Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Racer Test Kenny Roberts Jr. 'sSuzuki 500cc XR89 been born, an d tha t Ho nda's five -ye ar gri p on 500cc GP su p re macy was now un der serious thr eat from ano ther marque. Th e r e are even some paddock psychologists who insist tha t the co nscious urge to reassert himself against the un fancied KR/ XR threa t is wha t lay behind Doohan's possibly career-ending crash in practice fo r the next race at Jerez, where the Suz uk i mo me ntum was arres ted when Roberts go t torped oed by teammate Nobua tsu Aoki af ter a bad start. Be that as it may, the fact that Kenny and the XR89 go t back in the winning g roov e a g ai n in Ge r m a n y, a n d regain ed mom en tu m after a difficult mid season patch to finish best of the rest in the final poin ts table, second o nl y to Hon d a ' s n e w ma in m an Alex Criv ille an d a he ad of all th e Yama ha and o ther Ho nda runners, underlines tha t Suzu ki is back in bu siness. In bec omi ng th e firs t Ame rica n rid er in 61 races to wi n a GP (the for merly dominan t nation 's 500cc GP dry spe ll had lasted since Sch wantz's last victory, in 1994), Roberts a nd the XR89 had clocked u p five p ol e p osition s, 12 fro n t-row s ta rts, and five fas test laps (three of th em new lap rec ord s ), in each case mo re th an any othe r rid er. Jus t to co mp lete the flood of s ta tistics, Kenny led 164 laps, or 39 perce nt of all GP race distance in the season jus t past, a lo n g way ahead of next man Criville with 101 laps; and Roberts was fas ter in mor e qualifying ses sions, more free practice sessions and more prerace warmups th a n any of h is r ivals , finis hing eight times on the rostru m du ri n g a seaso n whic h might ha ve seen even mor e success, had he not su ffe red critical tire problems in the final stretch, which u ltim at ely depri ved hi m of a chance of the title. Looks like .n ~ (jj .a E G> u G> o 6 h ere ' s li ttle d ou b t w hi ch motor- cycle, or indeed whic h rider, was the su rprise package of the 1999 500cc World Cha mpionship. By winni ng fou r GP races and finishing se co n d in th e p oi n ts tabl e , Ke nn y Rob erts and the XR89 Suzu ki RGV500 mad e their ma rk on a seaso n for wh ich few had cons idered them to be real conte nd e rs . A fte r fo ur wi n less yea rs in Gra nd Pr ix racin g, d u rin g which th e com pan y' s race effort had declined from the pinnacle of evin Schw antz's 1993 world title, to just making u p the nu mbers in 1998 with a-pair of Japan ese riders seeming ly u nab le to point the team's race en gin ee rs in the right direction, Suzu ki came back with a ban g this past season, than ks to the inspired signing of the Racer Forme rly Known as Kenny Junior , or KR Jr. - bu t now a prin ce of speed in his ow n right. For after thr ee seasons spen t lea rn ing the tricks of the 500cc GP trad e, latt erly at Modenas in company with Au stralian race enginee r Warren Willing, who also followed him across to Suz uki for 1999, Rober ts stu nned the GP world by w inni ng the fi rs t tw o r a ces of th e yea r aboa rd the V4 Suz uki, w hich had not scored a vic tory since Da rr yl Beattie' s German GP wi n in May '95 . N ot onl y w e re th ese Ken n y ' s fir s t-ev e r races aboa rd th e b ik e, adm itt edl y both on new tracks which ensured a level playing field for all the team s, but in the second race, at Motegi , in the rain , he had to fend off a fearsome onsla ugh t fro m Mick Doo ha n, respon d ing to the reig ning World Champion' s mid race comeback in a wa y which s ho wed all co ncern ed tha t a new Grand Prix star had Kenny Rob erts and Suzu ki will be th e combination to bea t in the first World Cham pionship of the new century, afte r o ff -sea s o n d e v el o p m en t ai med a t redressing the remaining weak po in ts of the XR89, principally a perceived po we r deficiency compared to its Yam aha and Honda rivals. Well, I'm not in a posit ion to iden tify the 10 hor sep ower supposed ly missin g in midrange, or the possible 15 ho rsepower th e Su z u ki mi ght hav e bee n down on top end , at leas t at the start of th e yea r - es peci a ll y no t w it hout a n N SR500 H ond a alo ng si de . Bu t I d o

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