Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

been on the 500cc two-stroke and the Fl bike in preparation for the Suzuka Eight-Hour. The biggest problem we have been wrestling with this weekend is the front suspension, and keeping the front tire on the ground." Falappa was third quickest, clocking 1:33.527 in the second session. He crashed during the wet after losing the front end but was unhurt. Spaniard Daniele Amatriain was the surprise of qualifying. He put the Marlboro Ducati on the front row with a 1:33.573. And Fabrizio Pirovano completed the front row - his first time on the front row this season with the BYRD Yamaha. Japan's Shoichi Tsukamoto was sixth fastest on a Team Kawasaki Racing ZXR750 then came Fred Merkel with his BYRD Yamaha. Another Japanese rider, Keiichi Kitagawa on a 'Team Green' Kawasaki, and Team Moving Kawasaki's Aaron Slight completed the front row. Slight was another faller in the wet, blaming too hard tires as the cause of his mishap. Roche and Phillis were both on the third row after failing tb post hot laps. They both went down in the wet. "I crashed in the damp when I nearly collided with Hofmann," Phillis said. . "It was my fault really. I was on new tires but the bad part is that I did.it on my nu~ber one bike. It felt so much better than my number two bike which feels slower, doesn't handle so well, and doesn't have such good bottom end power. My number one bike isn't damaged much, though, so we'll repair it and try it in the warm-up." World Superbike rookie and newly crowned Australian Superbike Champion Mathew Mladin found the going tough at Sugo. He qualified 19th after having trouble setting the bike up to his liking. Sugo was his first time in the wet this season. To put Mladin's qualifying performance into perspective, however, World Superbike regulars slower than him included Andy Hofmann (Kawasaki Germany), Davide Tardozzi (Grottini Ducati - factory engine), Baldassarre Monti (Rumi Honda - factory bike) and French Yamaha privateer Adrien Morillas. Race one There was drama during the early morning warm-up when fog delayed the start. When the fog cleared it left a damp track and Polen, riding his spare bike, was forced off the racing line by a slower rider, and he ran off track into a gravel trap and went down. Luckily, the Texan was unhurt. Polen didn't seem affected by the crash come the start of race one. With 25,000 fans looking on (down from 40,000 at last year's meeting) the World Champion blasted into the lead, followed by Falappa, Magee and Merkel with Pirovano playing catch up after a wild launch. The track was virtually dry everywhere except for a narrow ribbon of dampness just out from the start line. Pirovano caught the damp patch coming off the start and slewed sideways. Slight had been right behind, driving hard and had to shut off and take evasive action to avoid hitting the Italian. Amatriain, after qualifying so well, was way down in 15th place at the end of the first lap of the 25-lap race and destined to retire just before middle distance with a generator pr.oblem, which the team suspected was caused in his tumble during the wet practice on Saturday. While Pirovano was able to stay in contention with the leading group of ,four, Slight found himself back down Fabrizio Pirovano finished third in both legs on his factory Yamaha. the field in 16th place at the end of the lap. And Phillis was one place behind him after a mediocre start. By the time Pirovano caught the leading four, Roche, Mladin and Tsukamoto were already 50 yards off the pace in a tussle for sixth. Up front, Polen began to break clear, but behi9d him, Falappa was in trouble. Magee passed the works Ducati rider on the eighth lap then Falappa crashed out, unhurt when he tried to regain second place on the 11 th lap. Pirovano was in a determined mood, first picking off Merkel on lap 11 and then getting by Magee a lap later. By this time, Polen was almost three seconds clear in the lead. As Polen reeled off the laps in his customary clockwork fashion, the two , Yamahas battled for second behind with Magee diving under Pirovano on the penultimate lap to clinch second, just over two seconds down on Polen. Magee, while coping all race with a chattering front end, had been confident of his second place. "I passed Pirovano at the end of the straight. I knew I could do it - no worries. The only cure for the chattering front end was to give it more gas, then the back end slid out and the bike went sideways! " Tsukamoto finished a distant fourth,. some 15 seconds behind