Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE Round 14: Marlboro Catalunyan GP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROAD R SERIES ACE Nobuatsu Aoki g o t th e h ol es h ot, Okada w as awa y seco n d , and t h e n came Checa , Cadalora , Do ohan and Abe. Some se m b la n ce o f o rder began to a ssert it self o n t he seco n d lap with a lead pa ck of six breaking a w ay. Okada no w led ahead o f Crivil le, Aoki and Doohan. Showing his recover y from hand inju ries wa s ge nuine, Criville too k th e lead for the first time o n th e fourth lap, h old in g it as Dooha n sl otted into sec o nd . On the se ven th la p, Dooha n took over at the fro nt. But Criville fough t back and he ld th e lea d righ t u p until th e 11t h la p, w he n Do oh an ca me by agai n , as d id C heca. Aoki w as fourth, Ca dalora fifth, an d Ta ku ma Ao ki si xth in fro nt of O ka da, h is race now run. "Th e p roblem we had toda y w as a lack o f gri p," O ka da sa id. " In fact , a ll dur in g th e we ek end i t h a s b e en th e sa me situatio n . We tried different susp ensi on - in fact, every thi ng we co u ld th ink o f d u ri n g th e three d a y s -but wi thout 5llCC l'SS." Ok ada se ttled in to a fight with Ta ku rna Ao ki in w hic h h e would u ltimately prevail. O u t f ron t, Checa was allack ing Doohan a n d took th e top sp o t on t he 15th la p, u si n g the long fro nt straight an d the dra ft to p u sh Doohan back. It lasted anothe r lap; th en Doohan di d the same; noticing that Checa's d riv e on to ners." T he top t w o th en s tar ted to pull away fro m Criville a nd Cadalora, who were ha vin g their own battle. Ca da lora co uld never ge t in front of th e Spa niard , bu t he had fun try in g . "Criv ilfe and I went around ha lf the track on th e last lap bo th sideways with s mo ke co m ing fr om the r ear tire ," Ca da lora sa id . "That was th e most sa tisfyi ng: race of the seaso n fo r me, as we we re so close to the fro nt. We were truly com pe titive tod a y, bu t unfortuna tely we jus t lacked that bit of extra accele ratio n w hic h would ha ve meant I co uld ha ve got pa st an d onto the podi u m ." Th en it w as d o w n to the lead ers C heca in fro n t o n la p s 21 a n d 22 , Dooh a n getting by, again on the front straight , on 23. The next lap was Doohan's fast est - a new lap record of 1:46.861 - but it might have been fas te r h ad h e n ot made a small m istak e. " O n the one before t h e las t lap, I Brieflv... It appears tha t W orl d Champion Mich'a e l Doo ha n has very few opt ions but to stay w ith the Reps ol Honda squad after the offer by W ayne Rainey was w ithdraw n. "It all start ed in Japan (the sec ond race of the season), - Rainey said . " M ick ca me to me and said. 'I wa nt to ride for you next ye ar. Honda thinks I'm bad for the 's po rt , wi nning every rec e ." Heiney sa id he then appr o ached Yamaha w ho said that Doonan wa s a Honda nder and, therefore, untouchable. " W e spoke all ye ar and Yamaha wasn't interes ted . ~ That changed at the Brazilian G rand Prix in Rio de Janeiro in earl y Aug ust . Rainey then told Doohan that he'd made prog ress With Yamaha and as ked the Au stra lian what it would take to sign him wh en they spoke at the Briti sh GP OJ few wee ks later. - I wro te down the number and Yamaha dec ided to meet his demand s." Rainey said. Hethen told D ochen Yamaha wa s interested and the Australian asked for a month to make his decision ~ unt il abo ut the time of this wee kend' s Cotolunycn GP so that he co uld talk to