Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Wor ld C h a mpio n s h ip R o ad R a c e Series R oun d 4 : Spanish Grand Prix Emilio A1zamo ra (1) won f o r the first t ime in four y e a rs a nd h e's the defending 125cc World Champion . The Spaniard d idn't win a race l a st year en route to claiming the title. J r. said. "The y homologated three paints inste ad o f one and they didn't put any rules on what the paint' s supposed to be. So as long the co mpa ny that's homologated by w hoever it is , give s them the paint , as long as it' s from that company, it' s okay. We don 't have any rules that say well it has to be this much grip and this much grip in the dry . We can measure that . but we 're too lazy to do that. we 'd rather have [Garry! M cC oy and Set e [GibernauJ fall down and all have to start bitching about it. " Race director Paul Butler said that "three paint s were homol ogated and circuits have three choices. I'm obviously aware that the riders were cornmenti ng that this paint wasn't the best. but it was homologated. You' v e g ot to know th at it' s a better so lut io n t ha n w e had before. " BRI EF L Y••• The de but o f the new M o d enas MK3 w ill have to wait a race , acc ording to Prot on Team KR team manager Chu c k A ks land . Problems with a major supplier who was building th e crankcases have fo rced them to de lay the deb ut. expected fo r this wee kend's Sp anish G rand Prix at Je rez, unt il t he M ay 14 Frenc h Grand Prix. " D uring final machining they had a machine go down and it [t he crankcasesJ sat fo r a week wi thou t us knowing it. " A ksland said after the mom ing practice at J erez. "W e had to find someo ne else in the UK. The guy we fou nd worked his ass off. We go t the cases on Tuesday at around noon . worked through the night. and started the bik e up at 5:45 Wed nesday moming. Unfortunately. that wa s too late to take it to S pain, thou gh they likely wouldn't have wanted to race an untested bike . Aksland said the bike wa s up and running on the dyno at the team 's base in Banbury , England, and that th ey were going to try to allow rider David de Gea to test it before the French round, Initial dyno res ults are in yet. Ak sland said. "W e' re just cycl ing it thro ugh right now. The horsepower numbers sho uld be pret ty close to the same as w hat we have, " The M odenas KR3 project was initially done to exploit the weig ht and handling advantages affo rded three-cylinder machinery . The engine re-design was a major ste p is that direction. The major difference in the new bike is that the chassis is 50 mm shorte r, similar to thei r 1998 machine. "but it make s 15 -20 mo re horsep o wer. We also think it wi ll have improved aerodyna mics . W e did some wind tunnel testing over the winter, - Aksland said . The chassis was shorte r beca use the engine is smaller. a res ult of a rep ackag ing of the engi ne internals. Though the crank and cylinders are the same as the previ ous model. the gearbox and balance shaft have been re-located , making for a tidier pack age. The new cran kcases are now made from aluminum . w hich means the machin e is very clos e to the weight limit for three-c ylinder machines , Aksland also said they 'd tested a carbo n fibe r swingarm and wo uld likely be using it when the bike make s its debu t at Le Mans. " It' s a very good loo king bike," Aksland said, " We 're really pro ud of it because we built mo st of it in-house. " Repsol Honda' s Sete Gibernau and Red Bu ll Yamaha WCM ' s Garry McCoy both crashed aft er touching the white lines in the wet part of the race. " In theo ry , the white lines shouldn't be that slippery, so we still have to work on that pro blem," Gibemau said. There was a raucous m o ment in the SOOcc press co nference after it was announced that the last time Italian riders took one· . two in 500cc qualifying wa s at lmatra , Finland in 1980 . On the pole that day 20 years ago was Suzuki-mounted Graziano Rossi. who wa s sitting in th e news conference to listen to his son, Vale ntino, who'd qualifie d his Nastr o Azzurro Honda second to M ar lbo ro Yama ha' s M ax Biag gi. Se co nd fa ste st in Imatra, a de funct tra c k hard on the Finnish border w ith th e U SS R, wa s M arco Lucchinelli, who the follow ing year wo uld go on to win the 1981 500cc World Cha mpionship . " A nd afterward, w ho w in?" as ked Valen tino Ro ssi. It was an no unced as Kenny Robert s. which caused his son, on the press riser as fourt h fastest in J erez on the Telefonica M oviS tar Suzuki, to raise his arm s in vic tory. Turns out it wasn 't Robert s at all , but D utc hman Wil Hart o g, Roberts had finished seco nd, 9.5 seconds back . The consola tion wa s that Robert s we nt on to win the 1980 500 cc World Cha mpions hip - his third in a row . In a rar e dis play of can do r , Honda R acing Corporation (HRC) Grand Prix Team Manager Shoji Tachikawa admitted the com pany had made a mistake in the direct ion they'd taken wit h their 2000 NSR -500 , a mistake that had forced many of the ride rs to resort to 1999 part s. " W e unde rstand wh ich part is a