Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

lending credence to his claim that his bike is still short of top-end power. The only shame was that this sort of racing was limited to the last podium positions, not to the first ones. RACE TWO Corser and Fogarty must have heard this wish from the crowd, because they eventually served up a great raw steak of the race in the final lap. The opener was not without its moments either, when Corser shot across the bows of holeshot man Slight in a most Hagaesque manner, substituting balls for finesse as he stamped his authority over the proeeedings once more. Yanagawa lost too much of a march on his first-race playmates to join the second-race adventure, plowing a lonely furrow to sixth, a position he held for 20 of the 22 laps. It took Fogarty three laps to pass a disgruntled Slight and commence an eerily similar chase to the one in the first race, except he caught Corser this time, on lap 10, had a go at passing him on lap 12 and finally succeeded on lap 15, at the same time tha t Haga and Slight were swapping paint during some desperately close moments. Even a new, if temporary, lap-record pace could npt pull Fogarty away from Corser. Goddard and Lavilla were again in the wars long before this, with Lavilla having a spectacular low-orbit crash almost over the handlebars on lap six when, he believed, hi slipper clutch went wrong. A faulty park-plug core was blamed for Goddard's second mechanical DNF of the day, pulling him out of what could have been a strong top-six ride on the A prilia at his beloved home circui t. A brace of photo finishes was in store at the front. Fogarty and Corser's may have been the foeu of attention, but 15 seconds behind came a three-rider scramble between Haga, Slight and Edwards. The Texan again won the quick-draw competition by a whisker, with less than a tenth of a second separating him from Slight and Haga. Everyone else, however, was stiU breathless after Fogarty and Corser went for ultimate glory, and vital championship points, in a climactic tussle for the win. Corser eased past on the first corner after drafting Fogarty on the straight, sending the crowd into pasms of delight for their boy. An attack lined up by Fogarty up and over Lukey Heights looked destined to fail until Corser tried too hard to block Fogarty and ran wide, giving Foggy a window of opportunity he grabbed with some force - enough force to make Cor~er lift up but not lift off as the pair began the long slingshot around the final corner and onto the finish straight. A little wheelspin and wobble from Fogarty on the first part of the curve was enough to suck Corser into his sli pstrea m as the pair began a .long bu t ' rapid run to the flag. Fogarty flipped left early to try to block Corser's attempts at siipstreaming, but maybe not early enough, as the two crossed the line completely together with roars of expectation echoing around the track, Cor er looked over at Fogarty, who reacted neither positively or negatively - enough of a sign for Corser to start the victory celebrations, poss,ibly more in hope than expectation. The transponders worked overtime to split them by five-thousandths of a second, in favor of Corser, bringing him his first double of the year in the most dramatic style possible. _ QUALIFYl C, 1. Troy Co""r (U2.193/107.613 mph); 2. Carl Fogarty (1,32.612); 3. Aaron Slight (1:32.995); 4. Colin Edwards II (1:33.149); 5. Doriano Rombom (1;33.430); 6. Gregorio Lavilla (l :33.(37); 7. Akira Yanagnwa (l:33.s12)~. Steve Martin 0:33534); 9. Noriyuki Haga 0:33.716); 10. Katsuaki Fujiwara 0,34.018); 11. Craig Connell (1,34.238); 12. PierFrancesco Chili (1:34.539); 13. Andreas Meklnu 0:34.726); 14. Shawn Giles 0:34.987); 15. Peter Goddard 0:35.102); 16. Robert Ulm 0:35.521); 17. Igor Jerman Aaron Slight said Friday p",ctice was "a waste of time, I had an oil leak from a ret~rn line off the s~mp and all day yesterday I complained that the bike j~st wo~idn't hook ~p. So really all. my tire choices had to be based on two sessions on Sat~rday, i still don't know what I'll be ~sing, l7 or 16.5. The 17 offers more grip in the corner and the 16.5 offers more rolling speed." Responding to a q~estion dvring the post-Superpole press confer· ence, all the top three riders - Slight. Fogarty and Corser - reckoned the -wet" superpole rules were a marked improvement over the reg~lar routine of one flying lap against the clock. "If the orgainizers are listening, that's the best Superpole - for riders, for spectators, for TV - that we've ever had. Safer for us as well. A limit of 12 laps on a dry track was really exciting, - Fogarty said, "Me and Troy swapped pole position a few times and that's what people want to see. Hopefully they will change the st~pid format of a single lap to something like this, regardless of weather condilions. This IS the way to go. - Even Corser, ~ndisputed Superpole champion of the world, was happy to change, -It is definitely better, especially on a drying track like this," the A~stralian said. -You can go out and find yo~r way aro~nd a bit. see where the wet and dry sections are, before yo~ p~t in a fast lap." Slight made another valid point. 