Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

World Championship Road Race Series Round 10: Czech Gran This meant that Elias and Porto were now battling for second, rather than fourth, and Elias was in front·tire trouble, so when Porto pushed ahead, he had no answer, and the Argentine rider claimed the place. Nieto was now lapping faster than ever. He started the last lap 1.5 seconds behind Elias, and finished it just two tenths adrift. But there are no team orders in the Telefonica Movistar Repsol squad, and the younger rider never even gave a thought to letting his senior teammate past. Locatelli and an impressive Shahrol Yuzy had been battling behind Porto in the early stages, until Yuzy fell off, fulfilling a certain sense of inevitabiJj· ty. Randy de Puniet was a little ways back. The excitement was provided once again by Casey Stoner. The Australian teenager had been picking his way through steadily from the first lap and had taken from laps six to nine to work through a close gang comprising Aoki, Battaini, Checa and Matsudo. Then he closed quickly on de Puniet for what was then seventh. "It was like Catalunya • I thought I'd probably got as high as I could already, but I kept on catching other riders," he said later. Nieto under braking on lap six. Nieto was happy enough to follow for the present, and likewise Melandri, who wanted to save his strength and his tires for the final battle. So it went for most of yet another not-very-thrilling 250cc race. Then, with five laps left, it all kicked off. Nieto thought it was time to get ahead again and pull out a gap - but he underestimated Rolfo's determination, and it all went a bit wrong, giving Melandri the opening he wanted to slip into second. Two corners later, Nieto tried to redress the situation... and instead missed his braking point, running off the track and into the gravel, where he narrowly remained wheels down and regained the track, now in fifth behind Elias and Porto. Melandri followed Rolfo for two more laps, then, with three to go, outbraked him easily into the first corner. His Aprilia was clearly supe· rior to the factory Honda, but Rolfo rather uncharacteristically succumbed to the red mist, and fought back with vigor. A big slide on the last corner didn't curtail his efforts, but an even bigger one half-a-Iap later did. This time, his front wheel let go, and he slid to earth. His race was over. Team Kanemoto also managed to get in two days of testing. with Bridgestone tires, at Bmo - but were obliged to bring in last year's test rider Shinichi Itoh rather than team regular Jurgen van den Goorbergh, to comply with the rules. Suzuki had a new chassis for the Czech RepubliC GP, but customs problems and late delivery left riders Kenny Roberts Jr. and Sete Gibemau with something of a dilemma, after it arrived too late to be used on the first day of qualifying.• It's a pity, because these things seldom work perfectly straight out of the box, - said team manager Garry Taylor. "We've lost half the time we had to get the settings right. It means our technicians will have to think hard and work hard to get the best out of the old or new chassis tomorrow.' Other updates included a revised engine-mapping system. There may be as many as 10 V ·five Hondas on the grid next year, acconding to HRC president Suguru Kanezawa. The news came at a special technical conference, where HRC revealed more technical details of their dominant V-five, which has won all nine races so far this year, and connrmed that development of the two-stroke NSR500 will stop at the end of this season.• Our plan is to supply machines for eight riders," he said. At least three would be HRC riders, with Valentino Rossi already contracted, and negotiations under way with Ukawa and Katoh. There might possibly be a fourth rider, with Daijiro Kato; while the remainder would be supply teams on production versions of the RC211V. But Kanezawa also confirmed that they were finaliZing a deal with chassis manufacturers Moriwaki, and had agreed to supply them with "test engines.' This is in line with earlier reports that Red Bull Yamaha would run a pair of Moriwaki Honda V-fives next year for their riders Garry McCoy and John Hopkins, bringing the total of V-five Hondas to 10. The production machines will follow HRC policy. "As with this year's NSR two-stroke, we have given supply teams last year's factory bikes," said Kanezawa. "This means there may be some technical differences between the customer machines and the factory bikes, which will continue to be developed. Asked about the politics of these GP swamping tactics, HRC managing director manger KOiji Nakajima replied: "It was not our original intention to dominate the series, but to develop it. That was why we agreed with the plan to switch to four-strokes. ' All the factory teams had new parts after the long summer break the most obvious a new fairing for the M1 Yamaha. less bulbous than the earlier version. The sleeker chassis and a revised radiator are said to increase top speed by about 4 mph. Max Biaggi accordingly set the fastest speed-trap times in the first timed qualifying session, tripping the beams at 1B2 mph, compared with Rossi's Honda at 1BO.2. Yamaha also had a revised chassis, the fifth for the M 1. Honda's most visible change was a titanium rather than a carbonfiber rear silencer, with a bigger (though sadly not much noisier) outlet. They had also introduced a ram-air intake system, which offered a massive nve-percent power increase. But only Tohru Ukawa persisted with the new system: Daijiro Kato had the earlier fairing without the intakes, and Valentino Rossi abandoned the intemal airbox system as weil during practice. Aprilia had a raft of detail revisions that had cut weight by 11 pounds - from lighter materials in the engine as well as thinner casings and reduced-weight electronic-control