Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Roche said in anger. "This is meant to be World Championship, no? They are amateurs. I came up on slow riders twice at the end of the race and no flagsl" Did the backmarkers effect Polen? "There was no big thing with them as far as I was concerned," said Polen. "I" don't really think they made any difference to where Raymond was going to finish." Fogarty took fourth, able to run with the factory bikes but not· able to pass them. "It was the same old story," said Fogarty. "I could keep up with them but there was no way I could pass. My bike is not fast enough. I thought Polen and Mertens were slow but when Roche caught them, they seemed' to speed up a little." Phillis took Bontempi for fifth place, three laps from the end going into tum one, taking the Italian out wide to make the pass stick. After the race, the first non-Ducati rider home said, "I got a bad start but really, that's the best I can do against the Ducatis!". Slight was disappointed not to get. sixth. "Italian empty heads,"he said, referring to Bontempi. "I got IJ.lY wheel inside Bontempi but the guy tries to ride you out, I could have put him on the grass a few times but that's not the way to play things!" Falappa's bike somehow mad~ it to the line. His motor could not have had any oil left! Afterwards, team manager Franco Uncini admitted, "Falappa had many problems out there." The battle for ninth place went to Pirovano, from Morrilas, Rymer, Lindholm and Merkel. Morrilas, running his spare motor was happy enough. "It was a much better result than I expected," he said. "If I had my best engine maybe it would have been sixth or seventh. The carburetion was not good in this race_ Next race it will be better and maybe I can go a little faster." . Race two Polen had made some suspension alterations to his bike for the second race. "It got a little slack towards the end for the race'and was moving around a little more than I liked," he said. Falappa and Polen got the start with Mertens, Bontempi and Fogarty in tow. Pirovano was fourth but again ended up in the sand trap and rejoined the race way downfield. Roche was also among the tailenders after yet another of his appalling starts. Mertens' race only lasted four laps when he pulled in with an oil leak, a valve failing and pumping out all the lubricant. Rymer had retired into the pits one lap before with gear selector failure and Merkel was also out with handling problems.' Polen passed Falappa on the fourth lap but he too joined the sidelines when his Ducati lost a cylinder' on the sixth lap. "The rocker arm broke,""he said. "I was just getting ready to go. The tires were warmed up and I felt good." That left Falappa almost four seconds clear of Fogarty, Bontempi, and Phillis, with Slight back in fifth. Phillis was up to second a lap later and charging, eating into Falappa's healthy lead. At 10 laps, there were rain drops falling and by lap 14 the track was getting damp as Phillis took the lead. One lap later, Phillis came out of the chicane before the start line and almost lost it as he drifted onto the damp white line marking the pit lane entry. The oil flag had already been displayed to warn riders of the wet track and as Phillis got back under control, out came the red flag. Giancarlo Falappa finished eighth in race one, but won the second race going away. Fabrizio Pirovano turned in less-than-stellar ninth and eighth-place finishes. Doug Polen (right) and Stephane Mertens celebrated after race one. But it was moments too late for Amatriain and Hofmann who both lost it on the brakes going into the chicane. They would both use their spare bikes in the restart. With less than 75% of the race completed, there was a 10-lap restart. Phillis had a narrow 0.42 advantage· over Falappa. Bontempi was third, 5.71s back then came Fogarty and Roche as they lined up on the grid in the finishing order. Bontempi got the jump but it was Fogarty leading at the end of the lap from the Italian Kawasaki rider, with Falappa, Pirovano, Phillis and Furlan nose to tail. Roche was back in 12th place but this time it was not his fault. Both Roche and Slight had been forced out wide by an errant Kawasaki rider who missed his braking point in turn one and took to the slip road. Phillis' great chance of closing the points gap to Polen disappeared on the third lap when he was taken out in the Stekkenwal left-hander by Bontempi. ''I'd gone in a little late and as I tipped in, Bontempi tried to get up inside me, lost the front end on the brakes and wiped me out," said the disappointed Aussie. With Phillis out, Falappa just had to stay on Fogarty's wheel to win the race on aggregate time but passed the Brit at half distance and went on to win by 5.67 seconds overall. Roche got by Amatriain and Pirovano with four laps left and looked a likely winner, cutting the leading duo's three-second advantage by a second a lap. But with two laps to run, Roche's engine went sour and he had to be content with third. "I was lucky to make it to the finish for two reasons," said Roche. "First, I was nearly hit off in the first corner, then the engine broke with two laps left. I don't think I could maybe have won the race. I know for sure!" He wasn't