Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128347
I Briefly... The Rid e rs ' Sa fe ty Co m missio n, formed last year in the wake of the fatal injuries to MotoGP rider Daijiro Kato at Suzuka, has run into serious criticism over changes they requ ired at Phillip Island. New gravel traps and an extended pit safety wall, installed at a cost of $2 -million by the circuit's new owners, were both blamed fo r playing a part in injuriousaccidents. T he gravel traps in particular introduced a chilling note of D " I got boxed in at the start, o therwise it might have been a better resu lt," Edwards later said . Two seconds behind Barros, th e remnants of this fie rc e fight flashed over the line : Repsol Honda's Nicky Hay den was now heading Max Biaggi and Makoto Tamada, both r id ing Camel Honda. Marlboro Ducati's Troy Bayliss had lost touch with this group, but was safely ahead o f slow starter Carlos Checa and his Fortuna Yamaha, the Spaniard having his hands full saving 10th place fro m a persistent Ruben Xaus and his d'Antin Ducati. All but two riders finished a race with maxim um drama but not a single crash - Fortuna Yamaha's Marco Melandri retired with vision problems and MS Aprilia's Garry McCoy pitted with mechanical problems. Nonstop MotoGP action all the way to the last points was a reward fo r the crowd, after a soporifically processional 250cc Grand Pr ix. Repsol Apri lia's Sebastian Po rt o claimed a clear win in that race with Aprilia 's Alex de Angelis in a dis tant and lonely chase for second. Third went to defen ding champion Manuel Pogg iali, afte r he had followed Dani Pedrosa for most of the race, nipping past with fou r laps to go . But Pedrosa had done enough not only to banish the bad luck that had dogge d his weekend - with a heavy sp ill in practice after breaking both ankles here last year, and a machine failure in morning warmup but also to secure the 250cc title at his first attempt. "It was to ugh out there today," the tee nager said afterward , "With memories of my bad accident and another big crash yesterday, my confidence was not exactly at its maximum. And as the race went on, the wind got stronger, so the risk of an accident was greater." Discretion ruled his tactics; success rewarded his prudence. danger at a circuit where speeds are very high, and accidents often are likewise. The traps replace areas of grass, the prime example being on the runoff from the soberingly fast turn o ne. Previous victims of this challenging right-hander have included Mlck Doohan, whose low-side get-off at the ape x was fairly typical and resulted in him sliding a very long distance on the grass, but escaping serious injury. The gravel trap s are very different. Made of coarse stone, as required by the FIM, and raked into corrugations, they were instead precipitating fallen riders into end-over-end tum - bles, as well as destroying motorcycles. To those with long enough memories, it was a sickening rem inder of the crash that ended Wayne Rainey's career at Misano in 1993. Several fa lle rs emerged with only bumps and bru ises, including such diverse expo nents as Carlos Checa in the MotoGP class, Danel Pedrosa in the 250s and 125cc rider Casey Ston er. Anthony West , alre ady nursing a broken w rist , was not so lucky. H e lost control at the entrance to the corner, approac hed on a 250cc like his Aprilia at some 167 mph and o n a Moto GP bike at mo re than 198 mph. West had barely started braking whe n he fell and slid off across the grass verge at barely undiminished speed. Whe n he and his Apr ilia hit the gravel, ho weve r, a slight lip launched him into a sickeningseries of end-over-end acrobatics. On e glove came off, and his leat hers were torn back to the elbow. His bike was disintegra ting close alongside . West was lucky to escape such a violent accident with only furthe r w rist fractures, but he was nonetheless helicopte red to a hos pital fo r precautio nary scans fo r possib le head and neck injuries . The new pit-lane entrance is also much lo nger than the old, bringing riders o nto the track on the outside ohum one, mo re or less w here West fell. Th e pit wall has also been extended. It was he re that, on the first day of practice, th re e nat ion al 125cc ride rs fell in a potentially ho rrendou s start line accident. Thankfully, the worst injury was a broken leg - but it was clear that had the wall not been there, the riders would have had more roo m and more chance of avoiding the collision. T he circuit own ers declined to comment officially beyond con firming that the changes had been dictated chapter and verse by the FIM. It is understood that they expressed some disquiet at the size of the grave l traps during construction. Several riders comm ented on the new traps , w ith Mick Dooh an co nde mning them as a backward step, and Colin Edwards saying: "Y u're not supposed to put gra vel o traps in to make it more dangerous. Before Continued on page 15 E NEWS . OOOBER 27, 2004 13