'We spend the last "ntimed session testing superpole tires. when we wo~ld be better testing race setup. " Troy Corser once more went faster in Superpole, with a limited n~mber of laps, than h<1 co~ld manage in over four hours of free and timed q~alify;ng. His 1:32.193 compared favorably with Mlck Doohan's previo~s best lap of ',33.135, provi"9 that heavily modified street bikes can be as 'fast as fuli-blown two-stroke prototypes, And some say that fo~r-stroke GP bikes wo~ld be uncompetitive? Troy Corser expiained the consistentiy dazzling performances of the ~s~al Honda .and Ducati s~spects - Aaron Slight, Colin Edwards Carl Fogarty and himseif - with the simple dict~m that - they're the best bikes o~t there." Cold comfort for the other works stars, most notably Corona Suz~ki rider Pier·Francesco Chili, who has thus far struggled to find any level of consistency, "I 'think Frankie is j~st having one of thos.e weekends where he can't get it sorted out. - sai>! Corser. -I don't think he's had a tow II: Jean jeandat 0:38.609); 24. Lance Is."l3cS (1:40.464); 25. Steve Webster (1:40.660); 26. P. Archer 0:41.788). RACE ONE, 1. Troy Corser (Due); 2. Carl Fogarty (Due); 3. Colin Edwards n (Hon); 4. Aaron Slight (Hon); 5. Aktra Yanagawa (Kaw); 6. Noriyuiki Haga (Yam); 7. Doriano Rombonl (Due); 8. Craig Connell (Due); 9. K."llsuaki Fujiwara (Suz); 10. Andreas MekL,u (Due); 11. Sh.awn Giles (502); 12 19ar Jerman (Knw); 13. Vittoriano Guareschi (Yam); 14. Robert Ulm (Kaw); 15. Jiri Mrkyvka (Due); 16. A. Maxwell (Kaw); 17. Maruo Lucduari (Yam); 1 . lance Isaacs (Due); 19. P. Archer (Hon). Kawasaki's Akira Yanagawa (4) was the best of the Kawasaki men, taking sixth and seventh, Here Yanagawa passes Jiri Mrkyvka. Time: 34 min.• 24.328 sec. Distance: 22 t.'ps, 60.7 miles Average sp~: 105.732 mph Margin of victory: O.oos sec. Fastest lap' Troy Co...r, 1,;j3.019/106.658 mph,lap 21 WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIO SHIP POINT Time: 34 min., 28.167 sec. Distance: 22laps, 60.7 miles Aver~ge speed: 10552hnph Margin of victory: 3.801 sec. Phillip Island Phillip Island, Australia Results: April 18, 1999 (Round 2 of 13) on pole for abo~t fo~r years, yet I've won loads of races and World Championships. To me it means nothing." (1:.35.986); 18. Vittoriano Guareschi 0:36.137); 19. Lucio Pedercini 0:36.487); 20. A. Maxwell 0:37.291); 21. Jiri Mrkyvka 0,38.148); 22. Mauro Luccluari 0,38,261); 23. STANDINGS (After 2 of 13 rounds): 1. Carl Fogarty (90/2 wins); 2. Troy Co...r (86/2); 3, Aaron Slight (62); Fasles' lap, Carl Fogarty, 1,;j3.333/106.299 mph, lap 8 RACE TWO, 1. Troy Corser (Due); 2. Carl Fogarty (Due); 3. Colin Edwards n (Hon); 4. Aaron Slight (Hon); 5. Noriyuki Haga (Yam); 6. Akira Yanagawa (Kaw); 7. Steve Martin (Due); 8. Doriano Romboni (Due); 9. Cmig Connell (Due); 10. Katsuaki Fujh\·ara. (502); 11. Andreas Meklau (Due); 12. Shawn Giles (Suz); 13. Pier-Francesco Chili (Suz); 14. Lucio Pedercini (Due); 15. Vittoriano Gunreschi (Yam); 16. Robert Ulm (Kaw); 17. Jiri Mrkyvka (Due); 18. jean jeandilt (Han); 19. Lance Isaacs (Due); 20. Steve Webster (Hon); 21. P. Archer (Hon). 4. Colin Edwards n (56); 5. Akira Yanagawa (42); 6. Noriyukl Haga (42); 7. Coriano Romboni (31); 8. KalSuaki Fujiwara (24); 9. Pier-Francesco Chili (20); 10. Gregorio LavilJa (18); 11. Craig Connell (15); 12. Andreas Meklau (14); 13. Robert Ulm (13); 14. Vit1:onano Guaresehl (1); 15. CTlE) Steve Martin/Peter Goddard/Shawn Ciles (9); 18. Lucio Pedercini (6); 19. Igor Jerman (5); 20. Lance Isaacs (4). Upcoming Ro~nds: Round 3 .. Donington Park, England, May 2 Round 4 - Albacete, Spain, May 16 to get him aro~nd, from me or Carl or Aaron or (Craig) Connell. He asks roe every time I see him tb give him a tow aro~nd. Phillip island's the kind of track where If yo~ don't get into it right away to start wor.king it, yo~ can struggle for a while.