Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World Championship Road Race Series Round 12: Valencia Grand Prix Roberts Jr. said. "That shows you where we're at as far as it's 50-percent less grip. I remember how it used to be, that used be like this last year when we were winning races like this. But racing with such a deficit compared to somebody on intermediate tires. I'm trying to be realistic about where we are and the team did a great job and Sete [Gibemau] did a great job and I held in there for third. If I want to think about winning races in dry conditions, we've got to improve. I wasn't on the same tires as Sete and I wasn't going to give him a fight today with the tires I chose." From 17th on the first lap, Marlboro Yamaha's Carlos Checa came fourth. He ruined his chances by crashing on the warm-up lap, forcing a start on his spare from pit lane. Checa gambled on slicks front and rear and had a number of fastest laps late in the race, all of which contributed to his fourth place, 5.8 seconds behind the leaders with nearly 23 on fifth place. "Coming from last in those conditions was really scary," said Checa, who moved into fourth on the 16th lap. "It was like riding on ice, the rear spinning up all the time. I did my best but lost the race on the warm-up lap. The track conditions were unbeliev- able. I just touched the throttle and the bike went away." Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3's Olivier Jacque scored a career best 500cc finish of fifth. Jacque spent most of the race in a cluster of five behind the leaders, jumping to the front of the pack on the 19th lap when he moved from sixth to fifth. Jacque used an intermediate front, which worked well when the track was wet, but less so when it dried. "Toward the end I lost the front a number of times and was forced to hold off Ukawa to the line," Jacque said after leading the rambling pack of fifth through ninth across the line. Jacque's margin was .054 of a second over Ukawa, the Japanese rider enduring the worst first lap of his life - it landed him in 10th - before even more obstacles impeded him. "I started very poorly, and when I arrived at the first corner, [Loris] Capirossi and then [Jose-Luis] Cardoso crashed," Ukawa said. "I had to brake in order to avoid hitting them, and several other riders got past me. On the second comer of the first lap, the same thing happened all over again with (Noriyuki] Haga and [Haruchika] Aoki, which definitely opened up a huge gap between the front runners and the group I was in." BRIEFLY••• Kenny Roberts said that he thought his son's actions came too late. "I disagree that he waited too long. I think the first race would've been the best place to do it," he said. The problem had been brewing due to a lack of progress since the first test. Roberts attended the first test and could already see the frustra· tion mounting. "After predicting this was going to happen this year at the first test. I haven't seen one good thing since then," he said. "I said before, I don't know why he doesn't grab some· body and beat the hell out of them." Nastro Azzurro's Valentino Rossi rode the Honda four· stroke GP machine again recently, but only for photos. Rossi took part in a European Honda press debut at Disneyland Paris, where he rode both the newest Honda street bikes as well as the four· stroke. As to when he'll get a chance to test it again. the 500cc World Championship leader said: "We are for sure one test before the end but I don't know where. For sure out of Europe and after one more race of the last one but I don't know when or where." Rossi said he didn't get a true feeling for the machine when he tested it at Suzuka after winning the 8·Hour with Colin Edwards. The track was wet and he didn't do many laps. Even so. he discovered that the machine was too small for him . that he couldn't tuck under the fairing, and that he felt cramped. What will West Honda Pons' Loris Capirossi nde next year7 He's not sure. "In this moment. we don't have very good idea for next year. We have the contract. one more year with Sito [Ponsl, but we know very well which bike we're on next year, but for sure we're on two·stroke bike. not four·stroke. Normally we're on 2001 bike like Valentino [RossiJ uses [this yearl, but I don't know very well what happens. I never try the four·stroke bike, but I would like to try to understand the bike. For sure 2003 for every· body ride four·stroke." As to what the racing will look like, Capirossi said, "I don't know the situation, but for sure 2002 we have a lot of confusion for everybody because we have two· stroke and four-stroke. maybe we have two different championships. My idea is for all season we have maybe many races two-stroke is better, we hope, because we have two-stroke. Four-stroke bike is the new project; maybe have some problems during the season. We hope that the competitive [level of thel two·stroke and four·stroke is the same. " There was concern that the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center have thrown uncertainty the status of the next three Grands Prix, scheduled for consecutive weekends in Japan, Australia, and Malaysia. The World Championships have never tried to run on three consecutive weekends outside of Europe, 10 OCTOBER 3. 