Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

(lA6.170); 17. Jeremy McWilli.ms (1:46.173); 18. (Yam); 5. Shinya Nakano (Yam); 6. Tohru Ukawa (Han); 7. Makoto Tamada (Han); 8. Alex Barros (Yam); 9. Nicky Hayden (Han); 10. Troy Bayliss (Duc); 1 I. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hon); 12. Noriyuki Haga (Apr); 13. Marco Melandri (Yam); 14. Max Biaggi (Han); 15. John Hopkins (Suz); 16. Nobuatsu Aoki (Pro); 17. Garry McCoy (Kaw). Time: 44 min. 21.758 sec. Distance: 25 laps, 73.26 miles Average speed: 99.09 mph Margin of victory: 3.075 sec. Fastest lap: Valentino Rossi, lap 21, 1:45.472 Nicky Hayden (I :46.216); 19. Garry McCoy (1:46.647); 20. Ryuichi Kiyonari (1:46.950); 21. Nobuatsu Aoki (1:47.037); 22. Andrew Pitt (1:47,473), Randy De Puniet (7) took the 250 win ahead of Fonsi Nieto and Anthony West (14). BRIEFLY••• Kevin Schwantz made his first visit to a MotoGP event at Catalunya - and was mightily impressed by the power of the new machines. But he didn't abandon his dedication to the 500cc GP machines on which he won 25 GPs and the 1993 World Championship. "It seems they're easier to ride to 90 percent than the 500s were, and the whole field can qualify a lot closer more easiIy," Schwantz said. "The racing in the top class is as good as we've ever seen it. But to win races and go to the next level, then they're probably equally as hard to ride as the 500s. My love is racing two-strokes, but these are genuine GP bikes, and whether they should be two-stroke or four-stroke depends on the era." But he reserved his final judgment in favor of the old bikes. "The difference is you can't force the new bikes by your own will. You could over-ride a 500 and get away with stuff. I guess that makes the 500s more of a rider's bike." Schwantz was at the GP as a guest of the beleaguered Suzuki team, observing by the track and consulting with riders, team and factory engineers. "It's very disappointing to see myoid team having problems, and I wish there was something I could do to help," he said. "They seem to have a pretty good idea of what the problems are. Solving them is the big issue. Watching the bike, it seems like the bike runs good, and I think it can be a competitive with the engine it has. We need to concentrate on handling. Watching John [Hopkins] today, he's having trouble getting into the turns and getting back on the throttle on the way out. He's on the power a meter and a bit later than the others." Schwantz hoped to attend Assen as well and also the German GP, to coincide with the first of the European editions of his riding school that he runs at Road Atlanta. Kenny Roberts Jr. pulled out of the Catalunyan GP, still suffering pain from the injuries he sustained when he collided with teammate Hopkins at Mugello the previous weekend. Roberts didn't break anything but was suffering from injuries to his sternum (chest bone) and flew back to California the day before the race for further investigation and treatment. "I spoke to JeanMichel [Bayle] who cracked his sternum. and that didn't show up on X-rays until ten days or two weeks later," Roberts said. "It feels like it's got to be something like that. because the pain is just in the same place and the same all the time. My strength seems to be getting better, but the pain feels the same every day. I feel like I crashed yesterday," he said. In the crash, he landed on his right shoulder, driving the collarbone into the sternum. Dr. Claudio Costa had told him that more usually the collarbone would have broken, but in this case it transferred the injuries. Roberts explained the accident. "I picked the wrong time, and I messed up. I've been trying to avoid this situation all year, but this time I had a bit more aggression.. "He and Hopkins had been overtaken by Colin Edwards. "I had speed over John, so I wanted to get by him and try to stay with Colin. I had a run on him out of the previous corner, but it wasn't like a normal accident where I lost grip. As I