Newsgroup: it.sport
Titolo: Dorna NEWS - Marlboro Riders

5 July 1996 - 18:30 CET
First 125 & 250cc Qualifying
250cc
HARADA - TESTING, TESTING
Appalling weather dominated the first day of practice and qualifying for 
the German GP this afternoon. And the weather
saved its worst for the end of the 250 qualifying outing, when a 
monsoon-like downpour flooded the already soaking circuit.
Tetsuya Harada rode through the conditions to record 12th fastest time 
on his Marlboro Yamaha Team Rainey YZR250.
"We spent most of this afternoon testing different things, especially 
tyres," said the Japanese. "It seems the Michelin rain tyres
have improved since the last time I really tried them in Japan, though 
it is warmer here than it was at Suzuka.
"So far so good, but tomorrow I want to make sure we concentrate more on 
my riding. I want to get out on the track and
put in a lot of laps to get a feel for the conditions, rather than going 
in and out of the pits like we did today."
WALDMANN WALKS ON WATER
Ralf Waldmann mastered this afternoon's dreadful conditions to end the 
day over half a second ahead of nearest challenger
and HB Honda team-mate, Jurgen Fuchs.
"It's not a whole lot of fun out there, but the conditions are the same 
for everyone," said Waldmann, winner of last weekend's
Dutch GP. "We have the bike working well. The main thing now is to see 
what the weather will do for tomorrow and
Sunday."
BIAGGI IN CAUTIOUS MODE
Double World Champion Max Biaggi (Chesterfield Aprilia Team) was an 
unusual 14th quickest after today's first practice
session. The Italian blamed problems with his back - injured at Assen 
last week - for his lack of form.
"If anything, my back is worse than it was last weekend. I can't even 
stand up straight at the moment, and I needed ten
mesotherapy injections just to be able to ride," he said.
"But it was very important to ride and set up the bike for these 
conditions, because it seems like the weather may still be bad
on Sunday." 
125cc
LUCKLESS OETTL FALLS AGAIN
Peter Oettl made a brave return to riding at the Nurburgring today, 
following his nasty get-off at Assen last week. But the
luckless German was taken out of the first qualifying session when he 
was skittled by Andrea Ballerini (Aprilia). Oettl
survived the accident largely unscathed and ended the session sixth 
fastest, just over a second slower than provisional pole
sitter Tomomi Manako (Honda). 
"I felt okay before the crash, and I have Dr Costa (the GP medic) to 
thank for that, he has made a great job of getting me
ready for this race," said the Marlboro Aprilia Eckl rider after 
returning to his pit on foot. "But now I don't feel so good - I
think I need to go to see Costa again!
"At the beginning of the session I had some problems with throttle 
response, but my technicians fixed that and the bike was
really fast. I felt good because I was getting a nice amount of feedback 
from the bike, and that's what you need in these
conditions "I don't blame Ballerini for my crash - it's just one of 
those things that happens in racing."
GEISSLER TAKES IT STEADY
Manfred Geissler wisely decided to take a cautious approach to the first 
125 qualifying session, and though the Marlboro
Aprilia Eckl man ended the outing in 16th place, he knows he can improve 
tomorrow, whatever the conditions.
"I didn't want to crash today, so I was fairly careful out there," said 
the young German. "If it is dry tomorrow, then today's
session was for nothing, but if it's wet again, I will ride harder to 
get a good grid position. We found a good set-up for the
rain
this afternoon, but we still have a few ideas to improve the suspension 
and gearbox.
It's really difficult out there, you have to concentrate very, very hard 
because at some corners there's no grip at all, while
others are okay."
-- 
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5 July 1996 - 18:30 CET
First 500cc Qualifying
ROBERTS JUNIOR ON POLE!
Kenny Roberts Junior made light of abysmal weather conditions this 
afternoon to head the opening qualifying session for the
German Grand Prix. It is the first time that the American has topped 
qualifying, and this is only his sixth outing on a 500!
The Marlboro Yamaha Team Roberts rider went to the top of the table 
mid-session and stayed there until the end, just 0.15
seconds ahead of Shinichi Itoh (Honda).
"I don't enjoy riding in the rain but you've got to race in just about 
every kind of condition, so we just tried our hardest
today," said Roberts Junior. "My guys put together a good motorcycle for 
me, the bike was really easy to ride. We were
either well prepared, or we lucked in!"
