Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 1: Malaysian GrandPrix WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROAD RACING SERIES Laconi, with shoulder injuries, and delighted with seventh, inches ahead of Juan Borja in his first factory ride on the second Movistar machine. Front-row starter Aoki, on the second Suzuki, all but caught this group after a torrid afternoon. He'd slowed off the start Hne with a recurrence of an electronic problem that had struck un.expectedly in morrting warmup and then run off the track and dropped to 18th trying to regain places. From then on, still suffering from acceleration problems, he picked his way through into the top 10 again. Sete Gibernau was lOth on the vtwin Repsol Honda, and Yukio Kagayarna was 11th on the third Suzuki. A Httle way back carne Jean-Michel Bayle, his Modenas triple outpowered on the two long straights as well as out of the three slow corners. Tetsuya Harada was a disappointed] 3th in his first 500cc ride on the Apriba. Simon Crafar was 14th after continuing to struggle with his switch from Dunlop to Michelins, just one second ahead of top privateer Haruchika Aoki, who took the last point. Then came the private Hondas of Sebastien Gimbert and newcomer Markus Ober, with Mike Hale's Modenas 18th and last in his first GP. Both MuZs were among seven nonfinishers, with Luca Cadalora and Jurgen van den Goorbergh suffering identical failures to the balance-shaft system. second anywhere else - I want to thank Yamaha for keeping faith in me after my big accident last year," the Spaniard sa id, less than a year after suffering hIe-threatening injuries a t the British GP. Checa held on under considerable pressure - not on!y from Criville, who said later that he was sliding too much to pose a real threat, but.also from Okada, who had caught up after five laps rr6m a mediocre start. Doohan picked his way through to sixth on lap four, but' he was out of touch with the leaders and under severe pressure for most of the race frRm Alex Barros on the Movistar H~nda. "We'd been struggling aJ] weekend, and I was just playing catch-up," Doohan said. "I smoothed it out to try to get Alex off my back." In the last laps he closed dramatically on the group disputing second, but he was only able to pass Okada. Then the Japanese rider slowed on the last lap, his radiator holed and his engine overheating. Johnn K's da I 26 t is not unheard of for Mick Doohan not to be on the front row of the grid, but it is unusual enough to be remarkable. It might have been dlfferent had the second session not been hit by a tropical deluge minutes before the start - which kept the track soaking wet tbroughout the session - so that neither DOOhan nor anybody else got a chance to improve, leaVing the .five-time World Champion (a crasher on day one) seventh overall and on the second row. Pole went to another Honda rider, with an even bigger point to prove: John Kocinski, on the unsponsored Kanemoto Honda, looking at a race-by-race prospect. "A good result here is our ticket to Japan," he said. "I can't even think of not doing well." Riding an ex-Biaggi machine, Kocinski claimed pole by .090 of a second and was fast all the time. It didn't matter that it was a year-old machine, he said. '1[ you have someone who can make it the way you want it, it doesn't matter what you have," he said, adding a paeon of praise for Erv Kanemoto's ability and dedication. "He's slept two hours a night for the last 10 days, and hardly eaten," he said, adding, "This team has been a dream for me for a long time." Max Biaggi was second, making a strong start on the Yama~ ha, and declining to be drawn into making a direct comparison with the Honda he rode last year. "All bikes have advantages and disadvantages compared with each other," he said. "It's up to the rider to compensate for problems and make the most of the strengths." He also feU in practice, at low speed on a slow-down lap when he ran over a white line, lucky to escape injury in a heavy high-sider. Third and fourth - and here was a surprise, to those who .haven't paid attention to the testing times - were the two Suzukis, with Kenny Roberts Jr. faster, then Nobuatsu Aoki. Five-time World Champion Mick Doohan (1) could do no better than fourth in the series opener as he ~ttled with a lack of traction. Here he leads sixth-place finisher Alex Barros (5). "There was smoke coming up from the fairing on the last lap:' Okada said. "J didn't slow down, but 1 prayed it would hold together to the finish." Barros, troubled with hand injuries, was happy enough with sixth. Then came Red Bull Yamaha rider Regis ;!50cc GRAND PRIX Capirossi led Nakano away, with pole man Rossi left behind to finish the first lap in seventh. He never did get going. "My start was fine until J tried to shift to second gear," he explained. "There was some electronic problem, and my bike wasn't working properly. ~ could only ride more than two seconds slower than my normal pace, taking so many risks that I nearly crashed a couple of times." In his absence, akano took the lead on the second lap and stayed there ior almost the entire race. By half-distance, the Japanese newcomer, riding aggressively, had a lead of almost two seconds. But he was not alone for long. Capirossi and Shell Advance Honda, Roberts had been fast all winter, and he ju t carried on the Sete Gibemau's V-twin Honda was 13th, with new Yamaha' same way, running quickest in the wet, although he was anoth- rider Carlos Checa 14th, one place ahead of Jean-Michel Bayle's Modenas. The Spaniard would surely have been higher but for er to crash on the first day, at high speed. "Getting results is all I've been thinking of since November," a spectacular high-speed crash tiW spoiled his Friday time. He he said. "We know we have the bike a lot better, but it's good to gamely got to his feet and threw gravel over his burning get over the first hurdle of qualifying." machine, to no avail. . Aoki's position was rather more surprising, since the secLuca Cadalora's MuZ led row five, with Tetsuya Harada ond-year Suzuki man has struggled to find the pace during test- alongside on the Aprilia, well below his testing fonn, and nursing, striving all the while to refine his riding style. His habit of a ing a painful shoulder after almost being thrown off in a highlifetime of racing involves beavy use of the rear brake, even sider. The 250s were hit by the same weather problems as the SOOs, with the throttle opening, and he has been struggling to change this, while also coming to terms with changes to the machine. so again the times may not have been completely representa) ...t last 1 have found a way to ride this bike," he said. "Now tive. Then again, Valentino Rossi, now the sole factory Aprilia I am feeling much more confident, and enjoying myself. It is entry, has dominated testing, and he did the same thing again, interesting to have a fast teammate like Kenny, and good for claiming his first-ever pole position by a narrow margin over motivation, but until now I have been quite confused with try- newcomer Nakano's Yamaha. It had not, said Rossi, been easy. ing to find the right way." A mere four-tenths covered the front row, with less than "We still have a lot to do with setting the bike here - it's a two-tenths to Alex Criville's Honda, leading row two from difficult track, very technical;' he said. "But it's the S<1me for Abe's 1998 Yamaha. Doohan was ju t hundredths slower, com- everybody, and r have done a lot of testing over the winter, so plaining about a lack of feeL There is nothing new in his prob- maybe we can get the bike better tomorrow morning." Nakano was just two-tenths behind, praising his Yamaha's' lems finding fidelity from the front wheel - the change is that. Suzuki and Yamaha have put the pressure on like never before. performance. Clearly down on speed to the Apriba (247.7km/h in the fast session against Rossi's 254.1), he could make it up on But a dry second session may have changed things. "We had some more things to try, and I'm confident I could fast and slow corners. have gone faster," he s

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