Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

R o und 14: P a c if ic G rand Prix of Motegi Lo c atell i is no w invu lnerable w ith The 125cc Grand Prix gets underway w ith race winner Rober1o Locatelli (4 ) leading eventual crasherYoulchi Ui (4 1) and Lucio Cecchinello (9 ). 230 poi nts; Ui un der threat w ith 19 7 , wi t h A lzamo ra catchi ng up wi th 190. A zuma is fourth with 149 , and Ued a next wit h 131. eN 125cc WORLDCHAMPlOI'ISHlP POII'ITS STAI'IDlI'IGS (After 15 of 16 rounds): I. Roberto Locatelli (230/5 Mutegi Circuit Mutegi, Japan wins) ; 2. Youichi Ui ( 197/5) ; 3 . Emilio Alzem or e ( 190 /2); 4 . Ma sao Azuma (149) ; 5. Noboru Ued e Resuh3: oetDber 15, 2000 (136 ); 6 . Arnaud Vincent ( 13 1/1); 7. MJ rko Glanstan i ( 129) ; 8 . Simone Sanna (126/1 ) ; 9 . Gino Borsa i ( 105); 10. Lucio CecchineJlo (104 ) ; 11. Ivan Go l (99) ; 12. Pabl o Nieto (65) ; 13. (TIE) Steve .Ienkner/Glenluigl Scalvlnl (64 ); 15. Angel Nieto Jr.. 500cc Q(lAUFY ING: I. Max Biaggi (1:49.954); 2 . Kenny Roberts J r. (1 :50. 14 0 ) : 3 . Loris Cap irossi (1:50.286); 4. Alex Barros ( 1:50.515); 5. Valentino Rossi (1: 50 .797 ): 6. No r fck Abe ( 1:5 0.926) ; 7 . Carlos Che ca ( 1:51. 020) ; 8 . Garry McCoy ( I :5 1.070) ; 9. Tadayu ki Okada (I :5 1. 159) ; 10. N ob uat su Aokl ( I :51. 17 7 ) ; 1 1. Se te Gibe rnau (1:51.221); 12. Alex Crlville ( 1:5 1.240); 13. Regis (51). Upcoming Ro und Round 16 ' Phill ip Island , Australia, Octob er 29 L e c o n i (1 :5 1 .2 5 9 ); 14 . J ere my Mc Wi lli am s ( 1:5 1. 8 2 3 ) ; 15 . Jur ge n van den Go or be rg h (1: 52.048); 16. Tetsuyo Haroda ( I :52.404 ); 17. Tekk yu Kayoh (1:53 . 184) ; 18 . Mork Will i s ( 1:53 .401); 19. David Tom as (1 :5 5 .515 ); 20 . Yoshiteru Konishi ( 1:56.056) . 500cc GRAI'ID PRIX: 1. Kenny Roberts Jr. (Sua): BRIEFLY••• 2. Valentino Rossi (Hon) ; 3 . Max Biaggi (Yam ); 4 . Carlos Chece (Yam); 5 . Norick Abe (Yam ): 6 . Alex Cr ivil le ( Hon ) ; 7 . Al ex Barr os ( Hon) ; 8 . Lor is Ca pir ossi ( Hon ) ; 9 . Nobu ats u Aok i (S uz) ; 10 . Tedeyu kl Okada ( Hon); 11. Regis Leconl (Yam ); 12. Nob ody wa s saying anythin g. but the air at M ot egi w as th ick wit h distan t sound of four"strokes. Following Ho nda' s announcement at Estoril that it wo uld be suppo rt ing the entry of g90cc four-strokes into the 500cc class in 200 2. rumors co ncemed Yamaha' s plans. It is understood that they have a v -Iou r four-stro ke up and runni ng. that has already lapped t heir Fukuroi te st circ uit fa ster than a 500cc two-str oke . A sk ed poin t blank. a Yamaha spo kes man decli ned to comment. Sete Gibem au ( Hon) ; 13. Tetsuye Harada (Apr); 14. Jerem y Mc Willia ms ( Ap r); 15 . J urgen va n den Goorbergh (Hon); 16. Tekk yu Kayoh (Hon) ; 17. David Tomas (Hon); 18. Yoshiteru Konishi ( Hon). Time : 46 min.. 23 .327 sec. Distan ce: 25 laps. 74 .4 1 miles Average speed: 96 .250 mph Mar gin or victory: 6.175 sec. Fastest lap: Valentino Rossi. 