shifted from third to second, the bike immediately went sideways like I had the back brake on. From that point on I was just trying to recover and go off the track, or miss John. Obviously, I didn't miss him." After the crash, he was unable to remove his helmet. "I had no range of motion from my arms, and no strength," he said. "I've never had a crash when something wasn't broken but I didn't have any strength, and complete pain," he added. "It's always the rider's fault in this situation, but the problem was I had no control." Roberts has frequently complained this year of unpredictable responses from the Suzuki's sophisticated electronic engine management software, especially when the throttle is closed. Hopkins was also hurt in the crash and during the weekend was getting treatment for back problems. Roberts not only missed the race but also two days of testing scheduled for the Monday and Tuesday. Hopkins was expected to test. along with Suzuki endurance racer Jean-Michel Bayle and factory rider Akyoshi. 125 GRAND PRIX: I. Daniel Pedrosa (Hon); 2. Thomas Luthi (Hon); 3. Alex De Angelis (Apr); 4. Steve Jenkner (Apr); 5. Stefano Perugini (Apr); 6. Jorge Lorenzo (Der); 7. Mika Kallio (Hon); 8. Gino Borsoi (Apr); 9. Gabor Talmacsi (Apr); 10. Roberto Locatelli (KTM); 1 \. Gioele Pellino (Apr); 12. Mirko Giansanti (Apr); 13. Mike Di Meglio (Apr); 14. Arnaud Vincent (KTM); 15. Simone Corsi (Hon);16. Marco Simoncelli (Apr); 17. Pablo Nieto (Apr); 18. Andrea Ballerini (Gil); 19. Fabrizio Lai (Mal); 20.lmre Toth (Han); 21. Max Sabbatani (Apr); 22. Masao Azuma (Hon); 23. Sergio Gadea (Apr); 24. Julian Simon (Mal); 25. Jordi Carchano (Hon); 26. Peter Lenart (Hon); 27. Leon Camier (Han); 28. Alvaro Bautista (Apr). Time: 41 min. 16.672 sec. Distance: 22 laps, 64.47 miles Average speed: 93.71 mph Margin of victory:. 137 sec. Fastest lap: Casey Stoner, lap 4, 1:51 .190 250 GRAND PRIX: 1. Randy de Puniet (Apr); 2. Fonsi Nieto (Apr); 3. Anthony West (Apr); 4. Toni Elias (Apr); 5. Naoki Matsudo (Yam); 6 Franco Battaini (Apr); 7. Sebastian Porto (Han); 8. Sylvain Guintoli (Apr); 9. Roberto Rolfo (Hon); 10. Joan Olive (Apr); '11. Alex Debon (Han); 12. Klaus Nohles (Apr); 13. Johan Stigefelt (Apr): 14. Erwan Nigon (Apr); 15. Christian Gemmel (Han); 16. Lukas Pesek (Yam); 17. Katja Poensgen (Han); 18. Henk vd Lagemaat (Han). Time: 41 min. 59.893 sec. Distance: 23 laps, 67.40 miles Average speed: 96.29 mph Margin of victory:.244 sec. Fastest lap: Manuel Poggiali, lap 6, 1:48.483 MOTOGP: I. Loris Capirossi (Duc); 2. Valentino Rossi (Han); 3. Sete Gibernau (Han); 4. Carlos Checa Dutch IT organizers have invested more than $700,000 to prevent the track invasion of last year, from which Valentino Rossi (among others) had to flee after stopping to pick up a flag after the race. The problem meant that the track's permit was temporarily withdrawn, pending changes. Taking the motto "Enjoy, don't destroy," the circuit organizers have closed off some of the trackside banks, which have been replaced by 17,000 new grandstand seats at other parts of the track. More significantly, the race will be alcohol free, as at the last World Superbike round there. Cold drinks in plastic containers will be allowed, but not cans, and no liquor will be allowed. Camp sites will be more strictly controlled, said IT boss Jos Vaessen, while more than 2.4 miles of fencing is to be upgraded, with barbed wire on top of all the track's fences. An economic survey has measured just how much money the IT brings in to the northern Dutch province of Drenthe. In 1996, this was measured at more than 80 million guilders (36 million euros, $42.6 million). In the year 2000, the same calculation showed income was more than doubled. with a financial spin-off of 80.8 million euros ($95.6 million). Track invasions by crowds driven mad by MotoGP fever and a scorching European summer have so far been forestalled this year, with the worst offenders - the Mugello masses stopped at - the post when the racers