Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Angelis (Hon); 7. Daniel Pedrosa (Hon); 8. Max Sabbatani (Apr); 9. Eric Betaille (Hon); '10. Gino Borsol (Apr); 11. Noboru Ueda (Hon); 12. Casey Stoner (Hon); 13. Angel Nieto Jr. (Hon); 14. Jaroslav Hules (Hon); 15. Gaspare Carriero (Apr); 16. Stephano Perugini (ItI); 17. Steve Jenkner (Apr); 18. Gianiuigi Scalvini (ItI); 19. Jakub Smrz (Hon); 20. Pablo Nieto (Oer); 21. Arnaud Vincent (Hon); 22. AlessllOdro Brannetti (Apr); 23. Angel Rodriguez (Apr); 24. Raul Jora (Apr); 25. Jamo Muller (Hon); 26. Jay Taylor (Hon); 27. Joan Olive (Hon); 28. Gabor TllIlmacsi (Hon); 29. William De Angelis (Hon). Time: 38 min., 14.688 sees. Distance: 63.428 mUes Average speed:99.50 mph Margin of victory: 4.709 sees. Fastest lap: 1:38.499, Max Sabbatani, lap 5 250cc GRAN.D PRIX: 1. Daijiro Katoh (Hon); 2. Tetsuya Harada (Apr); 3. Roberto Rolfo (Apr); 4. Jeremy McWilliams (Apr); 5. Fonsi Nieto (Apr); 6. Emilio Alzamorll (Hon); 7. Roberto Locatelli (Apr); 8. Luca Boscoscuro (Apr); 9. NlIoki Matsudo (YlIm); 10. Shahrol Yuzy (Yam); 11. Lorenzo Lanzi (Apr); 12. Taro Sekiguchi (Yam); 13. Riccardo Chiarello (Apr); 14. David Tomas (Hon); 15. Jeronimo Vidal (Apr); 16. Cesar Barros (Yam); 17. Diego Giugovaz (Apr); 18. Luis Costa (Yam); 19. Katja Poensgen (Hon); 20. Stuart Edwards (Yam). Time: 39 min., 48.180 sees. Manuel Pogglali (541 leads eventual race winner Youichi UI (411 at the start of the 125cc race. Distance: 68.94 miles Average speed:103.92 mph Margin of victory: 5.644 sees. Fastest lap: Daijiro Katoh, 1:34.560 500cc GRAND PRIX: 1. Valentino Rossi (Hon); 2. Max Biaggi (Vern); 3. Loris Capirossi (Hon); 4. Alex Barros (Hon); 5. Tohru Ukawa (Hon); 6. Olivier Jacque (Yam); 7. Shinya Nakeno (Yam); 8. Noriyuki Haga (YlIm); 9. Setc Gibemeu (Suz); 10. Jurgen Van Den Goorbergh (Pro); 11. Alex Crivil1e (Hon); 12. Anthony West (Hon); 13. Norick Abe (Yom); 14. Harachike Aoki (Hon); 15. Kenny Roberts Jr. (501); 16. Carlos Checa (Yam); 17. Johan Stigerelt (Sab); 18. Barry Veneman (Hon); 19. Leon Haslam (Hon); 20. Brenden Clarke (Hon). Time: 42 min., 22.383 sees. Distance: 74.45 miles Average speed: 105.43 mph Margin of victory: .013 sees. Fastest lap: 1:32.993, lap 16. Max Biaggi 125cc WORLD C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 14 of 16 rounds): 1. Manuel Poggiali (210/3 wins); 2. Toni Elias (194/2); 3. Youichi Ui (182/4); 4. Lucio BRIEFLY••• Holy fairings made another appearance at wind-swept Phillip Island. in a bid to make the bikes suffer less from sidewinds. But there was no consensus on the size of the holes. Honda favored a number of small holes in a pattem they used some nine or 10 years ago. Aprilia and Derbi went for much larger holes, more than halfMan-inch across, and in the latter case on the nose section beside the screens as well as on the flanks. The variance is not surprising, given the complexity of boundary-layer aerodynamics. War against the Taliban in Afghanistan, and threats of terrorist retaliation, meant a mood of tension in the paddock, intensified by reports of riots in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, on the first day of practice. The Malaysian GP will go ahead anyway, said Doma. Unless we have instructions from our govern M ments that it is not safe to go to Malaysia, we will continue as normal," said a spokesman. W HWho do you think you are . Valentino Rossi?" There could only be one answer to that question. to the motorist caught doing 56 mph over the speed limit on the road to the circuit on Friday moming. -Yes." Then still champion elect. Rossi was rushing to get to the track in time for the first practice, and speeding his rent-a-car through the rain, when he was stopped. Australians were surprised that such a hefty infringement had not incurred a stiffer penalty than a mere speeding charge - but perhaps sometimes having the right name helps. Even so, Rossi had to pay a fine of $780 Australian ($400 U.S'), and is banned from driving in Victoria for six months. Leon Haslam has parked his V-four NSR Honda and switched to the V -twin for the rest of the season, after running back-toback tests on the first day of practice in Australia. Shell Advance Team manager Jeff Hardwick had planned for the English teenag· er to have one more race on the V-four, but the decision was made by Saturday moming. "I wanted to try the twin to get my confidence back," said Haslam. He took over the ex-Chris Walker V -four in Germany, but has crashed out of every race but one. Prior to that he'd been making good points-scoring progress on the twin in his first SOO·class year. "We were aware that Leon was doing better times on the twin than the V-four," said Hardwick. Teenager Casey Stoner may be an Australian boy, but this was his first ever ride at Phillip Island. Currently racing in Engiand, where he leads the national 125cc championship by