Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

T hird -p laced fin ishers His lop, . Swede Christer Lindholm and Frenchman An dre van den Bossche teamed on the lead ing Yamaha France YZF750 were threats all race lon g, d espite hand ling problems. "We were still trying to get it so rted going into the race, " exp la ined H islop. " It seemed like th e team was trying to followth e Wo r ld Superbike settings, bu t they are o n Dunlops. We a re on Michelins and should have gone a different route. It was particularly bad just after dawn. The front end was tucking badly in the fast Signes and Ie Beausset turns. The last thi ng yo u wa n t to do is crash there." Newly cro w ned Germa n Pro Su perbike Champion Lin dholm, w ho was suffe ring fro m a feve r ea rly in the race, added : "The chass is se tu p was nothing like th e YZF bik e 1 r ace in Ge rma ny. That hand les like a d ream , but thi s bik e w a s very s tra nge . It s cha r ac teris ti cs even seemed to cha nge during the ra ce. It was hard work for U S." Th e seco nd Yamaha - with Norihiko Fujiwara, Jean-Marc Dcletan g and- JeanPhilippe Ru g gi a handling th e riding cho res - retired during th e second hour. Deletang had a lu el pump la il. Whi le he wa s able to p ush back to the pits lor r epairs , Ru g gi a th en went ou t and cras hed i n th e la s t Signes cu rv e, d estroyin g th e bike. Bet wee n the m, Ka wasa k i, H ond a Fra nce a nd Ya maha co n trived to spoil Suz uki's World En d u ra nce ti tle cel ebrations b y keepin g th e GSXR tea ms o fl th e rostru m in th is fina l round 01 th e series . Suzu ki had a l rea dv cl inched th e ti tle , b ut had inexp lica bly spli t up their Le Mans an d Spa wi nning tea m . Er ic Go mez, rid ing with Step ha ne Co utelle and Bruno Bonhuil, pitted in th e first hour of the race to replace an electrica l sensor. But Suzuki team bos s Domin ique Mel land' s p la n ba ckf ir ed when G illes Fers tler p ro ved to be way 011 the pa ce a t night and World Cham pion s elect Dou g Polen and Pet er Godd ard had to ride back -to-bo ck sessions . Th en Po le n s ta r te d s uffe r ing Ir om a s to m ac h bug and Fers tler had to be brought back out. Fro m ru nn ing on th e sa m e lap as th e lead Honda, they soon d ropped two la p s b e hind . Th en , in th e 17th hour, t h e y dropp ed s everal laps behi nd a fter s to p p ing to rep la ce th e exhaust sys tem . Fifth p lac e, ho wever, was eno ugh to g iv e Po len a nd Godda rd the title, se ven points a head of Eric Gome z. "We did ou r best to wi n th e titl e by wi n n ing th e race but could n' t ma tc h the pace, so we had to se ttle back and d o the best we could ," God da rd sai d . Pol en, when a s ked il the ex ha us t p ro ble m was th e main t hi ng th a t cost the m th e cha nce of w innin g the race, held his han d up, laughed, but refused to co mment. He was, however, moved to point ou t: "Each time the other gu y (Fers tle r) got on the bike, the la p tim es d ro p ped. I d on't know why I so d denly felt so ill in the night. Maybe it was the energ y tablets they give us. Th ey are lu ll 01 natural ingredien ts. Maybe they didn't agree with me . Wh o kn ows? But I've never lelt like that in a 24-hour race before . It certainly made it ha rd work." As ked to co m pa r e the W orld Endurance Championship with his previous two World Superbike titl es, Polen comme n ted : "There's obviously no rea l com parison, since the Wo rld Superb ike is a season-long c ha mpio nsh ip w ith m an y races. Bu t World En d u rance is # becoming so competitive that tu win th is th ing is definitely a leather in your cap." A Briti sh team , Ph as e On e Endurance, fielded two A~A Cham pi o n s, Jaso n Pridmore (A M A 75 0 cc Supersport Champion ) a n d Kiwi Andrew Stroud (AMA Formula Xtreme Champion), alongsid e Brit Brett Sampson. U nfo r t u na tely, after running a co n s is te n t 10th and looking to b e strong co ntend ers fur the tup privateer team, thev were forced to abandon their effort at 5 a.m when the numbertwo cy li nd er g u dgeo n pin broke up and sent the rod through the cases. However, r iding the 1993-spec Kawasaki ZXR750, Pridmo re was particula rly imp res sive, turning 2:00.4 lap tim es - in the da rk! "I was hap py with my times - I did fou rs a t nigh t," Pridmore said. "I feel rea l sorry' for them. T hey d id a good job, mad e m e real wel come, an d the whole thi ng ha s been a lot o f fun . I'd love to come ba ck and do this aga in - if th e tea m w ill have me." O n th is p erformance , ho w ev er, ma ny lelt it like ly th e Am erican wo uld be a s tro ng ca nd ida te for a facto ry team slot in the 1998 series. Th e Bol began wi th so me spectac ular racing th at sawall four 01 the Japan.es e m anufa cturers r epres en ted in a thri lling freigh t-train scra p lor the lea d. Lavi eille immed iately jumped into th e lead on the H onda and had 1.2 seco nds o ver Pol en ' s Su zu ki co m ing o nto th e s ta rt /finish stra ight for the li rst tim e . Behind them were fast-s tarting Ge rald Mu tea u ' s H o nd a (fro m 17th on the g r id), Go mez on th e second Su z u ki, Hislop, then a ga p to the Dallix Hon d a, Ro g g ia o n th e second Yamaha, a nd Pe ter Lin de n on the MSC93 Ho nda RC4 5. Gomez d ro p ped down to 21s t place o n the six th lap after pitting ea rly to have a la ulty elect rical