Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ROADRACE World ChampioDshi~_rb_ike_S_en_'es_: R_o_uD_d_12 '\OJ ~ > o :I: ~ U '" \OJ ~ Q Z « > z « o ....., :I: >== o b :I: Cl.o \OJ ..J ~ _ banged up his right hand in testing the previous week, the same hand he badly injured a couple years back. Stephane Mertens was fifth fastest on the Total Wanty Ducati, just 0.04s slower than Slight; then came the new Cagiva 500GP signing, Mathew Mladin, who was having one of his last rides on the Team Kawasaki Australia ZXR750. He recorded a I:38.62 and was another faller during Friday qualifying. He went down while chasing Polen but was quickly up on his feet and ran back to the pits to pick up his spare bike. Tasmanian veteran Malcolm Campbell was impressive on the Winfield Racing Honda RC30 to score eighth fastest time at 1:38.76, 0.05 ahead of Rob Phillis on the second Moving Kawasaki. • Fred Merkel qualified LOth while Pirovano, on the other BYRD Yamaha was down in 14th, detuned after a crash during Saturday morning's qualifyi!1g. Race one Doug Polen extended his championship lead to 26 points over Raymond Roche. Magee shines, Polen scores Down Under By Gary Pinchin PHIlliP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA, ocr. 18 efending World Champion Doug Polen extended his Diesel Jeans World Superbike lead from 16 to 26 points over Raymond Roche ~fter two incident-packed races at Phillip Island, Australia. While Texan Polen secured his fourth straight pole position, the Ducati factory rider was happy to finish second and fourth to extend his points lead and now looks a iiI:m favorite for the title. With only one round remaining, only a major disaster will prevent Polen from retaining his title. Frenchman Roche, won the second race but earlier had blown a real chance of closing the points deficit after misjudging his braking and taking to a slip road. The real star of the weekend however was Kevin Magee. Despite riding his trick factory Yamaha aWOL with broken,bones in his foot, after a crash two weeks previous, the Aussie delighted the 23,000 strong home crowd by winning the first race. He also finished runner-up to Roche in a second leg marred by a controversial conclusion to the race when the checkered flag was brought out a lap early. Third place in the championship is still wide open. Moving Kawasaki's Robbie Phillis scored sixth and ninth places, yet moved six points clear of Giancarlo Falappa who only finished the first leg. Monza double race winner Fabrizio Pirovano had a disastrous first leg with the BYRD Yamaha, finishing 12th but came back to grab sixth in the second leg and is another three points down on Team Police Ducati rider Falappa. For the only other American in the field, Fred Merkel, it was another D disappointing weekend with 10th and 12th place finishes after handicapping himself with poor starts in both legs on his BYRD Yamaha. Qualifying Rain hampered the qualifying efforts of everyone but it was Doug Polen who secured,pole with his one minute, 37.23 seconds lap on Friday in a rare dry moment. The time was well inside the lap record and was almost a second quicker than his teammate Falappa managed in ,the closing stages of Saturday's final session when the track finally began drying out. , Polen was really enjoying the safe, fast, flowing course, especially after the dangers of navigating the Monza track only two weeks previous. After his sensational quick lap in the first timed session, he said, "I really love this circuit. I wanted to show everybody how quick we could go. That'll give the ,rest something to shoot at." Falappa's late I :38.17 blast on Saturday meant Magee was pushed back to third. His best was a 1:38.19 and he had crashed during the final session -luckily without aggravating the five broken bones in his left foot, legacy of a crash while testing his factory Yamaha YZR500 in Japan two weeks previous. . ''I'm really spewing about my foot," he said. "I was really looking forWard to coming here and showing Polen my back wheel but the injury has kind of put a damper on things. n's getting better every day and come Sunday, I'm going to give it all I've got." Aaron Slight was fourth fastest on the Moving Kawasaki with a 1:38.24 but he too was carrying an injury. He After the changing weather conditions of qualifying, race day dawned bright and dear. Despite his lowly start position, Pirovano pulled off the holeshot to lead into turn one but, come the end of the first lap, Mertens had taken over control, followed by Pirovano, Magee and Polen. On the third lap, Magee took the lead and soon Pirovano was demoted to fourth by Polen. Initially, Mertens applied pressure on Magee but gradually slipped back to third place. Then it' was Polen's tum but eventually Magee went clear to win the 22 lap race by almost nine seconds - ,a gaping margin in World Championship Superbike terms. "I wanted to come here and beat the' Ducatis," Magee admitted. "I knew that this circuit evens things out because' it has so many variations it suits the Yamaha. Then I broke my foot two weeks ago and I thought it might be difficult riding on the limit here. My foot is sore now but it is getting better all the time. I really want to do the business in the second race as well." . Mladin was an early DNF, crashing out on the sixth lap when he was hit by Falappa who was busy taking avoiding action to miss