Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

VVelkorn. South Africa· March 1 S. 2cx::x:J World Championship Road Racing Series Round 1 : South African Grand Prix 2. Mirko Giansanti (Hon); 3. Emilio Alzamora (Hon); 4. Roberto L=.telli (Apr): 5. Noboru Ued. (Hon): 6. Steve Jenkner (Hon); 7. GianJuigi Scalvini (Apr); 8. Ivan Goi (Hon); 9. Masao Azuma (Hon); 10. Gino Borsoi (Apr); 11. Lucio Cecchinello (Hon); 12. Simone Sanna (Apr); 13. Angel Nieto Jr. (Hon): 14. Randy de Puniet (Apr); 15. Pablo Nieto (Der); 16. Alex de Angelis (Hon); 17. Reinhard Stolz (Hon); 18. Adrian Araujo (Hon); 19. William de Angelis (Apr); 20. Max Sabbatani (Hon); 21. Marco Petrini (Apr); 22. Leon Haslam (Ila); 23. Antonio Elias (Hon). Time: 41 min. 35.310 sec. Distance: Average speed: 91.064 mph Margin or victory: 1.937 sec. 125cc WORLD C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS (After 1 of 16 rounds): I. Arnaud Vincent (25/ I win); 2. Mirko Giansanti (20): 3. Emilio Alzamora (16): 4. Roberto Loc.telli (13); 5. Noboru Ued. (11): 6. Steve Jenkner (10); 7. Gianluigi Scalvini (9); 8. Ivan Goi (8); 9. Masao Azum21 (7); 10. Gino Borsai (6); 11. Lucio Cecchinello (5); 12. Simone Sanna (4): 13. Angel Nieto Jr. (3): 14. R.ndy de Punlet (2): 15. P.blo Nieto (1). Upcoming Rounds; Round 2 - Sepang, Malaysia, April 2 Round 3 - Suzuka, Japan, April g BRIEFLY•• Valentino Rossi's arrival on a factory Honda could herald a fresh spurt of development for the long-serving and conservatively unchanging Honda NSR500, according to his crew chief, Jerry Burgess. Burgess's last job was with Mick Doohan, but he was excited by the fresh prospect presented by' the Italian. "Mick and Alex ICriviliel never wanted to try anything new," Burgess said. "Mick always wanted last year's suspension - and he wouldn't even look at a power shifter. Valentino has one because he's used to using one· and I believe this will open the door to other electronic developments." In recent years, HRC has been known to have experimented with anti·wheelie electronics, as well as some form of anti-wheelspin "traction control," but Doohan always strictly forbade any such experiments with his machine· a view reinForced when he had a rare bike failure the first (and lastl time he raced with fuel injection in 1993. "I think we can develop the machin~ around Valentino. ~ said Burgess. a veteran whose past alumni have included Wayne Gardner. "It's going to be more interesting technically - as well as educating him as a 500 rider, we will also be leaming from him. because he has such a fresh viewpoint. " Sito Pons factory Honda team came to the line in the all-new white-on-black livery of Emerson Electronics, an American firm specializing in domestic electrics and electronics, including TVs. "They are a good new sponsor, with good backing - but at the moment the deal is only for one year." said Pons. a former twotime 250cc World Champion. Pons is fielding Alex Barros and team newcomer Loris Capirossi, but his team was under threat after he lost the Spanish sponsorship of Telefonica MoviStar to Suzuki after three years. Practice proved the truth of predictions of ultraclose racing in the top 500cc class, with the jewel in motorcycle racing's crown set to regain its natural status as the class of kings. In spite of a slightly shrunken grid - with 21 entries compared with 24 last year - qualifying times were so close that even the 125s were put in the shadows, and the 250s were nowhere close. The first 10 500s qualified within the same second, while 16 riders were covered by 1.5 seconds. The 125s could also muster 10 riders within one second, but only 14 within 1.5 seconds: while the same categories in the 250cc class put only three riders within one second of poie. and only seven within 1.5 seconds. The positive trend in the 500cc class is reflected in a welcome Row of new sponsorship money. Gauloises has rejoined the sport, as co-sponsor to Red Bull, as well as title sponsors for this race, the Gauloises Africas GP. and the Czech Republio. Cinzano has also joined the sport. backing the British and three other GPs. Longtime race sponsor Marlboro has naming rights to five races, with Rizla back- 12 MARCH 29, 2000· eye • e ing the Dutch nand Qantas the Australian GP again, leaving only three races without sponsors - the Malaysian, French and Pacific (at MotegiJ. Ulsterman Jeremy McWilliams narrowly missed the dubious distinction of becoming the first crasher of the new century, tumbling off his factory V -twin Aprilia 500 without injury in the first practice session for the South African GP. He was the first 500cc rider to go down, but 125cc rider Jaroslav Hules had tossed his new Italjet away 28 minutes before. The first injury victim of the year was Italian youngster Manuel Poggiali, a bright 125cc hope who switched from Aprilia to Derbi this year. He broke his wrist on the second day of practice. An altitude of 1350 meters makes Welkom's Phaskisa Freeway easily the highest track of the year, posing special technical problems as engines struggle to breathe deeply enough to make full power. In the normal course of events. you lose some 15 percent of normal output. For a racing two·stroke, however. the problem is more complex than a simple lack of air density, according to Suzuki technical chief Warren Willing. ··It affects the whole combination.