Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Briefly Continued... behind, - said Takata. "I believe that after two or three more races the others will catch up to Hofmann." He stressed that Kawasaki was still feeling its way. after being out of GP racing since the ·70s. "Hamish is a good guy. with much experience and a strong direction. We are just beginning. We are still at the testing stage, leaming step by step." Chief test rider Akira Yanagawa's injury had set back the winter test program. Then the other riders felt the bike was strong, "until we started testing with the other competitors." said Takata. He did not feel that they had set too Iowa target for the project. "We cannot do everything at once. but our engine horsepower, aerodynamics and suspension targets were okay. We have a problem matching chassis and tires. We achieved the level we expected during testing, but the others have made a jump." Asked if they blamed Dunlop for their disappointing results. he replied: "We are Japanese. and it is not courteous to criticize other people. But we have a long history with Dunlop, and .our companies are close together in Kobe, which was hit by the earthquake. We must come up together. Dunlop are also starting with the GP four-strokes, so there is a lot of tire development also to come." He would not reveal what horsepower the Kawasaki is making but said: "Everyone is saying they have 200 horsepower. but everyone is telling a lie. Two hundred is not so difficult to achieve." Nor would he reveal what rpm the Kawakasi was using, saying: "It is about the same as Honda. and there is a rumor that they are rewing to 15.000 rpm." They had modified the power curve, losing 10 or 15 horsepower to make the engine easier to manage in the midrange. while boosting top end power. He also hinted at some dissatisfaction with the performance of full-time riders McCoy and Pill, especially compared with the speed of Hofmann. "We expect more push from them - but don't jump to conclusions. We are still learning. We have some different programs coming that we hope will make a big improvement. It's like a treasure hunt. You have to look around before you can find the direction. The other companies have twostroke and four-stroke experience. For us. everything is new, and it is trial and error. But the Kawasaki company is patient. " Strong rumors that Honda is already testing either a V ·three or a six-cylinder future MotoGP bike were denied by HRC president Kanazawa. "We are considering other designs. but only as drawings. We have not built anything yet," he said. He believed the current RCV211 V-five epic 125 battle, with a 10-strong MOTOGP would have two more years of racing life before requiring replacement but could not say what group only reducing in size fn the The pace was as hot as the weather closing laps. Points leader Dani from the start, the blindingly fast Pedrosa and the Telefonica MoviStar Ducati of Capirossi leading the bel- Honda came through to second after lowing pack down the long straight number or configuration of cylinders they would choose. "Two years ago we made a study and decided that the V-five was the best solution. We will start again. as always. with a fresh study rather than developing the same concept." he said. The first two-seater MotoGP machine appeared at Mugello - the Marlboro Ducati Desmosedici. ridden by Randy Mamola with a small selection of celebrities and into the first looping corner, a canny ride, starting from the third Biaggi, Nakano and Rossi on his row of the grid. MX Onda Aprilia's expressing the usual awe at the experience at the fast heels, and Gibernau leading the rest. Pablo Nieto was third. circuit. The best comment came from Luca Cadalora. "That was great. You need to place total trust in the rider. Which was difficult, because it was Randy." But Luca did get his knee down. nonetheless. By the third lap, Nakano was up to But the last lap brought heartbreak second, and Gibernau had closed on for 17-year-old Australian Casey Rossi, bringing Checa with him. Just Stoner, who had claimed a career- behind, Melandri was starting to lose first pole position and played a signif- touch, battling with a "jumping icant role in the leading group - only him with a convincing victory, stretching out the pursuit to make a somewhat dull race. Randy de Puniet and his Safylo Oxydo Aprilia ran him close in the early stages, with Telefonica MoviStar Aprilia's Fonsi Nieto with the pair. But Nieto lost touch after half-distance, and then de Puniet fell off - remounting only to crash out a few laps later. Nieto was a distant second; Franco Battaini won out for third over Rober- clutch" that spoiled his whole race, to be knocked off with less than a while Bayliss was about to pass him, to Rolfo and a fading Campetella quarter of a lap to go by fellow Aprilia as he started to pick up the pace. teammate Sylvain Guintoli. The race rider Steve Jenkner. Tamada had already picked up three was shortened by a lap after the start was aborted when Nieto stalled on the front row of the grid. Australian rider Anthony West was ninth, blaming a lack of confidence for a relatively lackluster weekend. Safilo Oxydo Aprilia's Lucio Cecchinello won his second 125cc race of the season after a typically Nicky Hayden 169) was at another track that he'd never seen before· one that " is notoriously difficult to learn • but managed to finish 12th, two places lIlJead D1 Alex Hofmann (66) on a Kawasaki. fX]@00/J [iiJ@!Z@0 9§DffD[){)@ffIMJ_ Loris Capirossi threw down the gauntlet on his first flying lap, registering a fastest-ever top speed of 203.9 mph down the straight on the Ducati, and he stayed on top for the rest of practice. Until the closing minutes, when there was the usual rush of qualifying-tire laps. None of them really worked, Max Biaggi getting slowed behind Colin Edwards, and others running into various glitches. Except for one. In spite of getting held up behind Troy Bayliss, Valentino Rossi managed it by the narrowest of margins - less than three-hundredths of a second; and his huge annny of fans was rewarded with another heroic pole position for the Honda man. "! pushed very hard, but I made a mistake on the last corner," Rossi said. "Still my team did fantastic work." But Rossi was under no illusion about the race to come, under the huge pressure of his home fans. "It will be very hard, whether it is hot or wet," he said. Capirossi said he was not disappointed at losing pole, after being one of several riders not to improve in the blazing heat of the second day, "We worked today on race setup, so I am happy, though we still have some work to do," he said. Third went to Shinya Nakano after a flying last-minute run. He was the last rider below J :52 in a single lap and the only Yamaha rider to overcome the queasy front-end feel that the downhill corner entries exacerbate. "I hope I can stay with the three Italian riders here for the race - it's going to be tough," he said.. The third of them was Biaggi, who was on the pace all weekend and whose serious bid for pole was foiled when he was slowed behind Edwards. Biaggi is still complaining about the lack of factory parts for his production machine and of a return of the mysterious power drop off that he ran into in the heat in South Africa. Teammate Tohru Ukawa's factory machine led the second row, carving off a full second after a slow start and less than a hundredth off the front row. Double race winner Sete Gibernau was alongside, then Carlos Checa and Olivier Jacque on the next Yamahas. Alex Barros led the third row from impressive Mugello first·timer Tamada, and then Bayliss moved up to 1 J th after a slow start on the second Duke, battling the lack of frontend feel endemic to the track. "The bike felt completely different from the way it did in tests," BayUss said. Melandri was having similar problems alongside him, Edwards was searching for more comer speed and led row four from John Hopkins, Alex Hofmann on the fastest of the three Kawasakis, and double crasher Noriyuki Haga. Nicky Hayden was struggUng with the front-end feel in his first time at the track, although he did take a second off his first day's time to slot in J 7th, narrowly ahead of Kenny Roberts Jr., who failed to improve after more electronic gUtches with his Suzuki's management program. Jeremy McWilliams was next after slolling in an impressive 16th on the first day, run· ning into the same Proton fuel pump problems that had plagued Aoki throughout, and failing to improve. Garry McCoy and Andrew Pitt were next, then novice Kiyonari ahead of the troubled Nobuatsu Aoki. C II C • e n e _ s • JUNE 18, 2003 33

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