Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

wanted to be on the pod iu m to join in with Carl ' s celebrations . H is titl e is a g rea t ach ievement a nd it wou ld ha ve been nice to s ha re it with him . But it w ould a lso ha ve bee n like a dmitti ng defeat." The big picture remained unaffected , with only the " minor" cha m pi on ship positions in d ispute, as Fogarty - ecs tatic at having the extra pressure of expectation from the few thou sand Brit ish fans in th e stadium and the mill io ns back hom e lifted fro m his shoulders - turned ca rtw heels of joy in the gravel tr aps a fter his fourth title wi n. "I kn ow I' ve been a bit igno ra nt to the fans recen tly, but that's been due to the p ressure I've been under," Fogart y adm itt ed. "I d on't really w o rr y abo u t win ning World C ha mp io ns h ips . Th e thing that I wan t to d o is win races. The _ titl es are for othe r people - m y fa mily and the fans. I think I'v e go t more fans than most football clubs, so this was for them." Fogarty' s main cha m p ions hip challengers Troy Corser and Colin Edw ards II had luck op posite and exponential to that of Foga r ty, as Co rser suffere d a ma jor tire-shredd ing session in race one and a sligh tly lesser problem in race two. "1 ha d the same tires as Ca rl in the second race and theystill gave me problems," Corser said. Edward s, hav ing ac know le dged defeat, pla yed a ca u tio us game at the ultrafa st Hockenheim , w ith a fou r thp la ce fi nis h afte r he wa s run to th e g ro u nd by eve nt ua l podiu m -fi nishe r Akira Yanagawa in race one. "I know, like Aaron (Slight) , tha t the rear tire wo uld take a beating, so I held back kn owin g tha t I co u ld ca tch th e fro nt g uys with a bit of sli ps trea ming, but in the last lap 1 lac ked trac tio n," Edwards said. "I feet I could have won race two , but I was too cau tious. It was di fficult to plan an ything in the second ra ce becau s e th e pl a ce s cha nged so mu ch." Yanagawa, fas t, then slow , then fast aga in in race one, took a fine podiu m for 'a m a n who , in e ve ry o ne's inter ests s hould no t have been allowed to race, d espite his bravery. "I still have -problems in left hand ers and I had to take some rned icines before the race," Yanagawa ad mitted . Hi s second -race four th co u ld h ave been a win as he Fogart y, Pier-Francesco Ch ili, Slight and Edwards went at it like men po ssessed , right up until the final laps - until Yanagawa rnistimed his run to the flag. (Right) Chili (7) won his fi rst dry race of the year in the second race. Here he leads Slight (hi d den), Yanagawa (4), Fogarty (1) and Edwards (5). (Below) Corser leads th e way while Fogarty has a lo ok over his shoulder at Chili. Meanwhile, Andy Meklau tries to get back in the lead draft. "I could not see the lap sco re past the pitboards, and I thought we were on the last lap ," Yanagawa sai d . "I went to the front and onl y th en rea lized -my mi stake." . H is te a m m ate Gre gor io LaviJla tu rn ed in a sixth and an eight h on the d ay - th e differen ce between th e tw o be in g the m issing pl aces th at sho u ld hav e belonged to Corser and Chili after their unlucky race-on e exits. The Yamaha bovs were lacklu ster at Ge r many's s h ri ;e to speed, ' w it h Noriyu ki Haga in he riti ng fifth a nd a m o re deservi ng ninth in the seco nd , w it h Vit to rian o G ua resch i 10th a nd 12th . Suz u ki's Ka tsuaki Fu jiwa ra had decent day out in the Ge rman su n wi th a seve nth and 10th, figh ting in a fou rrider g roup wit h Lavill a, Goddard and Jerman in race one. With th e crown se cu red, ra ce tw o could have become a mere sho w, but if it was it was a smash hit on Broadway. A stu nning five-wa y fig ht for the lead , th ro u gh out all th e re gu lation 14 laps, saw few repetitions .of the race-on e tire and engi ne carnage. In the end it was Chili, having su ffered a blown mo tor in the firs t race while well in conten tion for just sit there in the front group if you can and wait un til the last lap:' Andy Meklau, second in regular qualifying with the aid of the draft from Slight, ended Superpole in third position with only the speed from uper for Aaron Slight all right. His literal and metaphorical attack . him and his 996 Ducati to thank this time. "I knew alter qualifying that I could do a good lap time and my on the track during his Superpole lap elicited the pole position he had been striving for all year, boosting his confidence to attempt Superpole laps were as good as any of my best in regular training." to take his first win of 1999. If not for a small mistake by running wide Meklau Solid. "I thought at the beginning of the year, when I had one on the exit of the Mobil comer, Slight would have definitely broken two bike, that it was possible to finish top 10 in races. Now I have two bikes minutes for the first time ever at Hockenheirn. As it was he had to settle - I think it is possible to finish top five at some tracks. 