Honda. ·- 1 do n't have a month , ~ Rainey told him. After Rio, Do ohan .went to' J apan tel talk wi th Honda. W hen he retu rne d , he told Heiney that he wa sn 't happy wi th Hon da's o ffe r. He said t hat he needed until the Cze c h G P at Brno . wh ich Rainey didn 't attend. to mak e up hts .mtnd. They spo ke on Sunday night and Doohan co ntinued to be non -commit tal. " lf we hang up now , the re's a good chance I' ll w ithdraw the offer, _ Rainey told him. ,- W e. spo ke the next morni ng and I said : 'I've withdrawn the offer.' He was quit e surpr ised ..- Thoug h he didn't feel that way during the neqottatlnq proc ess, In the end Rain e y felt that he wa s be ing used as a neq o tia ti nq pl oy to extract more from Hond a. - W e knew everything: _ Rainey said. - We met his de monds . W e had it in wri t ing . I thou ght he we e go ing to come . I thought the de lay s were to let Hond a know . In the end, I don 't think he was going to com·e. In tht! end , yes , I thi nk I was be ing use d.- U p to , Sunday night. no , I didn 't th ink that .Doohan felt somt!Wha( differen tly: -Wayn~ called me a co uple of days after Cze cho and ment ioned that the offer ·that was on the table w as taken 6ff by Yamaha. h: su rpnsed me a bit, because I figured perhap s they were going to try to get me. And, in all hon esty, they'd agreed to everything I asked for . But. out of co ur · tesy to Honda , I gave tht:!rn th ~ opportunity to com~ up wit h their be st offer. And I men tkm ed that to Wayne , because Wayne was once a ri der and he never left Yamaha. but he talked many" tImes with oth er people. But he hod the courtesy to illwoyS sec what Yamaha had available . And, correct me if I'm wr ong, but he's still with Yamaha . He hasn't even left . I th ink it's just the right thing to do . I've got to see wha t the o ther have . Still , nothing has been decided ju st yet . Saying tha t, I also asked Wayne that , . 'Okay, If 1 come and see you next week and say that I want to ride yo ur bike , is ' the o ffer still there ' and he' said, 'Perhaps: we haven 't started PIAn B just yet?' I don' t think. it' s all gone: but offi cially th e o ffer is gone. And that kind of worries me about their determination to try to get me and their determination to. try to wi n next year . As for a dead line in !TIak ing the, decision. Doohan .. guys 8 R th ought m y c ha n ce o f victory mi g ht hav e gone when my foo t slipped off the footres t, bu t Checa did not come bv a nd I put my head d own again a nd ca rri ed on pu shing," Doohan sa id. Eve n t he n, C heca was cl o s e and Doohan needed a ne arly similar effo rt o n the fina l lap to ensure his record 12th victory. "I knew that he wa s rig ht on my back wheel. J had to be quite aggressive getting into that co rner ," Dooha n s aid , describ in g a wonderfully controlled s lide a few turns from the end . " H e might be able to run up the inside if he had a better drive th an me. J was jus t making sure th at I got in ther e. J did n' t have a lot of grip in there but I jus t tried to keep getting in there as qu ick as I co u ld ." "I tried to pa ss Dooha n a nd go at the e nd of th e race, but J cou ld n't," Checa said . "1 tri ed for th e race to pass him, but I cou ld n' t beca use Doo ha n is too hard. Her e the re was m uc h pressure for the last races at home. I had so me d ifficulties in the last tw o tu rns befor e the finis h and cou ld not enter them as fas t as I did on other occasions, so the speed on a straight line d isad va ntage me and that's why I was overtaken