Roberts Junior used new engine parts in his YZR today. The modified 
pistons and cylinders arrived at the Nurburgring with
team tuner Bud Aksland.
"The new parts make the power smoother right through the rev range," 
added Roberts Junior. "We also ran our new airbox
which also helps to make the bike more ridable."
Proud father Kenny Roberts joked: "The Europeans always said that 
Americans can't ride in the rain!"
BAYLE UP FRONT
Jean-Michel Bayle ended today's opening qualifying session just three 
tenths of a second slower than Marlboro Yamaha
Team Roberts team-mate Kenny Roberts Junior.
"Some parts of the track have been resurfaced and they are very 
slippery," said the Frenchman after recording fourth fastest
time for a provisional front row grid position. "At the end of the 
session I went out with a new rear tyre but the compound
was too hard, so I had to return to the pits to get a softer rear tyre. 
But the rain got harder at that point, so I wasn't able to
go any faster. There was no point in taking any risks today, because 
there's no way the weather could be worse tomorrow."
CAPIROSSI - A LEARNING DAY
Loris Capirossi ended the soaking first day of practice down in 13th 
place, was he worked at adapting his Marlboro
Yamaha Team Rainey YZR500 for the rain.
"The bike is giving me a better feeling now," said the Italian. "When I 
rode a Honda last year I was often fastest when it
rained in Japan, but I have had some trouble getting any real feeling 
out of the Yamaha in the wet - it feels too tall. I have to
learn to understand the bike, so we took things steady today and I'm now 
beginning to get some feeling from the chassis and
the front tyre. I don't think we'll be making any big changes for 
tomorrow.
"The track is difficult. There are a lot of corners with very bad grip, 
but there are also some turns which offer a reasonable
level of grip. You have to be careful - it's very easy to make a 
mistake."
ABE LOOKS FOR GRIP
Norifumi Abe ended the first session a disappointed 14th place on his 
Marlboro Yamaha Team Roberts YZR500.
"That was not a lot of fun," said the Japanese, winner of the Suzuka 
Grand Prix back in April. "I am having trouble finding
any grip out there. Some corners are worse than others, but even the 
better turns don't have much grip at all. We will see
what we can do to the bike to improve it for tomorrow, but you can be 
sure I'll be praying tonight for some dry weather."
CADALORA THIRD
Marlboro rider Luca Cadalora put the problems of recent Grands Prix 
behind him this afternoon to take third fastest time on
his Kanemoto Honda, just three tenths of a second behind Kenny Roberts 
Junior.
"Unfortunately I was in the pits swapping bikes when the rain has eased 
a little, so I lost the chance to set an even better lap
time," said the three times World Champion. "But I'm happy enough 
anyway, because I was running some good lap times in
the heavy rain. My only worry is that it will rain tomorrow and then the 
sun will come out on Sunday. That would make the
race a bit of a nightmare, because we would have to guess our settings 
and tyre choices."
CRIVILLE SEVENTH
Marlboro rider Alex Criville, who has finished second at four of the 
last five Grands Prix, was eighth fastest in the rain today.
"We have a three-position ignition control on the handlebars of my NSR, 
and I ran it on the lowest setting today, to give the
smoothest power and best traction," said the Spaniard. "It is crucial in 
these conditions that you put a lot of effort and
concentration into riding as smoothly as possible. It's not easy, but 
you have a much easier ride if you relax and keep it
smooth."
ITOH SECOND
Today's rain was good for Repsol Honda NSR500V twin rider Shinichi Itoh. 
The Japanese recorded his best qualifying
position of the year this afternoon, just a fraction of a second behind 
man of the day Kenny Roberts Junior.
"I love this track, even in the rain," said Itoh, who finished third 
here last year, riding a four cylinder Honda NSR. "I find the
twin a lot easier to control in these conditions than the four. The bike 
is working really well in the wet - I almost enjoyed
myself out there!"
DOOHAN DOWN IN EIGHTH
Double World Champion Mick Doohan - who crashed twice here last year - 
decided to play it cautious in this afternoon's
first qualifying session and ended up an untypical eighth fastest, 
though only 1.5 seconds down on provisional pole.
"It's wet out there," grinned Doohan with characteristic understatement. 
