Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Loris Capirossi's Marlboro Honda RS SPL/SPL came up from behind. And the Aprilias? All the works bikes had gotten away slowly, with Massimiliano Biaggi seventh at the end of lap one, Telkor-Valesi teammate PierFrancesco Chili and Aprilia Unlimited factory rider Loris Reggiani ninth and 10th, respectively. Clearly this situation did not last, witJ:i Biaggi leading the Italian charge to the front in his familiar hang-it-out style. He was with Cadalora and Romboni on lap three, and took the lead for the first time, though dropping promptly back to third as the fight hotted up. He made the move final on lap six, and was never headed; but by now there was a regular brawl behind him; with Capirossi joined by Reggiani, and Bradl and Chili packing in behind. The order changed back and forth on every bend but the trend was clear - the Aptilias were on their way through, with Reggiani in second by lap eight, and Chili in third four laps later. Reggiani attacked l3iaggi, but in vain, with the youngster determined this time to drive home the advantage of his pole position and at least gain one debut-season Aprilia victory before he moves to Honda next year. Reggiani was forced to accept second after a few unexpected slides made him suspect tha.t water was leaking onto his back tire. Chili, meanwhile, also emerged from the pack, too far behind the other Aprilias to cat~ up, but able to take a safe third. Now the battle was for fourth, and there were still four people locked in combat. Romboni looked semi-wild, as usual, but went too far this time on lap 15, running wide onto the dirt where he tried his damnedest to save the bike as it sped towards an. unprotected concrete wall. Eventually he bailed out in the nick of time, tumbling and rolling to end up stationary against the wall without actually striking it with any force. This also spread them out a bit, with Bradl seizing the advantage and fighting off another challenge from Capirossi to make sure of fourth. Fifth was Capirossi's best-yet finish in his first 250 year. Cadalora faded to a disappointed sixth, complaining of a pain in his neck as well as a shortage of speed compared with the Aprilias. Jochen Schmid was ~eventh, Linable to match his qualifying performance on the sole works Yamaha, but five seconds ahead of the next group, which was led across the line by Herri Torrontegui, after a strong ride on the Lucky Strike Suzuki. The young Spaniard had started well and stayed ahead of not only Ruggia's Gilera, but also teammate Zeelenberg, who in any case dropped from 10th across the line to 22nd after the application of his one-minute penalty. The last point went to Andy Preining's Aprilia, after the Austrian privateer had defeated Masahiro Shimizu's NSR Honda. There were 26 finishers, with Carlos Lavado 15th in the last race of a fine career. 