Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

and La coni w as o n h is b ack w heel. A lo ng wa y back c a m e Harada after a lo nely first ra ce with Michelins o n his Ap r i l ia . No b uatsu Aoki w a s well beh in d o n t he second Suzuki . blam ing a disastrous rear t i r e c hoice ; M cW ill iams rej o in ed th e t r a c k a n d pulled through to take 12t h . T hen came J u rgen va n d en Goor berg h on t he best H onda twin , fl a b b ergast ed aft e r spe nd i ng t he after n o o n n o t o n l y jo u st ing w i t h tw o fact o ry V -fo ur H o ndas , but actuall y b ea t ing t hem . O k ada h ad c h o se n a 1 6 . 5 -i n c h rear for h is 2000- sp e c NSR , and sa id afte rwa rds : " A t l ea st the ra ce was good pra ctic e for rear wheel st eering - because I slid every time I opened the throttle ." A compl etely d etun ed Glb ernau had d rop ped to fiv e seconds behind h im at the end to limp h ome fo r the fi nal p oint. D e G ea ra c e d t he ol d Modenas , very sh o rt of set-up ti m e, and had to se ttle for a d istant 16th after runn ing in to serious w heelspi n ea rl y o n in th e ra c e. "No m eetings. No phone calls, No letters. The re has not been any approa ch at ell ." Th is was the unequivocal response of Doma boss Carmelo Ezpele ta co ncerning persistent rum ors that World Superbike series right s ow ners Octagon have m ade an offer for the com pany owning the rights of the GP series. "I have heard the rum ors, but I have had no appro ach myself, and no r has CVC' (the London-based com pany with a m ajority shareholdin g in Dorna), he said, adding: "Neither Dorn a nor evc would act without the kno wledge of the other.' The rum ors were part of a large r story, initiated after a virtual declaration of war on GPs by World Sup erbike. Thi s followed a reported meeting with the manufacturers at the last Superbik e round at Sugo , wher e it was agr eed to drop the planned rule change requiring that manufacturers make work s-bike replica kits available for sale, and at the same ti me to raise the capacity lim its for four and thr ee-cy linder bikes to 1000cc, to match th e twin s. Statements attributed to series boss Mauriz io Flammini poin ted out that there was pot entially so Iittie differen ce between prototypes and production -based racing bikes that the new (980cc) prototype rules meant that the new GP bik es would be alm ost identica l to Superbikes. This not only thr eatened his series, but infringed his contractual right to the four-stroke World Cham pionships, he said. There were also rumors that Octagon was planning to take legal action against the FlM if they ratify the four-stroke proposa ls currently planned for GPs in 2002. "I have no wish to ha ve a war with Superbik es," responded Ezpeleta. "In m y opinion ther e is a cl ear difference' between a prototype series and a production-bike series, and there is room for both to be successful. In fact, if Superb ikes are successful, I believe that is good for motorcycle racing in general and also the GPs. There is no fundam ental change with the new rules - GPs are already open to four-strokes at this ti me. The only change is to the capacity limits we are contin uing with 500cc two -strokes, but allowing four -strokes to be up to 980 cc. Thi s is similar to what was done in motocross," said Espeleta. He did not believe that the Superbike organizers had any exclusive right on four -strok e World Championships, "any m ore than we . have exclusive rights for t wo-stro ke championships," he said . Ezpeleta also cast doubt on the value of the clai med agreement with the manufactu rers and the FlM. "Two weeks before we met with the m anufactu rers, who presented us with their agreement for proposals for our four-stroke rules," he said. "I don 't beli eve the same peopl e would make a different agreement two weeks later," he said, Ezpeleta questioned the tim ing of the attack. "We have been waiting for more than one year for the FlM and the GPMA to reach agreement on the detailed regulations. Only then did the Superb ik e rule change follo w. and the rumors that they will buy Doma . Of cour se, they can make an offer if they like but at the moment it is all talk. It is the blah -blah system." Unofficial sources back up his insistence that Doma is not for sale. It is understood that app roaches from other potential buyers have been met with a total lack of interest. Th e four -stroke proposals should be finalized to become regulations within a month or six weeks, and will still be in place for 2002, said Ezpeleta . "The proposals were finalized at the J apanese GP earlier this year. Th e procedure now is that they must be approved by the GP commission, comprising representatives from IRTA , Dorna, the GPMA and the FlM," he said. If ther e is not 100 percent agreement, then it wou ld be referr ed to the Permanent Bur eau, but aft er the extensive discussions he expect ed that there would be agreement. Ezpeleta admitted that with the new rules coming into force in barely 18 months time , there was Iitti e time for anyone planning to build a new motor cycle, but pointed out: "It is not com pulsory to race a four -stroke then. The series will still be open to two-stro kes." At the same time, he added: " I believe that some manufacturers are already working on their designs.' cue I ... nevus MAY 24. 2000 21

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