Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROAD RACE SERIES 125cc GRAN[)PRIX The race started with a huge gang of 11 going for victory, with pole qualifier "Nobbie" Veda in the thick of it, but teammate Lucio Cecchinello led the early laps before little French privateer Fred Petit seized a lap of glory ahead of the pack in front of his home crowd. He fought back when overwhelmed down the straight by the works bikes, but it was inevitably a losing battle_ After that, Sakata took over in front, with Veda dropping to the back of the group. Then came his crash on the seventh lap at the double right corners after the back straight. He also brought down Gianluigi Scalvini, who hit the sliding bike. The race, of course, went on - and by the finish there were just three up front, trading blows all the way to the line, where they finished within four-tenths of a second. It could have gone to any of them, but in the end it was the experienced Sakata who managed to stay ahead of teenager Marco Melandri and erstwhile leader Azuma. Tomorni Manako had led from lap eight to lap 15 'and was close to managing a successful breakaway when he suddenly slowed, punching the tank before pulling into the pits. Roberto LocatelH managed to defeat Lucio Cecchinello in the dash to the line for fourth, with Petit close behind and German Steve Jenkner closing up somewhat after breaking from his group in the later stages. Sakata's win gave him the title lead with 98 points, with nonscorer Manako dropping to second on 81. Azuma has 59, Melandri 52, and the luckless Veda a ~. Brieflv... . ~ Circuit Paul Ricard Le Castellet, France Results: May 31, 1998 (Round 5 of 15) ]25« QUALIFYING: 1. Noboru Ueda (1:29.002); 2. .K.1.zuto Sakatil (1:29.094); 3. Tomomi Manako (1:29.160); 4. Lucio Cccchinello (l :29.350); 5. Frederic Petit (1:29.541); 6. Mirko Giansanti 0:29.631); 7. Youichi Vi (1:29.654); 8. Steve jenkn." (1:29.743); 9. Mas:>o Azuma (1:29.7S1); 10. Arnaud Vincent (1:29.791); 11. Roberto Loc.,.lii (1:29.921); 12. Marco Mel.ndri (1:29.932); 13. Ivan Goi (1:30.035); 14. Paolo Tess.1ri (1:30.132);15. Gino Borsoi 0:30.251); 16. Cianluigi Scalvini 0:30.278); 17. Emilio Alzamora (1:30.288); 18. Masaki Tokudome (1:30.326); 19. Angel Nieto Jr. 0:30.768); 20. Ju.n E. Maturana 0:31.179); 2]. Jeronimo Vidal 0:31.251); 22. icolas Dussauge (1 :31.574); 23. Yoshiaki Katoh 0:31.763); 24. Andrea lommi (1:31.n1); 25. Christian Manna 0:32.032); 26. Jaroslav Hules 0:32.040) 27. Randy de Puniet (1:32.747); 28. Jimmy Petit (1:32.864). 125« GRAND PRIX: 1. Kazuto S.kata (Apr); 2. Marco Melandri (Hon); 3. Masao Azuma (Hon); 4. . Roberto Locatelli (Hon); 5. Lucio Cecchinello CHon); 6. Frederic Petit (}-lon); 7. Steve Jenkner (Apr); 8. Masaki Tokudome (Apr) 9. Ivan Goi (Apr); 10. Yoshiaki Katoh (Yam); 11. Youichi Ui (Yam); 12. Arnaud Vincent (Apt>; 13. Jeronimo Vidal (Apr); 14. Juan Maturana (Yam); 15. Paolo TesS.1ri (Apr); 16. And.rea lommi (Hon); 17. Randy de Puniet (Hon); 18. Jimmy Petit (Hon). Time: 40 min., 57.583 sec. Distance: 271aps, 63.612 miles Average speed: 93.186 mph Margin of victory: 0.292 sec. Fastest lap: Masao Azuma, 1:29.519, lap 12 ]25« WORLD POINT (17); 15. Steve Jenkn." (16); 16. Angel Nieto Jr. (14); 17. (TIE) Jarosl.v Hules/1van Goi (U); 19. obuyuki Osaki (1); 20. Yoshiak; Katoh (10). 250cc QUAUFYING: 1. Tetsuya Harada (1:23.417); 2. Loris Capirossi 0:23.875); 3. Valentino Rossi (1:23.934); 4. Ha.ruchika Aoki (1:24.509); 5. Olivier Jacque (1:24.601); 6. Tohru Ukawa (1:24.640); 7.. Jurgen Fuchs (1:24.655); 8. Sebastian Porto (1 :24.689); 9. Jeremy McWiJHams 0:24.968); 10. jose Luis Cardoso (1 :25.140); 11. Stefano Perugini (1:25.361)'; 12. Luis d'Antin· (1:25.492); 13. jason Vincent 0:25.513); 14. Takeshi Tsujimura (1:25.633); 15. Luca I3osccKcuro (1:25.753); 16. William Costes (1:25.807); 17. Roberto Rolfo (1:25.813); ]8. Noriyasu Numata (1:26.016); 19. Franco Battaini ~'\ruchik.:1 Aoki (Hon); 7. Jeremy McWiJliams (Hon); 8. Luis d' Anlin (Yam); 9. Takcshi Tsujimura (Yam); 10. Jason Vincent (Han); 11. Franco Battaini (Yam); 12. Jurgen Fuchs (Apr); 13. Jose Luis Cardoso (¥ilm); 14. Roberto Rolfo (Hon); 15. Julien Allemand (Hon); 16. Davide Bulega (Hon); 17. Vincent Philippe (Hon); 18. Franck Poulle (Hon). Time: 40 min.