Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

• T e e n ag e r Jorge Lorenzo not on ly go t his first w in In world cha mpionship competition, but he gave Derbi its fi rst wi n in over two years as well. ~/o p ':'1 g / G ' :-" ,, 1 _\ : We st had c o me through from 2 I st on th e first lap , aft er a collisio n with Bata ille put him off th e tra c k. It wa s a good ra ce after a difficu lt weekend . "I don't know if it' s me or th e bike , but I just c a n't get th e fe el right so I can push it to th e lim it," We st said . Er wan Nigon , J oh an Stigefel t, Dirk He idolf and J arosl a v Hules took the last points. Poggial i cl aimed a new lap reco rd a n d a c o mfo rt in g exte nsion of h is points lea d, on 190 to Ro lfo 's 16 8 . De Puniet ha s 161 , with non sc or er Elia s dr opping to fo urt h on 15 1, Nieto on 143, a nd West taking six th off Batta ln i on 118. pushing past firmly e a rly on th e la p , then k e ep ing all the d oo rs firm ly closed to take what wa s now s econd place by s ix-hundredths of a s econd. Gu into li was 13 sec ond s a d ri ft , after spending much of the ra ce fending off Matsudo unt il t he Yam ah a rider faded aft er half dista nc e, finis hing fifth , m or e t ha n 20 s e c o nds be hind in a well -spread field . Now t he re were ju st five more to go a nd still e ight ride rs locked to gether, g o in g tw o or t h ree a b re as t into corn e rs so often t ha t it doesn 't bear recor ding . De Ang eli s displ a c ed Lorenzo on la p 17; next time a ro und Stoner used th e dra ft to ta ke the lead at the end of th e straight. He he ld it under s ev er e pressure for two la ps , then De Ange lis pu shed p a st to th e le ad as they started the e p ic la st la p . Ped ro sa wasn 't able t o jo in the ha rdest part of the fight a fte r a pist on rin g broke wit h four lap s to go . He was ju st hang ing on. "Another la p an d I wo uldn't have 1 25 CC GRAND PRIX finish ed ," Pedros a said. Loren zo s aid later that he thought his ea rlie r s pell up fro nt wou ld be all he could expect, but he 'd man aged to k e ep th e pa c e . Now h e re a lly att ac ked , sweeping o utsi de Ped ro sa and Ston e r early in th e la p, tucking in beh ind De Ang e lis, and diving past at th e end of the straight , th e pa ir inc he s from colliding . He held the jo stling pa ck at ba y to th e fin ish , with St on er tw o te n t hs b e h ind and o ne tent h cl e a r o f de Angelis . Pedrosa was right beh ind , the fir st fo u r covered b y le ss th an six tenths , and Nieto a nd Dovizioso right with the m. Per ug ini was a close se ve nt h, with Talma c s i and Barbera los ing tou ch sligh tly in th e closing stages. "I'm a little bit disappointed." sa id Stone r, after e q ua lling his best result Hector Faubel wa s s ixth, alone fo r most of th e ra ce , bu t with a m idfield pack catching up to wit hin tw o sec onds a t the e nd . What e nde d up as a three -Ap rilia ba tt le wa s na rrowly won by Joa n O live fro m Anth ony West an d Ch az Dav ie s , c laim ing his first to p ten , with Eric Bata ille ju s t o ver a s e c o n d b eh in d and Deb o n clo se behind him. Power isn't everything, as we know. The greatest area of development in MotoGP is in the opposite direction... how to slow down. Engine braking is the great problem, espe cially to ex-two-stroke racers, accustomed to virtually none, and all the manufacturers have their own differentways of dealing with it. All use slipper clutches , but these are relatively crude devices and just one element in a complex equation . • The next level is provided by electronic means , and here the variety (and secrecy) begins. Honda released sketchy details of its system at the Portuguese GP. After relying only on a clutch last year, this year it added an electronically operated valve system that lets air into the inlet manifold even when the throttle Is closed. This cuts the vacuum , but this is not a significant factor in engine braking, compared with intemal friction and compression, and letting air in might seem to be self-defeat ing, since it then gives the cylinders something to compress. . Clearly Honda didn't tell the whole story, though HRC chief Siguru Kanezawa did say: "IUs a very simple system , controlled by a very complex ECU: Rival engineers suspect that the ECU also gives the engine fuel, to cut engine braking by effectively raising the idling speed as and when required. The system is effective: as good as Yamaha's secret system , believed to involve some sort of decompression device, though it denies that it uses any valve-lifting system. The others .are struggling: Suzuki .and Aprilia with complex electronics that open the throttle slightly when required. Riders of both machines complain of unpredictability, with the engines sometimes still pushing whilethey are trying to slow down. Proton has a similar system still in early stages of development , while Kawasaki's is thought to be a simpler version of the same thing. One thing is certain: Ifyou want to win races, you need to be able to slow down better than the rest. Ped ro s a go t a dr e ad ful start from p o le , fin ish ing th e first la p 12th as Gabor Ta lmacsi led de Angelis, He c to r Ba rb era a nd Andrea Dovizioso at th e fron t of a huge pa c k . Th e poi nts le a der was s oon moving th rough , a nd by la p fou r he wa s up to th ird behind Ta lmacs i a nd de Angeli s, the thre e a little way ahe ad . But th ey all closed up again . with Ston er tag ging on to th e ba ck of th e trio one la p later, then Barbera , Loren zo , Dovizios o , Nieto a nd Perugini tu rn ing it into a nin e -strong pa ck from lap seven p retty mu ch to th e end. Pedrosa had ta ken the lea d on la p five . On lap te n, de Ange lis took ov e r, but two la ps lat er Lorenzo s howed th e speed of th e Derbi down the strai g ht , and he held th e lead for five laps . eye I e n e IN S • OCTOBER 1 , 2003 27

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