125ccGP The situation was simple. Gramigni had eight points over Gresini, so had to finish at least close to him. Waldmann and Gianola both had a mathematical chance of the title, but only if the others failed to finish. Gramigni's Aprilia was on pole, but started as badly as possible - stalling on the line, and paddle-starting to get away near the back of the pack. He finished lap one back up in 10th, saying later: "It is a miracle that I didn't crash. I must have had 10 collisions that lap." Gianola's Honda was in the lead from the start, trying for a breakaway and leaving Gresini in second, fending off Bruno Casanova (Aprilia) and Kinya Sakata (Honda). Then Casanova highsided out on the third lap, almost at the same time as the demon Gramigni arrived with the leaders, and it wasn't long before Gianola's lead was dwindling. . At the same time, Gresini was falling victim to a persistent rear suspension malaise, and dropped away out of contention, to finish seventh. Gramigni hit the front shortly before half-distance, only to be displaced at once by Martinez, whose Honda had tagged on to the back. Giro was also on his way on his Aprilia, setting fastest lap as he closed up, and the leading trio embarked on a battle to the flag. As Gianola dropped away to finish eighth, Brazil GP winner Dirk Raudies pushed his Honda into the leading battle as well, and the race was open to the finish. It was won by Martinez, with Giro seizing second on the last lap, and Gramigni fighting to the end - a good way of avoiding thinking about the championship. He beat Raudies over the line by less than half-a-second. Noburo Ueda was fifth, with Ralf Waldmann pushing through to take sixth. Hans Spaan was ninth, with Oliver Koch taking the last point on his Honda. Non-finishers included crashers Wakai and Sakata, as well as Peter Oettl and Peter Galvin. Thus Gramigni took the title for Aprilia, with Gresini second, early leader Waldmann third, and Gianola fourth. It had been a year-long battle of (;N outstanding brilliance. Luca Cadalora, Doriano Romboni and eventual 250cc GP winner Massamiliano Biaggi battle at Kyalami. Biaggi's win was the first of his promising young career. (Left to right) Wayne Gardner was second in his final GP; John Kocinski won his second-career 500cc race; and Wayne Rainey secured a third title. Results 125cc QUALIFYING: 1. Alessandro Gramigni (1:48.869); 2. Dirk Raudies (1:49.002); 3. Bruno Casanova (1:49.015);·4. Jorge Martinez (1:49.065); 5. Fausto Gresini (1:49.329); 6. Kinya Sakata (1:49.371); 7. Ca.rlos Giro (1:49.521); 8. Ezio Gianola (1:49.595); 9. Noburo Veda (1:49.627); 10. Ralf Waldmann (1:49.850): 11. Oliver Koch (1:50.082); 12. L. Bodelier (1:50.208); 13. Gabriele Debbia (1:50.308); 14. Michel Stief (1:50.317); 15. Oliver Petrucciani (1:50.338); 16. Hans Spaan (1:50.339); 17. T. Shimizu (1:50.468); 18. Noburuki Wakai (1:50.659); 19. Peter Oettl (1:50.760): 20. K. Wada (1:50.827); 21. G. Palmieri (1:51390); 22. Heinz Leuthi (1:51.592); 23. Luis Alvaro (1:51.897); 24. Ari Molenaar (1:52.013); 25. M. Maritz (1:52.389); 26. Robin Appleyard (1:52.613); 27. Manuel Hernandez (1:52.862); 28. Hans Abold (1:52.723); 29. Mauro Vitali (1:52.795); 30. Julian Miralles (1:53.480); 31. Steven Patrickson (1:53.492); 32. Peter Galvin (1:53.785); 33. Johnny Wickstrom (1:53.789); ~. Alex Waibel (1:53.797); 35. Alec Bronec (1:54.589); 36. B. Crookes (1:59205). 