Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

nearly pitched off in the first corner of the race. "1 think maybe something broke in the shock. There's an adjuster on the handlebars and I screwed it down and I got down to 43's, then it started wobbling again," Kocinski said. But by then he was clear of Chandler and equalled his best finish of the year. Behind the top three was the race of the class: Gardner, DuHamel, and Criville swapping places lap after lap, all finding the first turn the best place to pass the others on the brakes. But for Gardner, it shouldn't have been that much of a struggle. "1 struggled the whole race. The bike was never right," the Australian said. "It wouldn't accelerate. It ran okay off the top, but it wouldn't pull off the corners. The comer before the chicane it wouldn't pull second. I tried running it in faster and nearly highsided. We don't know what it is. Maybe a broken power valve or something. It felt like the engine was still on the rain settings." Gardner ran sixth for several laps approaching mid-race, then made his move passing both Criville and DuHamel to take over fourth on the 15th lap. DuHamel got back past for a lap, before Gardner re-asserted himself to the end. "He rode pretty good," Gardner said after his first encounter with DuHamel. "He was a bit desperate in the beginning, but I was impressed." "The two Hondas were faster than my machine, but I was able to make up time on braking," DuHamel, who was using a frame similar to MacKenzie's for the first time, said. "The big thing about the new bike is that it steers well and ... allows me to change direction easier. Unlike the other bike, it lets me punch it info the corners." DuHamel, who fell behind Criville on the last lap, drafted him out of the final corner and just nipped him at the line. "1 was riding as hard as I could and I Wayne Gardner (5), Alex Criville (28), Kevin Schwantz (34) and Miguel DuHamel (17) swapped positions throughout the race. Gardner won the battle for fourth. really wanted to finish this race; I haven't finished one since Assen," Criville said. "But towards the end of the 28 laps I starting having rear tire and stability trouble. It was a tough race. It's so bumpy here that the track really tires you out." Schwantz was seventh, Barros eighth hard to find an optimum setup. "The bike's kind of hard to find anything that works good. You try to get it working halfway decent.'; The longer he was on the track, and the faster he got, the more dangerous he real-ized the track was. he four practice sessions were run in a variety of conditions from clear to rain, "The barriers get bigger and bigger every lap when you start pushing it," the 28with fog thrown in for good measure. Only the fltst timed session on Friday after- year-old Texan said. "A mistake here means injury for sure," a sentiment that dictated noon was completely dry and the fastest that hour was Marlboro Roberts his race strategy. "I'll go out and start the race and see what happens. If there's more at Yamaha's John Kocinski- the 24-year-old Californian clocking a best lap of 1 minute, risk than to gain, I'll pull in," Schwantz said after choosing not to practice in the rain. '1 43.403 seconds (93.52 mph) on the 2.69-mile circuit set on the outskirts of Sao Paolo. don't think there's anything to learn out there except how to bust your ass." But being on the pole did not put his mind at ease, machine problems weighing heavily Sahwantz's junior teammate Doug Chandler was next fastest, on the pole for the on'his mind. second row, but with serious reservations. "1 just have no confidence in the bikes; they've let me down too much this year. It "There's no room for error," the 26-year-old Californian said. "You're not seeing depends on whether the bike's in a good mood or bad mood how I'll do," Kocinski any runoff. You look at the comers and look at the wall and see that an escape route is said after earning his first pole position of the year. Yamaha had brought new frames nonexistent." for Kocinski and teammate Rainey, but Kocinski said the team didn't have the parts to As bad as Chandler found a dry track, the perils increased exponentially in the rain. • make the best of the new frame, so he opted for the oldJiince he foUnd it more pJ:e"It's dangerous, really; dangerous," Chandler, one of the few to practice in the wet, , dictable for changing conditions. said. "On the front straight, I'm clicking it into fifth in the last bend before the pit "To me, the race tracks don't matter. It's getting the bike to do what I want to do. I entrance and both wheels are drifting up to the wall at quarter-throttle. In the dry, never complained about a circuit in my life. I came here to race and that's what it said you're pegged in sixth. and using a quarter of the track." . on my calendar," added Kocinski. But like Schwantz, ChaAdler knew that when the green flag fell he'd be ready. Rainey sat next to his teammate, somewhat embattled by his decision to take a lead"There's not one guy who's going to say he's just going to ride around. There's no ership position among the riders, but resolute in his decision. All that was left was to way I'm going to do that. H you start the race, you're going to race," he said. Alex Criville was sixth fastest on the Campsa Honda, the Spaniard choosing not to make the new chassis work and he was well on his way. "The difference is where everything's bolted on. The engine position, footpeg ride in the rain after getting a handle on the dry settings. height, where the rider sets," Rainey said explaining the revised frame. "The new chas"We made some further gearbox changes for this morning and that helped, then we sis makes the bike feel better than it has all year. It's mostly in directional change and made some more suspension changes for this afternoon. But I only did a few laps stability. The SODs have so much power and so much grip they can get away from you before it rained so I just hope