -collapse o f the sec-: frame . suSpension and bres together that leads to los s of grip .
and factory Yamaha team p trigg ered after original bac ker Alfred
Inzinger ran into a cas h cris is. The team wa s taken CNef by Ameri~
Troub~ at the top tevefs of the A s s e n rnanage~nt boa rd broke .
can 'm illionaire Bob M aclean, while Red Bull took over sponsorout in publ ic ' this week wi th the sudden re signati on of chairman
ship from Pow er Horse. but wh ile Cadalora signed up with the
Ernst Lutgert. The business man joined the board o f the nonnew owners; the ex-Supe rbike star failed to reach agreement wi th
praht fo undatIOn (- Stichting ' ) three yea'" ago . and Iuld headed
M aclean. At the same time , Yamaha withdrew two of the four
plans for changes and improvements to the classic circu it. But the ·
mot orcycles leased to the team, saying they had been made availfo undation . Who se vic'e pres ident is form er FIM President j o s
able specifically for Co rse r . A furthe r co mplica tio n come ·wh en
Vae ssen , is notoriousJy aff ected by internal strif e. with freq uent"
IRTA demanded that Ma cLe an 's priva teer tea m s hould also be
rr:aanagemer:t change~ a way of life.
closed so that McCarthy co uld ride for Red Bull. to avoid that
team having to be penalized for failing to fulfill Its contract to pr0N.ext year's IRTA tes ts will sta rt In Au stralia at Phillip Island .
vide two miers. McCa~ rode in the last round in Gemklny and
.. January 20 through 23.' with works team members of the testing
. in Rio as a Red Bull entrant. but on a· priva teer ·ROC bike and not
cl ub moving to Sh ah Alam the followi ng week. They w ill have
in R~ Bult coJors. Now.Yamaha has agreed to release one wor ks
.. another round of tests at Phillip Island. Ma rch 2 -6. and at Shah
bike for the Australian. " I' m really pleased : said M cCa rthy. who
A1om. M arch 10-14 . The tRTA tes ts . open to all members - will be .
rod e for the factory Suzuki sUPerbikc team last yeor, -Now I con
. at J erez, Feb ruary 19 -22.
.
get to see if factory bikes are reatly as good
theY're suppos ed
.
.
to be , even jf only because everyt hing on it w ill be new . My ROC
The youngest~ev er GP rider since Alex Barro s hed .abou t his
is a 199 4 bike.: He will race the bike at .Donington Park. - I liked
age Will make ·hi s debut at the Czech Republic G P Just th re e
the trac k last year, though I did n't have much fun w ith ,the bad
weeks afte r his 15th birthday. Marco Meland ri will ride as a
handling o f the Suzuki. I'm having fun pretty much everywhere this
12Scc -c1ass Wild C ard at 8rno for the Be net ton Honda team :
year. Now we' lI just have
see ~f I Can ride it .Melandri won the .Italian· 12.5cc championship last w eek . The age
as
to
limit was d~opped only last year by the FIM from 16 to 15 .for the '
Brazil yielded th e usual crop of n a sty mugging s to ri es w hich , New Swed ish ride r j o h an StigefE,1t made his G P debut in Rio.
riding the seCond factory 250cc S uzuki in place of Team M ole125cc clos s only . Previou sly both Volentino Rossi and Ivan Goi
·included tale s of police brutality against the perpetro"tors - but one
naar Suz uki regular Jamie Robin son. The ·Briti sh rider was being . had to ·wait until they tur ned 16 before they could contest GP s.: .
topped th e lot:, Tw o ch ef s from on e o f the paddock' s t raveting
.'
.
. . ••
.
rested aft er a series o f difficult races and poo r result s followi ng
·catering firm s were ·stopped .by on e of the th ree poli ce forc es
wri st and ankle injuries sustained at ,the French GP on Ju ne 8. '. The track wa s dearly v.ery shppery. but there w ere surpnslngly
ope rating in th e area. a nd relieved of atl the ir cas h. Wh en thi s wa s
"D r. Co sta and other thera pist s say it is better for Jamie to have'" f e w crashes in prac tice - on ly ju st ove r half the numbe r last
repOrted to the ·sec urity c hief at the track - a hjgh ~up in the org anisom e ext ra we eks o f rest be fore hiS ho me GP at D onington
y ear . In the SOOcc clas s on Friday . Anthony Gob ert fell ·on the ·
zation • the Militia po lice men we re promptly arres ted. The money
Park . " team ow ner A rie M ol enaar said. - I· sow J OM n roee ot · grass aft er .missing his braklng point. and Suzuki tea mmate Oaryf .
was not recovered. but they will certain ly lo~e th~ir jo~·s.
some Europea n C hampronship rou nds . arid he is one o f the most
Beat tie also slid off soon afte rward , blaming a lapse of co nce:n tration • it w as his firs t cra sh since his ruinous tumble at the French .