on that part of th e circuit. Of cou rse, I wan ted to win th e Catalunya Grand Prix a nd I did tr y to w in . But th is second position is like a vi cto ry , especially taking into accoun t the fall during qualify ing practice ." c~ th e fron t stra igh t w asn 't as stron g as his own . At this point the re were still five rid ers nearly nose to tail, wi th Doohan now in front of Checa, Criville, Cadalora a nd Aoki. lt would onl y be a few m ore laps before Aoki realized he w ouldn't be a contender. "Th e temperature was much coole r than d uring practice and we decided to fit il so fter rear tire," he said . " 1 was n't ab le to accelerate h a rd out o f the co r- had a meet ing wi th top HRC brass on Sat urday night. "l'd like to have eve ryth ing in place by tomorrow . But failing that . I have go t ano ther meeting w hich would toke plac e on Wednesda y next wee k. but I'll be in the air on my way back to Australia if we get throu gh the race tomorrow . Hopefully , by the end o f next wee k I should know who I'm riding fOI" and so fort h and so on. But Suzu ki has only eve r made me one offer end I told them right there and then that this year' s con tract with Honda is better than what they just offered me . Realistically, it's just down to Honda . It's not 'Honda or nothing .' I' d like to be lieve that if I wanted to go so mewhere else, there 's that po ssibility . Bu t trying to ge t everything in place for next year , thrs year I want to put a few more bit s and piece s in the co ntra ct. I think if everything we nt so uth , I'll be fjshing next year, ~ One of many rumors wa s that he was going to le a s e w o r ks Honda s end run them himself . po ssibly With back ing fr om Marlboro or She ll. Was it true? N o , not at all. Ab solutely not: D c ohan seid. ' ~I' II always rem ain w ith the o ffic ial HRC te am. I heard so mething abou t that in Czecho . Ab solutely not. I also hear about Alex (Crivrlle) want ing to go to Suo (Pon s). If you 're going to be riding for Honda, yo u mi ght as well be in the officlcl team. And my ambitions after racing is not to run a race team . To have an SWS team wo uld be a di sadvantage 10 me because I'm no t w orking direc tly w ith the fact ory the w ay I am now , It' s not like I' m tryrng to set up a bed for my future. M R • S h e ll Oils is po ised to .enter the W orld Champion ship s as a primary spon sor in a big way fOI 1998 , wit h the A ust ralian arm o f the oil giant looking to field a number of riders in the 500c c class . Shell WAS thought to have asked Hon da for AS mAny AS five NSR50 0 V ·tw ins. though the y may only field three , depend ing on the rider demands. Aus tralian 125c c campaigner Garry M cC oy has been offered a slo t - one w ay to pre serve the Au stralian link. M cCoy said he has offers in all three class es , but wou ld like to move to the 50 0 5. Daryl Beatti e' s nome has also been mentloned . thou gh his perf ormances have become inc.reasingly ~ck luster and he will almos t cer tainly not be bctck w ith Suzuki next year. He was to have met w ith Suz uki racing bo ss M it suo Ito after the ·C ataluny an Grand Pri X, but s kIp p ed t he meeting , according to Suzuki personnel. Earlier this sc ason, BCDttie $Did that he was interested in going to World Superbike s. but has since changf:!dhis pos ition and wan ts to stay in the SOOcc class . Wh o wiU replace Beatt ie on next yeAr's three-nder Suzu ki team h,? yet to be de termi ne d ., N o b uatsu A ok i, t he Rheo s Elf s F.C .C . Te ch nica l Sport s rider w ho ' s c urren