·' he said. '·The lower pressure means that the reed valves are effectively stiffer, while the reduced combustion means the exhausts run cooler. effectively changing their length. There·s various things you can do as a BandAid, but what you really need is a special highaltitude motor. As it is, it's a struggle to be sure to lose only 15 percent. " For a second year in succession, difficult weather conditions threatened the South African GP. Last year, dust storms sweeping across the arid veldt were the problem. This year, at the start rather than the end of the season. it was an excess of rain. With floods rag· ing in other regions of southern Africa, espe· cially Mozambique, heavy rains drenched the circuit on Thursday. leaving standing water on some comers. and the access tunnel thorough· Iy flooded. There was more rain as practice began on Friday. and another drenching storm on Friday night. The floods forced postponement of the season-opening party (which was also to celebrate the launch of the new MOTOGP logol from Thursday to Friday, and ruled out the attendance of South African political hero Nelson Mandela, who had been expected on Thursday. -Mick Doohan (pictured, with Kenny Roberts Jr.l was at the track to take up his duties as general manager for HRC, sporting a gruesome external lIizaroff frame on his still-troublesome right leg, and spending most of his time in the pit of Nastro Azurro-backed Valentino Rossi. rather than his old hunting ground at Repsol Honda just next door. Then again. Rossrs crew is by and large Mick's old crew. so he was more at home there. "I can't walk around too much," explained the five-time World Champion. n e vv s "so I'm sitting down here with myoid mates. But I've been to other pits. I deal with pretty much anyone who rides a Honda." Doohan's leg was shattered below the knee in the crash at Jerez almost a year ago that ended his career. Slow healing has forced a series of operations. "They wanted to put the frame on some time ago, but I talked them out of it," said Doohan. Dual~compound tires were accepted wear in the 500cc class, with most choosing the same hard compounds used last year by Max Biaggi to win the race. For Red Bull Yamaha rider Garry McCoy, however, the choice was forced. According to his crew chief, Hamish Jamieson, the dual-compound tire was the only one that offered the right hardness of compound on the right-hand side. ·Tm not convinced you need dual-compounds here," said Jamieson..,But Garry is the only rider using a 16.5-inch. and it was the only way we could get the compound he needs for the right-hand corners." Wh¥ does McCoy use the smaller wheel? "He needs the shoulder grip, because he opens the throttle really early in the comer. and he's a lot lighter than the other riders." explained Jamieson. McCoy's light weight means he is almost always the fastest bike through the speed traps, clocking 158.1 mph at Welkom in practice. Australian rider Mark Willis was at Welkom, but he didn't have a ride after Red Bull Yamaha rider Regis Laconi was declared fit to ride after breaking his leg in a testing crash. "The team had bought my ticket, so I thought I'd come anyway," he said. "You never know what might happen." However, no opportunities arose, and he remained a spectator. Willis rode a Modenas for the BSL team last year, and took over Laconi's testing duties on the Yamaha after the Frenchman was injured. The Proton Modenas three-cylinder. back for a fourth year with a one-rider team, is back also on Dunlops for the first time since 1998 - giving the tire manufacturers another toehold in the 500cc class, along with the Aprilia V-twins. Spaniard David de Gea was riding the three-cylinder machine again, with the Mk3 version expected in time for the Spanish GP at Jerez on April 30, the start of the European season. The Mk3 machine has a 50mm shorter engine. with the balance shaft and gearbox rearranged, allowing a return to the original shorter-wheelbase chassis so that the lightweight can again exploit the higher cornering speed possible. The Mk2 version gained reliability, but at the expense of handling. "We have the machine more or less built up around prototype parts," said team manager Chuck Aksland. "We expect crankcases at the end of this month, and the machine should be ready for testing within a couple of days. If all goes well, it should be ready for Jerez, and the design should be able to achieve its full potential." Team owner Kenny Roberts has more or less retired From active involvement after the adventurous machine failed to reach initial targets, but he remains involved in the project and in efforts to turn the team's English base into a racing--engineering consultancy. Australian Anthony West made a strong works-bike debut at Welkom - after barely six hours on the NSR250 Honda. he rides for the Shell Advance team ... I tested it for less than two hours at Calder in Australia - basically just to get things like the seat position sorted," he said. "I changed the shock here on the first day, but since then I haven't made many adjustments. I'm just getting used to the bike and [getting] comfortable on it. The power and the chassis both feel a lot different from the stock bike I rode last year. " Class rookie Marco Melandr; was finding the adjustment harder than he expected. ''I'm riding the bike too much like a 125," he said. '·1 was following (Shinya) Nakano and nearly ran into him going into the corners too fast. ..

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