1 had no probfor a new unofficial best time of 2:00.280 • even faster than he could lems in qualifying, and that meant I could just concentrate on going fast. The bike is perfect. I think whatever happens in the races, this manage in regu lar qua lifying . strengthens my attempt to go full time World Superbike next year: ' "The bike has just been right for here from the first ses sion," Slight Akira Yanag awa was a d izzy fourth, with Colin Edwa rds fifth, and Solid. 'Th e time 1 put in in Superpole was the second best I had put in much happier than he had been on Friday. all weekend. We're getting towards the end of the championship and I 'The bike just couldn't get round the place yesterday, but I'm happy Su er Sli ht S had n't had a pole or a wi n ye t so I'm glad to ge t this - it's just a shame that it's come to me this late in the se ries ." Se co nd quickest wa s Troy Co rser, a ni m a ted ly co ntro lling a not always perfectly behaved Ducati for most of the weekend, just likeCarl Fogarty. "We've been hav ing a real s truggle here with the bike sha king its head on the fast corners and wobbling from the rear end on the exits of the chicanes," Corser said. "I tried a different rear shock and front race tire, not a qualifier, that had worked okay for Carl and the bike felt a lot better. Anyone can do three to four fast laps, but it'll be a real test to see who can do consistentl y good times. There's so much scope for drafting here that you don' t ever have to lead, eno ugh novo Ed wards said. '," Pier-France co Chili was ne xt in sixth, fuming that his number-one s bike w ould sim ply not st art wh en required , forcing him to usc his spare. Then and only then, came Carl Fogarty, not too disheartened after a experiencing clutch problems in Superpole and remarking on his bike's incu rable desire to shake its head on the exi t of chicanes and o n the fast bits. A lap of anger took Noriyuki Haga into eighth, with Peter Goddard matching his regular qualifying position with ninth in Superpole, "I did my fastest time today in Superpole so things seem to be going in the right direction now," said Haga, choosing brevity in his normal fashion. a p od ium p lace, putting one over on Fo ga rt y to ta ke h is a n d th e Al sta r e team's first d ry weath er 1999 wi n. "I felt lik e' even a fter m y A- 1 Ring win I ha d n ot had m y o w n win th is yea r," Chili sa id . "I feel that this is a true race wi n. At the beginni ng of the season wh en 1 w a s 35 to 40 seco n ds dow n I thou ght I need to stop racin g, but now w e ha v e a ll wo rked verv hard a nd I hope for even better next yea r." Chili's taci t admission tha t he w ill return to the Corona Alstare squad nex t yea r may ha ve so methi ng to d o w ith wh at can only be describe d as d iv ine interve ntion . " I fel t before the second race tha t I would win," Chili said. "A very st range fee li ng . I th in k that someone upstairs was help ing me. I thought that 1 mus t be in the correct position on the last th ree laps and it wo rked per fectly." And v Me k la u , a b rillia n t third in Superpole, had his rear sprocket teeth shea r in race one, but he finished a fine sixth in ra ce tw o , chasing ho m e th e lead ing pack by only 3.5 seconds. Robert Vim , 13th in race one, had a term inal engi ne blow up on lap 11 of the second race. "We d on 't know wha t the probl em is exac tly becau se we haven 't op ened up the eng ine yet," VIm said. "The engi ne lost abou t 20 kmph (12 mph) before it failed. I think 13th was the best we can d o and the main problem here again is that 1 need to test. We used a lot of time ge tting the bike to behave itself in training, and that is time we lose in qualifying." Vim' s Bertocchi teammat e Jerman suffered a crac ked, but not se pa ra ted ve rtebrae, and the ini tia l prognosis is 11

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