mistake. " he said. Wh o' s using wha t is disti nct ly unclear , The manager wa s somew hat evas ive abo ut w hat the exac t prob lem was . " It' s a littl e difficult to answ er, " Tachikawa said. " M ainly we we re tryi ng to get more peak powe r and modifying the engine inside . W e try to chan ge cran kc ases for mo re du rabilit y and strongness. " The prob lem they were t rying to rectify was a lack of acc ele ration . " Before we get not so good acce lera tio n, corn er exit, pow er delivery. " he said. D uring winter tes ting they tried the new part s and found they worked, But what was n't said was that the wint er test ing program was seriously comp romised by injuries to Alex Cri ville and Tady Ok ada, leaving the load of it on Set e Gibernau. The bikes were built and once the riders tried them, " every body complain," Tachikaw a said , " No w we try to make engine characteristics fit for a 500, accele ratio n and co rner exit feeling. " In the end, he said for a 500 to wo rk properly it' s a total package and tha t a small c hange can make a big diff er ence . They 've sw itc hed to ' 99 9 part s , witho ut bei ng spec ific abo ut which ones , until they can get the new part s at the Italian Grand Prix in M ugello in a month's time . " We want to co nfirm w hich part is most defective . how to find the solution, W e wa nt to co nfirm which part , then we understand more clearly and improve . Now we 're try ing to find . M ainly it's engine parts, but othe r things we also try. " Mick Doohan didn't ret urn to the track where his career ended one year ago. Instead he was in No rthern C alifornia for continued med ical treat ment on his damaged leg. Doohan returned to his native A ustralia aft er th e A sian rounds o f th e W orl d C hampionship, and then flew to San Francisco fo r one of the final steps in his rehabilitation. The five -time 50Ccc W orld Champion was to see Dr. Art hur Ting and have the llazirov device removed from his lower leg. The device, w hich rese mbles a birdcage , wa s attac hed di re ctly to th e bo nes in t he lower leg and an kle as a way o f straightening it . It was unknown how much more medical atte ntion Do ohan would need in w hat has become ' a year-long recove ry process. It appea rs as tho ugh Formula O ne and th e motorcycl e W orld Ch amp ionship s have co me to an agreemen t on wha t kind o f paint to use for c urbing, this according to IRTA Pres. Paul Butler. " I can't say that defin itively," Butler said of the informal discussions. add ing that he thought it would come to fruition " because of cooperation between th e two co mmissi ons and since we're ahead of the curve in the paint depart ment becau se it' s a lesser prio rity for them . " The Sepang circuit. site of the M alaysian G P. went to the new spec for this year's event at an unfortu nate cost. Becau se the paint is a hazardous material. and ti me was short . it had to be flown in, running the to tal tab up to $8 0 ,000 . The paint is anti-slip - effec tive ly a military paint used on the deck of airc raft carriers so sailors don' t fall off the decks, " It's porous , which is an important thing so yo u don't get a film on it when it 's we t," But ler said. " If you 've watched practice here. you can see that everyone's going up on the paint. " Butler said all of the track s on the 2000 GP calendar must have it. But the riders didn't think the new paint worked , not after a number of them fell off during the we t port ion of the race, " It wasn't the right paint. " Kenny Roberts 16 M AY 1 0. 2000 ' C U c I e n e vv this morn ing as th e set -up and engine fe lt be tt e r," Jac q ue said . "Th e ra ce sta rted we ll for m e a n d e ve n whe n Ka t oh and Ukaw a got pa st , I fel t I could stay with them. S ome parts of th e tra ck t h e y were fas ter , b ut th e Yamaha was d efinite ly faster into tu rn one . When We st pa ss ed me , he he ld m e up . a little , nothing again st h im , he is a very good rider, but whe n I got a way from hi m I to o k a six second le ad . By then it was too late and the J apanese wer e too fa r in front ." "I reall y enj o yed that, " s a id We s t aft er his fight with J a cque. "I had a fa irly good s ta rt ag ain and managed to move up qu ickly in the e a rly laps . I felt c o m forta b le m ixing it with th e boys a t the fro nt but m y tire went off The Honda riders' habit of swi tc hing betw een model years seems to be co ntagious . Aprilia's Tetsuya Harada spoke of a new chassis he'd received on Friday that still didn' t wo rk on Sat urday , "It was hard to adjust to begin wi th and I have to admit that I lost my faith a littl e along the way ," the J apane se rider said. But a memb er of the team le t it be known that the new chass is not working has forced Harada back onto last year's RSW -2 500 , to s and I h ad to ea s e up . I ha d a bi g s lide a nd de cid ed to let J a c qu e go . I'm happy with th at res ult. " Next ca me the Aprilia factory te am o f Ma rc o Mel and ri and Ma rc ellin o Luc ch i, rid ing o ut the string, in front o f Wa ld ma n n ' s Aprilia Ge r m a ny tea m m a t e Kla us No hles in his best finish ever. eN Spa nis h Grand Pri. J erez de la Fronte ra. Spain Results : April 3D, 2000 1 25 cc QUALI F YI NG : 1. Robe rto Loca telli (I :48.260) : 2. Youichl Ui ( I :48.593): 3, Emilio Alearncre (I :48.681): 4, Nobby Ueda ( I :48.697): 5. L uci o Cecc hi ne llo ( 1:4 8 .8 09) ; 6 . Si mone San na (1 :48.86 1); 7. Gianluigi Scalvini ( 1:49.050) ; 8. Mirk o Giansa ntl (1 :49 .087); 9 . Pabl o Nieto (1:49 .19 0 ); 10 . Gino Borsoi (1:49 . 