250cc QUALIfYING: 1. Helmut Bradl (1:42.056); 2. Pier-Francesco Chili (1:42.137); 3. Luca Cadalora (1:42.265); 4. Jochen Schmid (1:42.284); 5. Massamiliano Biaggi (1:42.306); 6. Loris Reggiani (1:42.545); 7. Doriano Romboni (1:42.619); 8. Loris Capirossi (1:42.958); 9. Wilco Zeelenberg (1:43.331); 10. Andy Preining (1:43.704); 11. Alberto Puig (1:43.712); 12. Jean-Philippe Ruggia (1:43.850); 13. Masahiro Shimizu (1:44.235); 14. CarlOs Lavado (1:44.263); 15. P.V.D. Goorberg (1:44.337); 16. Eskil Suter (1:44.466); 17. Herd Torrontegui (1:44.710); 18. K. Kozono (1:44.786); 19. Bernd Kassner (1:44.791); 20. J.V.D. Goorberg (1:44.848); 21. Bernd Haenggeli (1:44.881); 22. M. Paetz~ld (1:44.921); 23. ~. Protat (1:45.159); 24. Renzo Collrom (1:45.290): 25. LUIS D'Antin (1:45.320): 26. Adrian Bosshard (1:45.331); 27. Paolo Casoli (1:45.466); 28. M. Gallina (1:45.518); 29. B. Cazade (1:45.844); 30. J. Kuhn (1:46.352); 31. Yves Briguet (1:46.493); 32. Stefan Prein (1:46.634); 33. Ari Stadler (1:46.667); 34. G. Ramsay (1:46.977); 35. Harald Eck1 (1:48.180). 500cc QUALIfYING: l:John Kocinski (1:39.548); 2. Wayne Gardner (1:40.072); 3. Michael Doohan (1:40.180); 4. Wayne Rainey (1:49.222); 5. Kevin Schwantz (1:40.526); 6. Niall Mackenzie (1:40.945); 7. Doug Chandler (1:40.960); 8. Randy Mamola (1:41.113); 9. Alex Criville (1:41.289); 10. Peter Goddard (1:41375); 11. Eddie Lawson (1:41.472); 12. Alexandre Barros' (1:41.656); 13. T. Arakaki (1:41.904); 14. Juan Garriga (1:42.005); 15. Miguel DuHamel (1:42.544); 16. JuanLopez Mella (1:43.024); 17. Corrado Catalano (1:43.176); 18. R Wood (1:43.179); 19. Dominique Sarron (1:43.536); 20. M. Wilson (1:43.772); 21. S. David (1:43.991); 22. Eddie Laycock (1:44.122); 23. Marco Papa (1:44.213); 24. Michael Rudroff (1:44.429); 25. Cees Doorakkers (1:44.553); 26. Kevin Mitchell (1:45.339); 27. Niggi Schmassmann (1:45378); 28. Andreas Leuthe (1:45.620): 29. Peter Graves (1:45.636); 30. Simon Buckmaster (1:46.570); 31. S. Doppler (1:46.801). 125cc GP: 1. Jorge Martinez (Hon); 2. Carlos Giro (Apr); 3. Alessandro Gramigni (Apr); 4. Dirk Raudies (Hon); 5. Noburo Veda (Hon); 6. Ralf Waldmann (Hon); 7. Fausto Gresini (Hon); 8. Ezio Gianola (Hon); 9. Hans Spaan (Apr); 10. Oliver Koch (Hon); 11. Michel Stief (Apr); 12. K. Wada (Hon); 13. Gabriele Debbia (Hon); 14. G. Palmieri (Gaz); 15. T. Shimizu (Hon); 16. Robin Appleyard (Hon); 17. Hans Abold (Han); 18. Manuel Hernandez (Apr); 19. M. Maritz (A~r); 20. Mauro Vitali (Gaz); 21. Johnny Wickstrom (Hon); 22. B. Crookes (Hon); 23. Kinya Sakata (Hon); 24. Oliver Petrucciani (Hon); 25. Ari Molenaar (Apr); 26. Peter Galvin (Hon); 27. Steven Patrickson (Ho.n); 28. Alex Waibel (Hon); 29. Peter Oetll (Rot); 30. L. Bodelier (Hon); 31. Heinz Leuthi (Han); 32. Alec Bronec (Hon); 33. Noburuki Wakai (Hon); 34. Luis Alvaro (Apr); 35. Bruno Casanova (Apr). Time: 44 min., 2.803 sec. Dist.>nce: 24 laps, 63.388 miles. Averollge Speed: 86.347 mph. Mollrgin of Victory: 0.253 sec. Follstest up: Carlos Giro, 1:48.687/87.483 mph, Lap 14. 2SOcc GP: 1. Massamiliano Biaggi (Apr): 2. Loris Reggiani (Apr); 3. Pier-Francesco Chili (Apr); 4. Helmut Bradl (Hon); 5. Loris Capirossi (Hon); 6. Luca Cadalora (Hon); 7. Jochen Schmid (Yam); 8. Herri Torrentegui (Suz); 9. J.P. Ruggia (Gil); 10:Andy Preining (Apr); 11. Masahiro Shimizu (Hon); 12. Eskil Suter (Apr); 13. Bernd Kassner (Apr); 14. K. Kozono (Hon); 15. Carlos Lavado (Gil); 16. J.V.D. Goorberg (Apr); 17. M. Paetzold (Yam); 18. Yves Briguet (Hon); 19. Bernd Haenggeli (Apr); 20. Adrien Bosshard (Han); 21. Renzo CoUroni (Apr); 22. Wilco Zeelenberg (Suz); 23. Bernd Cazade (Hon); 24. P.V.D. Goorberg (Apr); 25. G. Ramsay (Yam); 26. J. Kuhn (Hon); 27. F. Protat (Apr); 28. M. Gallina (Yam); 29. Luis D'Antin (Hon); 30. Doriano Romboni (Hon); 31. Ari Stadler (Han); 32. Harald Eck1 (Apr); 33. Paolo Casali (Yam); 34. Alberto Puig (Apr); 35. Stefan Prein (Han). Time: 44 min., 43.367 sec. DisWtce: 26 laps, 68.671 miles. Averollge Speed: 92.128 mph. M.rg!n of Victory: 4.567 sec. Follstest up: Massamiliano Biaggi, 1:42.094/93.133 mph, Lap 15. . 