Newsgroup: it.sport
Titolo: Dorna NEWS - Lucky Strike Riders

28 Jun 1996 - 18:00 CET
Final Qualifying Practice
LUCKY men slip back after better morning showing
Team Lucky Strike Suzuki riders Terry Rymer and Scott Russell dropped 
back to qualify on the third and fourth rows of
the starting grid for tomorrow's Dutch GP, after both had placed better 
in the "untimed" morning session. Rymer, substitute
for the injured Daryl Beattie, was third-fastest in the morning, and 
team regular Russell sixth; but while others speeded up in
the afternoon, they failed to match the general progress.
"We don't have any problems in particular, and times are really close 
again," said team manager Garry Taylor. "I hope that
means it's not as bad as it looks. But we may have some surprises to 
come. The weather forecast is that it will probably
rain tomorrow, and we expect to be well-prepared for that."
Pole position in the Lucky Strike-sponsored race went to Alex Criville 
(Repsol Honda), from Doriano Romboni (Aprilia)
and defending champion Michael Doohan.
TERRY RYMER - 12th position, 2:04.538
I was faster this afternoon than yesterday, but I seem to be going 
backwards down the grid for some reason! But I know
I'm riding the bike well, and I've really enjoyed myself today.
We've been working on a couple of difficulties I had yesterday, coming 
out of some turns, and the bike's improved. It's not
perfect, but it's better for me, and we still have a little suspension 
fine-tuning we can do.
I'm still getting comfortable with the speed of a GP bike. The other 
guys all have a lot of experience, but I'm not
over-awed. I respect the top riders a lot, but they're still just racers 
like me.
I've got no pressure and no expectations. I shouldn't have been here, 
but for Daryl unfortunately getting hurt, so whatever
result I get is better than not having ridden. My target is to enjoy the 
race, and to get a finish.
SCOTT RUSSELL - 15th position, 2:05.092
I'm broken up. I was really looking forward to this track and expecting 
a good result. I still feel that way, but it's going to
be tough from the fourth row of the grid.
We lost time working on the different chassis set-up we developed 
testing in Spain. It turned out not to work well here, but
we had to try it. You have to take a gamble sometimes, and this time it 
didn't pay off.
For the final session we went back to the standard settings we've raced 
with earlier in the season. That's something we
know we can work with, but we're way behind in terms of getting the 
suspension and settings right.
I'll be working on catching up tomorrow, but it might be better if the 
weather turns. I don't mind racing in the rain, and I'm
sure the bike will work well here if it is wet.
GARRY TAYLOR - Team Manager
Scott generally takes a little time to get motivated and goes a lot 
better on race day, though he's left himself some work to
do this time. Rymer's been really impressive - not only surprisingly 
fast, but very consistent and steady, getting a bit better
virtually lap by lap.
We can still get a good result tomorrow, with a bit of luck, but our 
best chance is if the rain comes as predicted. We've
spent some time today preparing for that, and we'll be ready if it 
comes.
Speednet Pro 
http://www.speednet-pro.com
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29 Jun 1996 - 18:00 CET
Race
LUCKY men turn tables at Assen
Team Lucky Strike Suzuki riders Scott Russell and Terry Rymer finished 
fourth and seventh in today's Dutch GP - a pair of
strong top-ten results that overturned their bad form in practice and 
revived the spirits after injury and other problems
earlier in the season.
The Lucky Men both produced strong performances in a race split into two 
legs after the rain that had been threatening
brought out the red flags shortly before half distance. Starting from 
the third and fourth rows of the grid, they quickly moved
ahead, with Russell especially carving through the traffic to set off in 
pursuit of the leaders when rain stopped play.
In spite of the good results after qualifying only 12th and 15th, both 
riders were disappointed: Russell because he'd
misunderstood the aggregate timing, and thought he'd done enough to take 
third and a rostrum finish; Rymer because errors
early in the second leg had put him back among traffic, and prevented an 
even better debut finish with the team. The Briton
is riding in place of regular Lucky Man Daryl Beattie, injured at the 
previous GP.
Victory went to Michael Doohan (Honda), the fourth in succession for the 
defending champion; with team-mate Alex
Criville a close second, and the similarly mounted Alex Barros third.
SCOTT RUSSELL - Fourth Position
I'm just so disappointed. Stuart and the guys did some kind of magic 
with the bike after our problems in testing, and I was
really enjoying myself with some close racing, and passing lots of guys. 
Then I screwed up. In the excitement I somehow
thought I only had to finish ahead of Barros to get third; but in fact I 
needed to be 3.7 seconds in front. I left my attack to
the last lap, crossed the line ahead of him, then found out he'd beaten 
me after all.
I'd expected a lot here, but in practice we had all kinds of trouble 
getting the bike right. Last night we decided to try a third
option on settings to test in warm-up, then that was wet. We had to take 
a gamble and hope the bike would be alright. All
credit to my guys - it was great. I just wish I'd have repaid the crew 
with third place.
TERRY RYMER - Seventh Position
I really enjoyed the race, and the result's not too bad. But I'm a bit 
disappointed because I think I could have done even
better. I'm still getting used to slowing the bike down - it's so light 
and the brakes are so powerful that it's hard to judge. I
made a couple of slips, and ran off the track one time. That lost me 
three or four positions and meant I had to find my way
through the traffic.
This was my first finish on the bike, and a good weekend. Every lap I do 
I feel more comfortable on the bike. I'm really
looking forward to the upcoming races.
GARRY TAYLOR - Team Manager
After practice, and considering all our problems so far this year, this 
was a pretty good day. Both Scott and Terry came
right up towards the front after struggling a bit in practice - 
especially Scott, who yet again produced a race-day blinder
way beyond what anyone might have expected.
Scott has been doing a lot of training, and is going straight back to 
England to continue his new programme with Human
Performance, at Brands Hatch. It seems to have paid off.
Terry proved a point today. We had to find somebody to take the place of 
Daryl at short notice, in the middle of the
season. That's not easy, let alone to find a rider of this sort of 
calibre. He obviously deserves a good chance on a works
bike.
Address: 
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