Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Fastest lap: 1:42.605, Ma:nuel Poggieli, lap 23 250cc GRAND PRIX: 1. Marco Melandri (Apr); 2. Franco Battaini (Apr); 3. Fonsi Nieto (Apr); 4. Roberto Rolfo (Han); 5. Roberto Loclltelli (Apr); 6. Randy De Puniet (Apr); 7. Emilio A1zamorll (Han); 8. Sebastilln Porto (Yam); 9. Alex Debon (Apr); 10. David Checa (Apr); 11. Naokl Matsuda (YlIm); 12. Jay Vincent (Han); 13. Haruchicka Aoki (Han); 14. Dirk Heidolf (Apr); 15. Leon Haslam (Han); 16. Toni Elias (Apr); 17. Jamo Janssen (Hon). TIme: 42 min.. 52.922 sees. Distance: 68.38 miles Average speed: 95.67 mph Margin of victory: 2.962 secs. Fastest lap: Fonsi Nieto, 1:37.860, lap 24 MotoGP: 1. Tohru Ukawa (Hon); 2. Valentino Rossi (Hon); 3. Loris ClIpirossi (Han); 4. Daijlro Katoh (Hon); 5. Carlos Checa (Yam); 6. Olivier Jacq"e (Vam); 7. Norick Abe (Vam); 8. Shinya World Champion Manuel Pogglall(1) won the 125cc Grand Prix of Africa, topping Arnaud Vincent (21), Daniel Pedrosa (26), Steve .lenkner (17) and Pablo Nieto (22). BRIEFLY••• The MotoGP three-cornered tire war took an interesting twist at the second round of the season. After total domination by Michelin last season. Dunlop returned to the class. and Bridgestone joined in. But the furious pace of the season has meant that some of the new teams have alneady nun out of patience at only the second race. Dunlop is in danger of losing one of its three teams. with Suzuki riders making no secret of being anxious to return to Michelin. while the Bridgestone users feel out on a limb. One reason is that Michelin upped the stakes. introducing a newer and beefier 16.5-inch rear tire that suited both the 990s and the 500s. contributing to record times at several tests. Dunlop started well enough when Garry McCoy did the same thing at Valencia. By the time the racing started. however. Dunlop users had long faces and dire pnedictions of poor durability. Rain saved the day at Suzuka, but conditions in South Africa were perfectly dry; while the circuit is notoriously bumpy. slippery, and very hard on tires - one of the toughest of the year. Dunlop had a new lire. which followed Michelin's lead for even more nubbery rears. Basically. these simply continue the trend of 16.5 development but with even more size and weight on the center section. In both cases. this gives the tire a slightly larger roiling diameter - five or six millimeters. according to Dunlop's Jeremy Ferguson. Enough to require possible changes to gearing. especially for the more sensitive two-strokes. More Importantly. it allows a stiffer constnuction for the casing. which in tum should reduce the tendency to chatter. said Ferguson. "We can achieve the same result with our earlier tire. but at the expense of endurance. We hope the new tires will help solve that problem." he said. adding; "We've put a lot of work into this tire in a short time." The performance had been okay. but the range of compounds in the new constnuction Is not good on this rather peculiar surface. The reception from riders was lukewarm, however. At least at this circuil. the complaints remained the same as ever - about a choice between too much chatter and not enough endurance. Lap times were respectable. but Kenny Roberts Jr. described his problems in guarded but still eloquent terms. "The wheelspln's okay. but only if you have some grip from the front tire. We're working on the chassis to try to improve that situation. but we need something of a big step." It was already known at Suzuka that Suzuki riders Roberts and Sete Gibernau are putting pressure to reverse the factory's surprise decision to switch to Dunlops. Of course. there are contractual, commercial and ethical barriers to such a decision. and it might prove impossible for anyone of these reasons. Dunlop could only play for time. to give technicians a chance to show something more impressive in the still-young season. They have arranged tire tests for Suzuki at Mugello after the Spanish GP In two weeks time. Other Dunlop users are Red Bull Yamaha. Aprilia and Tetsuya Harada. Bridgestone users had also been saved by the weather - twice. Their wet-weather tires proved very impressive at Suzuka. but in dry qualifying the Proton riders Jeremy McWilliams and Nobu Aoki had been in serious trouble. as had the third user. Hondamounted Jurgen van den Goorbergh. However. in hot conditions. the Bridgestones work conSiderably better. and all three showed up well in practice at Welkom, with McWilliams even challenging for pole position at one stage. "We need it to be either hot or wet. In between's a disaster," said Proton team owner Kenny Roberts at Suzuka; and all teams are anxiously awaiting development that will fix the weakest link in the chain - a sub-standard front tire that is particularly bad in cooler conditions. Confusion over new restrictive tobacco sponsorship legislation in South Africa left the fourth running of the race unexpectedly without sponsorship. a week before the event. The race was taken over last year by Gauloises. and the French cigarette company fully expected to do the same this year. The axe fell on Friday. seven days before practice began, when the necessary exemption to run the race under their name was declined by central government. "All the time until then we'd been told there would be no problem." said a Gauloises spokesman. The race has obtained the necessary exemption every