miles, and Spain, where he has won several races, the 15-year-old is below the minimum age limit for Australian road racing. Stoner made his name on off-road "shortMtrack" circuits as a schoolboy racer, but when he wanted to switch to tarmac, he was obliged to go abroad. Stoner qualified 19th on the grid for his first home GP and home race. Last week, Max Biaggi put his series crashes - and his loss of the World Championship - down to the motorcycle, in no uncer· tain terms. After long discussions with Yamaha engineers, he said in a written statement. they had agreed the bike had - a structural problem." Biaggi went on to say that he retained faith in Yamaha, and would be switching to the four-stroke M 1 for next season" to make a completely fresh start. - Yamaha called a press conference in reaction, with 500cc project leader Masahiko Nakajima facing tough questions from the partisan Italian press. Nakajima stopped short of the words "structural problem -, but admitted that the Yamaha loses to the Honda in acceleration, and that they may have been mistaken in certain areas of chassis selling development in their failed attempt to beat not just Honda, but -the combination of Rossi and the Honda." It was very difficult to pin down the problems, said Nakajima. -After Motegi we had a long discussion with Max and with my engineers. We investigated the date from his three crashes, and so far we don't have a clear rea· 2. Max Blaggl (203/3); 3. Loris Capirossi (179); 4. Aiex Barros (160/1); 5. Shinyo Nakano (135); 6, Norick Abe (124); 7. Carlos Checa (111); 8. Sete Gibemau (107/1); 9. Alex Crivllle (101); 10. Kenny Roberts Jr. (97). Cecchineilo (140/1); 5. Masao Azuma (125/2); 6. Gino Borsoi (119); 7. Simone Sanna (105); 8. Steve Jenkner (94); 9. Daniel Pedrosa (87); 10. Noboru Ueda (86/1). 250cc WORlD C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (Alter 14 of 16 rounds): 1. Daijiro Katoh (272{9 wins); 2. Tetsuyo Harada (243/3); 3. Marco Melandri (169/1); 4. Roberto Rolfo (163); 5. Fonsi Nieto (138); 6. ·Clinched 500cc World Championship with two rounds remaining. Emilio Alzamora (127); 7. Jeremy McWilliams (119/1); 8. Roberto Locatelli (105); 9. Naoki Matsudo (96); 10. Franco Battaini (59). 500cc WORLD C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After Upcoming rounds: Round 15: Sepang, Malaysia, October 21 Round 16: Jacarepagua, Brazil, November 4 14 of 16 rounds): 1. Valentino Rossi (275/9 wins-); son why he crashed three times in what looks like the same circumstances. The crashes were when Max was in the middle of the comer, not braking and not accelerating. It's very tough to beat Rossi and the Honda combination, and the riders are forced to push harder than ever before. It seems our bike does not accept this entry speed for the comers. Recently, we focused on stability under braking - biased the set-up direction toward that. The result is that the comering performance or chassis balance may be a little unstable because of that. - Pressed on the question of a "structural problem," he said: "From the point of the overall design, it's very difficult to say what is wrong. We will continue to investigate." Asked if the crashes were not due to rider error, he said: "We have much faith in Max's ability. He can carry a very high comer speed, and we have to change to chassis for him. - They had tested three different chassis before the season, with different stiffness ratios, and had tried adjusting engine position many times over the years before settling on their current non-adjustable mountings. GPs, and became Australia's first 500cc-c1ass champion in 1987. Sheene was late arnving at the GP after his 14-year-old son Freddie suffered bums in a barbecue accident during the previous week. The boy suffered bums to face and arms. "We're waiting to hear if he will need a skin graft, - said a worned Sheene. Mick Doohan announced his latest initiative - using his name, his contacts and his back-up organization to help younger riders get a leg up into intemational racing. -It's a way of putting something of what I've had back into the sport," said the five-time World Champion at Phillip Island. He added that he wouldn't only be backing Australian riders, necessarily, but that the names on his list now were both Australians - Anthony West (currently racing a V-twin 500 Honda) and rising teenager Casey Stoner. Doohan is also helping ex-Superbike World Champion Troy Corser, who is aiming at a switch to GPs, after being dropped by Aprilia's Superbike team. Will Anthony West be one of the riders spearheading the MZ challenge next year? That was the hot rumor at Phillip Island, a week after the German company's one-year entry to the new four-stroke class was confirmed. Although no details have been confirmed, MZ are expected to come racing with their own new V-twin engine, developed by ex·Ferrari engineer Mauro