were stopped and brought back into the pits down a footpath at the end of the finishing straight. In Catalunya (as at Le Mans) the scariest police in the country - the Mossos d'Squadra - were drafted in, to pay special attention to the vast bowl of spectators around the last corners of the lap. The Aprilia Cube appeared to have been transformed, as Colin Edwards topped the practice listings for most of the first sessions - but while his crew chief Adrian Gorst had measured some improvement with new parts, he was not about to hail a new dawn. The parts had been successfully proved by factory tester Marcellino Lucchi at Mugello but hadn't been used for the race because they were still an unknown quantity. They were mainly electronic and ignition mapping changes, and they had smoothed the power somewhat to make the motor more predictable. But it was not an improvement of speed that was most significant, said Gorst, but the gain in consistency. "It might look like we've made a big jump, but we're about the same time off pole here as at Suzuka, Welkom and Mugello. But we have been able to run those times consistently," said Gorst. "We've always been consistent for the first ten laps, then drop off," he said. The new setting should help the World Superbike Champion to maintain his pace. GP racing's newest and noisiest baby, the V-five Proton KR, took another step forward at Catalunya, just a week a~r its first race. But it wasn't as far as riders and team had hoped, when four days proved not quite long enough for a full range of serious power-up parts. "We have some new intake trumpets and a different way of delivering the fuel to the injection gallery," said team owner Kenny Roberts. "But we didn't have time to get everything done." The parts were flown in after the first day of practice. while other modifications had kept the team working through the night on Thursday and late also on Friday night. The main problem to be solved was fuel pump failure and vaporization. "We have different pumps, and we've managed to get some air in there," said Roberts. "It's not perfect. but it seems better." But the next fueling problem came up directly, again affecting Aoki worse than McWilliams - dirt in the fuel was clogging injectors. McWilliams, running faster, found another problem. "Because we don't have enough exit speed, I'm having to ride it like a twostroke, with big lean angles. It's hard on the tires, and I'm also dragging the fairing. It's just about worn through," he said after the first practice session. "It was the same at Mugello." The fix was to move a sensor on the lower exhaust pipe, which then allowed more movement for swingarm adjustment. This gave more ride hei9ht. "But I'm still touching down," said McWilliams. 125 WORLD C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 6 of 16 rounds): '1. Daniel Pedrosa (116/3 wins); 2. Lucio Cecchinello (91/2 wins); 3. Steve Jenkner (73); 4. Andrea Dovizioso (67); 5. Stefano Perugini (65/1 win); 6. Alex De Angelis (53); 7. Youichi Ui (51); 8. Pablo Nieto (47); 9. Mirko Giansanti (40); 10. Thomas Luthi (39). 250 WORLD C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 6 of t 6 rounds): 1. Manuel Poggiali (88/3 wins); 2. (TIE) Toni Elias (81/2 wins)/Randy De Puniet (81/1 win)/Fonsi Nieto (81); 5. Roberto Rolfo (76); 6. Franco Battaini (58); 7. (TIE) Anthony West (53)/Sebastian Porto (53)/Naoki Matsuda (53); 10. Sylvain Guintoli (42). MOTOGP WORLD C'SHIP POINTS STANDtNGS (After 6 of 16 rounds): 1. Valentino Rossi (135/3 wins); 2. Sete Gibernau (88/2 wins); 3. Max Biaggi (85); 4. Loris Capirossi (6'1/1 win); 5. Alex Barros (54); 6. Tohru Ukawa (52); 7. Troy Bayliss (46); 8. Shinya Nakano (44); 9. (TIE) Makoto Tamada (34)7Carlos Chec. (34); 11. Nicky Hayden (33); 12. Olivier Jacque (32); 13. Colin Edwards (25); 14. Noriyuki Haga (21); 15. Norick Abe (18). Upcoming rounds: Round 7: Assen, Netherlands Round 8: Donington Park, Great Britain Roberts said that they had also raised the rev limiter