Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

W orld C h a m pio n s h ip R o a d R a c e S erie s R o u nd 1 0: G e r m an G ra n d Prix c overe d by six te nths of a second . J enkn er wa s 10th ; Ued a - a no th e r firs t -co rne r victim - 13th ; th ere were o nly 18 finishers . Ui no w le ads Loc a te lli, 14 5- 13 5 , w it h G ian s ant i w it h 1 17 and t he luc k less Alzamor a with 1 10. Ueda is fifth with 102. eN and Lo cat e ll i s t aye d clo se fo r a wh ile , c h a ngi n g p la c e s on la p nin e, w ith Sa n na t h en d rop p in g aw a y qu ic kly . Loc atelli p u sh ed for a whi le , th e n d rop ped b a c k to 7 .5 seconds awa y a t the fin ish . Th us the first thre e . Ui's perform anc e asi d e , th e rid e o f t he ra c e ca me from Hond a m ounted Mirk o Gians anti, wh o fin is he d the first la p in 18th a fte r be ing for c ed off in th e first co rn e r , th en p icked through a ll th e wa y to fift h a t th e fin ish , m id-field er Go i followi ng him thro ug h. Th e y 'd be en mi xed up a w hile wi th th e n e x t tr io , Pabl o Nieto , Gianluigi Scalv in i a nd An g e l Nieto Jr., wh o finish ed in tha t o rde r, Sachsenring Sathsenring, Gennany Results: July 23, 2000 125« QUAUFYING: 1. Youichl Ui ( 1:25.460): 2. Ro be rto Lo c a t e lli (1 :2 5. 6 8 2 ); 3. Simo ne Sa nna (1:26.039): 4. No boru Ueda ( 1:26. 160): 5. Ma,ao Azuma ( 1:26.160): 6. Emili o Alzamora ( 1:26.215): 7. M anu e l Pogg i ali (1 :26 .3 14 ) ; 8 . Gi no Bor sa i (1:26.468) : 9. Lucio Cecchinello ( 1:25.538) : 10. Angel Nieto Jr. (1:26.618): 11. Ivan Gal (1:26.688): 12. Max Sabbatani (1 :26 .701); 13. Mirko Gian santi ( 1:26.747) : 14. Randy de Puni et ( 1:26.748): I S. An tonio E lia s ( 1:26 .79 4) ; 16 . Jaro sla v Hule s ( 1:26.807): 17. Alex de Angeli, ( I :26.669): 16. Gla nlu lg i Sc el vln l ( 1:2 6 .8 90) : 19 . Pabl o N ieto BRIEFLY••• M ichelin's range of 1 6 .5-i n c h rear tires expanded again. with rear we t tires at Sachsenring for the first time. This wa s much to the relief of Garry McCoy. who pitted in the wet British race. so strong was his dislike fo r th e 17-inch we ts he was obliged to use. How ever, for the fir st ti me all year, all sess io ns and race day re mained dry . Changes to the S ach s en rin g left the circuit - already under minimum length - eve n short er. but won approval from mo st ride rs as well as raising average lap times by five or more mph . But furt her improvem ent s are planned for next year, wit h the track evo lving year by year after a small-scale start by stealth . The venue. outside the city of Chemnitz (formerly Karl M arx Stadt), is traditional, and on the site of the old five-mile public roads track. But state authorities originally wo uld not give permi ssion for the circuit, so the enthusiastic local club asse mbled it unofficially, putting to gether sec tions including part of a driver-training center and access roads, and a st retc h of the old circuit. First used tw o years ago . th e new tra ck was criticized for being too slow and too tight . es pec ially for 500 s. For thi s year. one of the t ighter turns wa s eased slig htly and a c hica ne on th e fas ter back sec tion wa s removed, shortening the track fro m 3508 meters to 3429. Next year . however, the second section of the track is to be much more extensively mod ified, abando ning the fast and diffi cult old track in favo r of an eve n faster, but much simpler desig n that will bring the track to minimum length . Riders of smaller bike s generally approved of the new track , w ith 125 pole 'qualifier Youichi Ui leading a chorus of affi rmati on for the loss of the technical and slow chicane . M ost 250 riders concurred. but the 500 riders were not so sure . since sections remained that are barely suitab le for a 125 mph machine, while the loss of the chicane meant that a long section of the track now saw the bikes leaned over hard left at ever-i ncreas ing spee d fo r a very long time . "l t puts a lot of heat into the tire. and that compli cat es yo ur tire choice. because you have to take that into acc ount, " said pole qualifier Kenny Roberts J r. " It's not better - jus t diffe rent. " One thing that hasn't changed is the ardor of the fans . Although it is 10 yea rs since reunifica tion of Germany . the former East G ermany remains discernibly diffe rent from the more prosperou s and modem W est. and the locals remain highly charged with enthusiasm for bike racing. Bef ore the East Germ an GP was stopped in 1972 , there were as many as 300,000 spectato rs at the old long circuit. The new track has much less capacity . around 80 .000, but pretty much sells out well in advance. The restricted layout means that the paddo ck is spread aro und, with riders' mo torho