Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

McCoy (2:03.407); 22. Ryu;ch; K;yonar; (2:03.707); 23. Nobuat,u Aok; (2:06.172). MOTOGP: 1. Sele Gibemau (Hon); 2. Max Biaggi (Hon): 3. Valentino Rossi (Hon); 4. Carlos Checa (Yam); 5. Olivier Jacque (Yam): 6. Loris Capirossi (Duc); 7. Colin Edwards (Apr): 8. Alex Barros (Yam); 9. Troy Bayliss (Duc); 10. Alex Hofmann (Kaw); II. Nicky Hayden (Hon); 12. Tohru Ukawa (Hon); 13. Shinya Nakano (Yam): 14. Andrew Pitt (Kaw); 15. John Hopkins (5uz); 16. Makola Tamada (Hon); 17. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hon): 18. Garry McCoy (Kaw). Time: 42 min .. 39.006 sec. Distance: 19 laps, 70.99 miles Average speed: 99.87 mph Margin of victory: 10.1 11 sec. Fastest lap: Sete Gibernau. lap 15. 2: 11.805 MotoGP WORLD C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 7 of 16 rounds): J. Valentino Rossi (151/3 wins): 2. Sete Gibemau (113/3 wins): 3. Max Biaggi (105); 4. Loris Capirossi (71/1 win); 5. Alex Barros (62); 6. Tohru Ukawa (56); 7. T,oy Bay!;ss (53); 8. (TIE) Corlas Checa (47)/Shinyll Nakano (47): 10. Olivier Jacque (43): II. Nicky Hayden (38): 12. (TIE) Mako'o Tamada (34)/Col;n Edwa,d, (34); 14. (TIE) Nor;yuk; Haga (21)/ Nor;ck Abe (21). Upcoming Rounds Round 8: Donington Park, England, July 13 Round g: Sachsenring, Germany, July 27 Jeremy McWilliams (99) didn't finish the race on the factory Proton. John Hopkins (21) finished 15th in the diabolical conditions. BRIEFLY. •• Honda gave a demoralizing display of its capabilities even before practice began at Assen. with the first significant upgrade to its V5 motor since it started winning races from the beginning of last year. The new power-up engine is a direct response to Ducatl's threateningly powerful Desmosedici. which has run Honda close on several occasions and won two weeks ago at Catalunya after Rossi ran off the track while disputing the lead with Red Duke rider Capirossi. Noisier than the earlier engine, and with an extra exhaust pipe. the increased power comes from unleashing more revs and speed for the already dominant machine. The new engine is externally the same as the previous version and bolts straight in but can be easily d;stinguished not only by greater noise from unsilenced pipes, but also a third low-level exhaust, terminating in an elongated megaphone. The outer cylinders front and rear feed a two-into-one system; the single exhaust is for the rogue central cylinder in the front bank of three. Details were not forthcoming, but sources close to the team suggested the software and some relatively minor hardware changes (probably reprofiled camshafts) had given more power in the middle and the top of the range. Some of this extra power Is understood to have come by extendIng the rev range... previously the Honda had run to a relatively conservative ce;ling of 15.000 rpm, but there is little doubt they could go a lot higher If pushed. The apparently eas;ly achieved power-up response may have been flattering to Ducati, who pushed Honda into making the move, but was equally demoraliz· iog for the others, already struggling to get into the same frame as the Honda and the Ducatl. Valentino Rossi tested the new bike at Catalunya and used it in practice in Holland before SWitching back to the quieter old model. Since the gains are principally in top end, they are not so relevant at a part-throttle track like Assen, nor at the upcoming Donington Park and Sachsenring. Rossi also prefers the quieter two-pipe model, with the extra noise interfering with his concen· tration and masking the sound of any other machines nearby. As a result, it Is likely to be shelved until the Czech Republic GP at Brno. where peak power again becomes important. What's the future of the 250 class? Currently going through a fallow period, the claSSIC quarter·liter class may not even last as long as the current contract period to the end of 2006. Moves are afoot to accelerate the arrival of a MotoGP2 class of 600cc streetbike engines. with unlimited chassis. suspension and tires. Dorna chief executive Carmelo Ezpeleta would not be drawn on the matter, saying only: "In principle. the current 125cc and 250cc support classes remain until 2006. I always want two support classes, but after 2006 I would be open to whatever the manufacturers association suggests. If the MSMA suggest a 600cc fourstroke class. I have no problem with that." This would be a major attack on the beleaguered Superbike series. for whom the 600cc Supersport class is a major draw and currently attracts more direct or indirect factory support than the main Superbike class. The dreams of WCM to manufacture its own Rl·based GP bike were dealt a critical blow at Assen, when judgment from the court of last resources went against the team. But the team will continue, returning in one or two races' time with Honda V-twin two-strokes for riders Chris Burns and David de