• 59.018 sec. Distance: 29 laps, 68.324 miles Average speed: 100.006 mph Margin of victory: 0.631 sec. Fastest lap: Tetsuya Harada, 1:23.688, lap 19 250« WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POI T STANDLNCS (After 5 of 15 rounds): 1. Tetsuya Harada (79/2 wins); 2. Loris Capirossi (74/1); 3. Valentino Rossi (60); 4. Olivier jacque (.56); 5. Haruchjka Aoki (48); 6. Stefano Perugini (45); 7. Tohru Ul:awa (42); 8. Marcellino Lucchi (36/1); 9. (TIE) Oajjiro Katoh (1 win)/Jose Luis Cardoso/Takeshi Tsujimura (25); 12. Jeremy McWilliams (24); 13. Luis d"Antin (22); 14. Shinya Nakano (20); 15. Naoki Matsudo (16); 16. Franco Battaini (14); 17. (TIE) Jurgen Fuchs/Noriyasu Numata (12); 19. Lu<. Boscoscuro (11); 20. Vukio K,'g.yam. (10). 500,c QUALIFYING: 1. Mick Doohan (1:21.188); 2. Carlos Checa (1:21,242); 3. Alex Criville (1:21.327); 4. Mnx Siaggi 0:21.501); 5. Alex Barros (1:21.708); 6, Luca Cadalora 0:21.77'8); 7. John Kocinski (1:22.048); S. Nobuatsu Aoki 0:22.093); 9. Norick Abe O:22.33S); 10. Kenny Roberts Jr. (1:22.422); 11. Set. Gjbem.u (1:22.536) (1:26.022); 20. V.su Hatakeyama (1:26.162); 21. Osamu Miy.zaki (I :26.238); 22. Joh.n Sti8efclt (U6.468); 23. 12. Yukio Kagayama 0:22.604); 13. Simon Crafar Davide Bulesa 0:26.784); 24. Matthieu Lagrive (1:26.808); 25. Julien Allemand (1:26.864); 26. Federico Cartner (1:27.l49); 27. Vincent Philippe (1:27.509); 28. Herve Mora 0:28.6(0); 29. Franck Poulle (1:28.767). 2SOcc GRAND PRIX: 1. TetsuYfli Harada (Apr); 2. Valentino Rossi (Apr); 3. Loris Capirossi (Apr); 4. (1:23.062); 16. Regis Laconi 0:23.110); 17. Jurgen van . .Feelings were mixed aboul the suggestion that. 500cc two,Stroke Gp, b;kes should be dropped in favor of f.our-strokes. probably 1000cc. Many. people complained about the enormous escalat;on in costS. but others were excited by the prospect of full-blown prototype four-strokes. Mick Doohan was one fan. "It would be awesome to. get a one-I;ter four-stroke prototype."- he sa;d. -It would make a ton of horsepower and they could pull 18,000 rpm so they.'d sound awesome. too. It would put some technology back in racing. It seems that two-strokes are reaching the end of an era. The SOOs have been running the same lap times for five years or sO, and the b;kes have hardly"changed. Sw;tching to fourstrokes would be expensive. bul it would' take racing onto the next plane:- Max B;aggi was completely oppossd. "Two-strokes are beautiflJl engines: he said. 'They have been in facing for so long. Why do we need to chang.e?- Aprilia chief engineer Jan Witteveen was also agairyst the move. mainly on the gro'unds of costs. "Now you can do a full season using three crankshafts. With a four:stroke. you would. need f5 crankshafts: and the rest of the engine'is ..Iso.very.complicated." he sa;d. The idea was floated in,public by Yamaha's heatj of first engineedng Toshimitsu lio two weeks ago. But the notion has been simmering behind closed doors for much longer. and the Grand Prix Manufacturers Associat;on has been ;nv;ted by· Doma to submit proposals along these line'S. 20 CHAMPIONSH1P STANDINGS (After 5 of 15 rounds): 1. Kazuto Sakata (98/3 wins); 2. Tomomi Manako (81/1); 3. Masao Azuma (59); 4. Marro Melandri (52); 5. oOOru Ueda (45/1); 6. Masaki Tokudome (39); 7. (TIE) Cianluigi Scalvini/Fred Petit (37); 9. Mirko Giansanti (36); 10. Lucio CecchineUo (28); 11. Youichi i (25); 12. Roberto Locatelli (24); 13. (TIE) Gino Borsoi/ Arnaud Vincent Olivier Jacque (Hon); 5. Stefano Perugini (Hon}; 6. The third return to the rev;sed Paul Rica.reI circuit brought the usual rash of complaints aboul low-grip, worn-out asphalt. but a slightly lower than usual number of accidents. at least dur;ng pract;ce. when -only- 25 were recorded_ Once again, however, a high proport;on of them were at the track's