mes in an off-track car park for an adjacent industrial estate . Riders had to run the gauntle t of fans to and from the ir practice sessions and race s. " There's not enough ti me in the day to sign all the auto graphs peop le want - but it doe sn't feel good to refuse : said Robert s. Biaggi discovered the truth of how bad it can feel, when disgruntled fans smashed his car wi ndow after he refused to sign auto graphs afte r a pre-race charity football matc h. w here a paddock tea m including Biaggi was defeated four-three by a German ce leb rity spo rts man team . The match was in aid of Riders for Health . and wa s live on Eurosport satellite TV. Valentino Rossi may be young and jaunty - but he is only the fift h-youngest rider eve r to wi n a 500 cc GP . The Italian was 2 1 years and 144 days w hen he won the last rou nd at Donington Park. but thr ee riders won w hen still in their tw enties - Freddie Spencer. Noric k Abe and Randy M amola, while M ike Hailwood won his first race in the class at 2 1 years and 75 days. The next yo unges t is V enezuelan J ohnny Cecotto. He fares rather bett er when you co unt the age of riders w ho have wo n in three classes 125, 250 and 50 0. co ming second to Hallwood. w ith C ecotto third , then J oh n Surtee s and Lori s C ap ir o ssi, bot h aged 22 . Rossi' s personal record remains pre served . in all three classe s he had three crashes in early races before taking his first win. Still on the statistics , he won on his ninth class start . Of modem -era 16 AU GUST 2 . 2 000 · cu e I Y ouichi Ui 1 41) leads Simone Sanna 116) en route to winning the 125cc Grand Prix. e n e vv riders (since 1974) only Biaggi has won on his first start , with Kenny Roberts Senior taking three races, then Kevin Schwantz seven, Spencer and Cnvtlle eight. Criville did not win ano ther race until 45 more attempts: Robert s is the best, winning the nex t race. M eanw hile, the 500 cc class is in the longest run in racing history in any class without a consecutive race winn er. The last time there were tw o wins in a row was 19 races ago , w hen CriviIIe ended a four-race winn ing streak at Catalunya. You w a n t m ore stats? How about thi s: 250 Che sterfield Yamaha rider Shinya Nakano has scored point s in 22 consecutive races , putting him third in the world - Luca Cadalora has a run of 34, and Sit o Pons and Max Biaggi 26 each . Luca C a d a l o ra made a GP ret um afte r an absence of almos t a year, tak ing ove r the M odenas hot seat, to the delight of team owner Kenny Robert s. " W e felt all along Luca was the right guy to get the best out of our bike, co nsidering the dept h and breadth of his experience ,- said Robert s: whil e the form er 125 and 250cc W orld Champion and 500 cc GP winn er said: " I am happy to help the team, and I enjoy riding the bike. At the moment it is just for o ne rac e. but if eve ry thing is right I w ould lik e to rid e so me more. " Cadalora took ove r from Anthony Gobert. who rode the bike at Donington Park . but found his size and weight a major disadvantage . The 36 -year-old Italian also displaced M ark Will is. who tested the bike wit h Cadalora at rained-out sessions at Brno after the British GP . C adalora, rode for Team Robert s on the Yamaha from 1993 to 1995 , taking six o f his eight 500 -c1ass wi ns, and he gained a big reput ation with the team for his testing ability and mach ine knowle dge. " I' ve said ma ny t im e s th at Luc a is the fastest guy around the co rner that has ever ridden fo r me. - con tinued Robert s. ' If we can put the right motorcycle togeth er for him, he will be hard to beat. But we don 't know yet how clo se we will be in Germany. Every time we te st in Europe. it rains on us. I'm close to packi ng the whole thing up and go ing home to the U.S. " C adalora had test ed the bike after the Italian GP. " I gave the team a list, and they have done everything," he said. " Especially I wanted the thrott le response to be made smoother ." C adalora last rode a GP bike at Brno last year. w hen the MuZ tea m dumped him afte r an erratic record. Since then he had been in semi-retirement. apart from a single W orld Superbike outing at Donington Park this year, in place of Carl Fogarty . He put the bike higher up in qualifyi ng than it had ever been. but In the clo sing minutes of the final qualifying session. while lying 16th ove rall, he crashed heavily. Cadalora was not hurt . but the bike was comprehensively d estroy ed . " We could only use th e engi ne again, revealed a team member. W ho will ride the Mod enas for the res t of the seaso n? W ill Anthony Gobert get anot her ride? Regular David de Gea retu m? Test rider M ark Will is get a go? All moo t points - though IRTA rules do limit the numbe r of riders