1:50 .5 9 1/ 96 .895 mph. lap 22. Honda ha s narrowed down its four-stroke plans. and announced at M ot egi that th e new bike planned for Int roduct ion to the 500 class in 200 2 w ill not be a tw in, as ex pe cte d . or a six-cylinder, as ot hers had hoped . Yas uo Ikenoya . HRC bo ss. co nvened a meeting after the race at M ot egi to co nfirm furt her details of their plans. already anno unce d at th e Po rtu gu ese GP at Esto ril. " W e have a team of 30 eng inee rs. mainly young . wo rking on the project at o ur A saka headqu arter s outside Tokyo . " he said. Former GP team manager Heijiro Yoshimura was heading the proje ct. and tho ugh they w ere still w o rking o nly with co mputer sirnulatio ns, they had already eliminated twins and sixes from the ir plans . " A six w ou ld be too heavy, the 155kg [34 1 po unds l wei ght limit is too muc h for the tires. " said Ikenoya . " A tw in would lac k en gine pick -up ." he added. They w ere still con sidering oval pis to ns. he co ntin ued . and hoped to have a bike running in time for tests in January. 5OOc<: WOR CHAMPlOI'ISHIP POII'ITSSTAI'I II'IGS LD D (After 15 of 16 rounds ): I. Kenny Roberts Jr. (249/4); 2. Valentino Rossi ( 193/2) ; 3. Carlos Checa (155) ; 4. (TIE) Garry McCoy (150/3 ); Alex Barros ( 150/2) ; 6. Max Biaggi (145/1 ); 7. Norick Abe (137/1 ); 8. Loris Capir ossi ( 134/1 ); 9 . Al ex Cri vill e ( 122/1); 10. Nobuatsu Aokl ( 110); 11. Regis Leconl (1 0 1); 12 . Ta de y uk l O ka da ( 10 0 ); 13 . Jurg en van den Goorbergh (8 1); 14. Sete Gtbe mau (72 ); 15. Jeremy McWilliams (68 ). 250 cc QU ALI F YIN G: I . D a ij iro Kat o h (1:52.574); 2. Marco Melondri ( 1:52.934); 3. Shinya Nakano ( 1:52.959); 4. Tohru Uk ew e (1:53.440); 5. O livier Ja cq ue (1 :53 .4 5 1) ; 6 . Fr an co Ba tta in i (1:53 .502 ); 7. Ralf Woldmann (1:53.534) ; 8. Aiex Debon (1:53.917); g. Anthony West ( 1:54.304); 10. Sebastian Porto ( 1 :54. 46 1) ; 11. O samu Miyazaki ( 1:54.662); 12. Yasu Hatakeyama ( 1:54.752) ; 13. J ason Vin cen t (1 :54 . 80 2) ; 14 . Fo nsi Ni e to (1:54.812); 15. Shahrol Yuzy ( 1:54.896); 16. David t heca ( 1:54.923); 17. Hiroshi Aoyama ( 1:55.109); T ir e wars co uld retu rn to the 50 0cc cla ss w ith the advent of fo ur - 18 . Luca Boscoscu ro (l :5 5 . 16 7 ) ; 19 . Shinic hi strokes . w ith D unlop a step close r to co nsideri ng a full -scale retu rn. The situatio n is currently sterile . In the 500cc class . Du nlop lo st their last custom er whe n M oden as sw itched to M ichelin. The French tires now utterly dominate the class. The 250 cc ciass is the ot her way around . wi th Mi che · lin having ce ded the te rrit o ry complete ly to D un lop . Now D unlop race boss Jeremy Ferguson, fresh from a new round of meetings with the brand's co -own ers Sumitomo in Japan. confirmed that they were considering a full-sca le return in 20 02 - w hen the fo ur-str o ke • 500s " wi ll come on stream . "D unlop is now a joint venture betw een S umitomo and G oodyear: he said . " II' s sti ll at the discu ssion stage , but we'd be very much inter ested in the cla ss. " D unlop is act ive in World Su perb ike racing . and . he poin ted o ut. dom inated AMA Supe rbike racing . l'Iakotomi (1:55.171); 20. Noaki Matsudo ( 1:55.240); 21 . Vincent Philippe ( 1:55.242 ); 22 . Roberto Rolfe (1 :55.395) ; 23. Juli en All emand ( I :55. 546) ; 24. Kl au s N ohl es ( 1 :5 5 .8 79) ; 2 5 . Ja rno J ansse n (1 :56. 147) ; 26. Yoshinori Korogi ( 1:56.239); 27. Jo han Stigefelt ( 1:56 .259 ) ; 28 . J amie Robi nson ( 1:56.334 ); 29. Sebosli en Gimbert (1:56 .498) ; 30. Lucas Oliver ( 1:56.598) . 