- reg~lar will have a haid induc1ion to the big. bad World Cha"1pionship worid. beca~se there are no tracks on the 13-event calendar (other than his home ven~e of KyalamiJ thai the personable YQ~ng biack rider has even seen, never mind raced aro~nd, Pier-Francesco Chili is finding his S~z~ki very diffic~lt to set in race trim. Proof of this came from the fact that he was one of the few top riders to improve his best reg~lar practice time on a drying track on Saturday, rather than the better conditions of Friday, "The problem is d~ring the entry to a t~m, and even more so when I try to open the lhrottle exiting corners. I can't! When I try to, it grips too much and t~rns the bike around the front." Chili complained. The battle of the Italian twins is understanQably being wO!1 by the D~catis of Fogarty and Corser so far, and for the near fut~re, it looks like it is going to stay that way. Peter ~oddard had a very good first practice session on Friday to finish sixth overall, then went backward with set~p and tires on Sat~rday, c~lminating in a crash and a disappointing Superpole of 15th, "The D~catls are just so strong now. I hope the Aprilia can be so strong one day. They accelerate so hard. That's what we need, 'more acceleraftOn, And tires. The Michelin g~ys seem okay... ~p In a weird and wonderf~1 weekend for racing oddities - what with a Sidecar, Supermono and 250cc production race all scheduled into a b~sy race program - some strange sights were to be seen. One was Pier-Franceso Chili completely engrossed in watching the S~permono s~pport race on his pit TV cf~ring Saturday afternoon. Aussie attack ;n10 the ~pper echelons of the top 10 at Phillip Island, albeit with a reduced strength in depth, with thi! red menace.of the D~cati A~stralia pairing of Craig Conneil and Steve Martin topping even the works Apriria of Peter Goddard. Both riders are fuHy D~cati Corse-supported riders, with machinery and back~p of a very high standard. Shawn Giles, on the Ansett Air Freight S~z~ki, was another A~ssie to impress, b~t The ~sual contin~ed compared fo previous years. there was not as much strength in depth evident to worry the reg~lars. The brave new Sidecar World Cup kicked off a new chapter in three-wheel history this weekend by taking place within the World S~perbike organization for a whole season for the first time. The stlries, run by Olympia management based in Germany and Hoiland, features both two- and fo~r-stroke-engined machines. for the first time. The 1200cc fo~r-strokes were stili outnumbered by the GP-derived strokers, with only eight of the 21 entrants to the meeting ~sing prod~ct;on-based engines. The use of two-strokes is a complete abo~t-face in the normal philosophy of the World Superbike series, which has always demanded that production· based machinery m~st be ~sed, The F1ammini organization had no real choice b~t to run two-strokes this season because so many pottlntial competitors had already committed themselves to twostokes, or Simply co~ld not prepare anything like a competitive four-stroke engine in time. Both two- and four·strokes have an eq~alized Among one of many local wild cards was the Honda VTR 1000 of Peter Archer, The startlingly standard-looking yeilow Honda was one of the manY off-the·pace local riders who provoked the ire of the World S~perbike reg~lars. Despile their criticisms', Archer scraped onto the grid in the final q~alifying position. Four riders - "reg~lars" Carlos Macias Perdomo and Gi~lianQ Sartoni and local wild cards Smith and Orchard - failed to q~ali!¥,. So~th African privateer Lance Isaacs, who had a spirited ride at his home ro~nd of Kyalami despite a grievo~sly damaged left ,hand, fo~nd the going even harder at Phillip Island, "I can hardly hold on through the fast corners here beca~se I can only really use three fingers on my hand, - he said. The new World S~perbike postrace lower weight limit of 770 po~nds, which incl~des both riders and all protective eq~ipment. Reigning Worid Sidecar t:~p Champion Steve Webster, with co·rider David Jame's, ~tarted his title defense in perfec~ fashion at Phillip Island, with '" hard-fo~ght win against. Kla~s Klaffenbock and Adoif Hanni. "It's fantastic to win for the team first time out on the fo~r-stroke. They have put. massive effort in, as did Klaffy, who I think did very well to stick with us all the way," Web· ster's victory was hard-fo~ght to the end, with A~strian Klaus Klaffenbock swapping the lead with Webster In a thrilling battle only decided when a daring braking mane~ver saw Klaffenbock take to the grass at Honda Comer on the iast lap, leaVing him '11 seconds down at the flag. a Q. < 15

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