year so far. thanks to pressune from the locai Free State government. which built the Phakisa Freeway circuit. but this year it didn't work out. Race promoter Bobbie Hartslief was angered by the decision, and there Nakllno (Yam); 9. Max Biaggi (Yam); 10. Garry McCoy (Yam); 11. Jurgen vd Goorbergh (Hon); 12. Tetsuya Harada (Hon); 13. Pere Riba (Yam); 14. John Hopkins (Yam); 15. Regis Laconi (Apr); 16. Sete Gibemau (Suz). Time: 44 min., 39.467 secs. Distance: 73.64 miles Average speed:98.94 mph Marrgin of victory: .932 sees. Fastest lap: 1:34.834, lap 18. Tohru Uk8wa were hints that they would try to seek compensation from the government. The loss of the possibility of tobacco backing may be another nail in the coffin of the four-year-old South African GP. which does not have the feel of a race with a big future. The circuit was built with local government backing to the tune of R350million. with the road-race track combined with a banked-oval NASCAR-lype circuit. The banking has never been used in anger. and local sources said that when it had been used for press car launches and such-like. the surface had sagged to a series of whoop-de-doo ripples. Much the same seemed to have happened to the road-racing track. with severe bumps developing. so that at some points under braking both wheels would be off the road. One good reason for this came in the early hours of Saturday morning. when Welkom sleepers were nudely awakened by a significant earth tremor that rattled windows and set all the dogs barking and the birds squawking. Minor tremors are a regular feature of the region. where such disturbances over the.aeons have brought to the surface the gold that was the reason for building the town in the first place. The many Phakisa Freeway bumps showed interesting differences between two-strokes and four-strokes. The heavier bikes plowed across them better, but still got out of shape; the lighter two-strokes looked equally on the edge. but danced across the hazards at visibly higher speed. The worst section. early on the lap, came as the bikes shut off to grab a left-hand apex before braking heavily for the first slow comer. It was at the point where the circuit crossed the banked oval. and had become more bumpy in spite of haVing been resurfaced. "If the track continues to deteriorate at the same rate as over the past four years. it will be impossible to use next year," said rough-rider Olivier Jacque; while Kenny Roberts Jr. qUipped; "I hear Honda's flying Ricky Carmichael in for final qualifying." The race promoters fell foul of the regulations after a marshal slipped up at the end of final qualifying for the 125cc class. and were fined lO.OOO Swiss Francs by the permanent race direction bureau. It happened after Azuma crashed. and his bike was left on the racing line. With less than two of the tnuncated 30 minutes of practice left. the session was red-flagged. This automatically discounted the fast laps that several riders recorded on the lap the red flag went out. It also left just enough time after the restart to complete a lap from a standing start. so that the next flying lap would count for grid position. The pack assembled as if for a race at the end of pit lane. and when the marshal dropped the red flag. they were off - only to nun into a dismayed Franco Uncini in the BMW safety car half-a-Iap later. Luckily. there were no crashes. and the session was again abandoned. to be restarted once more a bit later. The post-mortem revealed that the flag had been dropped prematurely. while the red light was still on - hence the fine. They pulled them in, canceled that session. and gave them another chance. One loser was Lucio Cecchinello, whose sec· ond-fastest time was disallowed because of the Azuma red flag; one winner Arnaud Vincent. who moved up to the front row at the last gasp. Yamaha's troubled M1. which took a leap forward at the Japanese GP a couple of weeks ago. has come up with some puzzling results for the engineers. The improvement came with a new chassis. mainly revising engine position and weight distribution. that improved the feel on the crucial corner entry. The changes have seen the steering rake increasing, and rear ride height dropping. Normally. this would make the bike feel lazier and steer reluctantly. In fact. it has had the opposite effect. said a statement. The new sellings improve feel and feedback from the front. while improving stability under brakes. according to factory engineers. He's often been accused of having a screw ioose. Now Garry McCoy has medical proof. At Suzuka, he was suffering from a bad local swelling in his broken right leg. On returning to Austria, his suspicions were confirmed - one of the screws locating the pin had come undone. Both were removed. and speeded his recovery. "1'11 only be really fit at Jerez. butI'm a lot better." he said. To blip, or not to blip? An important question for the fourstrokes. given their problems of engine braking into the turns. On the two-strokes. riders were able just to stamp down the gears. leaVing the right-hand dedicated to the vital task of finding the 125cc WORLD C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (Alter 2 of 16 rounds): 1. Arnaud Vincent (45 l/win); 2. Manuel Poggiali (41/1); 3. Daniel PedroSll (24); 4. Mirko Giansanti (20); 5. Simone Sanna (19); 6. Noboru Ueda (18); 7. Gino Borsoi (15); 8. Steve Jenkner (14); 9. Pablo Nieto (11); 10. (Tie) Sh"hei Aoyama/Alex De Angelis (10); 12. Angel Rodriguez (9). 