Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I I I Hiroshi Aoyomo (4) gove KIM ils fir.t-.ver 250cc Grond Prix victory with hir win in lstonbul. Continued lro,n q/dge 27 release crowed that thir was "Rizla Suzuki F,lotocP's first-ever l.totocP pole." Well, yes and no. lt's the lirst since rhey took on the liSk blue of the new sponior, but the statement didn t Bve full credit to the Slrzuki factory's past achievements, nor those of the t€am itself - basically unchanged, except for a rEw trunager. Kanny RobGrtr li put the machine ofl Fole in Brazil in 20O{, in the dn/ - but finished onb/ seventh in a race dlat saw leading contenders Rossi and Gibema.r trodr crash out. Sur{ki's qualifring succeis wEs a majo{'turnaround arter a disastrous showint at Qerar, with ll engine changes o/er the three days, a m4or blow-up to Vermeulen depositinS oil all over the end of the main straight in momlng warmup, and a double failure in the race. The race woes were from water-pump failures, and the resLth was a ipectacular kicking of the bike (on worldwide TV) bI an overheatedjohn Hopkins. Oflicialt, the same cooling problems €used all the trouble - althouth it is hard to imag- ine how a boiling radiator could (ause such a major blow-up, as suflered by Vermeulen. Sources close to the team. hov/€vcr. confirmed that in {act most of dre failures were caused by loss of pressure in the pneumatic \ralve s,,stem. This would mean the valves failint to close propert, hkint the pistons, breaking and... eh, causinS some overheatint. This wes apparently fixed for TurrGy, but lips remained sealed. Asked at ths pr6s conference what new pars had arrived here, Vermeulen pleaded itnorance. "l don't know. I only ride the bike. Perhaps they put all rhe oil back in," he said. Kenny Roberts's nev chassis for his Honda-powe.ed KPJ I I V is on stream for round five at Le Maru in mid-f,lay, but team owner Roberts Sr is alr€ady frustrated by the limitations to his program imposed by the team s small size- "We can't do dis right with iust one rider," he said. "We don't get €nough track time, data, tires tested. HRC have six riderc. Are we Soing to beat them?" he asked. The gloom was deepened by Kenny ,unior's disasrous pace on Saorday momint in the wet - conditions where the 2000 World Champion usualt/ shines. lnstead, he was l0 sec- onds offthe pace. "l don't think the new chassis will be wonh l0 sec- onds," said Roberts ruefully. H+pib/, the position improved tomewhat in the aftemoon, with Roberts slottinS into 106. ah€:d of Rossi, and iust 2.7 seconds oll pole. The rumor mill was grinding at lstanbul, with speculation as to which GP will be dropped from next year's calendar to make way for a s€cohd round in ltaly. That is planned for Misano, to be run in the opposite direc- tion from the current counter-clockwise track. No decision has been made, but candidates for the scrap-heap are thought !o be this race at lstenbul, the ShanShai GB or the Malaysian round, none ol which attracr many specators (though they all handrcmd beat Qatar), The cufiently dispossessed Team Pons hopes to .etu.n to MotoGP next y€:ar, accoadinS to teim owner Sito Pons, e former two-time World Champion. "l am havint a lot of talk, and I believe we can put a package together," said Pons, who pulled out of l'4otocP after losing his Carnel sponsorship to Yamaha, after Honda declined to supply machin€s to Camel's (and Pons') rider choice, Max Biaggi. Another absent team may also return - the sponsor-free pri te WCM team. Manager Peter Clilford was in Turkey, and said: "We're having a lot of meetings, and if I hadn't attended a lot of meetings in the past that were much the same. I would be very optimistic." Sete Gibernau gave a combative performance at the fron!