Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1999 09 08

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/128010

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eig h th in th e second ra ce (" I ju st d id n' t feel co mfo rta ble a t all. I d on 't know wha t w e did in betwee n , but it' s h istory now ." ), a nd Corse r en ded u p se cond after crashing specta cu larly in th e first . "I needed a good resu lt in the second race," Corser said . "There was no way I was go ing to ca tc h Fr a nk ie (C h ili) though. He's go t we bbed feet. In the wet he's just su per-fast. The only thin g we have to worry abo u t going into Assen is tires, because we' re abo ut threeor four compou nd s harder than the Hon das at each trac k, and we're stil l chewing them up." The final pod ium finis her of the day was Slight, who, like Corser, was a firs trace cras her in the wet conditions. "Tha t was m y second crash of the d a y , after I we nt down in m orn in g . warm u p," Slight said . "I actually fell becau se my viso r mis ted up. I've never used my new helmet in the we t befo re so I'm annoyed to find this probl em in race cond itions , The second race I got a good start u ntil I go t passed by a couple of ot h e r rid ers . It was n o pro b lem becau se [ knew I could get them today, even if my bike was a bit of a monster. It wa s whee l-spi nn ing eve ry where, hitting the rev-limiter in every gear because of the spin, I had hoped for better after two wins here last ye a r , but I'll take th e podium." Th e a tt rit io n in ra ce o ne was good new s fo r th e ligh tning s tarte r Rob ert Vim, w ho took fou rth (and 11th in the second race). Th e Kawasaki privateer kep t his nerve and his pace to give the hom e crowd a grea t treat in the otherwise miser able viewing cond itions . "I was obvious ly very happy to finish four th at my home race," Ulm said. "The bike we nt well and it was just the result we have bee n looking for all yea r. In the second I go t held back a little and ran off the tra ck. I even tually fell over, but only because [ was lookin g ov er my sho ulder to check the track was clear to re-en ter. The bike was okay to carry on , • but th at inci dent dropped me d own a bit. I was ha ppy to finish and take mo re points, espec ially as a lot of riders di d n't finish both races tod ay." A d is a s te r d a y fo r t h e Ka w a s aki works tea m had one shin ing rainbow, w hen Greg orio Lavilla showe d his tru e talent to lead th e seco nd race co nv incin gl y for s ix laps, until h e wa s overhauled by Chili, wh o wa s on a mission by this stage. A cras h and restart in race one ga ve him fifth (and last works rider horn el), but his chance of a seeming ly su re-fire pod ium in race two was rui ned when his viso r misted up. "I was very confiden t in the wet, so I am ve ry disappointed to crash," Lavilla said . "I could n' t clear my viso r from the b e g innin g , a n d w he n I cras hed I cou ld n' t see the brake point. I'm so disappo inted for the team ," H is t eamm ate Aki ra Ya n agaw a , knoc ked uncon sciou s in a warm-up session cra sh, ha d a br ain sca n a fte r the incid en t, bu t h e wa s out of d a nger though it's not kn own if h e w ill be a starter at Assen next weekend . Yamaha's Noriyuki Ha ga was a d isappo in tmen t, double cras hi ng his way in the di fficu lt co nd itio ns, while Pe ter God da rd and the Aprilia squa d had one cr as h (w h ic h dis loca te d Godda rd's s ho u lder once agai n) preced e d by a mechan ical problem with the gearshifter which d ro pped the m out of contention in the opener. It was tor tu re for some then, bu t for many of the privateer rid ers it was no thing sho rt of a field day. Brian Morrison was a brillian t sixth in the opener an d a very cool 10th in the seco n d , all of w hich will b e "a great p repa ra tion fo r th e Bol dO r in tw o weeks ' time. Wit h only 13 finis he rs in the firs t race, everyone go t so me thing, even those like Ca rlos Macias Perdomo, who was lapped three times . The second race was margin ally less favorab le to the majority of th e lesser ligh ts, bu t two fantas tic rid es must no t go unmen tioned. Rich ar d Kellenber ger and Giovanni Bussei held off the attentions of no less a raci ng force than Fogarty for much of race tw o, wi th on ly a lack of fu el droppin g Bussei d own to sixth, with Kellenberger fifth . Foga rt y seemed to be th e o ne w ho left the circuit in the best of moods, an d given his position , who could d eny him his pleasure? RACE 1 If there has ever been a mo re d ram atic and unpredictable World Super bike race than this one, not ma ny have seen it. Th e wet but dryin g co nd itions tha t welcomed the rid ers onto the gri d made for many a tir e gam ble . Th e eventual com bi na tio n of Edwa rds, his Ca s trol Honda a nd his interm ediate fro nt and (Above) Pier Francesco Chili (7) worked his way around Sli ght (111) and into a dom inating lead In the fi rst race . Then he crashed. (Right) That left a four-way battle for the lead betw een Edwards (5). Slight (111). Fogarty (1) and Troy Corser (11). (Below) Corser. however , eliminated himself by crashing out j ust half a lap after Slig ht had done the same thin g. slick rear choice came out on top of a race with only 13 finis hers from a starting line up of 29. With both Edwards and Slig h t getting the holeshot over Foga rty and fired up local rid er Vim, the earl y laps were fra ught with pot ential cras hes, bu t the firs t big na me to go wa s Ha ga , exiting on lap two after losin g the fron t while lying in six th. By th is tim e Slig ht had sim p ly d isappea red a t th e fro n t, full y 3.783 second s ahead of the chasing Fogarty and a slightly ga pped Ed wa rds . Chili was th e first man to mount a se rious charg e from th e rear echelons, coming fro m 10th to fourth in thr ee laps, d od gin g the wet patches and puttin g his vas t racing expe rience to full use. Corser waited until later to make his claim on the lead, but his lap-two d ou- . ble pass of Lavilla and Ulm was a mere porten t of so me even more inc redible actio n to come later in the race. The unfor tunate Lavilla, Kawasaki ' s la st hope a fter Yanaga wa's acci den t ruled the Japan ese ride r ou t of the race, crashed on lap three, losing the front at the Guss er Curve big time and rem ou nting in 20th place. His ded icati on to du ty w ou ld b e rew ard ed la ter after a fin e carve th rough the field, but less fortu . nate was Aprilia's Peter God da rd w ho had pitted to rep air his gearshifter, and fina lly retired after going out th ree laps ' in arre ars. With a race order of Slight, Foga rty, Edwa rd s, Ch il i, Corse r , Vi m a n d Guareschi, the charges we re being made for the fron t and the back (or eve n the gravel tra ps ) by most notabl y Chili and en en en ai ~ E '" C. '" (f) 21

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