Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE Jerez test After his record-set ting time, perh aps that decision will come more easily . KOCINSKI AND KANEMOTO Former World Su perbike Ch am pion John Kocins ki tested th e Ka nem oto Honda SR500 for two full da ys on Frida y, Nov emb er 13, and Saturda y, November 14, with the Californian cutting an im p ress ive time of 1:43.30 under the GP pole-positio n time set by Carlos Checa. Kocinski had lapped ilt 1:43.992 for sixth on the starting grid in this year' s 500cc GP on the Mo viSt ar Pons Honda NSR. This te st mea ns tha t Kocin sk i will likely join Kanam ot o for 1999, thou gh they still hav e to find a sponso r. It also me ans that Kanem oto' s rider from this year - Max Bia g gi - ha s s ig ne d w ith Yamaha, thou gh Biaggi refuses to confirm the signi ng. ROBERTS JR . AND THE SUZUKI The Su zuki 500cc Gr and Pri x team also left Spain with smiles on their faces; a s Ken ny Rob erts Jr .'s debu t o n the RGV500 was bett er than they had prob - By Paolo Gozzi JEREZ, SPAIN, NOV. 13-18 e re's th e sc ri pt - Part O ne : Valentino Rossi smashes all the records, maintai ns his unbeaten record that has lasted fro m the final four rounds of this yea r, and easily win s th e 1999 250 cc World Cha m p ionship . And Part Tw o: Tetsuya Harada brings the Ap rilia 500cc twin (a bike that was pensioned off at the end of 1997 for lack of results) back to the track after a one-year absence, and finishes ahead of the unbeatable Hond a NSR. At the mo ment, this is only an Aprilia dream for 1999 - science fiction ra ther than fact. But the production staff and the two main actors - Rossi and Harada - we re hard a t wo rk last wee k at jerez in Spain, and they came away w ith so me numbers that may cause the team managers of rival squa ds to lose a b it o f sleep over the winter . Rossi was sim ply fanta stic on the 250, bu t the really big new s was Harad a, as he lapped Jer ez faster than anyo ne has, including anyo ne on a Ho nda. Th is d ou b le w ha m my ca me in the space of just a few minutes: Harada was se tti ng th e p a ce, with Rossi a lmost glue d to him to ge t precious reference p oin ts . Th e wa tc hes were s to p ped at almos t the sa me time: Rossi's eng inee rs recorded a 1:43.80, a new lap recor d for the 250cc class, whil e the Japan ese rid er set an amazing time of 1:43.20 to destroy the Jerez lap record, which had been set ba ck in 1993 by th e legendary Kevin Schwantz at 1:44.168. He was also under Carlos Checa 's 1998 qualifying record of 1:43.467. Harad a h a d succeeded in go ing faster than all the Hon d a 500cc ' rid ers: Ch eca, Tadayuki Okada, Alex Cri ville, Max Bia ggi a n d ... yes, eve n M ick Doohan, who clocked a 1:43.987 during qua lifying in May. (Above) Tetsuya Harada su rprised everybody when he went to Jerez and broke the 500cc lap record on the Aprilia V-twin. (Right) Less surprising was that Valentino Ross i was the quickest of the 250cc riders. Rossi rode an updated version ofthe 1998model Aprilia RSV250 and found the changes to his liking. H arad a' s performan ce w as su perb, ' lead ing team manager Jan Wittewento iss ue slower lap times to th e press in hop es of keepi ng the times secret. But it was too late, and any hopes of sandbagging for the competition were da shed. The Aprilia 500, relegated to a dusty corner of the racing d ivision for almost a yea r, ha s immedia tel y come to li fe again . With th e tea m worki ng for a mon th o n the bike, and with a ri der such as Harad a, the bike had been ab le to do things it had never don e before. The Aprilia 500 has changed a lo t fr om th e bi ke th at Doriano Rombon i rode in 1997. A new mad e-to -me asure frame has been built for Harad a, using the sa me settings and many of the compon en ts the Japan ese rid er used on his 250. Inn ov ation s successfullv tested on the 250 were a lso trans ferred to t he inside of the 500cc engine . An d H arad a si m ply did the rest. Prior to the Jerez test, the former 250cc World Ch ampion had only com p leted so me 10 laps on a 500, and that was a t Mu gell o in Ital y . Still, he immediately mastered the bike, wi th his stvle see mingly well-s uited to the bike : which is conceptually simi lar to the 250. "Th e biggest problem w a s getting used to the power," Harada exp lained. "My first impression was a negative one: , At first, I almost couldn' t kee p the front whee l ancho red to the ground, but then I got used to it. I ha ve to ad mit that, wi th respect to the GP days, this time with the weather - 21 degr ees and a perfect track surface - things were much better. In any ca se, I was reall y su rp rised . I didn't thin k I cou ld go so fast so quickly." Just a day earli er, Harada had some d oubts abou t a move to the 500cc class. "If I continue d in 250, I would have had a chance of winning the title, and a cha nge would not have been easy," he sa id . "I will ha ve to th ink reall y hard befo re mak ing a decision ." ably expe cted. Th e California n finished the test with a best time of 1:43.90, whil e Nobuatsu Aoki circulated at 1:44.00. "We can only be happy, because they are tw o front-row times ," team manager Garry Ta ylor sai d . "Kenny impressed me because as well as being fast, he also gave us excelle nt setup indications." Both riders used 1998 bikes bu t tried numerous suspension settings, backed up by three Sohwa eng ineers. The only problem was Roberts' day-tw o crash, though he wa sn't injured . The Modenas KR3 also turned up at Jerez, with jean-Michel Bay le a nd Randy Mamola ha nd ling the testin g d ut ies. "Kenny (Robert s) as ked me to try the bike and I agreed," Bayle said . "I found the bike mu ch im prov ed over the one I rod e in 1997. I hav en 't signed an y contra ct, however , 'and I still don 't kn ow what I'll be doin g in the future." Th e pair u s ed bo th Dunl op a n d

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