Round 11: C of Imola.G Prix
ity
rand
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROAD RACE SERIES
Th e 250cc GP
gets started
with Lo ris
Cap irossi (1)
already
setting sail
over t he rest
of th e field.
The Italian
ended up
w inn ing eas il y
o ver
ch am pio ns h ip
leader
Valentino
Rossi (46) .
12 5 c c GRAN D PRIX
M el andri co nfi r med his s ta t us as
giant of th e sma llest class; his ra ce was
as m ajestic as i s p o ssible on a 125. H e
had led the first sta r t, with rookie San na
o n his ta il as he broke awav - but b efore
th e first la p w as co m p leted r ain star ted
an d both held up th eir hand s, trigg er ing
a red fla g .
M el andri did th e same thing in the
second sta r t, a n d just p ulled away, so
th at he wa s able to r elax in the seco n d
half a nd still w in co m fo r tab ly b y more
th an o ne seco nd.
The ba tt le had. b een for seco nd , w ith
fron t-row sta r te r G i no Borsoi lea di ng
the g roup from San na and soon- to-crash
L ucio Cecchi nello from l ap six all th e
way to lap 17, o n ly for h is engine to fail.
" I co u l d taste m y fi rs t rostrum, but
m y d est iny w as d ifferent," Borsoi sai d
l at er .
By this time a fl y ing Roberto Loc atelli
h ad co me cha rgi ng throu gh th e g rou p,
taking fas tes t lap and h oldi n g a co n vincin g seco n d f r om Sann a a n d f ei st y
F r e nc h ma n Arnaud V i n c ent as th e y
be gan t he fi nal lap, only to cras h jus t as
he had at Brno.
" I d on' t know w h y . Th e tir e ju s t
BriefIy_ -----'------'-...
Defending 250cc World Champion Loris Capi rossi had a narrow esca pe in practice after he hit a W
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10
Racinq 's hlgh ·speed bad boy A nthony Gobe rt is set for a
return .to GP mcing at his home Circuit of Phillip Island, where he
won his debut W orl d Supe rbike race in 1994 . if neqotiation s '
betw een MuZ and hi s next-year bosses Ducati proceed accord:
ing to plan. Sources close to the team confir med that they hope
to put the " Go-Show " on one of t heirVfours for the 'Australian
race and for the South Afric an·GP a week later. . and possibly
also fo~ the .final two races in Brazil and Argentina. Gobert . curre nt ly riding a V ance & Hines Du cati in the AMA Superbi ke
Series, is expected to move to the factory World Superbike team
wen t, " he sai d lat er , after r emounting to
fini sh 11th.
Em ilio A l za mor a had been dropped
b y this g rou p, but had caugh t up again
at th e finish with h is u sual fi ery riding
o n the V ia D i gital H ond a , narrowl y
h eading 1 obb ie Ve da 's C iv i Honda .
T hen came I v an G o i , with Ste ve [ en k n er
mov i ng to a close sev enth on the fina l
l ap ah ead of teena g er M anual Po g giali
an d Youichi V i.
Ea r ly title l ead er M asao Azu ma was
a cl o se 10 t h , complaining of ha ndling
p rob le m s a ll weekend o n his Benetton
Honda.
next year alongside curr ent championship leader Carl Fogarty.
Gobert last raced in GPo in 1997. in the fact ory Suzuki.team. but
was fired after failing a drug test. Similar problem s followed him
to the U .S., where he went after the FIM decreed he would have
to take a drug test before every race. at his own expense. Gobert has.been tested by the AMA before every race this year and
he will also have to submit tests to FIM before each of the GPs
in which he partakes.
Luca C ada lor a ' s GP c areer ha s hit anot her hia tus, and
French rider Bernard Garcia has replaced him on the Weber.MuZ.
The former 125 and two-time 25Ccc W orld Champion and 50Ccc
GP winner had already misse d several races this year. reinforcing
a repu tation for errat ic com mit ment that wa s es tablis hed dur ing
his time as a factory Yamaha rider . Wh ile With Yamaha. he frequently pulled into the pits rat her than race (while not racking up
six of his eight race wins). "After he pulled in at 6 rno, the team's
major backer decided enough was enough." said a MuZ teamster.
After months of silence, more details leaked out at Imola about
the f o u r -strok e proposa l s for GP racmq. Mo st of the proposals are as before · the news IS firstly that a capacity omit has been
set at 60Ccc to 990cc, secondly that the proposed date has definitely been set back fro m 200 1 to 2002 . and thirdly that the
notion is prog ressing at all. aft er months of Si e nce . Sources close '
l
to the GPM A (Grand Prix Manufacturers As sociation) say that in
fact the broad techrucal 'details had been agreed as much as
year ago. and that the delays come mainly from the RM . who are
thought to be dragging their feet in order to delay the inevitable
confron tation betwee n GPs and Superbi ke s. The loss of one or
other of these series would cut the FIM ·s income significantly .