2001 • c u e • _ n Tetsuya Harada (31) leads Daijlro Katoh (74) and Emilio A1zamora early In the 250cc race. Katoh took his eighth win of the year, and now leads Harada by 49 points in the championship. Ukawa led a trio of three Japanese riders, Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3's Shinya Nakano and Antena 3 Yamaha·d'Antin's Norick Abe next across. Nakano nearly ran over Haga when he crashed, and the loss of concentration put him well back. Behind Abe came Proton Team KR's Jurgen van der Goorbergh who proclaimed the race "the strangest race ever." The slick -shod Dutchman said he was especially cautious at the start and by the time the track dried Marl.... V.1ncUI &rand Prix VaIetIcia, Spa. IIeslIIls: Septemller 23. 2101 (lie. . 12 at llJ 125« QUAUFYING: I. Toni Elias (1:40.481): 2. Simone 5Zlnnll (1:40.497); 3. Lucio Cecchinello (I :40.534); 4. Max Sebbatani (1 :40.743); 5. Steve he'd used up his rear tire. wait for somebody to make a mis- Jenkner (1:40.875); 6. Gino Borsai (1:40.907); 7. Nobby Ueda (1 :41.005); 8. Daniel Pedroso (1:41.040); 9. Joan Olive (1:41.203/; 10. Youichi Ui (1:41.209); 11. Gabor Talmacsi 1:41.331); 12. take," he said. Manuel Poggiall (1:41.418); 13. Eric Bet8ille' "I could only hang on the back and After van der Goorbergh came Biaggi, who employed the "ice" analogy favored by much of the field. and the prospect of doing it under heightened security. makes the task more daunting. - For sure not very good for riders. for all the men who work: Nastro Azzurro's Vaientino Rossi said. "For sure is very hard about the head. about physical condition I have some problem of the arms, maybe three races in a row are very difficult. but it's like this." But iRTA Chief Executive Paul Butler said the races would go on. "It's obviously tight. but I have no idea what the impact is," Butler said, referring questions to DHL. the freight company which will transport the equipment to the races. "Shouldn't be a problem," said DHl's MotoGP coordina· tor Pier·Carlo Botero. "We're not going in the USA direction. The U.S. cargo company we're dealing with have given us more safe· ty procedures, but it shouldn't be a problem. They were thinking of scanning cargo like F·1, but decided not to." The standard schedule is that freight would arrive at Melboume, Australia, for the Australian GP at Phillip Island, on Monday evening. and be at the circuit on Tuesday momlng. The same schedule will be used for the Malaysian GP, with the freight arriving at Kuala lumpur, Malaysia on the Monday night after Phillip Island, then be transported to the Sepang circuit on Tuesday. The last time it was done was at the U.S. GP in the late 1980's when some, but not all, of the equipment arrived on time from the previous round in Australia. The Formula One world is facing the same situation when they visit Indianapolis for the U.S. Grand Prix. The word in Valencia was that all freight had to be X·rayed, with only two places in Europe having machines large enough to handle the can· tainers needed to ship F·1 cars and spares, one in Amsterdam and one in luxembourg. Butler said that if there were a delay in shipping, IRTA would alter the schedule to fit the circumstances. Red Bull Yamaha WCM team owner Bob MacLean was in the air, en route home to Rorida from london, when the terrorists struck on Tuesday, September 11. The plane returned to Heathrow Airport, where Maclean sat until he could leave on Thursday. From london he flew to Nassau, the Bahamas, where he later boarded a cruise ship for an ovemight voyage to Miami. At that point he stayed a day at his residence in West Palm Beach, Rorida, before making the final leg of the journey to his home in Jackson. Wyoming. Maclean had stayed in Estoril, Par· tugal the day after the Portuguese GP for a test of the Red Bull Yamaha WCM team. They were joined at the test by John Hop· kins. Hopkins was also flying at the time of the attack and was forced to land in Barbados, where he sat for a few days before making his way home to Ramona, California. Red Bull Yamaha WCM team manager Peter Clifford said that Hopkins' time on the Portuguese circuit was cut short by a crash early in the aftemoon. "The test did not end up as we hoped for," Clifford said. "John [Hopkins] slid off just after lunch. Though it was not a big crash, he tumbled in the gravel and got quite a shaking that left him a lit· tie woozy. So we called it a day and John missed the chance to do some impressive lap times. He had done very wei! in the morn· ing, gelling down to 1:44.7, even though he had never seen the __ s "There were a lot of guys falling off, it was like riding on ice. I had to stay upright, it was vital not to crash," the Italian said. "When I saw Capirossi crash at the first turn I knew Rossi was my target, and when I saw I was closing on him I pushed harder. Even one point can make the difference and anyway. it's good for morale." 1:11 (1.:41.437); 14. Pabio Nieto (1:41.520); 15. Angel NIeto Jr. (1 :41.538); 16. Amaud Vincent (1 :41.545); 17. Hector F.ubel (1:41.634); 18. Mirko Gi.ns.nti (1:41.699); 19. Angel Rodriguez (1:41.736); 20. Masllo Azume (1:41.796); 21. Alex de Angelis (I :41.893); 22. Gianluigi Scalvini (1 :42.117); 23. track and has only ridden the bike a couple of times. " Honda Racing Corporation announced that it would produce an evolution 250cc racing machine in 2002, together with the existing NSR250. The new machine, dubbed the RS250R·W

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