tl y secon d itl the SOOcc W orld C hampionsh ip. has reportedly signed a three-year deal. Aoki was also co urt ed by the Red Bun Yamaha WCM team, along lMih Jea n-Michel Bayle . the former supe rcros s champ.wh o many thou ght was he aded for Suzuki before going to Team Rainey Yamaha. It's thought Ihat one of the co nditions on which the Suzuki fac tory insis ted if they were to have a three-rider team wa·s tha t one of the rid e rs be JapAnese . ,Other riders· wh ose nar:nes have bect1 ment ioned Drc C arl FogDrty and Ap rilia's Dori.' ano Romboni. ~ogarty 's dep arture fro~ Ducati' s W orl d Super -. bike team wo uld pave the way for Troy C orser. to return to the . C lrc u tt d e Montmelo Montmelo. Sp ai n Res ults: September 14, 1997 (Round 13 01 15) 12.5c.c QUALIFYING: 1. Kazuto Sakata (153.476); 2. Youic hi Ui 0 :53.9./0)); 3. Tomomi Manako O~ .~ ); 4. Valt.1ttino Ro!.!>i n:50l.(91); 5. Jorge Martinez 0:54.126 ); ' 6 . Robert o Loca tel li 0 :54.320; 7. M,) ~ld To kudome 0 :54 .326); 8 Lucio Ct"cr hi nd lu 0 :54. 458); 9. M.lOfn.od C... i....lt>T (1 :5-14(.,'1); TO. Xuburu Ul"d., (1 :5-1.5 10); 11 . \t ir l. o C.ioln ",,, n li ( I }i4. '; 4.'1); 12. Ju"" M.l l u r" n,1 (1;54.(,22); l3. FTPdo..,-K r rii I 0 ;54JI29); 14 . c.,my M«"oy n :54.920); 15. C.ianluigi Scalvini (155.025); 16. Mol-..lO A7u ma (1:55 .071) ; 17. Yos hi ak l Ka to h (1:5:;.210); 1R. Jar~lav H ules O :55.J9i1; 19. Ste ve je-nkne-r (1 :.'i."j.h~); 20. JO!ot Se rd a (1:55.725); 21. Angel :\'K-to Jr. (156.113); p 22 . C ino Borsoi (1 :56.35 2 ); 23. Alvaro Mo lina (156.353 ); 24. Xa \'le r Soler l1 :57 llO5) ; 25. Iva n Martinez 11:57.8Ji1; ze. Vicente Espa rragoso (1:57.t)73); 27 . DIrk Raudie!' 11:57.983); 28. [o an Montero 0:583m; 29. Chris Bum s (1:58.363); 30. D.lvid Ort<'g.l (2:00.058). 250« QUAU rnNG: l. R.1lf waldmann 0 :47.(2 1); 2. Ma x Biagg t (1:47.690); 3. Tohru Uk.1 w a 0 :48.192); 4. Tetsuya Harada 0 :48.632); 5. Loris Ca pi ross t (1:-18.676); 6 . S te fa no rt.·ru gini 0 :49 .t 29 ); 7. O li v ie r J,l Cq UI.' (1:49 .326) ; 8. Tak eshi Tsu jimura (1:49.38 4); 9. [crerrw Mc w ttlia ms (1:49 .437) ; to. Ha ru chika Aold (1:49.734) ; 11. No riyasu N uma ta (1:49.958); 12. Osa rnu Miyazak i (1:5O.26Q); 13 . ] a m it.' Robin son 0 :..0;0.294); 14. WilJ idOl Cu·.t"", 0 :50.345); 15. Cristiano \tIi);liurdti 0 :503(5); l b. Fr ow!'tl n "'lt 'l i n i ~ 1. : 50 .4 .10 ) ; 17 . G i u ..tTPI.' Fiu r.ill u (1:50.622); I R. Emi lio Alzarnora (1:50.65:-.); 19. OhVt'r 'Antin 11:50.789); 21. I'e tru ccian i (1:50.694 ); 20 . Luis LJ jose Lu te Ca rd os o (l :50.t)62); 22. Luca Boscoscuro (1 :5l.1 t)4); 23 . Seba stian I'o r t o fl :51. 924) ; 24. Kurti ~ Roberts 0 :52.034 ); 25, Ec staq uio Ga vlra (1:52.424); 26. Manuel Luque 0 ;52.'J73); 27. Jose d e Cca (1:5J .1IH); 2M. [a v rc r Marsella (I :5J.2fW:l); '1!-J. jesus Pe re z G. O:53.n n ; 30 . lsmac l Bon ill a 0 :54 .70 1); 31. Da v id G ua rd iol a (I :55,3 16). SOOcc QU ALIFYING: I. Michael Dooh an (1:-15.990); 2. Ca rlos Checa 0 :46.126); 3. Nobuatsu Aok i 0 :46.143); 4 . Dorian o Rombo ni (1 :46 .297 ); 5 . Tada vuki Okad a (1:46.507); 6. Luca Cadalo ra (1:46.511); 7. Alex Crivi lle (1 :46.693); 8. Kenny Ro berts Jr. 0 :46.959); 9. Ta k uma Ao ki 0 :47.124); 10. jean- Mic he l Bavle 0 :47.206); 11. Ale x Ba rr os (1 :47 .279 ); 12. Juan Bor ja 0 :47.5 21) ; 13. JUl);l"n va n der Goorbt.or)4h (1:47.65 1); 14. Set e Ct be rnau (1:017.734); 15. N o ri fu m i Abe 0 :48.03); 16. Dary l Beattie (1:48.323 ); 17. Rt.,.;j~ Lecom 0 :48.401); 18. Jury;en Fuel!!