to 14,000 rpm, looking for more top-end power, but admitted that serious power-up parts would probably not arrive before the Czech Republic GP after the summer break. "We're still at the early testing stage, doing stuff that would normally be done behind closed doors," he said. "But all the engines are still running these are the same motors we used last week in Italy. " Valentino Rossi arrived in Catalunya on the brink of equaling Mick Doohan's record of 54 GP wins. But as the five-time World Champion pointed out, with some justification, all his were obtained in the top class, while Valentino has 26 from his days in the 125 and 250cc classes. "In Formula One. they don't counts F3000 wins," said Doohan. Only 15 time-champion Giacomo Agostini has more premier-class wins than Doohan, with 68: but if you add all the classes together, Doohan is topped by Ago again with 122, tiddler specialist Angel Nieto with 90, and Mike Hailwood with 76. Rossi also passed the 1000-point milestone in Italy. The scores here put Doohan on top with 2298, then Alex Criville (161OJ, Alex Barros (1597J. Eddie Lawson (1429J, Wayne Rainey (1248.5) and Kevin Schwantz (t 236.5). To be fair, modern racers have much more chance to amass points. When the championship began in 1949, a win carried 10 POints, and there were just six chances to win per annum. Today's GP winners get 25 points over a 16·race season. Swiss rider Thomas Luthi is just 16, and looks it. He was astonished at leading the 125cc race and even more astonished to find himself in a post-race press conference with Danny Pedrosa and Alex de Angelis. "I never thought these people really existed," he said. ''I'd only ever seen Danny and Alex on TV, and now here I am sitting here with them." HRC has responded to the threat of Ducati's superpowerful Desmosedici with an experimental engine upgrade that it was testing on the day after the Catalunyan GP. Details were shrouded in secrecy, though the bike is understood still to be a Vfive like the original RCV211 , and possibly much the same externally. However, one major difference is thought to be in exhaust plumbing, with one source suggesting that it has an unexpected three tailpipes, the front three cylinders haVing a two-into-one system and a one-into-one, and the rear cylinders a two-in to-one. There are several possible implications, ranging from the possibili· ty of different exhaust runs liberating space for suspension revisions to a power-up option, with the outer cylinders phased twointo-one to improve scavenging, and the" rogue" central cylinder left to operate independently. Ducati's V-four has shown such a turn of speed and horsepower that it clearly threatens the superiority of the RCV. Paradoxically, however, it seems the Desmosedici may have been detuned slightly for the Catalunyan race, to improve tire endurance and rideability. Ducati said at the launch of the Desmosedici in the middle of last season that it hoped to supply customer teams in the future, in the same way as in World Superbike racing. Now there are already independent franchise holders eyeing up the possibility of running Dukes. with the prime contender being the troubled WCM team. Last year, WCM ran Red Bull-sponsored Yamaha two-strokes, but this year they have been disqualified from all but the first race on the grounds that their home-brewed R1-based Harris-WCM does not fit with the prototype rules. The rumored dream team reunites WCM with sponsors Red Bull, as well as one of their ex-riders - American bright hope John Hopkins: the second ride is earmarked for Ducati Superbike rider and current World Championship leader Neil Hodgson. Hopkins is under option to Suzuki for next year, but disappointing progress with Suzuki's all-new GSV-R four-stroke has left him somewhat disillusioned, and if they do not achieve the machine's full potential' in the near future, he may be anxious to leave. cue e n e _ so JUNE 25, 2003 21

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