250cc GRAI'ID PRIX: I. Daijiro Katoh (Hon); 2. Shinya Nakano (Yam); 3. Marco Mehmdri (Apr) ; 4 . Olivier Jacq ue (Ya m) ; 5 . Tohru Ukawa ( Han ); 6 . Anthony West ( Han) ; 7 . Ralf Waldmann (Apr) ; 8. Hiroshi Aoyama (Hon); 9 . Jason Vincent (Apr); 10. Osamu Mi ya zaki (Y am) ; 11. Yasu Hat ak eyam a ( Hon) ; 12. Shahrol Yuzy (Ya m) ; 13. Alex De bon A pr ); 14. Luce Boscoscuro (Apr) ; 15. Fonsi Nieto Yam) ; 16 . David Chec a (Han) ; 17. Noaki Matsudo (Yam ); 18. Yoshinori Korogi ( Hon) ; 19. Sebastien Gimbert (Hon); 20. Johan Stigetelt (Han), TIme: 43 min., 26.394 sec. Distance: 23 laps. 68 .462 miles Average speed: 94.56 1 mph Margin of victory: 0.707 sec, Fastest lap: Shinya Nakano. 1:52.253/95.46 1 mph. l There is a rift between GP rights lease holders D orna and Q uok ka . that co mpany that runs the official we b site . The re has bee n no o ff ic ial announcement. but off-the-record confirmation made it clear that neither party expect s to cont inue beyond the end of this seas on . D om a is expected to run their own web site from their Barcelona headquarters. lop 23 250cc WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STAI'IDII'IGS The retu m to M otegi. almo st Rooded ou t last year. came in fine autumn wea ther. whi c h bro ugh t it s ow n pr ob lem s. W ith several slow corn er s linked by sho rt st raights . the track put s a premium on low -qear accele ration. which is part icularly punishing for tires. M ichelin produced a specia l dual-compound tire. different from the ir usual side-for-side soft-hard patlern . This had a hard compound in the midd le of the tire , for this acceleration . and soft er co mpo unds on both sho ulde rs . (After 15 of 16 rounds): 1. Olivier Jacque (254 /2 wins); 2. Shinya Nakano (252/5) ; 3 . Daijiro Katoh 243/4 ); 4. Tohru Ukawa (229/ 2 ); 5. Marco Melandri 148); 6. Anthony West ( 137); 7.. Rolf Waldmann 130/2) ; 8. Franco Battaini (96) ; 9. Sebastien Porto 78) ; 10. Naoki Matsudo (75) ; I t. Jason Vincent (5 6) : 12. Klaus Nohles 945 ) ; 13. Luca Boscoscuro 1 (43); 14. Alex Debon (32); I S. Alfonso Nieto (27). 125cc QUALIFYING : 1. Ro be rt o Locatell i (1 :58.83 1); 2. Lucio Cecehineilo (1:59 .35 1); 3. Youich (l l ( 1:59.636); 4. Mosao Azuma ( 1:59.726); Super V-tw in rider Jurgen van d en Goorbergh was rew arded for his remarkab le pe rfo rmances so far wil h a speciai mot or from HRC . Sadly fo r the D utchman. w ho has far exc eeded the NSR500-Y ' s usuai perfo rmance this year. it failed th ree times on the firs t day . eve ntually seizing solid . ' In fact, it was an error by a mechanic that was causing the trouble... but by the time we 'd fo und Ihat out. it wa s too late to do anyth ing abo ut it. We were co mmitted to our reg ular mo to r. ' exp lained his brother Pat rick van den G oo rbergh. a luminary of the Rizla team . The new part s were being te sted for next yea r's machine . he said. and comprised crankshaft . cra nkcases and a qu ick.shift system - like the V -fo ur fac tory NS Rs . the Y -twi n does not use a quick-shift system . mainly beca use Ih e gea rbo xe s are not sufficiently robust. 5. Em ilio Alzamora (1:59 .769 ); 6. Arnaud Vincent (2:00.044); 7. Noboru Geda (2,00.345); 8. Ivan Goi (2:00.405); 9. Nobuyuki Yunokl (2:00.589); 10. Alex de A ngelis (2 :00 .690) ; 11. Ang el N ieto J r. (2 :00.7 10); 12. Simone Sanna (2 :00.73 1); 13. M an ue l Poggia li ( 2 :00 .746 ) ; 14 . Yuzo F uj ioka (2 :00 .785) ; 15. Steve J enkner (2 :00.873 ); 16. Gi anl uigi Scalvini (2: 0 1.039 ) ; 17 . Na oki Ka toh (2:0 1.06 4) ; 18 . Pab lo Nieto (2: 01.209) ; 19 . M asafu mi O no ( 2 :0 1.309) ; 20 . Gi no Borso i (2: 01.3 58) ; 21. Anton io Elias (2 :01. 