Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) The 250cc Grand Prix looked a lot like a round of the AII-Japan Championship. Race winner Daijiro Katoh (54) leads Naoki Matsudo (51), Shinya Nakano (50) and GP regular Tetsuya Harada (31). (Right) The 125cc Grand Prix was won by Kazuto Sakata. the seat or to the reaJ;..tire, but it seemed okily and I was able to start moving forward toward the front. For the first 15 laps, everything was okay. Then, for the last few laps, the rear tire was sliding a lot and I had to settle for the best position I could get." It was much better than his teammate. Kitagawa was involved with Wait in a first-lap crash, the pair trying to avoid the tumbling Garry McCoy. "I just got past Kenny Roberts Jr. and . leaned it in," Wait began, "and I saw someone crashed. I got caught in a chain reaction trying to avoid it. I was on the inside and I got hit by Kitagawa. It wasn't his fault. I low-sided and his bike put a hole in my radiator." Wait tried to keep going, but the Honda seized soon after. Checa steadily moved up to eighth, getting caught up in a three-way fight for the spot with Barros and Crafar, though Crafar was never at the front of the bunch. Barros wasn't happy with the way his Honda steered, often running wide on the exits of turns. Checa had his own problems: His bike wouldn't lean properly and he couldn't accelerate out of the corners. It would come down to the penultimate lap, with Barros moving by Biaggi's big surp.::.......::.-.ris=-=-e_ World Champions sat on each end of the front row of the 500cc grid for the opening round of World Championship road racing: Repsol Honda's Mick Doohan on one end and Marlboro Team Kanernoto Honda's Max Biaggi on the other. But it was Biaggi, the four-time 250cc World Champion and SODec rookie, who proved he was quickly adapting to the Honda NSRSOO by taking the .pole with an impressive di play of riding late in the fmal qualifying session. Meanwhile, Doohan, the four-time 500cc World Champion, ended up an uncharacteristic fourtb. Even more surprising was that Biaggi's time of 2:05.772 was more tban two seconds under Oooban's year-old lap record of 2:07.782, iUld he did it using the newly mandated unleaded fuel which was thought to slow the bikes down. Apparently it didn't, since the top 11 qualifiers were all under Oooban's record on the 3.M-mile Suzuka Circuit. TIle day belonged to the flamboyant Italian Biagg;, who took the pole in typically dashing fashion, setting fast time with less than two minutes to go, then bettering it just as time ran out. His lap time of 2:05.772 was the first time a motorcycle had lapped Suzuka in the 2:05s and Ooohan admitted that, at his best, he wasn't going to do better ~lan a 2:06. What made the feat more impressive was thal all the testing Biaggi had done only added up to a week and a half's ridi.ng. "Of course, I am surprised, first me and also my team because last week was very difficult to go under seven and we believe that we can go more fast," Biaggi said, referring to the previous week's test at Suzuka. "But 2:05.7, .8, whatever, is unbelievable. I think we did a very good job on suspension and tires also." Good enough that he set the time using a full fuel load, something most riders are loa~\ to do. "I was confident I could go really fast, because I was as quick as Doohan this morning, even though I was running hard tires and a full tank," Biaggi said. '1 had been holding myself back until this afternoon, trying to concentrate on race setup rather than lap times. I think I've learned not tc? be in too much of a hurry. J now realize that maybe [ used to ride my 250 like a 500, sliding the rear a lot. [ was always very good at the end of races, when my tires were past their best, and that's how you must ride a 500, because they use up tires very quickly. We've been to three different tracks and we broke the lap record every time. We did the same thing here. The 500 machine looks like my contemporary." Also new to the 500cc class was the second rider on the front row - Yamaha Team Rainey's Kyoji Nanba, the Japanese test rider sitting in for the injured Jean-Michel Bayle. The 35-year-old from Hiroshima hasn't raced at all for about two years