500cc GP: 1. John Kocinski (Yam); 2. Wayne Gardner (Han); 3. Wayne Rainey (Yam); 4. Doug Chandler (Suz); 5. Kevin Schwantz (Suz); 6. Michael Doohan (Hon); 7. Alex Criville' (Hon); 8. Niall Mackenzie (Yam); 9. Miguel DuHamel (Yam); 10. Juan Garriga (Yam); 11. T. Arakaki (Yam); 12. Corrado Catalano (Yam); 13. Juan Lopez Mella (Yam); 14. R. Wood (Yam); 15. M. Wilson (Yam); 16. Marco Papa (Cag); 17. Dominique Sarron (Yam); 18. Eddie Laycock (Yam); 19. Michael Rudroff (Yam); 20. S. David (Yam); 21. Niggi Schmassmann (Yam); 22. Peter Graves (Yam); 23. Andreas Leuthe (Yam); 24. S. Doppler (Yam); 25. Peter Goddard (Yam); 26. Cees Doorakkers (Yam); 27. Eddie Lawson (Cag); 28. Simon Buckmaster (Yam); 29. Kevin Mitchell (Yam); 30. Alex Barros (Cag); 31. Randy Mamola (Yam). Time: 47 min., 00.729 sec. Dislollnce: 28 laps, 73.953 miles. Averollge Speed: 94.384 mph. Mugin of Victory: 2.935 sec. Futesl up: Wayne Gardner, 1:39.952/95.129 mph, Lap 25. 125cc WORLD C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS (FIN AL): 1. Alessandro Gramigni (134/2 wins); 2. Fausto Gresini (118/1 win); 3. Ralf Waldmann (112/3 wins); 4. Ezio Gianola (1054 wins); 5. Bruno Casanova (96/1 win); 6. Dirk Raudies (91/1 win); 7. Jorge Martinez (83/1 win); 8. Gabriele. Debbia (58); 9. Noburo Veda (57); 10. Noburuyki Wakai (52); 11. Kinya Sakata (42); 12. Carlos Giro (39); 13. Hans Spaan (12); 14. Peter Oetll (10); 15. (TIE) Oliver Petrucciani/Oliver Koch (9); 17. A. saitO (8); 18. (TIE) T. Shimizu/K. Wada (5); 20. Y. Fujiwara (4); 21. Stefan Kurfiss (3); 22. Heinz Leuthi (1). 2S0cc WORLD C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS (FINAL): 1. Luca Cadalora (203/7 wins); 2. Loris Reggiani (159/2 wins); 3. Pier-Francesco Chili (119/3 wins); 4. Helmut Bradl (89); 5. Massamiliano Biaggi (78/1 win); 6. Alberto Puig (71); 7. Jochen Schmid (58); 8. Carlos Cardus (48); 9. Masahiro Shimizu (46); 10. Doriano Romboni (43); 11. Wilco Zeelenberg (39); 12. Loris Capirossi (27); 13. T. Okada (15); 14. N. Aoki (12); 15. H!!rri Torrontegui (11); 16. J.P. Ruggia (6); 17. Andy PlJ!iiIin~~; 18. (TIE) Noburuyki Wakai/Carlos Lavado (4); 20. (TIE) K. Nanba/Paolo Casoli (3); 22. (TIE) P.V.D. Goorberg/Bernd Haenggeli/Stefan Prein (2); 25. (TIE) Bernd Kassner/J.P. Jeandat (1). . SOOcc WORLD C'SHIP POINT STANDINGS (FINAL): 1. Wayne Rainey (140/3 wins); 2. Michael Doohan (136/5 wins); 3. John Kocinski (102/1 win); 4. Kevin Schwantz (99/1 win); 5. Doug Chandler (94); 6. Wayne Gardner (78/1 win); 7. Juan Garriga (61); 8. Alex Criville (59/ 1 win); 9. Eddie Lawson (56/1 win); 10. Randy Mamola (45); 11. Niall Mackenzie (37); 12. Miguel DuHamel (34); 13. Alex Barros (29); 14. (TIE) Daryl Beattie/Peter Goddard (18); 16. S. Ito (10); 17. (TIE) K. Ohishi/Terry Rymer (6); 19. Corrado Catalano (5); 20. Eddie Laycock (4); 21. (TIE) T. Honma/Michael Rudroff (3); 23. (TIE) Jamie Whitham/No Fujiwara/Dominique Sarron/T. Arakaki (2); 27. (TIE) Kevin Mitchell/S. Tsujimoto (1).

• Cover