Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

BRIEFLY••• It was panic stations at HRC, as the latest version of their Y-four engine turned out to have serious flaws that did not show up on the dyno. While riders of lesser, lease-team Hondas, Yalentino Rossi and Loris Capirossi, were well on the pace, the full-factory riders struggled through practice and the technicians grew increasingly glum as a rescue bid for their fading hopes was thwarted by circumstances, Defending World Champion Alex Criville, battling to get into the top lOin practice, made an urgent request that Honda should fly in some 1999 engine parts for the second day of practice - but HRC headquarters were closed, and there was nobody on hand to heed the demand. The top team had to put their hopes on hold, in the hope that they can get the old parts out in time for next weekend's Japanese GP at Suzuka. Criville was fuming, "How can we be in this situation, when I am the World Champion in a factory team. and the guy on last year's bike is so far ahead?" he asked. "The new engine may work on the dyno. but it doesn't work on the bike." He blamed a relative lack of testing - with himself suffering from a virus. Okada missing tests due to injury, and number-three rider Gibemau lacking experience on the Y-fours, and said the main problem was one of power delivery. "It's very hard to get on the throttle and get the power down smoothly. It's bad on the suspension, and on the tires," he complained. Some racing observers noted that this was the first machine that had lacked the input of Mick Doohan at the development stage. With its last win in Australia last year, four races ago, this is Honda's longest spell without a win since 1993. Loris Cepirossi was the top Honda rider in practice, on the front row of the grid for the second race in succession - but he was diplomatic about his supposedly inferior lease-team machine. Asked if his was last year's bike, he replied: "It is a '99 chassis, but with the new engine - but I don't have the same evolution parts as the factory team." Would he like to have the evo parts? "I hope to have them from Jerez onwards." he replied with a grin. tested them. with Checa saying, "I can't feel much difference." The next day Regis Laconi. Norick Abe and Max Biaggi also had a go, while Kenny Roberts Jr. said, "We've tried them before and not liked them so much. but we'lI do it again - just not at a GP." McCoy raced with the 16.5-inchers and expects to continue to do so all year. The Australian prefers the extra rubber they put down on full lean because it suits his style - early on the throttle with extravagant wheelspin. Abe and Laconi also chose them for the race, to little effect in either case, with the Japanese rider crashing out. Team clothing this season has reached new heights of brilliance, in an attempt to ensure high visibility on TV. Until now, the Marlboro-Yamaha red shirts seemed to be the brightest. especial. Iy when the whole team assembled together - reminding viewers of the tomato shelves in the supermarket. But the belated arrival of the Telefonica MoviStar race shirts. with fluorescent-green shoulders, put them in the shade. "If more than three of us stand together, it's a biological hazard," joked team manager Garry Taylor. Darbi chief designer Harald Bartol denied rumors that the Spanish manufacturer's racing effort is in jeopardy, after apparent financial problems at home, where the Barcelona firm's longstanding managing director, Jose Maria Puig, has left the company to manage the city soccer team instead. "There is no problem with the racing department." said Bartol. "We are even discussing the possibility of a 250 for the 2002 season." Derbi has been kept alive as a figurehead industry in the face of Japanese competition by several injections of funds from the Catalan gov. ernment. Italian 250cc rider Franco Battaini has something extra inside the fairing of his factory Aprilia: a portrait of class rookie Daijiro Katoh_ "He is the man to beat. and I want to be sure I always remember that." he said. Italjet, the newest factory in GP racing, will have upgraded engine parts for the sixth race of the season. the Italian GP at Mugello, according to newly recruited chief engineer Jorg Muller. "I joined mid-January, and we are still working on a redesigned crankshaft and crankcases," said Muller, who made his name in the '70s with Kreidler and Minarelli. The new machine, ridden by Czech Jaroslav Hules and Brit Leon Haslam. is based closely on the Honda. but is painfully slow - losing 10 mph or more on the straight at Malaysia. Swiss-Auto has closed down its racing department after their Y·four engine project ran out of support this year. The title-winning sidecar engine first raced as an Elf 500 in 1996, and for the last two years as a MuZ. However, the team's backer. Alfred Weber, withdrew at the end of last season in spite of improving results, and a rescue attempt by the former BSL team also failed. Kenny Roberts Jr.'s win at the Malaysian 500cc GP ended a record-breaking run. The previous seven 5000c races have seen seven different winners - more than at any stage in World Championship history, Starting at Imola last year, the following have won: Criville, Laconi, Okada, Biaggi. Abe, Roberts and McCoy. The previous string was six in 1956 (Surtees. Armstrong, Hartle, Duke, Uberati and Mcintyre), and in 1981 (Middelburg, Lucchinelli. Sheene. Roberts, Uncini and Frutschil. the quote of the meeting came from disgruntled 500cc Aprilia rider Tetsuya Harada, when his Y-twin machine utterly refused to replicate its good form at preseason tests. "It seems the bike is okay when it is alone. but not so good when the others are here. Maybe it's shy," he said. Grid umbrella girls took on a new significance at Sepang, with a news story on the morning of practice. At that time, rain was predicted for race day. and police issued a stem reminder to the crowd that umbrellas would not be allowed inside the circuit perimeter since they are claSSified as "dangerous weapons" in Malaysia. Is GP racing a young man's sport? Yes. if you ask 16-year-old rookie 125cc competitor Leon Haslam, this year's youngest competitor. The youngest 250cc rider is Marco Melandri, at 17: and the youngest on a 500 is 21-year-old Yalentino Rossi. And the old men? With Aprilia tester Marcellino Lucchi not a permanent entry, Jeremy McWilliams is the graybeard. The 500cc Aprilia rider turned 36 two days after the Malaysian GP. The oldest 250cc rider is 33-year-old Ralf Waldmann, and in the 125cc class the oldest is 32year-old Noboru Ueda. The new Mk3 Modena. should be undergoing dyno testing by the time you read this. "The chassis is built. and we should be testing the engine in the week after the Malaysian GP," said team manager Chuck Aksland. "There are usually a few hiccups, but we're still on target to have the new bike ready for the Spanish GP at Jerez. " The team had a mock-up of the engine on display at Malaysia, with plastic crankcases built at backer Proton's rapid prototyping facility. "We can design parts using computers. e-mail it to them. and they send back a dimensionally perfect mock-up within a week," explained Aksland. "That way we could build the chassis and get all the ancillaries - exhausts. water pipes and so on finalized while still waiting for the crankcases to be cast." Team owner Kenny Roberts was at Malaysia for his first GP of the year, saying: "This is one of the tracks where we realized we needed to make a more compact package for the third-generation bike, to get back our handling advantage - so it's frustrating that the commitment to back the project came too late for us to have the bike ready.• Suzuki factory rider Akira Ryo will ride a Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki as a rare 500cc-class wild card in next weekend's Japanese GP. The 32-year-old rider won the opening round of the AII--Japan Superblke Championship at the Suzuka circuit two weeks ago. Garry McCoy's race win on a 16.5-inch rear Michelin put the cat among the pigeons for other riders, with several wanting to test the rear rubber after having earlier rejected it. On Friday. Alex Criville, Carlos Checa and Tadayuki Okada The King and I: Roberts Jr" and his father, Kefiii)' Roberts· the .......tI_ 500cc World C.....pIon· enjoy victory" cue I e n e _ os • APRIL 12, 2000 21

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