Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

BR~na~~~~_b_~_R_~_es_m_'~_:R_oo_n_d7_ _~ m Michael Doohan was untouchable at the Hockenheimring in Germany; he beat Kevin Schwantz by over 24 seconds. Schwantz managed to finish second after trying in vain to keep pace with Doohan. No contest for Doohan in German GP By Michael Scott Photos by David Goldman HOCKENHEIM, GERMANY, JUNE 14 he Honda is the fastest GP bike, and Hockenheim the fastest GP circuit. And Michael Doohan put the combination together, fired up by some special new Elf gasoline, to get back to his winning ways at the German Grand Prix last weekend, after having been forced to accept second at the previous two races. The Rothmans Honda rider started fast enough to deny even a persistent Kevin Schwantz access to his slipstream - all important in the long straights through the forests - leaVing the Lucky Strike Suzuki to trail home second, both of them miles ahead of the pursuit. . Third went to Rothmans Honda's Wayne Gardner, the surprise winner of a T 12 close battle in his second comeback ride after breaking his leg in Japan. The amazing Australian, still wearing a lightweight cast, had planned only to play himself back into racing. Instead he prevailed over a race-long eight-bike battle, which included Marlboro Yamaha's John Kocinski, Lucky Strike Suzuki's Doug Chandler, Eddie Lawson, and his inspired Cagiva teammate Alex Barros, and Campsa Honda's Alex eriville. With Doohan stretching his title lead still further, and Schwantz moving to second place in the points tally, it was a rotten day for defending World Champion Wayne Rainey. He had crashed in practice, and raced in considerable pain, and was eventually forced to retire in agony after 11 difficult laps. Budweiser Yamaha's Randy Mamola was a non-starter after injuring his hand in a crash in morning warm-up. Surprisingly, it was Honda's first 500cc-dass victory at the Hockenheimring in the modem racing era. The 250cc GP was a walkover for Aprilia, with the Italian machines taking the top three rostrum places - PierFrancesco Chili taking his first win of the year from teammate Massimiliano Biaggi and Loris Reggiani. The best championship leader Luca Cadalora and his Rothmans Honda could manage was a distant fourth, with HRC's Masahiro Shimizu fifth, and last year's dear winner Helmut Bradl on the HB Honda crashing heavily early in the race as he tried to catch the flying Italians. Bruno Casanova gave ApriJia another victory in a typically close and thrilling 125cc GP, with the Hondas of Fausto Gresini and Ralf Waldmann second and third. The first six bikes crossed the finish line within the space of a second, with seventh-placed Alex Gramigni (Aprilia) barely a heartbeat away. The sidecars also returned, amid arguments about their future, and ironically produced one of the best races of the day with defending champion Steve Webster fighting off Austrian Klaus K1affenbock after a bitter race-long duel. SOOcc GP The race was decided by the second corner of this awe-inspiring circuit, which gallops flat-out at more than 180 mph then runs back to the tight stadium section, via two chicanes and the ultrafast Ostkurve. Kocinski took the holeshot, but Doohan pushed past to lead into the first chicane, and from then on he stretched away, using the speed of the Honda and the grip of the new generation Michelin tires to the maximum to avenge his recent defeats. He also remembered his problems here last year, when he seemed to have victory in the bag, only to have a tire fall to pieces. "I kept pressing on hard, both to keep my concentration, but also so that if anything did happen at the end I'd have as big a cushion as possible," he said "My advantage seemed to be that I could get out of the comers faster than the others." _ The only challenge came from Schwantz, who followed Doohan past Kocinski; and it was a noble effort that almost succeeded. Had Doohan faltered in the early laps, Schwantz was close enough to have jumped into his slipstream. Then he could have stayed with him for a last-lap battle. Instead, he was just yards short onto the second straight, and from then on Doohan, riding flawlessly on the limit, drew inexorably ahead. "When I came out of the chicane on about the sixth lap and I couldn't see him ahead of me anymore, then I thought I'd be better off settling for second," said the Texan, who used the older of the two available Suzuk~ engines. These two had opened up a significant gap after just one lap, and it kept stretching over a fine battle for third. At first, Chandler's Suzuki (using the gruff new engine) took over from Kocinski, but he was always under pressure, with Criville's Honda coming through fast, Rainey doing his best to beat the pain, Gardner ever-present, both Cagiva riders Barros and Lawson right there, and Juan Garriga's Ducados Yamaha dose behind. The Cagivas simply didn't have the speed to make use of the slipstreams, but even so Barros led the group once after a particularly heroic piece of late braking. Lawson never got that dose, but nor was he ever far away, scoring third-fastest lap in the process. Criville led the group several times, and Chandler came back to the front towards the end of the race. Then Gardner took over firmly on the looping left-hand Sachskurve in the stadium section with four laps to go, and defended the position staunchly until the finish, fending off not only Kocinski but also a very determined attack from Criville in the final bends, with the pair clashing fairings and bashing handlebars. . At the finish, three-tenths of a second covered Gardner, Criville and Kocinski; Lawson was half-a-second back, a tearful Barros just behind him, and Chandler less than two-tenths behind theCagiva. Gardner was somewhat surprised to find himself on the rostrum in his comeback ride after breaking his leg in the Japanese GP, then crashing again in practice for the Italian GP. '1 was struggling earlier on, and I just wanted to finish in one piece. I meant to stay with the group so I could learn from them, and motivate myself for future races. Some of the younger guys, like Criville and Barros, surprised me earlier on. They're fast, but they use their tires really hard, and about three-quarters of the way through I noticed they were slowing a bit. That's when I thought I might be able to do it." Kocinski had enjoyed the race, but not the result. '1 messed up the last chicane," he said. "Everything felt perfect but I got too close to Gardner and Criville so I couldn't get a run on them out of the comer. Then in the stadium those two guys were going pretty crazy." Lawson raced the new 16-inch rear Dunlop for the first time, and complained afterwards simply about a shortage of speed; while Chandler was bitterly disappointed to have been consigned to the back of the group. "My bike was fast, but I couldn't do anything with it because I didn't have traction in the middle of the corner and on the exits. I was using a lot of track, picking the bike up early to get the power on just to stay with the others." Garriga had lost touch in the closing stages, finishing some four seconds adrift in ninth; Australian Peter Goddard (Roc-Yamaha) took 10th and

• Cover