The leaked proposals are as follows: 600cc to 990cc capacity :
minimum three cylinders, maximum six gears : oval pistons: maximum 600cc: fuel capacity to be limited .to 24 liters with the limit
reduced after two years: minimum weights (three cylinders. 135kg
. the same as V -four two-strokes: four or five cylinders. 145kg:
more than five cylinders. 155kg): no noise limits: two-stro kes to
stay as they are.
a
BMW is : expected - to return to GP racing when the four-stroke
rules are introd uced . acco rding to M r. Vasuo lkenoya. president
of HRC: This was also confirmed by M r. Toshimitsu he. chief of
A zuma now lies seco n d, three points
b eh ind Al zam ora on 17 0 p o ints .
Melandri h as 140, Ved a 130, a n d Vincen t 119 - moving o ne point ahe~d of the
luckless Locatelli.
CIII
City of Imola Grand Prix
lmola, Ital y
Results: September 5, 1999 (Rou nd 11 of 16)
125cc QUALIFY IN G: 1. M.H CO Mc la nd r i
(1 :58 .141); 2. Gi no Boreoi 0 :58.3(15); J . Simone 5.m nd
0 :58.759); 3. Arnaud Vincent 0:58.8b2); 5. Yo iu ch i Ui
0 :59.0(2) ; h. Emil io Alza mor a O :5Q .153); i. Roberto
Loca te lli (1 :59.401); 8. Lu cio Cecclu rwllo (1 :59..1 94 ); 9.
Giov a nni Scalv i ni (1:5 9. 689); 10 . Ste ve [c n k n er
0 :59.739); 11. M. rn g ~ i .l l i (1 ; 59 . 7~1) ; 12. IVOln Coi
0 :59.931) ; 13 . Ma sa o Al.u m a (1 :5Q.'H~8) ; 14. W . d e
A ngeli!' (2:00. 123 ); 15 . Noboru Ued a (2:00.185); lb.
Fre d eric Pt'lit (2:00 .23b) ; 17. A. Bra n m-tf (2:00.4 51); 18.
Yamaha ' s First Engineeri ng division . whi ch includ es their raci ng
departments . It seems the old German company. which last raced
as a factory in the late '50s, is interested in retu rning in league
With Aprilia. who will develop a GP racing engine. BMW and April.
ia already have a number of commercial and engineering links wit h
the Italian company .
Both Honda and Yam~ha plan to continue racing two -str okes in
the 500cc class, but both expect to build a four-stroke alternative.
to run alo ngs ide the tw o-st rok es at some .or all o f the races in
2002 . Suzuki's plans are not ye l clear.
Top crasher C a r los C h eca -racked up his 24th tumble of the
year on the firs t day of practi ce at Imola, Incurring his first injury •
a fractured finger on his left hand. Nothing daunted. and using a .
special shortened clutch lever he could operate With one hand. he
went straight back out and eventually qualified on the front row of
the grid. How did he find the spiri·t 10 keep bouncmq back. he was
asked at the pest-practice conference? He looked thoughtful for a
moment. and said: " I drink a lot of milk."
Mick D oohan has approached Honda With the request to run hrs
own team next year, according to HRC president lkenoya-Sen .
but no deci sion has yet been made about supply of machines or
riders. " I spoke to Mr . Doo han 30 minutes ago, but we do not
know yet about his riding plans for next season," he said. "We
cannot delay our decisions much longer. We agreed that we will
deci de about next 'year as soon as po ssib le. W e will provi de no
more than seven rider s with NSR 500 5." M r. lkenoya continued .
at a spec ial exclus ive press conference . his first for a year. On e of
them mtqht be Vale ntino Rossi. "I heard he wants t o r ide an
NSR500 next year, but I cannot give you any more mformation. "
he said. ..W e want to have a discussion wit!l him in the very near
future.·I think he is a splendid and talented rider. and also very
cheerful..and popular." In response to questions. Mr. Ikenoya was
firm on the question of Alex Criville' s future. Crivi lle is currently
part of a package being put together by former champion and
team owner Silo Pons for a well-funded satellite team backed by
t he Spani sh Telefonica co mpany . Ho nda ' s . fa ct ory V vtwin
NSR500V is dea d, lkenoya co nfirmed. The mach ine wa s last
raced at this year's French GP, where it finished fourth . Aft er that,
rider Sete Gibernau took over Doohan's vacant V-four. and the
