Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~R~DRAa~~~~oo~~_~_~_R_~_e_Se_rie_s:_~_un_d_9~~~~~~~~_ that saw Assen and Hockenheim winner Pier-Francesco Chili crash out while disputing third place with Spaniard Alberto Puig. Unlimited Jeans Aprilia's Loris Reggiani was second, after leading for the early laps. Dutchman Wilco Zeelenberg finished a heroic fifth just two weeks after he made his premature return at Assen. The Lucky Strike Suzuki rider was inches behind HRC's fourth-placed Masahiro Shimizu, and a similar distance ahead of slow starter Helmut Brad!. Earlier, Teklor Aprilia's Massimiliano Biaggi had followed his teammate Chili by sliding off. Earlier, Aprilia's Alex Gramigni had won an exciting 125cc race from Ralf Waldmann, with Fausto Gresini a close third; both rode Hondas. The last race of the day, the sidecars, went to Rolf Biland for a second race in succession, with Steve Webster stretching his title lead with second place, and Austrian Klaus Klaffenbock third - the same rostrum as at Assen two weeks before. It was BHan'd's 62nd GP win. ~ Eddie Lawson and his cut slick rear tire passes Wayne Rainey and his full rains as the track dries out in the Hungarian 500cc GP. Doug Chandler was the fastest in the wet conditions, but he was caught by Lawson when the track dried out and had to settle for second. Lawson makes history in Hungary By Michael Scott Photos by David Goldman BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, JULY 12 istory was made at the Hungaroring last Sunday, where the smallest race crowd of the year, huddling for shelter in erratic and unpleasant weather, saw Eddie Lawson give Cagiva their fjrst-ever Grand Prix win. The four-time World Champion had gambled on fitting cut slick tires in spite of heavy rain at the slow and twisting circuit outside Budapest, and he dropped to seventh after leading into the first corner, more than 50 seconds behind.. "Then God decided it, I think, by stopping the rain," said a happy Lawson later. Suddenly the red bike was catching the leaders hand over fist, as their rain tires overheated and Dunlop's tactical move paid off. H 10 He shot past pole-starter and longtime leader Doug Chandler with four laps to go, to win by almost 15 seconds. It was the Californian's first GP win since 1989, when he was champion on a Honda; Cagiva's first win in 12 years of trying; and the first defeat for Japanese works bikes since Michel Frutschi's victory on the Italian Sanvenero in the boycotted French GP of 1982. Lucky Strike Suzuki's Chandler was thus denied his first GP win, after qualifying on pole and running quickest in wet and dry conditions. But he had at least pegged back early leader Randy Mamola on the Budweiser Yamaha, who finished thifl:i, back on the rostrum in a good day for the old-timers. Kevin Schwantz, on the other Lucky Strike Suzuki, was fourth, riding with a broken arm after making a surprise comeback follOWing his Assen injuries, and pushing his rival for second in the championship,' Marlboro Yamaha~s Wayne Rainey, back to fifth.· That must have been some small satisfaction for points leader Michael Doohan, recuperating from his Assen injuries in Italy. Wayne Gardner was sixth after being the first to pit and change tires in the changing conditions; while Assen winner Alex Criville was disqualified after stopping to change to a different motorcycle. . Rothmans Honda's Luca CadalorC! won the 250cc GP going away, after it had also been delayed by showers. It was his sixth win out of nine races this ·year, and broke a run of Aprilia success 500cc GP The first start saw Kocinski dive into the lead, then the rain fell on the pits and the last part of the circuit as they dashed out into the country. The red flags came out promptly, but Kocinski still ran off the track in the penultimate bend, recovering safely on the grass.. They all lined up on slicks again for the restart, but before they could get away another heavy shower swept in across the wooded hills, and there was frantic activity as everybody switched to full wet tires. Well, almost everybody. "Eddie could afford to take a risk, since we didn't have a top championship position to worry about," said Dunlop chief Jeremy Ferguson. "But we had seen in the morning how quickly the track dried, and it didn't seem as though there'd be any more rain. So we recommended him to go with.an intermediate front and a cut slick rear." It was a gamble, and at first it didn't look promising. Lawson got the holeshot, but Mamola piled past him into the first corner as though, Lawson said later: "He was on slicks on a dry track." Gradually the Cagiva dropped back as what looked like the real race developed up ahead. . Mamola galloped away with Schwantz second, pushed back to third before ·the end of lap one by the returned Rainey. Chandler was already fourth, and he moved past his teammate on the fourth lap, closed remorselessly on Rainey to pass him for second on lap eight, and gradually closed a gap of almost six seconds on Mamola to sweep into the lead and start pulling away on the 12th lap. At this stage, Kocinski was <;losing on Schwantz for a battle for fourth, Garriga was a lonely sixth, Lawson back.in seventh, while Gardner had already been into the pits after scaring himself in the early laps with no traction. He fitted an intermediate rear and rejoined just behind Chandler but a lap adrift, saying later that he wished he'd fitted an intermediate front as well. Two laps later, the sun broke through, and things looked brighter for Lawson. He was almost a minute adrift, and had spent th~ first part of the race resisting a strong attack by privateer Corrado Catalano, before the Italian sputtered to a stop. Now he could set his sights on bigger game, and gradually he started to speed up as those wearing wet tires were forced to back off in the bends, and weave down the straight seeking puddles to keep their rubber cool. The mood in the pits suddenly grew

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