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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127991
Round 1: Malaysian Grand Prix
Honda battle. Masaki Tokudome was
13th in his first 250cc race, with Australian newcomer Anthony West 14th,
four-tenths ahead of Sebastien Porto's
production Yamaha.
125CC GRAND PRIX
In his first year on a works bike, 24year-old Vincent took the lead from
fast-starting Roberto Locatelli and held
on to it most convincingly, with only
Azuma and Alzamora able to stay with
him.
Azuma had moved through to third
on the second lap after Il,laking a
mediocre start from the front row, and
he had caught the leaders and moved to'
second by the sixth lap. On lap nine he
took the lead for the. first time, which
was the signal for Vincent to redouble
his efforts to get straight back in front
and start to pull away, gaining a full second in the space of just one lap. He was
even further ahead at the end of the next
one, but on the final hairpin he overcooked it and spun out. The track is so
wide tha t his bike didn't even reach the
dirt, and he hastily remounted in fourth.
Alzamora and Azuma battled to the
finish, the Spaniard taking the lead several
times and then hanging on grimly for the
last-lap showdown, finishing a tenth of a
Purple·h'aired teenager Marco Melandri (rjght), wh~ chall,!nged
for the 1250<; title last.year after making his debut at'just 15. will
miss the ,first two GPs after. preaking. his wrist at Sepang. The
P,laylife Racing Team rider,crashed on the second morning of .
practice at Sepang,and ,fractured his left wrist, lie was among a
high number of crashers,at the new track - inCluding Mfck
.Doohan. Kenny Roberts Jr.. Jean-Michel Bayle and Carlos Checa
in the SOOcc'·c1ass on the first day. and Max Biaggi on the. second
morning. Riders .complainE;d of a jack of feel from the new surface. and Melandri said it was the bumps that threw him out 'of
control.
28
(Above) Masao Azuma
(4) and Emilio
Alzamora (7) 10ughllO
the bitter end in the
125cc Grand Prix, wllh
Azuma coming oul on
lop by just .106 01 a
second.
(Right) loris Capirossi
celebrates his 250Cc
Grand Prix win.
ano was last used for a GP in 1mi3. when Wayne Rainey suffered
crippling
i.njuri~s
in a race' crash.
BSl, the new three-cylinder 50,0cc racer from New Zealand,
made a bad start to GP r.acing, excluded from' the Malaysian GR
after problems kept them way off the pace, Australian wild-card
rider John Allen Ivas also excluded after Saturday morning's free
practice, Mark Willis. riding the BSl. had trouble in the first
untimed session and had managed only six laps in the first timed
session on Friday afternoon. lapping at 2:28.390. compared with
2:0.6.848 for provisional pole qualifier John Kocinski. On Saturday morning he ran only one lap. "We had small problems on
Ral' Waidmann, making his deb_ut on a 2500c Aprilia. was
the first day - a radiator cap.in the morning, and ali exhaust valve
another fi,?t-day crasher. also breaking his wrist and spoiling the
in the afternoon. Sat,urday's problem'was'a bit more serious."
start of his, season. Waldmann. with 12 victories. has the most
said team co-ordinator Dave Stewart. (A crankshaft broke,) "It's
the result of not enough testing '- we never even had five days
wins of any rider not to win the championship.
back to back. But the, real. problem is only having one bike. so
· that when we have trouble with one. then he has to si.t in'the pit,
Feelings were. mixed about the' magnificent new Sapang cirwhile it's fixed instead of going out OR the,other·one. - The team
cu',!. with its superb 'Paddock ~acilit.ies. inter!,sting layout 'and
'will miss the Japane'se GP. r.etuming 10 New ,Zealand to bUiid
wide corners, MO,st approv:ed, though the green surface did
two,more bikes, They plan ,t9 retyrn for the Spa,nlsh GP on May
claim a number of victims, Dophan. however. dissent!,d. In a . "We went back and measured it - it was 'about six Inches high.
sheet of- quotes issued by, 'the organizers. devoted to' high
If you' hit a bump liKe that in a c~r at 180kmJ". it'll blow your' 9; the first round of the European season. Harley-Davidson rac' .
praise from the likes of Mikka I-jakkinen. Mick said:. "This track
front tires out. That's what 'it felt like to me." Gravel traps 'are · ing champion Allen. ridrng a. Honda twin. went only slightly further in' his troubled debu!. but a best time just outside the, pole'
is suitable for Formula One auto «icing. with sweeping. ultrafast siJpposed to be level. but when he' complained to riders' reprecomers and only three slow corn rs. BlIt the layout makes il
sentative Franco Uncini. he' was astonished to learn that Unci- , plus 10 percent on Saturday 'morning also ruled him out.
less challenging for riders. long straights and fast cornerS
nl's final track inspection had only taken in the first half of the
mean ress problem for riders negotiating tricky'corners ,like
track. "He told me he'd complained about th'e raised berm on · With Michelin supplying all the 500<:c class. alid Dunlop all the
those found in Europe,. The Ii.p times show that most of them
250cc class. the only tire war is 'in the 1-25cc class. where
tlie gravel trap.s to the clerk of the course. bat he. didn't ~eem
can breeze through without much difficulty. " This may seem like
BricIgestone is making inroads 'into Dunlop territory. Two out of
to think It his 'responsibility to check to see if anything had been
heresy.- tlie old racing 'rul", was !tiat fast co'!'ers sort the men