191 ); 11. Ma sa o Azuma (1:49.343): 12. Ivan Goi (1:49,576): 13, Randy De Punier (1:49.618): 14. Max Sabbatanl ( 1:49.801): 15. Manuel Pogg iali ( 1:49.900 ); 16 . A nge l Nieto J r . (1:49.920 ): 17. Alex De Angelis ( 1:50,393): 18. St eve J enkn er ( 1:5 0. 4 0 8 ): 19 . Ant onio Elia s little good effect. Harada qualified 11th for the Spa nish GP. his teammat e Jeremy McWilliams was ninth. Emerson Honda Pons ' Loris Capirossi just missed the front row and had to settle for sixth place on a second row filled end to end with Hond as of various persuasions. HRC had supplied him wi th a 2000 model frame the day before the start of th e race weekend and he spent the day getting acquain ted with it , ending up eighth fastest. Saturday he wa s able to knock nearly a second off his time , de spi te prob lematic gusting wind s. But on which chassis? In a press release written in fractured English, Capiro ssi said, " I was not able to score the best lap time for a blow , ju st noth ing, but this one is not the most important t hing. " Accord ing to a team member. aft er trying the new frame . Capiro ssi realized how good the old frame was, and revert ed to it for final qualifying. Repsol YPF Honda' s Sete Gibemau was at a lo ss to explain his 16th place qualifying po sition . " I donrrt really know wh at to say. I don't unde rstand wh at' s happening. Maybe it's me that' s to blame or maybe it' s the bike . I'm at a loss to explain it. Ali i know is that w henever I rode here last year or through winter testing, I wo uld do 1:43 s very easily, It was no problem getting down to that time . Today, I' m more than one seco nd off pole and I don't really know w hy so obv iously , I' m looking at a difficu lt race tomorrow ." The debate ove r the size of the M iche l in fron t tir e raged on in Spain, Two of the first three 500cc GP race-winners have favored the smaller 16.5-inch over the l7-inch. Red Bull Yamaha W CM 's Garry M cC oy, who uses it excl usively , put it good use in winning the season-opening South African GP at W elko m. Tele fon ica M oviS tar Suzuki' s Kenny Robert s J r. stuck with the 17 to wi n in M al ay s ia, and t hen Antena 3 Yamaha-d'Antin ' s N orick Abe swi tc hed to a 16,5 to win his home Japanese G P at Suzuka. "The 16.5 's main advantage is improved grip at maximum lean angles. allowi ng increased corner speeds ," said Nicolas Goubert , Michelin' s chief of mo torcycle co mpeti tion. " The larger contact patc h also reduces tire temperature and kee ps temperatur es more con sis te nt , so rid ers generally use a so ft er co mpo und . " M cC oy st uck with it in Jerez, jo ined by Repsol YPF Honda's Tady Okada, " I find the 16.5 has more edge grip mid-corner, w hich is where I like to get on the power," the tail-sliding Au stralian said. "The 17 is flatt er on the t op of the tire; so there' s not so much rubber on the grou nd w hen you 're cranked ove r." Roberts Jr.. the 500cc W orld C hampions hip leader, said that he believes the 16 .5 has bett er gri p in different places, " but I still believe the 17 is a fas ter tire . " M arlboro Yamaha' s Max Biaggl's completely forg ettable season conti nued in J er ez, Bi aggi ran into Red Bull Yamaha WCM' s Regis Laconi as Laconi turned into a come r late on the warmup lap. Ap rilia 's Je remy M cW illiams , wat ching from behind, said it wa s clearly Biaggi' s fault , and Biaggi suffe red - tumbling in a heap, his VZ F-Yamaha catchi ng fire . By the time it w as put out the track was cove red in fire ext inguisher pow der and Biaggi was on his way back to the pits on a scoo ter, He re-start ed the wa rm-up lap from the pit lane, went back out on the race fro m the pole, but steadily fell back, ret iring afte r three laps with clut c h problems . " I've never had this .kind of luck before, " Biaggi said. " Going into the hairpin at the end of the bac k straight. Laconi shut the doo r on me. I had to move right over, touched the wh ite line. and lost the fron t." He we nt on to say that his spare was similar to his race mac hine , "except t he cl utc h sta rte d to slip , so I had to sto p. Aprilia's Jeremy McWilliams wa s intima te ly involved in a scrum at the fron t of the field, wh ich inclu ded W orld Champion Alex Criville, his tea mmate Tadayuki Okad a, and Red Bull Yamaha WCM ' s Ga rry M cC oy, in the first part of th e race until he cras hed on the 16th lap w hile right ing for eighth place. "That was the hardes t race of my lif e," th e Englishman said. " I was trying to do w hatever I co uld to stay w ith th o se other guys , but it was so much work . "

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