the only one in trouble. Fogarty's motor started blowing oil out of the breather and his foot kept slipping off the peg. "I was really worried whether it would make it to the line," Fogarty said. "I got a great start then Giancarlo came by. I was lucky, really. He towed me clear of the rest and in the last couple of laps, either of us could have crossed the line first." But the race and the overall second leg belonged to Falappa. "In the restart, I knew the only problem was Fogarty, Phillis and Raymond. I see Phillis out and then I watch my box (pit signals) and I see plus six (seconds) so I know this is enough for the win." Fourth was Slight, getting by Amatriain with two laps to run. Slight Was more concerned about his teammate after the race. '1 can't believe that guy Boritempi. He's been crazy all weekend. Maybe the FIM should do something about him. It's not 250 proddie (production) racing out there." With three rounds left, the championship pendulum had swung back again and the points situation is again wide open. Mo.nza should be a thrillerl Sidecars Rolf Biland and Kurt Waltisberg are the new Sidecar World Champio!1s after finishing second in the final race of the season at Assen. They were handed the title when Steve Webster and Gavin Simmons saw the number one plate slip from their grasp when a rose joint in the gear linkage broke up as they led the race at six laps. Biland led until the last lap when he moved over to let Hollywoodsponsored teammates, Egbert Streuer and Pete Brown through to win in front of their home crowd. "I didn't even know Webster was out of the race until I came into the pit at the end and Eggy's' mechanic told me we are the new World Champions." Biland said. "My pit signals were very bad." Biland had a bad tire vibration in the last two laps and slowed dramatically, enough for Streuer to catch up. "I was sure Eggy knew the situation and that he would only pass us if we had the championship. So I let him' go by." Darren Dison and Andrew Hetherington finished third after an eventful race. They just missed a spinning Klaus Klaffenboch in the first corner and ran into the back of Biland's outfit taking avoiding action. Then they were caught and passed by Boesinger on the final lap but just got them in the final corner. "I thought, I've not come all this way to finish fourth so I stuffed. him at the chicane on the last lap," said Dixon. tN Results QUALIFYING: I. Doug Polen (I min., 23.28 sec.); 2. Raymond Roche (1:23.32); 3. Piergiorgio Bon· tempi (1:23.65); 4. Stephane Mertens (1:23.69); 5. 'Gianearlo Falappa (I :23.70); 6. Aaron Slight (1:23.99); 7. Carl Fogarty (1:24:31); 8. Fred Merkel (1:24.42); 9. 1:24.47); 10. Adrien Morrilas (1:24.57); 11. Fabrizio Pirovano (I ?24.59); 12. Daniel Amatriain (1:24.61); 13. Fabrizio Furlan (1:24.62); 14. Jeffry de Vries (1:24.63); 15. Christer Lindholm (1:24.73). RACE 1: Doug Polen (Due); 2. Stephane Mertens (Due); 3. Raymond Roche (Due); 4. Carl Fogarty (Due); 5. Rob Phillis (Kaw); 6. Piergiorgio Bontempi (Kaw); 7. Aaron Slight (Kaw); 8. Giancarlo Falappa (Due); 9. Fabrizio Pirovano (Yam); 10. Adrien Morrilas (Yam); II. Terry Rymer (Due); 12. Christer Lindholm (Yam); 13. Fred Merkel (Yam); 14. Daniel Amatriain (Due); 15. Roger Kellenberger (Yam). Time: 33 min.• 51.05 sec. Distance: 24 laps. 58.22 miles. Average Speed: 103.20 mph. Margin of Victory: 0.22 sec. RACE 2: I. Falappa; 2. Fogarty; 3. Roche; 4. Slight; 5. Amatriain; 6. Furlan; 7. Morrilas; 8. Pirovano; 9. Kellenberger; 10. Jean·Yves Mounier (Yam); II. Mile Pajie (Kaw); 12. Johnny Verwijst (Kaw); 13. Andreas Meklau; 14. Jehan D'Orgeu: (Kaw); 15. Mauro Luechiari (Due). Time: 34:03.34. Distance: 241aps, 58.22 miles. Average Speed: 102.582 mph. Margin of Victory: 5.67 sec. WORLD C'SHIP SUPERBIKE POINT STAND1NGs: 1. Doug Polen (287); 2. Raymond Roche (271); 3. (TIE) Giancarl0 Falappa/Rob Phillis (234); 5. Fabrizio Pirovano (202); 6. Aaron Slight (189); 7. Stephane Mertens (137); 8. Carl Fogarty (123); 9. Daniel Arnatriain (124); 10. Scott Russell (83); 11. Piergiorgio Bomempi (71); 12. Adrien Morrilas (46); 13. Christer Lindholm (45); 14. Davide Tardozzi (44); 15. Baldassarre Monti (41); 16. Fred Merkel (35); 17. Kevin Magee (34); 18. Andreas Hovrnann (31); 19. (TIE) John Reynolds/Jeffry de Vries (26). SIDECARS: I. EgbertStreuer/Peter Brown(LC~); 2. Rolf BilandiKurt Waltisperg (LCR); 3. Darren Dixon/Andy Hetherington (LCR); 4. Markus Boesiger/Leibundgut (LCR); 5. Paul GuedellCharly Guedel (LCR); 6. Derek Brindley/Paul Hutchinson (LCR); 7. Billy GallroslPeter Berglund (LCR); 8. Theo v. Kempen/Geral de Haas (LCR); 9. Reiner Koster/Juerg Egli (LCR); 10. Gary Knight/Guy Scott (Win). Time: 37:41.18. Distance: 26 laps, 63.07 miles. Average Speed: 100.424 mph. Margin o(Victory: 0.46 sec. WORLD C'SHIP SIDECAR FINAL POINT STANDINGS: I. Roll BilandiKurt Waltisperg (98); 2. Steve Webster/Gavin Simmons (92); 3. Klaus Klaffenboeck/C. Parzer (66); 4. Egbert Streuer/Peter Brown (57); 5. Darren Dixon/Andy Hetherington (42); 6. Y. KumagayalB.Houghton (39); 7. Paul GuedellCharly Guedel (38); 8. Ralph Bohnhorst/ Bruno Hiller (36); 9. Markus Boesiger/B. Leibundgut (21); 10. B. Brindley/S. Whiteside (19). 13

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