Polen aQd then came Roche a further six seconds adrift. Slight eventually claimed sixth after getting by Kawasaki mounted Kiiechi Kitagawa with four laps to run and Mertens, Piergiorgio Bontempi and Mladin completed the top 10. Phillis finished down in a disappointing 11 th place. Race two Polen repeated his holeshot in the second leg, leading from Pirovano, Falappa ana Magee. A bit further back came Slight holding Amatriain and Mertens at bay. The latter had finished eighth in the first leg but didn't last more than two laps in the concluding race, crashing at the chicane. The Belgian was lucky not to be hit by Phillis. . "Mertens crashed right in front of me," said Phillis. "He went one way and his bike went the other. I had to take to the' grass to avoid hitting him. New Zealander Aaron Slight was the top Kawasaki man with a 6-4, tally in Japan. As it was, my footpeg only just missed hitting him. It could have been real nasty." Phillis later lost more ground after running onto the grass and by the time he rejoined the race, he found himself in traffic which meant even more hard work to get back into the action. It wasn't a good day for the old fighter. Up front, the foursome fought on. Polen always held the advantage with Pirovano second ahead of Magee until lap 13. Once Magee got by he cut loose a hot lap to get on terms with Polen, and his 14th lap was the fastest of the race, a 1:32.938. As Polen and Magee set a storming pace, Pirovano - on a harder compounq. rear Michelin this race to counteract some sliding problems he had late in the first leg - and Falappa dropped back, concentrating on their ow'n private fight for third. , Magee was using every ounce of experience gained in Grand Prix racing but it was all to no avaiL as Polen relied on his machine advantage to keep ahead of Magee's OW. "I rode as hard as I could, I rode my balls off trying to get past," said Magee. "But we gotta' change the rule book regarding the bikes. Otherwise we are wasting our time. We need more of a chance so that everyone can enjoy the racing. But I'll show 'em at Phillip Island!" Polen, who crossed the line just over a second ahead of Magee, admitted he was ·simply fending off Magee's efforts. "It was very close-and basically I was in his way for the last 13 laps," he said. "My goal was not to make any mistakes and come out on top. It was a perfect race and a lot of fun." Pirovano took third, over 18 seconds down on Polen but over four seconds clear of Slight, the Kiwi holding off a strong challenge from local rider Tsukamoto. Falappa with his Ducati losing horsepower, faded to sixth ahead of Kitigawa. Polen's main rivals, Roche and Phillis trailed in eighth and 10th - their championship hopes taking a major blow. The championship resumes at Assen, Netherland, on September 13, and while the title is by no means decided, it's Polen who is sitting confident with a 26-point lead. ~ Results QUAUFYING: I. Doug Polen (1:32.652); 2. Kevin Magee (1:33.355); 3. Giancarlo Falap~a (1:33.527); 4. Daniel Amatriain (1:33,573); 5. Fabnzio Pirovano (1:33.662); 6. Shoichi Tsukamoto (1:33.693); 7. Fred Merkel (1:33.734); 8. Keiichi Kitagawa (1:33.776); 9. Aaron Slight (I :33.914); 10. Raymond Roche (1:34.045). RACE.1: I. Doug Polen (Duc); 2. Kevin Magee (Yam); 3, Fabrizio Pirovano (Yam); 4. Shoichi Tsukamoto (Kaw); 5. Raymond Roche (Duc); 6. Aaron Slight (Kaw); 7. Keiichi Kitagawa (Kaw); 8. Stephane Mertens ·(Duc); 9. Piergiorgio Bontempi (Kaw); 10. Mathew Mladin (Kaw); II. Rob Phillis (Kaw); 12. Shinichiro Imai (Kaw); 13. Davide Tardoui (Duc); 14. Adrian Morillas (Yam); 15. T. Sh~i(Hon). Time: 39 min., 11.247 sec. Dislallce: 25 laps. 83 miles. Average Speed: 88.710 mph. Margin o(Viaory: 2,480 sec. RACE 2: I. Polen; 2. ~agee; 3. Piravano; 4. Slight; 5. Tsukamoto; 6. Giancarlo Falappa (Due); 7. Kitawaga; 8. Roche; 9. Tardoui; 10. Phillis; II. Bontempi; 12. Mladin; 13. Fred Merker(Yam); 14. Waturo Yoshikawa (Yam); 15. Baldassarre Monti (Hon). . Time: 39 min., 07.205 sec. Distance: 25 laps. 83 miles. Average Speed: 88.850 mph. Margin o(Victory: 1.187 sec. WORLD C'SHIP SUPERBIKE POINT STANDINGS: I. Doug Polen (267); 2. Raymond Roche (241); 3. Rob Phillis (223); 4. Giancarlo Falappa (206); 5. Fabrizio Pirovano (187); 6. Aaron Slight (167); 7. Stephane Mertens (120); 8. Daniel Amatriain (III); 9. Carl Fogarty (95); 10. Scott Russell (83); II. Piergiorgio Bontempi (61); 12. Davide Tardozzi (44); 13. (TIE) Christer Lmdholm/Baldasarre Monti (41); 15. Fred Merkel (32). 23

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