Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROAD RAC E IE ES R S By Michael Scott Photos by Gold & Goose 00 0\ 0\ ,..... ~' ...... l-< Q) .c o ..... u o 32 PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA, OCT. 4 ith a wheelie over the finish line and a ha lf-lap- long wave to the fans that was almost too cas ual, motorcycle Grand Prix racing's living legend Mick Doohan took anot her step closer to the top table in th e hall of fame in the Australia n Gran d Prix . The wi n gave him his fifth consecutive 500cc World Championship - on ly prov is iona ll y , un til it is certain th at there will be no fu rther prot est agains t Max Biaggi's di squalifica tio n from the last GP in Spain. Even if there is, howeve r, i t is so u nl ik el y to s ucceed tha t Doohan, Honda, sponsors Repsol a nd mor e than 51,000 Au strali an s who had flocked down sou th to the pic turesque Phillip Island circuit started celebra ting anyway. Doo h an ' s last-l ap a n tics were no t on ly o ut of cha racter, b ut th e y a lso a llowed se co n d- placed Sim on Crafar and his Red Bull Yam aha to close d own the gap from almost four seconds to less than one at the finish line. But wi th only one round left after the cance llatio n of the Brazilian GP, and nearest riv al Max Biaggi and the Marlboro Honda d ro pping to eighth - and later complaining of pain after crashing in pr actice on Saturday - eve n secon d pl a ce w ould ha ve been eno ugh . . Repsol Hond a' s Alex Cr iv ille was th ird , narrowly beating Alex Barros's G res in i Honda and al so m oving p ast Round 13: Australian Grand Prix Biaggi and into second in the championship, while Rainey Yamaha's Norick Abe dropped back from th e leading pack to eventually finish fifth. Only then came the next trio - Suzuki's Nobuatsu Aoki and Red Bull Yam ah a 's Regis Laconi nipping Biaggi at the line . . Dee Cee Honda's Ju r gen va n d en Goorbergh was 11th, losing touch with. Kenny Rober ts Jr:s Modenas in the closing stages, but with bo th of them passing front-row sta rter John Kocinski's Vfour Movis tar Honda. It was an exciting race, with a big pack co n tes ti ng second in the early stages . Bu t th e th rill all came from Doohan, who seized an ear ly advantage wit h a very agg ressive first two laps and was never head ed aga in. Before the race, which was d elayed for a few minutes by a light shower, Doohan' s hopes were wavering after a mi sfire on the w armup lap. The NSR's s pa rk plu g s had fou le d - a p ro b lem Doohan has had a few times in this first year of lead -free fuel. His team desperately chan ged the plugs on the line. Bu t th e H onda NS R ran clea n a nd free all the way to a fine wi n - the first title he has tied up in front of his hom e crowd . "1 rea lly needed a good s tart, a nd tha t's w ha t I go t," Dooh an said . "1 cou ld hardly believe it: ' After jus t a sing le lap, he was alrea dy a massive 1.5 seconds ahea d, and from then on the win was sealed . He carried on riding with typic al forcefu lness while his rivals battled it ou t behi nd him. After the -,race, in expa nsive mood, he revea led : "1 had decided to announce my retirement after the race at Mugello (the fourth of 14 rounds). But I won the race, and decided to hold off for a while. Two races later, 1 was enjoying it again so much that I went to Honda witho ut even talking to anybody else and saidI wa nted to stay on for nex t yea r, too:' His fifth title makes him the secondmost decorated 500cc rider of all time, outstripping th e four titles won b y Eddie Lawson, Mike Hal lwood, John Surtees and Geoff Duke. O nly Giacomo Agostini has mo re - seven. . " If I had n' t broke n m y leg in 1992, maybe I'd b e si tting on seven t itl es now," Doohan said, ad di ng, "but then, if my au n tie had balls, she' d be my uncle:' In th e ea r lier 250cc ra ce, Te ts uya Har ad a compo unded his bad luck on a week end that s ta r ted w it h so meth ing getting in his eye and spo iling his pr actice and ended wi th a seized engi ne that pitched him off ab ru ptly as he fou ght for the lead with his Aprilia teammates a n d O liv ie r Jac q ue's Ch est erfi eld Honda. This handed a third successive wi n to Nastro Azzu ro Aprilia's Valentino Rossi, with Loris Capirossi's factory Aprilia second and Jacque a close thi rd . It a lso h and ed th e p oints le a d to Capirossi by four points, ahead of lon gtime lead er Harada. Wh oever is ahead of the other at the last rou nd at Buenos Aires w ill be the cha mpio n. Japanese Ma c H ond a rider Masao Azuma claimed a first GP win by inches in a thrilling finish to a tense 125cc GP. UGT H ond a ' s Tomomi Manako w as secon d a nd Ben etton Hond a ' s Marco The Australian SOOcc Grand Prix gets under way w ith Mick Doohan (1) leading the wheelyin g Max Biag gi (6), John Kocinski (19) and Simon C~afar (11). Melandri was thi rd, the tr io covered by only four-hundredths of a second. But the overall victory we nt to UGT Aprilia's Kazu to Sakata, w ho dropped back to fou rth overall. Azu ma's victorv robbe d his last two remai ning title rivals of any chance of the title, giv ing the 32yea r-old his second crown. 500cc GRAND PRIX Dooh an burst away fro m th e s ta rt, head down and rid ing as only he knows how . Biaggi led the pursuit as the Au stralian forged away ahea d, with Bar ros, Ab e, C r iv ille a n d C r afa r cl o se up behind. Biaggi was delayin g them a little . "Jus t fini shing the race was a p roblem ," he said la ter . "Th e pain was really bad - from my sho ulders to the bott om of my back. The vibration, bumps, and the br aking and accele rating forces hurt me mor e and more as the race wore on." That was later in the race; for now he, was displaced by Barros on lap three, and fro m th en on he drop ped slo w ly but in~vitably back one place at a time, as first Abe pushed past to take second from .Ba rro s from laps four to 13, and then also Cri ville. But althou gh Crafar was at the back of this group until two lap s after that, he was never more than inch es beh ind, and the duel wa s a high .' light of the race as they probed and test1

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