and was as surprised as Biaggi that he was on the front row. In fact, anba took the top spot from Doohan with five minutes to go, only losing it three minutes later when Biaggi bested him. The greater pleasure in qualifying so well was in knowing that the work he had done to develop the new Yamaba YZRSOO bad paid off. "I baven't raced for about two years, SO in the race I want the other three Yamahas to lead and follow them right on their exhausts," Nanba said. "[ don't know about tires and grip for the full race distance, so it may be difficult." Next to anba was his countryman Tadayuki Okada, the Repsol Honda rider who had taken the pole here in 1997. Okada said a small rear-suspension problem kept him from improving his ti,me. He also knew that Biaggi's tinle was impossible to do for race distance, so he felt that he was on the race pace. Doohan sat on the end of ~le front row, nearly a second slower than Biaggi, but not sounding concerned. He'd run consistent times all weekend - just not the very fastest - and that's what it takes to win races. "Max put in a fantastic time this afternoon, but consistencywise that's a whole different picture," Ooohan said. "I think in the race it's the same thing. Once the bikes do start to move around, you'll have a different race again. Sure, the lap times are tumbling, but again, wben we get into a race situation, we're going to see if we can maintain that momentum. "Obviously it would've been good to get the fastest lap, but we're more cOrlcerned about getting a good race setup," Doohan added. "Trying to stay on the front row was my main concern and ( only managed that, so I'm happy." Of more concern to Doohan was the effect that the switch to unleaded fuel had had on the bikes and riders. He said that the lap times were lower due to the fact that you can get more out of the machine "because they haven't got much power so they're a bit easier to ride. But [ still think to take seventh, Checa eighth and Crafar ninth. The trio was covered by a little more than half a second. In 10th place, all by himself, was Gibernau. The Spaniard had used up his rear tire by the fifth lap and was forced to just try and hang on to the end. "I went from doing 2:08s to 2:11s, and it was actually easier for me to do those eights at the start of the race," Gibemau explained. Roberts JT. was next, followed by MuZ ROC Rennsport's Doriano Romboni, the Italian, like Gibernau, shaking off the effects of a heavy spill during practice. Kocinski was next, then Abe, and Shell Ad vance Racing's Juan Borja, with Fabio Carpani the final of the 16 finish-' ers among 22 starters. f:'i Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka,Japan Results: April 5, 1998 (Round 1 of 15) USee QUALIFYING: 1. Noboru Uedn (2:1S.162); 2. Kazuto Sakata (2:15.934); 3. Youichi Vi (2:16.619); 4. Roberto Locatelli (2:16.811): 5. Yuzo Fujioka (2:17.201); 6. Masao Azuma (2:17.148); 7. Lucio Cecchinello (2:17.283); 8. Mirko Giansanti (2:17.289): 9. obuyuki Osaki (2:17.846); 10. Gianluigi Scalvini (2:18.295); 11. Masaki Tokudome (2:18.312); 12. Hiroyu}d Kikuchi (2:18.358); 13. Gino Borsoi (2:18.718); 14. Marco Melandri (2:18.823); 15. Steve Jenkner (2:18.902); 16. Angel ieta Jr. (2:18.946); 17. Kazuhiro Tnkaa (2:19.044); 18. Tomomi Manako (2:19.254); 19. Frederic Petit (2:19.286); 20. Ivan Goi (2:19.531); 21. Jaros)av Hules (2:19.845); 22. Juan Maturana (2:19.870); 23. Takashi when things start to get a bit n~sty, lap times won't be as consistent, because already you're riding in fronl of the bike. When you've got the gas open, and the back wheel really hasn't caught up so it can spin, that's where you're kind of in .. danger zone. [f th.e thing does spin, it's going to catch you out. So ( think this year you're going to see quite a lot of high-sides. TIlis is why J was saying earlier that the c11aracteristics are all wrong. [t makes it quicker, and makes it easier to get everyone up to the pace. but I think the end result is that you're going to see a lot more people trying to be Superman." MoviStar Honda Pons' Carlos Checa led off the third row in front of three Japanese riders, a wild card and two regulars. The Spaniard spent the session working on front su pension and felt