Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Valenti 30 YEARS AGO••• The new Norton 850 and Yamaha 750 were featured on the cover of Issue 1129 in honor of the bike comparison inside. We con-' c1uded that the $1795 Norton was much more fun to ride than the $1554 Yamaha ... Dave Aldana (Nor) won two nights in a row at the Ascot National TT over Kenny Roberts (Yam) and Terry Dorsch (Tri) ... At a meeting of the International Safety Congress, they presented a motorcycle with a roll cage as a way to keep motorcyclists safe. No word on how many people said just to check their car's blind spot before changing lanes ... There was a photo of a fan with a sign that said, "Kick Ass Bast" at the Bakersfield speedway event. Mike Bast won... Mitch Mayes (Hus) won the Buzzards Hare Scrambles in Four Corners, California, over Cordis Brooks (DKW) and Jim Fishback (Cl). 20 YEARS AGO••• AUGUST 3, 1983 Flat-tracker Tammy Kirk slid across the cover of Issue 1129 under the title, "Tammy Kirk - Racing's fast first lady." Kirk, a blueeyed, blonde-haired 21-year-old, made history by becoming the first woman ever to make a GNC final at the Knoxville Half Mile... David Bailey (Hon) won the main event at Foxboro's Schaefer Stadium and took over the Grand National Championship points lead in the process. Jeff Ward (Kaw) and Broc Glover (Yam) rounded out the top three, while early points leader Bob Hannah (Hon) missed the race as he recouped from a w.rist injury ... Rookie 17-year-old Doug Chandler (Hon) made short work of the veterans at round 22 of the AMA Grand National Championship, the Santa Fe Short Track. T.J. Houghton (Yam) and Randy Goss (H-D) rounded out the top three. a eas JULY 31, 1973 S O what exactly is he then, this Valentino Rossi - an innocent sportsman deprived of a rightful win? Or a cheating bastard caught bang to rights. A searcher for truth and beauty ambushed by circumstances? Or a ruthless competitor prepared to risk anything and anybody in his quest for glory. All of the above has a smattering of truth. Just not quite enough to be valid. The innocent aspect came to the fore with the reaction of the (still fairly large) remnants of a hearteningly large record crowd at sunny Donington Park, when it was announced o onds faster than last year, it's hard to for the tardiness of the punishment. It took more than two hours before a know where even he would have firm found the extra speed.) decision was reached and revised results issued. And even while These were the sorts of arguments we were wondering why it would take that cost the time, and it has to be so long for the four-man Race Direc- said that HRC carried its point rather tion in such a clear-cut case came well. Rossi was lucky to get away the news that in fact they hadn't even with only the loss of ten seconds and seen the incident. At the time, they two places. were still checking starting·grid But the debate had already spilled videos for jumped starts. It had been over to larger issues. It's understand- brought to their attention only later. able that each yellow-flags case By the time they started to discuss it, should be considered on its merit. the race was more than well under There are different degrees of offend- way. ing, different levels of danger. At one It transpired also, bit by bit, that extreme, a rider might deliberately over the public address system that his victory was in question. Since a large majority of them were wearing the delay had been caused by pro- exploit the flags to gain positions, in longed arguments and negotiations, spite of there still being marshals or with parties as diverse as FIM presi· injured riders at the side of the track. the yellow of Rossiness, the groan of outraged disappointment was not surprising. The "cheating bastard" sprang to mind when watching a replay of the dent Francesco Zerbi (on the phone At the other, a rider might make from Italy) and HRC's own racing a genuine mistake, realize he's done lap two overtaking move on Loris Capirossi that cost him the victory. From the camera's viewpoint, the the conclusion that the stock 30-sec- waved yellow flags could hardly have been more obvious, as the Honda cut inside the Ducati at Redgate. There can hardly be any doubt, however, that this was a genuine mistake. Rossi was racing hard, looking where he was going and working out how to pass the very fast Ducati. He missed the flags. And accepted his manager Carlo Fiorani all trying to so and slow down again to resume get their oars in. his rightful position. (As we saw in Eventually race direction came to World Superbike last year, with Bayliss and Edwards at Misano.) and penalty would be appropriate. But there should still be some con- This would have put Rossi eighth, a sistency of punishment. Earlier this notion that provoked some anger year 125cc racer Stefano Perugini from HRC. How could it possibly be won the Japanese GP in spite of hav- fair to apply this at this late stage, ing passed under yellows. It was when Rossi was in no position to do judged unintentional (his rivals might anything about it? Would he really not agree), and he got away with no have come eighth if he had known time penalty but a fine of 1000 Swiss about the penalty earlier on? Francs ($728). A good point. Had the decision Now it is Rossi's turn, and a com- been made promptly, then he would punishment willingly enough. Rules are rules, he said, adding with typical impish charm: "I do my racing on the pace and claw back some of that track, not in the office." time. (Though since he had already pletely different type of punishment at least have had the chance to up his But there was plenty of argument broken the lap record and overall in the wake of the decision, not least has been applied. And while it is true that a time penalty is a much more chastening punishment for a multi- race time was an amazing 27 sec- millionaire than a cash penalty, it is still hard to justify the huge inconsistency involved. Bike racing has until now been mercifUlly free of lawyers. It would Ricky Graham (Hon) wheelied across the cover of Issue 1129 after sweeping both days at the Syracuse Mile Doubleheader. With the wins, Graham became the first rider in GNC history to compete in and win five Nationals in a row. He was followed home on the first day by Scott Parker (H·D) and Chris Carr (H·D), while on day two Carr and Kevin Atherton (H-D) rounded out the top three... Stefan Everts (Suz) topped the world at the Budds Creek 250cc MX GP, going 1-3-2 for the overall. Mike Kiedrowski (Kaw) went 2-1-4 for second. and Greg Albertyn (Hon) went 6-2-1 for third. Doug Henry (Hon) won the 125cc support class over Jeff Emig (Yam) and Mike Craig (Kaw) ... Doug Polen (Due) won the Superbike final at Road Atlanta over Mike Smith (Hon) and Jamie James (Yam). be nice to keep it that way. To do so, the authorities need to show rather more clearly than they did last Sunday that they are capable of enforcing the rules with efficiency, probity and fairness, without needing professional help. eN The Valentino Rossi fan club voiced their disapproval of his 10-second docking after passing another rider under the yellow flag during the race. It caused Rossi to go from a win to third place, handing the victory to Max Biaggi. In an upcoming Issue of Cycle IleIlllS Unadilla MX NatIonal Belgian MX GP Millville WORCS Monza WoJ1d Supennoto italian WoJ1d Trials SIonaIa Wortd $peedwa, GP cue I e n e _ os • JULY 23. 2003 111

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