420) ; 22 . Tomoyoshi Koyama (2:01.595) ; 23 . Randy de Puniet (2:0 1.693); 24. Marco Petrini (2:0 1.889) ; 25. Max Sabbatani (2;02. 114); 26. Eric Batoille (2:02.705); 2 7 . Reinhard Sto lz (2:02.950) ; 28 . Leon Haslam (2:03.805); 29. Marco Tresoldi (2:05.864). 125ce GRAI'ID PRIX: I. Roberto Locatelli (Apr); 2. Emilio Alzamora (Han) ; 3. Simone Sanna (Apr); 4 . Lucio Cecchinello (Hon); 5 . Masao Azuma (Hon): 6 . A pl ag ue of falls left at leas t two rider s unable to start the M o tegi G P and re-awakened ques tions abou t the influence of jet lag. in a pair of G Ps just a we ek apart . but se parated by 12 ho urs in terms of time zones . O ne definite non-st art er was Spanish 50 0 privateer Jo se Luis Cardo so , w ith suspecte d left arm fract ures ; wh ile 25 0 rider Ad rian Coa tes was aiso a dubiou s starte r. after sufferi ng a concuss ion in a heavy fall on Saturd ay . M irk o G iansanti also cras hed on the same day , at the end of a desperate 125 session. sustaining multiple fractures in his left leg. Earlier in the sea· so n. Gi ansanti le d the cham pio nsh ip . be fo re falling and fra cturi ng his wrist. Now he will miss not on ly this race . but Au stralia as wel l. In the 500 cc class. Carlos C heca fe ll no less than three time s in the tw o days of pract ice. escaping uninjured each time . bringing his total to 13 . M cCoy . Ivan Gel (Hon); 7 . Alex de Angelis (Hon); 8 . Noboru Uede ( Hon) ; 9 . Arnaud Vincent (Ap r) ; 10 . Pablo Nieto (Der); 11. Angel Nieto Jr. ( Hon) ; 12. Manuel Poggiali (Der) ; 13. Antonio Elias (Hon); 14. Steve Jenkner ( Hon) ; 15. Gino Bo rsol (Ap r); 16. Yuzo Fujioka (Hon) ; 17. Tomoyoshi Koyama (Yam): 18. Gianluig Scalvini (Apr); 19. Max Se bbe te nl (Han): 20 . Marco Petrini (Apr); 21. Masafumi One (Hon) ; 22. Reinhard Stoltz (Hon); 23 . Marco Tersoldi (Ita) . Time : 41 mln., 55 ,152 sec. Distance: 2 1 reps, 62.509 miles Average speed; 89 .470 mph Margin of victory: 13 .790 sec. Fasl est lap: Robert o Locateili, 1:58.8 16/ 90. 188 mph, lap 7 26 OCTOBE R 25 . 2000 ' c u e I e n e vv s W illis . Laco ni and M cWilliams also fell. the lat ter bringing his season total to 14. the most of any one . Ralf W aldmann also fell on Friday . collidi ng wi t h local w ild card rider Yasu Hatakeyama. ' It w as as much my fault as mine . He wa s really slow into that co m er. and I was on a fast lap. so I couldn ' t avoid him. " the Germ an ride r said later. A t the end of practice. there had been 4 0 cras hes. This was 12 less than last year, but then the track wa s streaming wet. and now it was dry thro ughout. It was 250 cc point s leade r Oliv ier Jacque who publ icly questioned the wi sdom of having two con secu tive G Ps o n opposit e sides of the world and in o pposite hemispheres . wilh the largest po ssib le time di spl ace . men t . " I think w e should make sure th is doesn 't ever happ en again: he said. Loris Capirossi Is the iat est rider to criticize the use of qualifying tires. jo ining new champion Kenny Rob ert s J r. and many o ther rider s. wi th o ne notable exceptio n . Aft e r qu alify ing th ird . C ap ir o ssi said : " U nluc ki ly I wa sn't abie to explo it the qualifyi ng tires . because the first tim e I made a mistake. and then during my sec ond att empt I met a wi ld ca rd rid er riding on my line. In my opinion. qualifying tires are a very