"It was a case of getting in some better lap times
in-between the downpours. Considering the conditions, there's quite a 
lot of grip out there. The closeness of the times proves
that, so even if it's wet on Sunday we could have an interesting race. 
I've just been trying to do as many laps as possible to
get a feeling for the bike and the conditions."


6 July 1996 - 19:00 CET
Final 125 & 250cc Qualifying
250cc
HARADA TUMBLES
Ever-changing weather conditions made life difficult for riders and 
teams during today's final 125 and 250 qualifying sessions.
But most out of luck was former 250 World Champion Tetsuya Harada, who 
crashed out of this afternoon's 250 outing. The
Marlboro Yamaha Team Rainey man was unhurt in the fall, which happened 
at the tight right-hand hairpin at the bottom of the
track. Machine problems were suspected for the accident.
"I don't really know what happened, one minute I was riding round the 
corner, the next I was on the ground," said Harada,
who was credited with 20th fastest time. "I'm just lucky it happened at 
a slow corner. We're not sure what happened to the
bike - maybe a water hose broke or something. We're not sure yet..."
WALDMANN'S FINAL FLING
Local hero Ralf Waldmann pipped Max Biaggi for pole position on the very 
last lap of final qualifying this afternoon. The
German's time was just two tenths inside Biaggi's previous best. But 
while the HB Honda team were delighted with
Waldmann's pole time, they were devastated to hear that team-mate Jurgen 
Fuchs had been relegated to the back row of the
grid, as a penalty for constantly cutting the final chicane during the 
final qualifying outing. After much conferring officials
decided to reinstate Fuchs and other riders whom they had earlier 
dropped down the order.
"I'm really happy, it's great to be on pole at home. But of course it's 
tomorrow that counts," said Waldmann, winner at Assen
last week. "I feel we have a pretty good bike whether it's wet or dry, 
so I'm happy. As for the chicane problem - I'm not sure
it's faster to take the shorter route because you end up flying off the 
kerb so you can't accelerate so fast."
BIAGGI SECOND
World Champion Max Biaggi was delighted with second fastest time, after 
struggling through practice with the back he hurt at
Assen.
"I'm surprised to be as high as second," said the Chesterfield Aprilia 
team ace. "My back hurts so much, you can't believe it. It
is losing me a lot of time through the changes of direction. That is 
normally my strong point, but I cannot change direction so
fast now. My aim tomorrow is to maintain my string of podium finishes, 
because my back means I may not be able to win"
125cc
WET OR DRY - GEISSLER IS READY
Manfred 'Tex' Geissler finished a weather-hit two days of 125 qualifying 
in 13th place. Today's final session was red-flagged
in the early stages after an accident and was also interrupted by light 
rain, but riders were able to set their best times on a dry
track. Yesterday's first qualifying session was run in heavy rain.
"That session was a little confusing," said the Marlboro Aprilia Eckl 
rider. "It was hard to find a good rhythm. Every time I
tried to get down to some consistent times, I'd find another rider in my 
way, or someone would crash, or it would start raining,
or the red flags would come out.
"We've still got a few things to try tomorrow morning. I'm not 
completely happy, but I feel we are ready for the race - wet or
a dry."
Spanish veteran Jorge Martinez (Aprilia) topped the 125 order, just 
ahead of World Champion Haruchika Aoki (Honda).
One second covered the fastest eighth men.
BRAVE OETTL RIDES ON
Peter Oettl struggled through qualifying, still suffering the 
after-effects of his Friday-morning crash, when he was knocked
from his machine by another rider. The Marlboro Aprilia Eckl ace had 
been expected to miss his home GP after a heavy
tumble at Assen last week, but bravely elected to ride.
"I felt good before I crashed yesterday, but I don't feel so well now, I 
can't concentrate properly," said Oettl, who is 23rd
fastest. "I'm not riding well but I hope I'll feel better tomorrow. My 
main aim is to get some points."
GOOD AND BAD FOR ECKL
Marlboro Aprilia Eckl chief Harald Eckl is satisfied with Manfred 'Tex' 
Geissler's progress during qualifying, but obviously
unhappy about Peter Oettl's continuing bad luck.
"Tex got a bad front tyre this afternoon and we couldn't change it in 
time, but he's a good starter and he'll do okay in the
race," said Eckl. "I feel really sorry for Peter. I didn't expect him to 
ride here, but he was in good shape yesterday morning,
before he got knocked off. We will see how he is tomorrow morning and I 
will have a chat with him and tell him to take it
easy. But Peter is the kind of guy who always tries hard."