systems. The AP Racing carbon clutch had also been revised. Will HRC pull out of World Superbike? After the defection of Colin Edwards and the massive commitment to make eight V-fives and engines for two more, it must be a serious consideration. The answer will come at the end of September, according to HRC president Kanezawa. "We consider MotoGP and World Superbike as very different series," he said, but would not be drawn further. But HRC will be pulling out of full works support of the 250cc class, with no more NSR250s after this year. "We are developing the RS250-W to achieve the same level," he said. It was not yet decided how many machines they would make available. Testing was banned during the summer break, but Honda managed to find a way around that anyway for new V-fIVe rider Daijiro Kato. After winning the Eight-Hour, the Japanese star had an outing at the HRC test circuit at Tochigi. He played the outing down. "It's a very small track with no speed, and I was only getting the handlebars and things set for my size and style," he said, adding: "I can't remember how many iaps I did, but there was no real chance to get used to the bike. ' To be fair, the rule only bans testing at GP circuits, and Kato was furthermore testing with the factory rather than his Fortuna Gresini team. Many felt it was still not in keeping with the spirit of the rules. Rival teams who had complied had varying reactions - but one was angry enough to suggest punishment. "He should be obliged to miss the nrst hour of practice for the remaining GPs this year," he said. Kato didn't give much appearance of nrst-time nerves when he rode the bike SEPTEMBER 4, 2002· cue I • He took a couple of laps to dispatch the Frenchman, who then followed him as they both closed on Locatelli, stiff and sore after two practice crashes. The Australian led the Frenchman past him and kept on moving ahead, then chasing Nieto, who had regained the track a little way ahead. Fifth was his best result so far in his brilliant rookie year. On the last lap, Checa and Battaini collided, the former rejoining for 18th, supposedly, for the nrst time in anger. From the start, he was challenging for pole position. BRIEFLY••• 18 rix n • The starting grid for next year may be heavy with Hondas - with as many as 10 lining up for the second four·stroke MotoGP year; but a 24-strong lineup offers the chance of some balance, if the rival factories can catch up over the winter. The position is consid~ erably less certain for riders, with only a few big names with final contracts; and it's the same for sponsors, with only Gauloises _ s Battaini out out of the race, leaving eighth and ninth to Matsudo and Aoki, separated by just a matter of inches. The next battle was between David Garcia, replacing the convalescing Alzamora on the second factory Honda, wild card Waldmann and Briton Jay Vincent. They finished in that order. Another 13 seconds back, Alex Debon snitched 13th from Dirk Heidolf, with a lone Raul Jara taking the last point. (Yamaha) and Marlboro settled - with Ducat!. The bikes go as follows: Three factory Hondas • two with the factory team, probably again sponsored by Repsol, although this is not yet nnal. One is for Rossi, and negotiations are under way to retain Ukawa as his teammate. The third bike is for Kato in the Gresini team. with negotiations in progress. Gresini hopes to run a second rider, but it will most likely be on a production RCV Honda, and he has no names to offer at present. His current 250 rider Roberto Rolfo must be a likely choice, however. Mystery surrounds the names to go on the other four RCV production machines. Two are expected to go to Team Pons, if he can retain suffiCient West backing. Barros is likely to stay, but not Capirossi, leaving another vacant seat. Biaggi is also tipped for a Honda, on the ashes of the current one-year-<:ontract Pramac and Kanemoto teams. using the franchise place currently held by Luis d'Antin's Antena Tre Yamaha squad - d'Antin is currently looking for "a partner" to make up his own sponsorship shortfall. and might even sell his two-rider franchise altogether. This leaves a slot for a teammate to Biagg!. The remaining two Hondas will be Moriwaki-framed machines, earmarked for Red Bull, who have already contracted Garry McCoy and John Hopkins. Four Yamahas are expected: two for the factory team, which is rumored to be on the verge of replacing the lost Marlboro backing with Fortuna, currently backing Gresin;'s team. Checa has already signed to stay, but there is a vacant seat for a teammate. Both Manuel Poggiali and Nicky Hayden have been mentioned. Two more Yamahas are earmarked for Herve Poncheral's Tech 3 team, and it is likely he will retain riders Jacque and Nakano. He is also currently negotiating to renew Gauloises sponsorship. Suzuki is committed to their two-rider team, but has not yet finalized a contract with sponsors Telefonica Movistar, rumored to be contemplating a switch to Gresin;'s team to replace Fortuna. Neither Kenny Roberts Jr. nor Gibemau are signed up for next year either, although there were rumors that Roberts had signed. Kawasaki's two new bikes bring the numbers of Japanese machines up to 1B, but they have not yet announced any riders, and negotiations with Capirossi are said to have hit a wall because he insists on Michelin tires, and Kawasaki is more likely to stay with Dunlop, at least partly because Michelin is unable to take on any more customers. Some rumors link Norick Abe with the new green venture. Aprilia has promised a two-rider team, and they are expected to retain Lacon!. Marco Melandri is a serious contender to take the second seat. There will also be the two V-five Protons, with no riders signed - though team manager Chuck Aksland has said they would like to retain McWilliams and Aoki.

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