crazy thing. It may be be tter to introd uce Supe rp o ie . like W o rld Supe rb ik es . " Ro be rt s has alrea dy complained that the supe r-so ft tires . introduced by M ic helin at Brno, waste valuable set-up time. distort one' s view of the bike. and introduce an element of danger by making it po ssibl e fo r leas-skilled riders to q ualify on the fro nt row of the grid. The exc ept io n? That' s M ax Biaggi. w ho said iast w eek. afte r clai ming pole position: " Q ualifying tires make it more exciting fo r the fans . because they know that the last 10 minu tes of qualifying w ill be very exc itinq. A nd they can also hel p yo u find out things abou t your bike . " M ax Biaggi and C arlos C heca will stay w ith Marlboro Yamaha next year. The move was officially confirmed at M otegi. with the announce ment tha t bot h riders have exchanged lett ers of inte nt w ith Yam aha to ex te nd the ir current agreements by one more year. direc tor Lin J a rvis s ai d : " W e s tarte d this p ro j e ct t w o year s a go wi th t h e aim of beco ming Wo rld Cfi arn p lo n s t h i s season . Th a t hasn ' t happe ned . but we a ll s t ii l have a st r o n g belief t ha t bo th the se riders are ca pa b le of w in ning. and we will strive to make tha t happen next year. " Biaggi said ; " I have an excellent relatio nship wit h my crew . and I thi nk the experience we have built up thi s yea r is very impo rtant for the future . " Ch eca added; " The feeli ng of family is very Impo rta nt to me . W e 've gro w n up togeth er of the last two years. and now it is time to come of age. " New Zea land' s BSL three,cylinder ra c e r made a disapp oi nting G P ret urn at M otegi, maintaining its record of failing ever to qualify for a G P. Ridden by Kiwi St ep hen Bri ggs . the BSL was we ll o ut side the qualification CUI-off po int of pole plus seven percent. wi th a lap ti me of 2 :0 1.790 aga insl a req uired minimum time of 1:57.6 50 . But the machine did perform a great deal belter than ever before . demo nst rating the reliability to run fo r a total of 16 laps in the first session and 13 in the secon d. Last year. it barely completed two laps in a row be fore it wa s wit hdrawn before the seaso n wa s halfway through. Ita lian 125cc ride r Lucio Cecchinello joined the 100 club at M olegi. w ith his 100 th G P st art . Tw elve othe r riders curren tly active have passed the 100 mark. inclu ding the leader s Al ex Barro s and A lex Criville . w ith 176 starts apiece. Ralf Wa ldm ann w ith 163 and Lo ris Ca piro ssi ( 152) . The only 125 rid er w ith more starts than C ecchi nell o is his team mate N oboru Ueda. who is fift h overa ll wi th 133 . Kevin S c hw a ntx was at M oteg i to help Su zuki ce le brate the ir new W orld Ch ampions hip succ es s - he wa s the last person to win the title for the marqu e in 1993 - and he wi ll ride the 2000 bike at Phillip Island the week aft e r the Au strali an GP . He paid tri bute to Ke nny Ro be rt s Jr.' s achievement. "This year Kenny's been the smartest rider all year long. He hasn't had to be the fastest because he 's bee n the sm arte st. building on th e lead he ga ine d ea rlier o n. II' s hard to mak e you rse lf do that - to decide if another guy is going fast to let him go . and sellie for second. That goes against all yo ur instincts as a racer. "

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