Next year"s calendar is expected to revert to just tw o - fly- . talented rider s in that cha mpionship at the "m oment . " Stigeflet
w as 125c c champion of Sw ed en !n 1994 and 1995. and 250c c
GP last year.' wh ere he fractured his skull and effecttvely interrupt away " series eve nts. wi th Indone sia mov ed back to the start of
champion ·in 1996. - I' m loo king forwarcf to my G P debut: S tige~
cd (orposs.ibly eve n ended) his time as a top SOOcc nde r. ·Juan
the season from the end. and Brazil running later to pair up with
fl et sai d. "It's a grea t opportunity to s how w hat' s in me l ust
Bo rja also fell w it hou t injury. whi le Tak uma Aoki fra ct ured his
A ust raha ..This .year:s Indonesian G P was paired with Aus tralia in
before my home European Ch ampionship roUnd 00 Aug ust 10. "
shoulder. On Saturday. Ca rics Cheea slid off smoothly ..wh ile
order to avo id clashing w ith local elec tions . while Brazil Was IsolatNobuatsU Ao ki h3d a high-speed tumbl e in the mom ing aft er Josed earHer in the season . meaning three out -of-Europe trip s.
Re g is Laconi made his racing retum in Brazil. back after miss- ing a rear -brake pad on the bock stm ight . · n,at was ve ry frighten-·
i~g , " he said . Eustaquio G avira. Alza mor:a and G Fiorillo were the
ing four races followi ng his firs t-eorner crash at the Au stri an GP..
W as It a mi~c? Or wer e the riders caught out by thei r own pre only 250cc fallers; You ichi Ui . N oboru Ueda. Yo shiyaki Kat oh .
The French V -twin-mounted privatee r sus tained serious internal
Conceptio ns? 6 ther way. it took only half an hour for the con troRoberto Loca telli and Angel Niet o Jr. cras hed thei r 125s, All were .
IO
Junes after he was run over by two other nders. .and was kept In
versial t rac k s u rfa ce at th e Nelson Piquet autod rome to go
unhurt _
.
a coma for a week after the crash to aid his recovery. - I wanted
from bad" enou gh ror M ic hael Doohan and Daryl Beattie to lead
to com e back as soo n as po ssible.· laconi said. -That is how I
riders in discussi ng 0 boycott to the po int where the to p Honda
Jurgen Fuchs had his best ·ever 500cc practice: lying sixth for
rider circu lated fully one second unde r the lap record. The move - found the motivation to work my bOdy fOr six hours each day for
most of the final sesston and only dropping doWn to 12th at the
to Rio has con tinued a long tradition of controve rsy for the Brazilthe last thr ee weeks , I suffered a bit. but tOday I feel really good.'
end . ·I'm very disappointed .· Fuchs said: " I'd saved my best tires
ian· round . canceled seve ral tunes in the past . This yea r's eve nt
He shrugged off the possibility of mental after-effects following his
for t he end. but a ptst on broke as I left the ptts:.
.
t wo -mon th b rea k . - It is actually like the accident never hap·wa s only saved by a la s t -m ln~te full resurfacing. Bu t a patc h of
tarma c required repair before the race, and it was · so soft that
pened . - · he said . Laconi switched to the new . ligh tw eight White
The latest !" a con tinui ng .series of d~lopme~t c~nges to the
Power forks in_ attempt to reduce chatt er probl ems suffered by
an
· bikes were sliding over it ' n the firs;t morning o f practice . The afterModenas was to i;'ta!u:t~st~ nJb~s_ The p~evious type .turned .
noon sess ions we re deloyed whi le a repair wa s hasti ly -affec ted.
the V-twtn.
applying a specia l polymer coa tin g to the asphalt . This gave the
out to. be · ca using fuel aer ation by tran sferring vibration t_o the
prophets of doom time to predict even wo rse track problems as
The M arlbor o-backed Modenas will stic k wit h the three -eylinder
uniqUe high-pressure electronic carburetors; the new type isolate
the weekend wore on, and broug ht boyc ott threats from a faction
form at for next year . with a major engine rede sign in the cnrd sp them effectively. said team bo ss C huck Aksland. This Iuls staved .
along with fuel inject ion and radical aerodynamics. - W e sti ll think . off the move to conventionat carburetors expected after the lniota
among the ridem. Howe....er . the quick fix worked remarkably w ell.
GP.
·
.
: and while' all riders noted that t~ lack of grip in the mo~ing had
three is ·the way to go. - said t~am oWner ~nrly Rober:ts. who
a
r--.
0\
0\
......
. (1"j'
......
.....
