Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World Championship Road Racing Series Round 2: South African Grand Prix This was expected to be a track that would favor the two-strokes - and so it proved, up to a point. With the benefit of data logging and experIence. the twostrokes were on the pace from the start, with Loris Capirossi's Honda leading the first day's practice. The four-strokes were all breaking completely new ground. but by day two they'd refined their act enough to make for yet another desperately close final session. So close that the record set at Suzuka two weeks ago was broken again - 19 qualifiers within 1.5 seconds of pole time, and the first 10 within the same second. Only still-injured Pere Riba spoiled the picture, placed 20th another 1.5 seconds away. The two top Italians again disputed pole, with Valentino Rossi (above) taking control early in the final session and Capirossi coming close to crashing trying to catch up. In the end, the two-stroke was only 32 thousandths behind Rossi, who had been obliged to keep on upping his time to stay there. All riders were troubled by the lack of grip from the little-used surface, and even more by the bumps. "It is impossible to get a perfect setting, but today we worked very well and made some good improvements," said Rossi. His nagging problem was tire wear - spinning and sliding into and out of the comers, he and his fellow Honda V-five teammates were imposing the most punishment on their rears, according a Michelin source. This could swing the balance even further to the two-strokes, already benefiting from the fact that the tortuous circuit and slippery surface gave the four-strokers little chance to open the throttle wide and take advantage of their stronger mid-range acceleration. The two-stroke faster comer entries and mid-comer speed also paid big dividends. Capirossi was well aware of all this - but also that he was having to ride very close to the edge to keep Rossi in sight. "Once again, we have been competitive in practice. I love to ride the bike to the limit, and today I was practically on that limit. But the lap times give me a lot of confidence," he said. Rossi's Repsol Honda teammate Tohru CJkawa was third, just two tenths off RossJ's time. "I like this track, and rm happy to put the Suzuka crash behind me. I got my time using a race set-up with race tires, so I'm confident,• he said. Once again, a Yamaha edged up onto the front row in the closing stages - this time it was Max Biaggi, with Marlbore teammate Carlos Checa three places down In seventh. Biaggi was conscious that he had only managed a few fast laps. "It is so bumpy and not so grippy, so you have to make a real compromise on settings. We didn't find such a good rhythm today, and it wUl be hard to foUow the leaders. We must keep working hard." Red Bull Yamaha's Garry McCoy pushed through into fifth at the end of the session, having less trouble than he expected with his leg injury. "I'm feeling a lot stronger, and I don't think the leg is going to give me any problems," he said. "But I'm still not fully fit, and rm just going to try and get some points tomorrow. " He displaced Kenny Roberts Jr., searching for grip so that he could ride the Telefonica MovlStar Suzuki four-stroke as aggressively as he would like. "The wheelspin would be okay, but only if I had some grip from the front. We need to fmd more grip front and rear for tomorrow," he said. Then came Carlos Checa, happier with his consJstency than his lap time. "I feel comfortable and safe - maybe not for a quick lap time, but certainly for a good race pace, OJ he said. Shinya Nakano's two-stroke Gauloises Yamaha completed row two; teammate Olivier Jacque led row three from Gibemau's Suzuki and the Bridgestone-shod Nobu Aoki (Proton KR3) and Jurgen van den Goorbergh, the tires working well in the hot conditions. On the first day, Proton rider McWtlliams had even held fastest lap for a while, saying afterward: "The big bikes can't use their power, so I Cllfl ride with them and play with them. This is what makes GP racing fun." American rookie John Hopkins was 17th on his Red Bull Yamaha, ahead of Regis Laconi's four-stroke Aprilia and the two-strokes of fonner champIon Tetsuya Harada (Honda) and injury victim Riba. __ -_. ..............__.... -.. ... ...... ................ 12 MAY 1. 2002' J: U J: • e n e _ s Ukawa and Rossi celebrate their onetwo finish In Welkom. AfriClln &nnd Pm P....isa FreewllY Circuit RESULTS: april. Zl. ZOOZ t 25cc QUALIFYING: 1. Daniel Pedrosa (1'42.522): 2. Monuel Poggiall (1'42.580); 3. Pablo Nieto (1 '42.588): 4. Arnaud Vincent (1 '42.614): 5. Lucio Cecchinello (1:42.652); 6. Steve Jenkner (1,42.975): 7. Angel Rodriguez (1'43.152): 8. Gino Borsai (1:43.164): 9. Jaroslay Hules (1,43.216): 10. Stephano Bianco (1:43.219); 11. Masao Azuma (1'43.310): 12. Alex De Angeli. (1'43.332): 13. Joan Oliye (1,43.502): 14. Andreo Dovizioso (1,43.624): 15. Noboru Ueda (1:43.677); 16. Simone Senne (1,43.687): 17. Youichi Ui (1,43.739): 18. Jomo Muller (1'43.918): 19. Miko Kollio (1'43.944): 20. Jakub Smrz (1:43.946); 21. Mirko Giensenti (1'44.023): 22. Max Sobbat

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