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Doohan lookin' good in GP openers
RACE WATCH
Will 1992 be the year that America finally lets loose its stranglehold on the 500cc world roadracing crown? If the results of this season's first two rounds are any indication, the answer is a resounding maybe.
Last year, Australian Michael "Mick" Doohan, 26, lead rider for the Rothmans Honda squad, posed the biggest threat to American Wayne Rainey's title defense. And while Doohan was unable then to wrestle the crown free from Rainey, he's al ready got an eye, if not a hand, on this year's title. - - - ivieanwnhie, ainey nas oeen trying to shake the bad luck that plagued him during the off-season. First, he broke his femur while practicing for the 1991 season-ending Malaysian GP. Recovering from that, he crashed during pre-season testing at Barcelona and lost the tip of a little finger. The two-time and defending world champ then got the season off to a poor start by falling off his Marl boro Yamaha in the rain at Suzuka when the rear end slid out.
Doohan won the 1992 season open er, held in the rain at Suzuka, Japan. And he won again in the dry at East ern Creek in Australia two weeks later.
Rainey rebounded to finish second in Australia, but he now languishes fourth in series points.
The surprise so far has been Doug Chandler, the 1990 AMA Superbike champ who spent last year as an un official member of Team Roberts, then jumped ship to Lucky Strike Suzuki. Chandler bested new team mate Kevin Schwantz to finish sec ond at Suzuka, even leading briefly, and then finished fifth in Australia, right behind Schwantz. Chandler cur rently lies second in points between Doohan and Schwantz.
Another surprise has been the return of Randy Mamola after a one-year ab sence from the GP wars. Always a threat in wet weather, the Californian finished a credible fifth at Suzuka aboard his Budweiser-sponsored, year old Yamaha, and then backed that up with a seventh in Australia.
What of the other Americans?
Rainey's teammate, John Kocinski, crashed out of the Japanese GP, and then crashed during practice for the Australian Grand Prix and sat out the race to have a skin graft performed on a little finger.
Eddie Lawson battled the flu and an uncooperative rear tire to finish 14th at Suzuka, and then finished sixth at Eastern Creek. The four-time world champ plans to retire at the end of th season to pursue a car-racing career.
In 250cc action, Rothmans Honda's defending world champion, 28-yearold Spaniard Luca Cadalora, has so far been undefeated.
Polen, Russell disappointing in World Superbike series
B ased on Doug Polen's absolute dom ination of the 1991 World Superbike Championship, and on his and Scott Russell's recent Daytona 200 perfor mance, the opening round of this year's Diesel Jeans World Superbike Championship ought to have been an American benefit. But the other play ers obviously hadn't read the script.
In the wet first leg, factory Ducati rider Polen got his title defense off to a decent start by finishing second be hind New Zealand Kawasaki rider Aaron Slight. Russell proved a bit overzealous, crashing his Muzzy Kawasaki out of the race shortly after taking the lead. Diminutive Yamaha rider Fabrizio Pirovano finished third, with fellow Italian Giancarlo Falappa on the works Ducati fading to fourth after leading early on.
In the semi-dry second leg, Polen had brake problems early on, and Russell ran off the track a couple of times. The pair finished sixth and seventh. resnectivelv.
A veritable freight train contested the lead in leg two, and 1990 champ Raymond Roche of France took the win on his Ducati over Australian Kawasaki rider Rob Phillis and local hero Daniel Amatriain on yet another Ducati 888.
Whether Polen or Russell is able to win the title this season remains to be seen. But based on the results of the season opener, there's little doubt the title will be won on a Ducati 888 or a Kawasaki ZX-7R.
Four-strokes dominate Willow F-USA
What happens when the only team running 500cc GP two-strokes in the WERA Formula USA series loses its sponsorship money? Why, four strokes win, what else? As if Kenny Roberts had never brought his Marl boro Yamaha YZR500s to the States, Suzuki GSX-Rs resumed domination of the run-what-ya-brung, anything goes series.
And considering that the opening round of the 1992 F-USA Series was held at Southern California's Willow Springs International Raceway, the results also came as no surprise: Lo cals dominated, with Chuck Graves, Lee Shierts and Robert Miller finish ing 1-2-3 in both legs.
While the field was composed pri marily of big-bore streetbikes, one exception was Rich Oliver, the de fending series champ who won the title on one of the aforementioned YZRs. Oliver rode a kitted, 350cc Yamaha TZ250 at Willow Springs, but was hampered by crashes and mechanical problems.
One of the biggest surprises of the weekend came in the Formula Two class, where Team Suzuki Endurance rider Kurt Hall has made a successful transition to 250cc two-strokes. Hall, competing in his first race aboard a TZ250, challenged Chris D'Aluisio for third place in the 20-lap race, and finished fourth after D ` Aluisio `s hard-charging teenage teammate, Cohn Edwards, passed the duo.
Code Racing's Donnie Greene got his title defense off to a good start by taking the F-2 win over Oliver.