senso r replaced. Polen fina lly go t in to the lead alter 10 laps and go t the b reak just a fter th ey started hittin g hea vy traffi c. H e w ent almos t tw o seconds ahead ins ide three laps, but Rym er - having worked a pa ss on Lavieille - cau gh t up and took th e lead on th e 17th lap. The Brit was certainl y rock ing and by th e tim e he handed over to "Bria n Morrison, th ey were 4.35 se conds cl ea r 01 Pol en. But a fte r the firs t ro und of ro utine pit stops and the first hour of rac ing , the Honda was lea d ing Morriso n by 3.7 seco nds with God d ard on th e Suzuki in th ird, a hea d o f the tw o Yama has. Th ese were th e only bikes left on th e lead lap. Alter th at , the race fell into a fairly se ttled pattern - almost stag ed to coinri de with th e 120,000 fans d rilti ng 011 to th e eve ning's party. But as they slowly woke alter a nig h t of par tyin g, th ey were treat ed to one of the most spectacul ar finishes th e Bol has ever kno w n. Di Circuit de Paul Ricard Le Castellet. France Resu lts : septem be r 20-21, 1997 1. D'OrKl'; x/Mornson/Rymer (K.aw); 2. l..avieilk/ C()lI;llos/ Du H.ur ,..·1 (H em); 3. Hislop /lindholm/van den ~sch,-, (V.. m ): 4. CUJ1ll"z/ Cuut..1Ie / Bc.>nh u iJ currently racing a Z XR in Eng land . Ste v e H i s lop found the works Yama ha YZ F7 50 a v e ry different an imal. " The Kawasaki is quite forgiVing . Even if the chas s is setup is not spot -on . you can get .away wi th it. C bessts' se tup on the Yamaha is crit ical. We 're o n M ic heli nsb ere but the team is trying to set the bike up the same way as th e V'/orld Superbike te am · but th ey run D unJ s. I know fr om trying both D unop lees and M ichelins on my Kawasaki in the UK that the setups li re radically different . The Du nlop s have ve ry good initial grip and be ne .fit from a lower pivot po int . wh ich le t the tire spin a litt le . Yocalso get much better sus pen sion stroke . W ith Mi che lins. th oug h. you nee d the swi ngarm pivot -po int se t high to get ,the tire to ·d.g in and grip ', ~he . trouble is , th e i a The so litary official Honda France RC45 used revalved Show a suspension for the Bol to imp rove the balance on the mach ine . The team also spen t three days in Au gust tes ting aCTS qui ck . shift er and went into the rac e satisfied With its reliability. The team retired with gearbox failure at Le M a n s , Daff lx Ho nd a enjoyed semi-works support : Their AC4 5 had factory suspension and swingarm plus the same ..double-injection - as used on the World Superbike Ca strol Hondas . Proclamation~ of Doug Pol en and Peter Goddard as 1997 World Endurance Champion s after the Suruka 8 Hours became a litt le pr emature when Suzuki France opted to split the Le Mans and Spa winn ing combination of Polen, Goddard and Eric Gomez fo r the Bot. Dur i n g prac ti ce, team b o ss D o m i n i q u e Meliand explained - The manufacturer's cham pion ship is st ill not dec ided . If Yamaha win s. Suzuki must sull fini sh fourth to dinch the title. so I d ec ided to split t he teams , and haVing Er ic on t he sec o nd bike wHI improve o u r cha nces o f ge tti ng bo th bike s onto the ros trum . - A sked if the real reason was to try to ensure a French ntte winner. Mehan d refu sed to comment but replied only with a wry gri n. The team lineup was Polen and God dard with Fren chman Gille s Fe-etter. Gomez j o ined Stephane Coutelle end Florian Ferracci in an all-French team. Polen . speaking just efter the final morni ng wa rmu p on race day . said: " Of cou rse I w as a httle disappointed when I first heard (t he trio w ould be sp lit>. W e' d have a bett er cha nce if Eric was with us . but in terms of the overa ll pers pec tive . it make s no difference to my plans . I wa nt to co me back to wi n the World Superbrke tit le before I sto p racing . That' s the target - and pre ferClh I want to do ly it with Suz uki. I know my way · arou nd the mac hine and I've proved myself t his yea r in Eur o pe . Yeah . t he Wo rld End uran c e t it l e would be good. but it's not vital. M y plans will . be finalized within the ne xt two weeks . " To st ak e hi s cl aim o n 8 Worl d Superbike ride . Pol en showed he still has the speed . even at 37 years old - when he 's on the right tires . The S uzuki France brke runs Mich. · lin . - and had a new con struc tion fron t tire for the 8 01. Po len runs Pirellis on his AMA S uperb tke , T h e former two-t ime World S u pe rb ik e Champ io n qualified · the S uzu k i France GSXR750 on pole at the Bol with a 1:57. 9 36. Kawasaki France qualified second w ith a 1 :5 8. 3 4 3. Po len was also fastest through the sp eed trap at 188 .294 . No one else broke the 186 -mph barrier. wi th C hristian Lavieille be ing ·the closest wi th 185.6 mph on the works Honda: " To get that top speed. I got an incred ible draft. - , said Polen . -I got three bikes down the Mistra l one afte r the other and it sucked me all th e way to the · revlimite r. It pu lled an ext ra 300 rpm do w n there. But yo u're pas t pe ak power then any way. so it make s no real difference . And y ou can be t on ge tt ing held up somewhere else _ . the re's so much slower traffic out there . My pol e ti me cert ainly wa sn 't th e same lap a s · the be st trap speed. ~ . . a r-, CJ\ CJ\ ...... 00 ... Q) B u o 53

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