notorious first left-hand bend. The most spectacular faller was second Suzuk; rider Yukio Kagayam·a. with a gigantic h;gh-Side at the first of the circuit's .only two left'hanlr corners. These come 'almost one.after the'other, w.ith the result .that the left-hand side of the tire. cools down qver the rest of the 2.36 rnHe lap. Kagayama fell at the end of the second session - a ClaSSIC high-s;de that catapulted him so high into the air 'that he flew right across the tarmac to land on the far side of the track. From there he continued rolling and bouncing across the run· off to' slam into the air-fence, and he was extraordinar;ly lucky to escape with merely two wrist fract ....es. Other 'SOOcc-c1ass victims included Kenny Roberts Jr.. John Kocinski. Reg;s Laconi. Matt Wait and Max Biaggi; 250cc fallers included Nor;yasu Numala and Tohru Ukawa. (1:22.668); 14. R.II W.ldm.nn (1:22.911); 15. Eskil Suter d n Goorberllh 0:23.281); 18. Juan Borja (1:23.390); 19. Sebastien Cimbert 0:23.496); 20. Garry McCoy (1:24.071); 21. Matt W.it 0:24.302); 22. Scott Smart (1 :25.416); 23. Fabio C,rp.ni (1:25.761). SOOcc GRANO PRIX: 1. Alex Criville (Hon); 2. Mick The 12Scc riders were also vocal about the track's lack of gnp; • Nobb;e" Ueda was very lucky to escape w;thout ser;ous ;njury from a crash ;n which his left· hand was trapped by the bike, which then came back and hit him hard on the head. 'Donano Romboni ,will be oul f~r most of the rest of the sea,son, after complicati0ns to the wrist injury sustained in practice for the Malaysian GP. the second round of the season. The former Aprilia rider switched to Mol (formerly Elf 500) this year. but crashed in practice in Japan and then agai~. in Malays;a. where he broke the scapho;d in h;s dght wdst. Now he'1s to have surgery on June 15. and s'1rgeons are pred;cting a three-month recovery period_ "It would have been nice if Romboni had not waited two months ·before getting surgery: said ·team boss Serge Rosset. engdly. Spanish Superbike rider Gregodo Lavilla is down to take Romboni's place. at least for the next GP. if tests at Paul R;card on the day after the French GP are satisfactory. LavHla (24). who ;mpressed at the last World Superbike roundat A1bacete. will take over from EskH Suter. who is the team's test dder and raced the b!ke in Italy and F'rance. Jean,Michel lIayle will test again in France on the day after. the race. and he is now conHdent that he will be back 'in the saddle ;n .time for the Dutch GP at Assen. Bayle suffered a concussion in a preseason testing crash in Maiaysia, and in recent tests at jerez and Mugello he· was not able to stdng more than a few laps together before suffering headaches and dizziness. "We'll keep the seat open for him for as long as he needs it," said his Yamaha team boss. Wayne Ra;ney. Jean-Michel Bayle will be replaced for the next two .raceS. by jobless Luca Cadalora - whose return after seven months out or the saddle was Uttle short of sensat;onal. He was directly on the pace and soon ahead of teammate Abe. ending up just short of the front row of the grid. He said he was amazed at h;s rapid readjustment. "After a few laps. I felt Uke I'd been 6n the b;ke for about a month," he said. adding. "I was too stressed last year to perform al my best. Now I ani much more relaxed." He waS sixth last yea·r. riding the Red Bull Yamaha. The irony of acquiring Cadalora for two or more races was not lost on team boss Wayne Rainey, who has not bSen. keen on including his former teammate in his rider lineup. wWhen Luca wants to go fast. he is awesome," he sa;d. UntH now. Bayle' s substitute has been factory tester Koiji Nanba. who has now returned to Japan. The expected engine upgrade for Honda's works 250 did not roatedalize at Paul R;card.. leaving the works riders still suffer;ng badly from a lack of speed. "We have got the suspens;on so The 12Scc Grand Prix was won by Kazuto Sakata, who now leads the title chase by 17 points. Doohan (Hon); 3. Carlos Checa (Hon); 4. John Kocinski (Hon); 5. Max Biaggi (Hon); 6. Luca Cadalora (Yam); 7. Norick..Abe (Yam); 8. Nobuatsu Aoki (SU7.); 9. Simon Cra1ar (Yam); 10. Scte Gibemau (Hon); 11. RegJs Laconi (y.m); 12. RaIi Waldmann (Mod); 13. Kenny Roberts Jr. (Mod); 14. juan Borja (Hon); 15. Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Hon); 16. Sebastien Gimbert (Hon); 17. Garry McCoy (Hon); I . Matt Wait (Hon); 19. Fabio Carpani (Han). Time: 42 min., 41.128 sec. Distance: 31 laps, 73.036 miles Average speed: 102.672 mph Margin of victory: 0.283 sec. Fastest lap: AJex Cnville, 1:21.736, lap 27 500e< WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS lAtter 5 of 15 rounds): 1. Alex CriviUe (92/2 wins); 2. Mick Doohan (90/2); 3. Max Biaggi (8S/1); 4. Carlos Checa (70); 5. john Kocinski (43); 6. Nobuatsu Aoki (34); 1. Norick Abe (31); g, Tad.lyuki Okada (29); 9. Alex Barros (27); 10. Simon Crafar (26); 11. Ralf Waldmann (22); 12. Kenny Roberts Jr. (20); 13. Sete Gibernau (1S); 14. Noriyuki Haga (16); 15. Kyoji Nanba (15); 16. Regis Laconi (3); 17. (TIE) Yukio Kag.yam./Luc. Cad.lora/Carry McCoy (10); 20. (TIE) Norihiko Fujiwara/Jurgen van den Coorbergh (9). Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Jarama. Spain, June 14 Round 7 - Assen, Holland, June 27 the b;ke handles quite well now - but there is. still a big problem with speed," said dder Haruchika Aoki. He said that no new parts had arr;ved.. but it is thought that some r;ders did get a new crankcase: which offered no apparent advantage over the old one. The all-new w.orks NSR has an ·Ap~lia-SlyJe twin-crank engine but ha~ not yet ach;eiled strong horsepower and reliability all al the same time. Kenny Roberts Sr. missed the French GP. staying home in Montana while his team struggled orr. They are still awaiting their new engine. which is expeCted to breathe new life into the Modenas project. At present. they are still stuck with the vibrating original motor. with its hatiul of reliability and other problems. Sedous questions about the efficacy of the GP medical regime w.ere raised by the appearance of French 250cc star Olivier .Jacque, who raced 'in spite of being unable to walk. The track medical offic;als had not wanted to pass him as fit to race, but Ihey were overruled, largely (no doubU so as not .to damage trackattendance f;gures. Jacque was in a pitiful state for his home GP. fresh from an operat;on to repair h;s broken r;ght ankle. H!I could move about only on crutches, ·and had troubl!, getting on and off the b;ke.. "I am not sure if I wHi be able to do 'full distance," he said. The fact that he was allowed to race at all raised sedous qu'estions once aga;n about whether the same doctor who treats the riders also exerts considerable pow~r over whether they are allowed to race or not; It ;s another example of the influence exerted by Dr, Claudio Costa. whose Clinica Mobile is paid for by the teams and the sedes organizers. and whose primary role is to get riders fit again as soon as poss;ble. The probity of his prognoses .is thrown into dou~t. however. when his secondary role is alS0 to decide whether riders are fit or not. -Clearly. th;s should be judged by an independent agency. Having Jacque at the race may have added somewhat to the gate - which ;s after all the promoter's only source of income. However, the advantage of worldw;de TV audiences watching a sem;-cripple climb;ng aboard a racing bike is highly dubious at best. making the sport look fool;sh and callous. If there was a serious accident involVing an injured rider, th'e damage would be ;ncalcula~le. Racing ce~brities thronged the paddock at Paul Ricard. with a number of Worid Superbike riders present. as well as former Forinula One driver Clay Reggazzoni. now ;n a wheelchair. but still ddving a specially adapted Ferrad Daytona road car. Superbike vi sftors included Troy Corser: Colin Edwards II and Peter Goddard. while Bdtish champion Niall Mackenzie was also on hand. Mackenzie was down to test the Red Bull Yamaha on Monday.

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