Gea. said manager Peter Clifford. The pensioned-off old privateer Hondas might even have difficulty qualifying at faster tracks, but at least they will get some saddle time for the riders... and keep the all-important team franchise alive for next year. The news came on the first day of practice at Assen that the final appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport had been dismissed. This ended a long trail that started at the first race in Japan, where WCM ran in practice with a roughcut first version of its proposed g90cc prototype racer. This had more in common with the Rl source bike than the ultimate planned mach;ne, in particular using Rl crankcases and cylinder heads. This seemed at variance with the rather loosely worded technical rules, and the FIM raised verbal objections at Suzuka, followed by an official visit by FIM Technical Commission head Oriol Puig Bulto and an assistant to the second race in South Africa, where they inspected the bike and disqualified it before it had done anything more than qualify at Suzuka. The team had withdrawn from Suzuka, claiming they had run out of engines. But Clifford revealed at Assen that this had been a tactical move in league with Dorna, in response to the obviously brewing storm. This was one of a series of moves in a tangled web of war between racing's biggest players· GP rights holders Doma and the rival SBK rights holders Octagon. And it was an opportunity for the FIM to reassert its authority while still enjoying the financial benefits of haVing leased off rights to its World Championships. WCM's dubiously legal GP bike may have triggered the row, but it was just cannon fodder. This week's ruling follows an official process that began after South Africa, the first of a series of ritual disqualifications for the WCM machine, which remained in the same form as at Suzuka, with production Yamaha engine parts. This culminated in the final failure of the appeal to the fully independent CAS on the Monday before Assen. The only encouragement to the beleaguered team was that the CAS judgment was delayed by several days, longer than usual, suggesting a f;nely balanced argument. The court ruled that the appeals by the team were dismissed. retained the team's court office fee of 1500 Swiss Francs ($1100) and awarded 5000 Swiss Francs ($3700) costs to the FIM. The b;kes were put away in a sad moment but might return. "We will continue with developing our crankcase and heads, and it is pOSSible that we might run the machine before the end of the year." said Clifford. Until then, they would do "what we should have done in November last year... get some Honda V·twins so as to be able to complete the season in accordance with our franchise," he said. The WCM franchise remains hot property, with Ducatl and Aprrlra both keen to field second teams. and KTM also looking for a place on the grid next year. Clrfford revealed that he had already been in discuss;ons with Ducati and Aprilia and also expected to talk to Suzuki and Kawasaki for next year. But WCM is on a two·race deadline from Doma. "Until the legality of the machine was finally established and while WCM were disqualified, we were prepared to wait. But the franchise contract is that they have to race." said Ezpeleta. "They must enter at Donington Park (in two weeks), or if that is not possible the next round in Germany." he said. If they did not, they would be in breach of contract. In this case, Dorna would have a spare franchise - good news not only for Aprilia and Ducati, who want to run more machines, but also for KTM. anx· ious to join the MotoGP party. The legality of WCM's planned GP prototype would probably not be questioned. With a purpose-built crankcase and four-valve cylinders heads, the R1 origin would have become sufficiently remote that it might be considered a true prototype. Sadly, "It took much, much longer than we ever had imagined." according to Peter Clifford. The bike never appeared, and the Harris-ehas· sised machine that did show up was definitely marginal. Neverthe· less, it was at least arguable that the rules were too vague to be applied (the main thrust of WCM's appeal) and that the bike was within the sp;rit of the regulations. It wasn't a modified Superbike and complied with all capacity and weight limits. And was one of a long tradition of (often rather good) racing bikes derived from road-going machines. In view of recent laxity in applying homologation rules to World Superblke, especially for Benelli and Bimota. and with no objection raised from within GP racing, they might have gotten away with it. Instead, they provided the spark for a significant skirmish in the War of the World Championships. The first shots were fired by the beleaguered World Superbike rights leaseholders, recently returned to the Flammini organization from Octagon Motor Sports. This is revealed in leaked minutes of an FIM