for any team durinq a year to four. and they are now on their third. W illis tested the bike at Brno, and might have ridden it in Germa ny had Cadalora not taken the plunge . Gobert is not ruled out , according to tea m owner Kenny Robert s. " He's gained a few kilog rams , and beca use our bike is so small that was his biggest prob lem. W e've s set him some target s for training and weight loss , and if he can achieve the m we 'll give him a legiti mate chance to get to know the bike before taking part in another GP . W e know he can ride a mo to rcycle - we 're just no t sure if he can ride ours. Robert s hoped to have a bike - possibly a second bike - for de Gea for his home GP at V aiencia. - He was the best guy to ride the new bike unti l we cou ld make it reliable , and at the same time get the 500 experience he drast ically needs. W e're not giving up on him. and when our pr ogram expand s we'd hope to give him a ride again." H S illy sea son rumors still took the imagination at the Sac hsenring . Yam aha may have as many as eight riders in th e 500 cc class, with th e current Che sterfield-backed 250 team hoping to take both ride rs Olivier J acque and Shinya Nakano up to the premier class. "Two we ek s ago, the chance wa s about 55 to 70 percent. Now the chance is up to 80 percent it will happen . " according to te am o w ne r H erv e Po ncharal . M arlbo ro Ya ma ha are exp ected to retai n their tw o-rider team, proba bly with the same rider s , M ax B iaggl and C arlo s Checa. Re d Bull Yamaha also expect to con tinue wi th tw o ride rs and 200 1 model bike s. " W e've start ed negot iation with Garry M cC oy, and we 'll wa it and see what happens over the next co uple of races with Regis Laconi. " said team manage r Peter Cliff ord . Norick Ab e is dow n to stay wit h the Ant ena 3 team, w ith a seco nd rider possibly joi ning on a ye ar-old bike . Honda 's plans are less clear. Expect ed to stay put are Alex Criville and V alentino Ros s i , pe rha ps bo t h in th e main Repsol team. The other Repsol riders , Tadayuki O kada and Set e Gibernau, are less secure however. Satellite teams are also uncertain. Alex Barro s and Loris Capirossi will likely stay wi th the Pons tea m whe re they are now . The Shell Advanc e 250 team hopes to move up a class to o, at least wi th Tohru U kawa. an official HRC rider. His Au stralian teammate An th ony W e st ' s po siti on is not clear. " He's had tw o or three approaches from 250 teams. and he may stay ," the class ." said his mother. Pam W est. He is thought not to be part of Shell Advance's hope s of moving to 500 s , but might stay wit h the tea m for another year on the factory 250 . Suzuki has Kenny Roberts Jr•. but unle ss th ey expand to a th ree: rider team - which they have hitherto resist ed - Nobuat su A oki' s positi on is not comforta ble. S ponsors Telef oni ca M oviS tar are known to want a Spanish rider , so that Alex Criv ille, Carlos Checa and Set e Gi berna u are all cand idates at presen t for a second Suzuki ride. England -based Japanese racing firm Technical S p o rts Rac" ing have announced a spec ialist c hass is for the 125 class, to go wi th its 250 and 500 chass is fo r Honda V -tw ins. The 125 will also use a Honda mo tor, and they will build a limited run of com plete motorcycles for $ 15,160. The new chassis will have a rising-rate linkage for the double-side swinging arm, and adjustable geo metry for the steeri ng head. TSR chassis are almo st req uired for Honda privateers in the 250 class, but the fact that Honda's privateer Vtwi n 500 engine is not competitive means there are no takers in the 500 class apart from their ow n one-rider tea m. Carlos Checa c rashed heav ily on Satu rday mornin g , after a season in which he had - by and large - put his bad reputation as a fr equ ent faller behi nd him . Checa fell on a fast section of th e tra c k. say ing later: " lt did n' t fee l like I was going faster than before. but t he rear j ust let go ." He banged his head. and though no t co nc ussed he w as tak en to ho s pital fo r a pr e cauti o nary chec k-up, missing the seco nd and final timed practice sess ion. He was awa iting med ical report s before dec iding wh eth er he co uld race . V alentino Ro ssi was anot her to crash. in the final sess ion. high-siding w ithout injury at one.of the slow co rners, while Luca C adalora also had a fast crash , highsided while try ing to follow pole qualifier Roberts to get a fast lap time. LUCkily he was not hurt . Phil Gile s also crashed at high spee d aft er his V-twi n 500 Honda seized. A spate of crashes in the final timed 250cc session bro ught the practice crash total to 29. one more than the previou s year .

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