Slight. Roche pulled- out on the 12th lap. He had been running up front but missed his braking point for the Honda loop' and had gone straight on. By the time he rejoined the race he was down in 20th place and faced with an . impossible task. He opted to retire at the pits. Behind the battle for the lead, Pirovano faded quickly, strained neck muscles from his qualifying tumble hampering his performance. He also complained of choosing a too soft rear Michelin and eventually finished 12th. Aaron Slight set the fastest lap of the race, a 1:38.29, on his way to securing fourth place over two seconds clear of Falappa. The Italian just managed to pip Phillis on the line by two-tenths of a second, then came Carl Fogarty on Alex Vieira's Kawasaki France superbike rather than his own Ducati. Piergiorgio Bontempi took eighth' place on the Bertocchi Kawasaki ahead of Campbell on the highest placed Honda RC30 in the race and Merkel was LOth having fought back from a terrible start which saw him 18th at the end of the first lap. Race two The second race was, an epic with up to seven riders including Bontempi, Mertens, Polen, Roche, Slight, Mladin and Magee taking part in the battle. Bontempi, Mertens and Magee all took turns at leading but then rain began to fall. As the rain fell heavier, Magee was one of several to relax the pace thinking the red flag would call a halt to proceedings in the interests of safety. But when there was no indication from officials that this was the case, ,the riders had to buckle back down to racing - and-by now Magee was down in eighth place. On the LOth lap there was a terrifying crash when Mertens hit some standing water on the start straight and was spat. off the Ducati, colliding with the pit retaining wall. He suffered a broken collarbone. In the meantime, his bike , picked itself up and ran along the pit wall for over LOO yards, splitting the gas tank in the process bursting into flames. The crash failed to break up the battle for the lead and as the race reached the closing stages, Roche and Magee traded the point position. As the Frenchman was about to cross the line to start lap 21 in front of Magee by a bike's length, the checkered flag was brought out - a lap early. The confusion' had been caused by a combination of the bad weather and Mertens' hQrrendous crash. Magee was incensed and his team protested the result but it was to no avail. The jury let the results stand. A disappointed Magee said, "I am' sure I would have won. I knew just where I was going to get him (Roche)." ' , But even though Roche had scored maximum points for his narrow (half a second) victory, Polen protected his points lead by finishing a close fourth, half a second down on Slight who had, in turn, finished less than half a second behind Magee. Slight was again credited fastest lap - this time a 1:38.03. Four seconds further back came Mladin - at last showing some sort of superbike form at international level. Pirovano, after a neck massage between races, finished sixth even though he was held up in traffic in the early laps. Bontempi was seventh while the top LO was filled out by Aussies Michael O'Connor on the Winfield HoncIa, Phillis and Scott Doohan on the Peter Jackson 'Yamaha. CN Results QUAUFYING: I. Doug Polen (I minute, 37,23 seconds); 2. Giancarlo Falappa (I :38, 17); 3. Kevin Magee (1:38.19); 4. Aaron Slight (1:38.24); 5. Stephane Mertens (1:38.28); 6. Mathew Mladin (1:38.62); 7. Malcolm Campbell (1:38.76); 8. Rob Phillis (1:38.81); 9. Michael O'Connor (1:38.84); 10. Fred Merkel (1:38.86); II. Raymond Roche (1:38,92); 12, Carl Fogarty (1:38.95); 13. Piergiorgio Bontempi (1:39,29); 14. Fabrizzio Pirovano (1:39.43); 15, Scoll Doohan (1:39.61); 16. Adrien Morillas (1:39,62); 17, 'Martin Craggill (1:39,65); 18. Ray Leslie (1:39,65); 19. Daniel Amatriain (I :39,80); 20. Kirk McCarthy (1:39.82). RACE I: I. Kevin Magee (Yam); 2. Doug Polen (Due); 3. Stephane Mertens (Due); 4. Aaron Slight (Kaw); 5. Giancarlo Falappa (Due); 6. Rob Phillis (Kaw); 7. Carl Fogarty (Kaw); 8. Piergiorgio Bootempi (Kaw); 9. Malcolm Campbell (Hon); 10. Fred Merkel (Yam); II. Michael O'Connor (Hon); 12. Fabrizio Pirovano (Yam); 13. Martin Craggill (Kaw); 14. Jeffry De Vries..(Yam); 15. Peter Buest (Yam); 16. Steve Martin (Suz); 17, Kir!, McCarthy (Suz); 18. Troy Corser (Yam); 19. Kieran McGrory (Hon); 20. David MarlOn (Kaw), RACE 2: I. Raymond Roche (Due); 2. Kevin Magee (Yam); 3. Aaron Slight (Kaw); 4. Dou~ Polen (Due); 5. Mathew Mladin (Kaw); 6. Fabnzio Pirovano (Yam); 7. Piergiorgio Bontempi (Kaw); 8. Michael O'Connor (Hon); 9. Robert Phillis (Kaw); 10. ScOlt Doohan (Yam); II. Martin Craggill (Kaw); 12. Fred Merkel (Yam); 13, Jeffry De Vries (Yam); 14, Troy CorseF (Yam); 15. Kirk McCarthy (Suz); 16. Stev~ Martin (Suz); 17. Stephen Tozer (Hon); 18, James Knight (Due); 19. Kieran McGrory (Hon); 20. David Marton (Kaw). WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SUPERBIJ(E SERIES POINT STANDINGS: I. Doug Polen (336); 2. Raymond Roche (308); 3. Rob Phillis (267); 4. Giancarlo Falappa (259); 5. Fabrizio Pirovano (256); 6. Aaron Slight (217); 7. Stephane Mertens (182); 8. Daniel Amatriain (-142); 9. Carl Fogarty (134); 10. Piergiorgio Bontempi (118); II. ScOll "Russell (83); 12. Kevin Magee (71); 13. Adrien Morillas (46); 14. (TIE) Christer Lindholm/Fred Merkel (45).

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