250cc WORLD C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 2 of 16 rounds): 1. (Tie) Franco BattainijRandy De Puniet (26); 3. (Tie) Osamu Miyazaki/Marco Melandri (25 l/win); 5. Emilio Alzamora (22); 6. Roberto Rolfo (21); 7. Daisaku Sakai (20); 8. (Tie) Fonsi Nieto/Sebastian Porto (19); 10. Naoki Matsudo (15); 11. Alex Deben (14); 12. Roberto Locatelli (11). MotoGP WORLD C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 2 of 16 rounds): 1. Velentino Rossi (45 l/win); 2. Carlos Checa (27); 3. Tohru Ukawa (25); 4. Loris Capirossi (23); 5. (Tie) Akira Ryo/Norick Abe (20); 7. Daljiro Katoh (19); 8. Shinlchi Itoh (13); 9. (Tie) Alex Barros/Olivier Jacq"e (10); 11. (Tie) Nobuatsu AokijRegis LaconifTetsuya Harada (9); 14. Shinya Nakano (8); 15. Max Biaggi (7). Upcoming Rounds: Round 3: Jerez. Spain. May 5 Round 4: Le Mans. France. May 19 right brake pressure. Suzuki rider Sete Gibernau confirmed that they have to blip. while you could also hear the Honda and Aprilia riders flipping the revs up as they back-shifted. Not the Yamaha riders. Checa and Biaggi can pile into the turns just stamping on the lever, with their special eiectronically controlled hydraulic clutch release mechanism taking care of equalizing the revs. This operates in addition to the slipper clutch. and logs various parameters like wheel speed. revs and brake pressure to determine the degree of slip. All the same. you could see it skip the rear wheel sideways in the lower gears. particularly with Checa at the helm. "We are still finding the right adjustments before it is perfeet." he explained. Rumors that BMW will be joining the MotoGP party persist. in spite of official deniais; with unconfirmed reports that Luca Cadalora has been recruited as a test rider for their proposed three-cylinder machine. More numors link the German giants with Kenny Roberts' Proton outfit. based in England. and the only people apart from the factories with the capability of designing and building a full racing machine. Mlf s just a rumor. We 've spoken with various people from BMW who have been at the races for other reasons - but nothing like formai talks. - said Team Proton KR manager Chuck Aksland. A one-off charity collection nelled $10,000 for a local center for underprivileged children affected by the Aids/HIV epidemic that is sweeping South Africa. The collection was initiated by team association IRTA. after Valentino Rossi and some others had visited the center in the week before the race. Aids is predicted to more than decimate the population in the coming decade. The local center has just 40 children registered, but even they have lost 12 children in recent months. The MotoGP field of 21 riders may be smaller than in recent years... but just feel the quantity. There are seven former World Champions in that number - Rossi. Capirossi. Biaggi. Roberts. Jacque. Katoh and Harada - and only three riders who have not won at least one GP: Jurgen van den Goor'bergh and class rookies John Hopkins and Pere Riba. Trackside observation confirms the evidence of the speed gun the Honda is the overall fastest fqur-stroke package. and the Suzuki makes the gutsiest noise. But the Aprilia wouid appear to be by far the most powerful, if its rocket-ship acceleration is anything to go by. Rider Regis Laconi clearly finds the newest of the MotoGP 990s something of a handful in the corners. but when the track straightens out and he can open the throttle. he can barely hang on. With further development to the chassis and power characteristics. the RS3 "Cube" has awesome potential. The engine was developed by Fl engineers Cosworth and is the only one with dry-sump lubrication. pneumatic valves and a "flyby·wire" throttle. However. it is also the only one that is over· weight. Racing boss Jan Willeveen revealed that they are considering switching to wet sump lubrication. dispensing with three out of four oil pumps to save weight; and even considering removing the balance shaft for the same reason. "We changed the power after the last race to lose five bhp at the top. and improved the torque by 30 percent between 8,000 and lO.OOO rpm." he said. The engine's rev ceiling has also been extended as development progresses. and it is now developing 220bhp at 15,500 rpm. With an awesome exhaust scream. The Biaggi rumor-mill is already active for next year. with information - probably carefully leaked - that he has approached Ducati to head their GP effort next year. Loris Capirossi had been earmarked for that ride. but is now thought to be eyeing a retum to Aprilia, to ride their highly promising three-cylinder four-stroke. Biaggi has made no secret over the years with his general dissatisfaction at Yamaha (would it be any different at Ducati?); while Capiross;' s pnesent two-stroke ride will nun out of steam at the end of this year. Australian wannabe Casey Stoner had the paddock taking notice in Welkom after qualifying eighth in only his second 250cc GP. Atl6. he is the youngest rider ever to do so. ''I'm very satisfied. I didn't know this track. but I like it - though the potholes are irritating." After t~ second day. he complained that the leftshoulder injury sustained at Catalunya tests was troublesome. "I'm tired. butI'm confident for the race." he said. eye I e nevvs MAY 1. 2002 13

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