-row press conference, after earlier stating that he w"s pleased to be qualirying and iacing much more stronSt "than a lot of people would have liked." Long- atanding combatant Spanish Soro Moto journalist Hanuel Pe.ino askd him whom he was referring to. Gibernau tumed the question around, askint who did Pecino think he was referring to? And how well had P€cino want- ed him to do this year? The discussion was about to turn lively when Nicky Hayden chipped in. "l didn't want him to do well this year," he grinned. EveD/one who was around at the time - the late 1980s and early 1990s - remembers the tirne as a golden age, largely because of the riv_alr), between Kevin S(hwantz and Wayne Rainey. One is current team owner Lucio Cecchinello, who runs Casey Stoner in the l.4otoGP class. He ryas racing I 25s at the time- And he told an ltalian newspaper that he believes anothergolden ate may be b€ginning. "lthink that Stoner and Pedrosa are the new khwanE and Rainey," he said. Stoner is cast in the colodul role of the e'/er-daring, but crash-prone SchwanE; P€drosa as the calculating perfectionist Rainey. They seem to fit the roles well. less than half-a-second behind him. C+irossi finally nailed Vermeulen on the last lap, bemoaning a lack of dry set-up time: Nakano was another five seconds down, but more than one ahead of the disgruntled Edwards. Tamada passed Gibernau for l0th on the final lap; de Puniet was four seconds adrift. Roberts Jr. was next, never in the hunt; Pedrosa saved two points by linishing l4th, with Dunlop-shod Yamaha man Carlos Checa taking the last point. Hayden's first-ever lead on points is by just one - 52 to Capirossi's 51. "lt's good, but l'm not going to iump up and down yet," he said, Melandri has 45, Stoner 4l , and Rossi 40-Gil 125(. QUAUFYINGi l. Alwo Bautitta (2:04.015)1 2. Hatti. Pasin, (2iO{.185): l. simone Co6i (?;04651): 4. Hector Falb6i e:04.r24)r 5. r'1ik Krlio (2:04.843)i 6. Gabor Talmaci (?:04-909)i 7. lulie sircn (2:05.122); 8. Pdblo Nieto (2:05.299)1 9. loo olive (2:05.429)i 10. L(k6 P$ek (2:05.,{92)r I l. Thma Lurhi(2:05.67?)i 12. Lorena z:nEtti (105.701): ll. Fabriro Lai (1,05.861): l!+. Aryel 8odri8lez (2:05.979 ); 15. Hike Di Medio (2:06.065); 16. S€r8io Gada (2:06.128)r 17. Federi(o Sandi (2i06.195)r 18. Andrea lannone (2i06.121)i lr. F,fIaele De Roe (2:06.541): 20. Tomg/oshi Ko,€ru (2:06.608); 2 1 . Ni@lB Ierol (2:07.053); 22. S dro CortBE (2:07. l s l ); 23. lmre'Ioth (L07.24a)i 2a. Phuel Herned€z (2:07.261).25. Alexir l,tabou (2107.416)1 26. Emdley Smirh (2:07.910):27. Lors2o Ba.oni (2:08.271):28. Mi.hEre Prrc (2:08.292);29. ste,e Badl (U:08.15,1); 10. Aleir EspaaSdo (2:08.,+18)i ll. l"li.hael R'n*der (2:08.658)j 12. K'rel Abrdham (2:0€.700)i ll. Hichele Conii (2:$.921) 14. Mate Tunez (2:09.128)i 35. simore GroEkyi (2:09.137): 36. Vin.ent Bh'llard (2:09.3,+2)1 17. Jey UtjEB (2:09.690); 38. Dino Lombardi (2:09.775): 39 Robeno Toburini (2:l r.930). l25c GRAND PRIX: L H*tor F&hel(Apr)r2. Alhrc BauhB (Ap4:3. sersio Gada (Apr)r4. sinone coEi(Grl):s.Jdn olE (Apr): 6. Gabor Trl@i (Hon): 7. Lur€s Pesek (o€4i B. lorsro Zanet! (Apr); 9. Tomoyoshi KorMa {Mal) i I 0. Ansel Rodnsuez (&.): I L Julian Somon (Krm) i 12. Thom4 tuthi (Hon)i 13. Fabrizio Lzi (Hon): 14. Prblo Nido (Ap4; 15. Andr.-a lannore ( pr)i 16. Sandro Corc@ (H@)i 17. Mafra P&ni (Apr):18. Manuel Hem dez (&r)r 19.sefan Br.dl (KTH): 20. Alexis l'16bou (Mal); 21. ,{eix Esprr.8o (Hon): 22. K,d Abmho (Apr): 23 l'lkhele Conti (Hon)i 24. nafiaele De Ros (Ap4; 25. r4ate Tunez (&r)i 26. Mich@i tufteder (fiM)i 27. Nicold Tercl (Der); 28. Lorenzo Baroni (Hon): 29. lmre Ioth {Apr); 10. SimoE Crotzkyi (Apr): L Fobeno Tmburini (Apr)r 32. vinent Bnillad (Apr) l3 Dino Lombardi (Apr)i 3,1 l@/ Lt,ens (Hon)i 35. Fed.n.o Tim.: l9 min..30-095 se. Dbtance 19 laps. 62.905 miles AY6t. Speed: 95.5,m mph M.rgin of Yictorr: 0.?41 sE. I25.G WOBLO CTIAI'IPIOHSHIP POINAS STANDINGS (After 3 Of 16 rcund.): l. AIyrrc Bautd (70)i 2. Hecor F&bel (45)l l- SErsio Gade (4r);4. Mika Klliio (13); 5. LukE P6ek (29);6. Maftia Pasiii(2r)i7 Simone Co6i(2s);8 6abor Talma

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