we've got it right" so fast." Cagiva's Eddie Lawson was seventh fastest, the four-time World Champion trying Most of the riders chose not to ride in the Saturday's wet timed session, but Rainey to work-out his rear suspension and rear tire. was among those who did and found the conditions weren't as bad as others would "There are some real bumpy comers, so suspension's going to be cruciaL The place describe them. seems pretty hard on the rear tire too. But I'm still learning which way the track goes, "You can motor around this place in the wet. If it rains I know where the puddles it'll be tomorrow morning or afternoon before I really know where I'm going," Lawson are and if it's dry I already know what the track's about," he said. said after Friday's dry session. He was one of the few riders to improve his time in the The only topic as eagerly discussed as the track condition, was the condition of second session, turning in his best lap before the rain began about 12 minutes into the _Rothmans Honda's World Championship leader Mick Doohan. The always fit and session. slender Australian was extremely gaunt, his legs atrophied to spindles, a soft cast still Standing by his word, Lawson was the first rider out in the wet, after the riders had protecting the healing skin grafts on his right calf. He first arrived at the track on agreed not to race in the rain, defiantly revving his engine as he made his way down crutches on Wednesday, walking haltingly, and with some effort. He hobbled up to his the pit road, But he only made two laps before pulling in. NSRSOO, bounced around a little, moved back and forth, and pronounced himself Eighth fastest was Dut:ados Yamaha's Juan Garriga, the Barcelona res'ldent just .007 ready. A wave of relief swept through the garage, but the hard wotk was yet to come. sees. off Lawson's time, but close to a second faster than ninth. fastest Randy Mamola "The biggest trouble I'm having is moving about on the bike, but it's becoming easi- on the Budweiser Yamaha. er all the time and it's just a matter of getting in as many laps as possible before the Yamaha Motor France Banco's Miguel DuHamel and Niall MacKenzie were 10th 'race," the 26-year-old Queenslander said after the first practice session when he quali- and 12th, respectively, sandwiching Brazilian Alex Barros on the third row. fied 14h. "The other thing is that my right leg has been sliding off the footpeg. Before I MacKenzie was still adapting to the new Yamaha "droner" motor he got at go out tomorrow, I plan to modify the cast to try and make it slimmer and my mechan- Donington Park, but wasn't adapting well to the Interlagos track, calling it "the most ies are also working on a new style foot peg which should also help eliminate the prob- dangerous Grand Prix circuit I've ever raced 00." DuHamel was using a new frame, lem." Doohan lost 15 minutes of the one dry timed session while his team fitted a-new similar to his teammate's, for the first time. footpeg and also lost time trying to sort out a balky gearbox. "The bike feels the best it has all season and it reminds me a lot of the superbike I "At one point I was doing 10 shifts to go back three gears and I spent valuable time raced last year," 'the French-Canadian said. _ in the pits getting this sorted out," he said. Barros, who lives not far from the track in Sao Paolo, was racing for the first time By Saturday, Doohan had a smaller and lighter cast and a smaller boot to match and since crashing at the French GP in mid-June and was still hampered by the injuries. went out on a slightly damp track on intermediate tires in the morning session as his "The collarbone is still painful but the biggest problem is the ligament I damaged in confidence grew. my right wrist," the Cagiva rider said. "I'm still getting my eye back after two months out, but this morning I was braking In all, 30 riders qualified for Sunday's 28-lap 500cc Grand Prix. later than yesterday on slicks. I just get a little frustrated because I feel I can flick the bike Because a heavy fog canceled Friday's 250cc timed session, both practice sessions on in hard, but I have to make sure my foot is in the right place before I do it," he said. Saturday were timed qualifying, though the pole-sitter would come from the first. The second was run in a heavy rain. _ For the race, Doohan was hoping to score a point or two with a top 10 finish. Wayne Gardner was third fastest on the Rothmans Kanemoto Honda and trying to Max Biaggi, fresh off his signing with the Rothmans Kanemoto Honda squad for _ 1993, earned his fourth pole of the season, and, though he has yet to win a race, he get it to go over the always present bumps. "We changed the bike around to get the bike over the bumps and it made it handle knows that time is running out bad, so we went back to the original settings," Gardner said, ,,It,s a real physical job "1 really want to to win my first GP bt;fore the end of the season," the Telkor Valesi Just to have to ride over the bumps. It's well bumpy. You can do so much with the sus- rider said. "The bike's going well and if it's dry tomorrow I'll be going 100 percent for pension, but in the end-you've just got to hang on. The Yamaha's going to be hard to the wm." beat here. They're smoother on the power than the Hondas and have slightly better Second fastest was Aprilia Unlimited Jeans' Loris Reggiani, the Italian veteran one suspension for this circuit because they. have longer"suspension. It's like riding of the most vocal opponents of the, circuit. "It's the kind'of J:'acetrack where if you fall down you-can die," he said. motocross out there." Lucky Strike Suzuki's Kevin Schwantz, fourth fastest at the end of the front row, HB Honda's'Doriano Rombohi and Telkor Valesi Racing's Pier-Francesco Chili 11 ilgreed. "You pick your way around to find the smooth,way," he said, adding_it""w_as~~~fi_ill_edout the front row. Kocinski earns ole T

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