Criville quits motorcycle racing
By JIM DUNCAN
|
The 2002 Yamaha YZF-R1
|
2002 marks the GP circuit's return to four-stroke racing
and the first three races of the season indicate a few things.
Firstly, the new Honda V5 bike is hard to beat. And I want
one. Secondly, Valentino Rossi is hard to beat. And I wa...
Yeah.
The GP season promised much and it has delivered, though
if Rossi dominates, as is expected, it could turn exciting
battles into one-sided tedium-fests, a-la Formula One and
the Shoe Maker. Maybe the FIM needs to introduce mandatory
pit-stops?
Whatever the case, Rossi is now firmly lodged in the number
one position with 70 championship points, while his closest
rival isn't really a rival but another Honda rider, Tohru
Ukawa on 41 points. Also interesting to note is Rossi's stellar
qualifying results. Sure, only three races have been run,
but the Italian has take pole position in each one of them,
including the latest Spanish GP in Jerez.
Alex Criville took some of the limelight by annoucing his
(long overdue) retirement. Starting in the Spanish 80cc class,
the Catalan rider progressed to the 125s, then the 250s. Next
he was teamed up with some bloke called Mick Doohan, in 1992.
Racing under Doohan's shadow for most of the 90s, Doohan's
horrific injury gave him the Spaniard the chance to become
number one. And he did - he took out the Championship in 1999.
Other news is that the four new open-class litre bikes are
here to do battle for your hard-earned dollar. The new Yamaha
YZF-R1 gets fuel injection for 2002, the CBR900 Fireblade
gets a displacement increase to 954cc, Kawasaki fettles with
the rear-end of the 2002-model ZX-9R Ninja and the the GSX-R1000?
Well, it was pretty kick-ass to begin with.
We've had a brief look at the R1 and the Ninja and the GSX-R,
so click on their names to check it out. We'll take a gander
at the new Honda-mobile in the coming weeks, which appears
to have been on a diet of water and rice crackers, coz it's
now an insane (claimed) 168kg!
There's also a rumour floating around that Rossi's new RC211V
GP bike may well make it to production, which would surely
throw a cat among the pigeons for the other Japanese manufacturers.
Promising more power and good old fashioned 'prototype-ness',
it could well trounce the opposition with superior power and
handling. Then again, it could also blow up, scattering throttle
bodies and chain links everywhere. Can't wait for that one.
|