> squad. Though Suzuki has heavily courted him in the past, Cors er may have falle n out of favor w ith the team after asking fo r a 199 8 con tract as a coodrncn of riding in the fmal three C PS as Gobert's replacement. Though no official co nfi rmation w ill pro bab ly be made unt il th e Indone.. sian G rand Pnx. it's 8 virtual certai nty tha t J e a n ·M ic he l Ba yle and Norifumi Abe w ill ride fo r Rainey next yea r. Rainey said in Spain that Abe w as a done deal. and it appea rs that Bayle will join the fold as soon as the contracts are signed . an apparent ly very pleas ed Bayl e was sp otted Su nd ay ni ght ha ngi ng aro und Rainey 's traile t / office waiti ng to meet wi t h the form er three-time W orld Champi on. Anthony Gobert issued a st atement vehemently denying his guilt following his dismiss al tram- Team Lucky Strike Suzuk i for failing a drug te st. · 1 hove bee n tested a number of time s, both by my team andthe FIM go vern ing body this year, and each result has co me back clear. I know my pos ition in the team and I would n ot je opardi ze my fu ture by us i nq any b anned s ub stances .. ·According to the statement. the te st. admin istered at the Brit ish G P in mid-Augu st. ~ ev idently returned a po srnve re sult for cannabis (marijuana). _.The statement we nt on to say that _legal advi ce has been so ug ht by the. fam ily c onsi dering that Luc ky Strike Suzuki Team are not forth corninq in releasing details fo r the te st and the o ff ic ial re sult s. The validity of the test w ill . 0 100 be quest ioned : Team Lucky Strike Suzuki ofhoole disput ed the noti on that ~ each result has co me back clear ." Acc ording to team member s. Gobert had run into tes tin g prob lems earlier in th e seaso n. At the Italian G rand Prix in Mugello, Gobert was test ed by the FIM and t he • A _ s pec i men came up po s it iv e for ca nnabi s. according to a teom memb er with know ledge o f the tes ting program. The ~ 8 - spec imen, takenat the same time as a bac kup, was anal yz~d and the If:! t was "i nconcl usive , - acco rding s to the team member. G obert , who was tested in Brazil. wa s told in Srazll that he would be test ed again 10 Snt ain. wa s to ld abo ut the results and wa s wame d o f mor e dire co nse quences in the fu'ture, team mem bers said. Gobert was te sted again by the FIM following the Czec h GP . The res ults of that te st have not been released . but an FIM spo kes man M id that he co uld be suspend · ed fo r up to two years if those te st results proVe positive fo r the presence of banned substan ces . There was no official confinna · ti on of which banned substance he te sted pos itive for;· though the official pre ss release spec ulated t.h the banned subs tance at wa s cannabis. a k.a . marijuana,-and Gobert co nfi rmed it w ith his statemen t , no tea m o ff iCial would co rroborate it . Inst ead , the do or has been left wid e open to speculDtion thot it could be 0 dif ferent drug . Indeed, th e Span ish pres s spec ulated in great detail tha t it was crack cocai ne, an assum pti on echoed by the French te levision stati on s Can ale+ . R lucKy Strike Suzuki cho se not to replace Go bert for the Catalunyan GP , but A ustralian P eter Goddard , who replaced Gobert at two GPs e~rly in Ihe year and was in attendance at Cafa lunya. will be' on board for the ·flOal two 'race s. inlndone si8 and Aus':tral la. First. Goddard has to complete th e ,t ask of 'w inning the W orl d Endu'rance Cha mpion ship at 'the 801 d'Or with Doug Polen

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