be could get down to the 2:06 range, which he did. Japanese wild card oriyuki Haga, ~le Yamaha World Superbike rider who won a leg in the World Superbike season opener in Australia, and who co-holds the points lead with Carl Fogarty, was sixth in his first grid on a 500. At times he appears to be constantly on the edge of disaster, and there was some question about his ability to adapt to the SOO. He even admitted that, because of a front-end grip problem, he thought he was going to fall down many times. U[ don't want to make the excuse that I'm a superbike rider," the 23-year-old from Aichi said. "This is a one-off race on the SOO, but I'll still try my best like any other race. If we can sort out the problem overnight, then 1could be close." Just behind Haga came Yamaha Team Rainey's Norick Abe, visibly disappoulted when he pulled in at the end of the session after a small engine problem had prevented him from improving above seventh. TIle final rider on the second row was Nobuatsu Aoki, eighth in his first GP aboard tbe radically altered Suzuki RGV-5OO Gamma XR-88. Back on the third row was MoviStar Honda Pons' John Kocinski. The World Superbike Champion may have ended up quicker if the team hadn't fitted the wrong tire late in the session. After testing a number of tires, Kocinski had chosen one which he'd asked to be fitted at the end of the session. But when he went out for his hot laps, Kocinski discovered he was using a tire he'd never tested before. "1 was sure to do a 2:06, and I was waiting until the last minute to try and do it," Kocinski said. "But when ( went out for the final three laps, I realized that I didn't like the tire that 1 had and I didn't try to push too hard." . Kocinski shared the third row with Repsol Honda's Alex Criville, Red BuJI Yamaha's Simon Crafar, and Repsol Honda's Sete Gibernau, in 12th, the fastest of the Honda V-hvins. Criville was noticeably uncomfortable on the V-four, the front end pushing in the uphill corners, with no relief in sight. "I have to be honest and admit that this ,viII probably be a very difficult race for me," he said. Crafar was left to carry the Red BuJI standard after his teammate Regis Laconi crashed in practice, breaking his right ankle. The Red Bull Yamaha WCM team is also the only factory team using Dunlop tires and Crafar, wbo used Dunlops last year on the Kawasaki World Superbike team, said he could feel all of the track's imperfections through the tires. Gibemau, who was riding in place of the injured Takuma Aoki, recovered sufficiently from the concussion he suffered when he crashed coming onto the front straight on Friday that he was confident he could race. His time was seven-tenths of a second faster than Takuma Aoki had turned on the same machine last year and it would bave put him on the pole for the 1997 race. "I've got no problems with my bead after [ banged it yesterday," Gibernau said. "I think the biggest problem tomorrow will be the guys in front," The American contingent was further down th.e grid, with Kermy Roberts Jr. 15th on the Team Roberts Modenas KR3 and FCC Technical Sport's Matt Wait 22nd atter seizing both of his Honda V-twins in tbe morning session and then baving more problems in qualifying. Roberts Jr. lapped three seconds faster than he had the previous day, but he was still nearly four seconds off the pace. Par~y that was because, unlike the others, his team hadn't tested at Suzuka. And, though he had a new chassis and suspension, his team was using an updated version of last year's engine. The new motor won't be ready until ~le end of May. '1t's a lot funner bike to ride this year," Roberts Jr. said, though he did have one scary moment in the second qualifying session. "1 tucked ~le front and 1 was on my knee for a long time. I don't know how 1saved it. It's an area where [did it before, a scary area. If something happened, I was ready." Wait's day began with problems .and never inlproved. He seized both of his Honda NSR500Vs in the morning and had problems early in qualifying which left him stranded on the track. After making his way back to the pits, he took his second bike out and immediately improved his time.

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