Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

, . .<, - . ""'"' All smiles on the. podium with Kevin Schwantz, Michael Dooban and Wayne Gardner. Gardner (5), the last point, also racing with the 16inch rear Dunlop, and still in pain from the hand injury he sustained testing more than two races ago. "I fluffed the start, then when I tried to catch the group ahead I had (Miguel) DuHamel in my slipstream and he was holding me back." At least the Canadian Yamaha rider didn't pip him for the last point this time, finishing some five seconds adrift. Mackenzie would probably have been in the big battle for third as well, but he got another poor start, and while he was dosing up on them he crashed at the first chicane, sliding heavily into the the finish. The three Aprilias simply pulled away from the field, to make the first all-Italian machine/rider rostrum for a long time. Chili had not been optimistic until his team fixed a speed problem with his bike overnight, and he knew from the moming warmup that he was in with a chance. Biaggi almost threw his own chance away with a typically over-daring maneuver on the last run through the stadium section; while Reggiani was happy to be third, on the grounds that: "1 prefer to come third to two Italians on Italian bikes than second to a Honda." After the first lap sorting out, the barrier and breaking a bone in his right foot. The bone was pinned in an operation that evening. Mamola did not start, after tearing ligaments in his hand in a crash in morning warmup. Doohan now leads by a massive 53 points, with 130 to Schwantz's 77. Rainey sticks on 65, and Chandler is fourth with 57. 2SOcc GP Biaggi lept into the lead from pole position, Reggiani took over a lap later, then Chili took his turn, and stayed ahead - but for the odd lap or two . until Sixth pole in arow for Doohan Crivill~ (28), Kocinski (4), Lawson (7) and OJandler (10) race for third. main pursuit came from Bradl, but it was short-lived. The German crashed at the end of the third lap on the run onto the start-finish straight, and his hopes of a repeat victory were over. Then it was over to Cadalora, who managed to draw slowly ahead of the pursuing Shimizu, but not to make any impression on the Aprilias. "My Honda was not as fast," he said. "But I'd also been held up early on by Shimizu and Puig, and lost contact with the leaders. It was impossible to make up ground." Fifth place saw a good battle between Andy Preining, before his private Aprilia went off song; Shimizu and me about five places higher than I should be - you don't have to ride much here, just open and dose the throttle. My leg's still painful, but I expect a respectable result tomorrow." Barros had beaten his own teammate Lawsoo by better than half-a-second, and the Hockenheim is one of the classic GP circuits, both because of its history and American was not confident for the race. The Cagiva's here-today, gone-tomorrow because it still offers that great ingredient of racing that modem circuit-designers speed had ~, and he al80 had a rear suspension problem. "It's okay for two laps, then it's gone. We don't know if it's a tire problem, or the rear unit is overheating from seem to ignore .... lots and lots of very high speed. For these reasons. if for no other, it offers great racing and a rich tapestry of memo- a repositioned exhaust, or if it's shrouded by the carbon swingann. 111 need some luck ries. The fast straights, rather than favoring the fastest bike, instead tend to keep the tomorrow," he said. Garriga led row three from his young rival Alex Criville, a satisfying experience racing dose and tight, with slipstreaming groups. Unless, of course, the fastest man given the latter's Honda's great speed; while Mackenzie was alongside, llth-fastest, can make an l!IIIrly breakaway to prevent the others from picking up his draft. "111 try and do that," said Michael Doohan, who was in the happy positioo of being the gap behind Doohan now more than three seconds. "'I'm disappointed," said the Scot. "We can't seem to get the bike stable at high speed." that fastest man. "The trouble is, everyooe else will be trying to do the same thing." Mamola completed the row, again feeling the pinch of only having one bike, and His sixth consecutive pole position came with a big margin almost one-and-a-half 88COr1ds, continuing his steamroller effect. His team had found more lop speed before being unable to engage in the usual leapfrog development. In Saturday morning's arriving here, aided by a new special brew of racing fuel from 1ill- a gray area of untimed practice he only managed two laps, with the crowd cheering him all the way. development where the factories have a sort of conspiracy of thieves not to tell on Then he feU heavily in race-moming warmup, injuring his hand. There were 31 qualifiers, with Andy Leuthe's bog-61ow home-made VRP a~ faileach other. He spent practice working mainly towards improving corner exit, to good effect. The last remaining question mark was tires - and Michelin had a new-genera- ing to qualify. The 250cc Honda riders have been saying all year that the Aprilias were too tiocI rear here that not only gripped welL but also looked as though it would last the fast to be dealt with. Here, the Italian bikes clearly proved it, fi1ling three out of distance with none of last year's problems. Having lost the last two races, Doohan would obviously be a tough nut to crack. So four front-row places - in spite of some new Honda cylinders that seemed to have tough, in fact, that Wayne Rainey himself cracked in the attempt. He'd been overtaken closed the gap. For a second race in succession, it was the newcomer Max Biaggi who took pole, by Doohan, and was chasing him close and hard for a couple of laps thereafter in the final session When he was spat violently off the bike on the exit from the long looping the 20-year-old European champioo displacing fellow Aprilia rider Loris Reggiani by first-gear left-hander Sachskurve in the stadium section. As is usual there, it was a three-tenths. Reggiani had be,en. complaining bitterly about the bumps caused by pathigh&ide crash, but of unusual violence. "Earlier I'd found I could ride around tial resurfacing work; ("It's like motocross out there - it's the worst track this year.H), but had his semi-active suspension working by the end of practice with a spring that LaW!lOll'S Cagiva (wl!lllCing DunIops) on the fast Ostkurve, where he was wheelspinlUng and my rear was just gripping. I said to the Michelin guys that if this tire ever was softer initially and harder when more compr:essed. Bradl was third, but crashed three times in cootrast to his utter dominance here last lets go itl1 throw me over the trees. I guess I proved myself right H He was lucky to escape serious injury, for the bike slammed into him as he year. The first was on Friday, and the second on Saturday morning, both in the relabounced ac:ros& the grass, but a twisted ankle, a chipped bone in his hand and a heavy tively slow stadium section, and he was not hurt. But the third crash was a highsider in ooe of the fast chicanes. "I bruised both my wrisIs. I shall have to see how they fee) blow to his ~ left him to limp away with a face of thunder. By then. be bad secured second on the grid, by tluee-tenths from Kevin Schwantz, tomorrow," the German hero said. Chili's Aprilia completed row one; Luca Cadalora was more than half-a-second who had spent the first day of practice not only testing the new bass Suzulci engine, bat alia makiDa up lex time lost when he mi8eed the MicbeIin tire tests ben! earlier in slower to lead row two. Not only was he still short of speed compared with the the seaaon. In die end be decided to stay with the old engine because it revved a little Italians, but be was also complaining of the bumps and the difficulties of getting the chassis right. "'The main problem is the front end. and I hope Erv (Kanemoto) and the IIIlJl'e &eeIy: "Those few hundred rpm could be what you need for drafting here, and team will be able to make things better ronight. Even 50, this will be a very hard race they could cxme in handy if it comes down to a last-I8p battle," be said. He w. expecting a doee race. unle!Il Doohan could bleak away at the start, and to win,." the title leader said. He had Capiroesi's kitted RS Honda alongside, the 125 champion's best-yet qualihe'd been practicing running quickly on cold tires through training, 80 as to be prefying position. Then came class debutante Noboyuki Wakai, placing seventh in his pared for an all-out effort early in the race. I

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