Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127970
ROAD RACE a -en t to Valentino R~ss(rid'U;g thi~d factory machine in Nastro AZZUITO colors, after a bri lliant debu t season following his 12Scc title. If he had just one more points-scori ng fini s h, he might even hav e been champion - and he won the last four races in a row to end up just three points away from a debut-season title. Tohru Ukawa end ed up fou rth, top Honda rider, with Olivi er Jacque closi ng righ t up in the last races after missing a chunk of the mid season d ue to injury -. something he blamed on the fact tha t he had to ride way harder than was reason able to make up for th e m a chin e ' s d e fi ci t , The o ther two NSR ri de rs - (Above) The 125cc class - as always featured tight racing throughout the year . The title is st ill in doubt, though Kazut a Sakata (left) seemed po ised to take the crown before a fue l test issued by the AM found his bike to be in violation of the rul es. (Right) Kenny Roberts didn 't have a good season. He ended the year with ulcers being a team owner and motorcycle manufacturer can do that to you. 00 0\ 0\ ,...... ~ ~. I-< Il) .o E Il) :> o Z 12 Haruchik a Aoki and Stefano Peru gin i took the next tw o title slots. The wo r ks Hond a r id ers wou ld hav e liked to have h ad a hard ti m e wit h th e Aprilias. Ins tea d , they barely saw them. Th eir p roblem s ca me from o ne ve ry h ard -ridd en pri v a t e er H ond a. Like m ost of th e top pri v a teers, Jer em v McWilli am s had a Technical Sports ' chassis, w hic h he u sed as a scourge o f th e fa ct ory rid ers. Hi s best result was a resou nding second a t the Sachsenri ng, th e tight new Ge rma n GP ve n ue. H is o the r ma jor m oment ca me at Cata lu nya, w hen hi s fr ontbr ake lever hit the sea t of fast new italia n ri der Rober to Rolfo' s b ike at to p s peed, an d h e loo ped s pec tacu la rly over the handlebars to slide d own th e track on his back for almost 100 ya rds - m ira cul ou s ly esca p ing wi t h o u t injury. As a result, he ceded th e IRTA priv at e er cu p t o Ya ma ha - mo u n te d Tak eshi Tsujimura. 125cc ANDWESTILL DON 'T KNOW WHO WON Her e was a battl e between one lone form er champ ion on a n Aprilia vs . a hor d e of fa st H onda rid er s. In a way, Kazuto Sakat a's stro nges t point was that th e H onda ri vals kep t taki ng p oints away from one another as well as from him. Th ere were s ix different race wi nners, with cha mpio n elect Tom om i Man aka taking five of them an d Sakat a fou r. Sakata still ou tpo inted him, if you cou nt his 13 from Au stralia. But that result is open to question, pen di ng a second fue l tes t after the first sam ple wa s found to be so far beyond the limi ts in respect to lead co nte n t a n d oc ta ne ra ti ng as to actually slow the eng ine down - a pu zzling ou tcome blam ed on a fuel suppliers error. Others to win we re teenage sensation Mar co Melandri - tw ice; Brid geston eshod Masao Az u rna, coming on strong at th e en d of th e yea r; vet er a n Lu cio Cecchine llo; and obbie Veda - victim of a bad cras h in Fra nce (his third of the weekend) tha t put him out for most of the year. All rode Hon das. No body else got mu ch of a look in, but th e racing was reli ably fearsom e and fun. Wh oever d oes ge t the fin a l verdict wi ll have had to work very hard l~ for it.