management committee meeting in February. These state that "following a complaint from the commercial partner of the Superbike World Championsh;p, a commission of enquiry will be appointed by the FIM" to investigate the WCM case. This investigation led to the scrutlneering process in South Africa and ultimately to the decision that has thrown the team into turmoil. But Dorna would not be drawn into a tit-for·tat struggle. "We discuss only our own championship with the FIM. That has been the case since 1992," he said. "I don't care what Superbike does. I am not fighting a war. We are only interested in our own business." Asked if Doma would be approaching the FIM with a similar request to ensure the correct homologation of a further 75 0: Petronas FPl sports machines this July, he said: "That is the FIM's business. They don't need to be reminded." A Pit Lane cameo put the relative fame of SBK and GP riders into proportion. Current SBK championship leader Neil Hodgson was visiting Assen and chatting to Randy Mamola. A starry-eyed bike fan approached for a picture of himself with his hero . and passed the camera to Hodgson to act as photographer while he cozied up to the long-retired Mamola. Will Neil Hodgson be in GPs on a Ducati next year1 The top British rider deflected questions, saying that the decision would be up to Ducati. "My primary consideration is to win the Superbike World Championship this year." Hodgson said. "Next year, I have a contract with Ducati. As I understand it, they are waiting to see what will happen with the Superbike series. If the other manufacturers come back then I'll be happy to stay there to defend the title. If not, then I think Ducati might move me towards MotoGP." Suzuki teamster Kenny Roberts Jr. m;ssed the Dutch n after famous racing surgeon Dr. Art Ting diagnosed deep soft tissue damage in the riders chest. sustained when he collided with teammate John Hopkins at the Italian GP at Mugello three weeks before the Dutch race. Hopkins also sustained injUries in the crash but was able to keep riding. the only Suzuki in the Catalunyan GP. Roberts. on the other hand. pulled out of the race after suffering worsening chest pains in the days after the crash. The doctors report to the team said it would take three to six weeks before Roberts would be fit to ride, but team manager Garry Taylor was confident that Roberts would be back for the next round, the Bntlsh GP at Donington Park. Japanese Suzuki factory rider Yukio Kagayama, a frequent GP wild card and substitute, took over Roberts' machine at Assen part of an impressively busy schedule for the rider who faced a pOSSible nine consecutive weekends of racing on different types of machine. Kagayama's job descnpt;on includes the role of official test rider for the GP prototype machine, the GSV-R. but so far he has been too busy to ride the 2003 machine, after racedeveloping last year's first version. Kagayama's primary role is racing a Rizla Crescent Suzuki GSX-R 1000 in the competitive British Superblke class, and he came to Assen hot foot from Brands Hatch, where he had raced in the BSB race the previous weekend. The weekend before that he had raced the bike to a top five in the British World Superbike round. After Assen, he had another BSB race, the possibility of takll1g Roberts' bike again at Donlngton Park, another BSB round. then the Suzuka B-Hour on an endurance version of the GSX·R. followed by another BSB race. Kagayama's first impressions of the GSV-R were mixed. "I think the chassis has possibilities," he said. Asked if the new engine was faster, he said: "No comment. But it is more difficult to control and unpredictable than last year. " Princess Anne caused a minor flutter 111 the paddock. paYing a special visit in support of the Riders for Health charity on the eve of practice. The princess visited the Proton KR pit (they carry Riders for Health stickers) and then a gala charity dinner. British 125 rider Chris Martin's troubled GP career came to a premature end at Assen. when he and his hugely famous footballsponsored team split. His team is backed by bike-racing fan Clarence Seedorf. the only footballer to have won the Champions League with three different clubs, who currently plays with AC Milan. The profile of the patron is not matched by the low·grade machinery and team level. though Seedorf says this is only a setup year. British 125cc champion Martin was chafing at the lack of competitive machinery. and growing friction within the team meant he was replaced from Assen by Danish youngster Robbin Harms. One crazy Dutch Rossi fan completed a mural of his hero on his garage door and asked if it could be arranged for Rossi to come and sign it. No chance, he was told. Nothing daunted, he dismounted the garage door and brought it to Assen for the signature Instead. U 0: e neINs JULY 9. 2003 23

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