Forghieri. Other sources suggested that the MZ entry is something of a blind, and that they will be testing technoiogy on behalf of BMW, who are contemplating a motorcycle GP return - but this was pooh-poohed by sources close to the German industry. Nakajima also spoke about the single-crank Honda-style two-stroke that they had tested during the last year. "We spent lots of power, time and money trying to develop that bike, with many tests in Japan and some in Europe. We couldn't find any advantage compared with our existing bike. We could perhaps continue, but already the four-stroke M1 is our main focus. Nakajima compared the testing abilities and riding techniques of various Yamaha riders, including the most successful of recent years, triple World Champion Wayne Rainey. - Rainey always said to me that he did not want to put pressure on the front. That for him was risky riding. He always wanted more rear traction, to use the rear more. I think Luca Cadalora was more sensitive. He always wanted perfect balance. We tried to find it. but it was never perfect. in some points, Luca was more sensitive than Max Mbut Max is very demanding. His information is very precise. Sometimes we lose direction and can't understand what he wants. But if the bike is not perfect, he will race it hard anyway. - Some famous racing names took part in a novel track challenge, designed to demonstrate the difference in speeds between road bikes and GP 500s. Australian legend Mal Campbell set off first on a Honda VTS250: a litlie later former 500cc GP winner Kevin Magee chased away on a Ducati 750, and a long time after that Randy Mamola blasted off on the two-seater Yamaha GP 500. The handicapping was intended to have all three crossing the finishing line simultaneously, but nothing could resist the final surge down the front straight by the GP bike. Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa will spearhead Yamaha's four· stroke GP attack next year, racing the in-line four-cylinder M 1 for the factory team. This was confirmed at Phillip Island by racing boss Lin Jarvis, who contradicted Biaggi's claim he would be leading the development. "Both riders will have equal status," he said. It can safely be assumed that. things remaining equal. the team will again run in Mariboro colors. Daijiro Katoh's non-finish in Japan last week was the first time in 33 GP races· his full career - when he has failed to score points. Dutch rider Jurgen van den Goorbergh confirmed he will ride for Erv Kanemoto's new Honda team next year - fulfilling his long·cherished dream of competing on a V-four Honda. The onerider team will use Bridgestone tires, coming into the class for the first time, after a full year of testing with top tuner Kanemoto, and ex-GP riders Nobu Aoki and Shinichi Itoh. Details of sponsorship have yet to be announced, and Kanemoto - though expected in Australia - was not present. Van den Goorbergh was a candidate for a V-four Honda this year, for the Arie Molenaar team, before their bid for sponsorship failed at the last minute. After that he switched to his second choice, one year with Kenny Roberts' Proton Team KR. on the three-cylinder lightweight racer. Van den Goorbergh, 31, was bubbling with enthusiasm. -I've known for a long time that this would happen, but I haven't been able to talk about it until now," he said. "It's definitely a dream coming true. I had a few goals as a rider. One was to ride for Kenny Roberts. who was always a hero to me, and is still very important in the sport. Another was to ride for Erv Kanemoto, who is a legendary tuner. And the third was to ride a V-four Honda. Now the last two are coming true, both at the same time." The deal had been proposed by HRC, he said, after his planned ride for this year fell through. -I have to thank Honda for keeping their promise," he said, The all-new tires were something of a risk, he said. "But I have always been a rider who looked for something different, so I am happy about that. They are a very big company, and they have a very big commitment. It is a privileged position for me to be the first to race their tires in the top class. " Girl power was doubled at Phillip Isiand, with 250 campaigner Katya Poensgen joined by local 125 racer Cath Thompson winning a wild card ride in her home GP. Thompson is a 37-year-old merchant banker, and achieved her primary aim of qualifying, in 34th an.d last position. British racing legend Barry Sheene, now an Australian resident, and locai superhero Wayne Gardner are the latest big names to be put into GP racing's official hall of fame. The pair were inducted on the second day of practice for the Australian GP. Sheene, 51, won 23 GPs and two World Championships, in 1976 and 1977; Gardner, who tumed 42 on the eve of the GP, won 18 c U a I • n iii _ 55 OCTOBER 24, 2001 17

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