6 July 1996 - 19:00 CET
Final 500cc Qualifying
ROBERTS JUNIOR FIFTH
Kenny Roberts Junior missed a front-row start by less than three tenths 
of a second in this afternoon's wet and dry final 500
qualifying session.
Yesterday the young American had topped the soaking first qualifier and 
was vying for a front row slot today, until a
downpour soaked the track with 15 minutes to go. Rain had also dampened 
the track in the early part of the session.
Nevertheless the Marlboro Yamaha Team Roberts man is happy enough with 
progress over the last two days.
"I feel pretty happy that we have set-ups for the wet and the dry," said 
Roberts Junior. "We tried a few things with suspension
in that last session but the bike wasn't quite as good as it had been in 
this morning's dry session. Anyway, we've had just
about enough dry practice.
"The only thing I've got to learn to do tomorrow is to jump the kerb at 
the last chicane. It seems everybody else was doing
that to get their good times today, but I wasn't. I guess I'm just too 
young and honest!"
ABE ON THIRD ROW
Japanese Grand Prix winner Norifumi Abe scored his best qualifying 
position for a while with tenth fastest time on his
Marlboro Yamaha Team Roberts YZR, just three tenths of a second off the 
second row.
"It has been a difficult two days of practice, with so much rain and 
only one and a half hours of dry track time," said Abe.
"That has made it very difficult for us to find a good set-up. We could 
have run last year's settings, except we had a lot of
problems here last year. For sure I hope it'll be dry tomorrow. The 
grip's not so bad when it isn't raining - only turn two is
scary."
BAYLE ELEVENTH
Jean-Michel Bayle lost precious track time this afternoon when he had to 
run in a new engine following problems in this
morning's free practice outing. The French Marlboro Yamaha Team Roberts 
man finished the day with 11th fastest time, less
than four hundredths of a second behind team-mate Norifumi Abe.
"After I broke an engine this morning, I had to go out and run in an 
engine this afternoon, and then it started raining," said
Bayle. "The track dried for a while after that but I couldn't get in any 
good times. I went out again after it started raining,
because I wanted to be sure about my wet weather set-up. I don't care 
whether it rains or not tomorrow because the bike
feels nice on both a wet and a dry track. I just hope we don't have a 
bit of both like we had at Assen."
CAPIROSSI CHASES A SET-UP
Loris Capirossi crashed during this morning's free practice session - 
the 500's only fully dry outing. The Italian Marlboro
Yamaha Team Rainey man was not hurt in the tumble but it didn't help his 
attempts to find a good set-up for his YZR. He
ended proceedings 14th quickest.
"I feel okay, but the bike doesn't," he said. "The chassis is not 
working for me, and we haven't been helped by all the rain.
This afternoon we made some changes which made a slight improvement, but 
we still have more to do. Right now I'm not
concerned whether it's wet or dry tomorrow.
"This morning I wasn't getting any feedback from the bike I crashed. It 
was sliding even when I wasn't on the gas."
CRIVILLE'S FOURTH POLE
Marlboro rider Alex Criville scored his fourth pole of the year (and his 
third in succession) this afternoon. But can the
Spaniard turn the tables on Repsol Honda team-mate Mick Doohan in the 
race? Despite being slower in qualifying, Doohan
has beaten Criville into second at the last three races.
"Our main worry is the carburation," said Criville. "This track is 
around 800m above sea level, so we've had to do a lot of
work to get the carburation right and the weather hasn't helped. The 
bike isn't perfect but it should be good enough if it's dry,
and, of course, I expect another battle with Mick."
CADALORA SIXTH
Luca Cadalora topped this morning's dry free session, but the Marlboro 
rider could not repeat that performance this
afternoon on his Kanemoto Honda.
"I knew I could do some good lap times this afternoon, because one of my 
bikes was working well this morning," he said.
"But when I got to the pits for this afternoon's session, the other bike 
was ready. We tested some things on that machine, and
then it started raining..."
DOOHAN SECOND
World Champion and series leader Mick Doohan was just a fraction behind 
team-mate Alex Criville in second spot.
"The track's pretty slick even in the dry," said Doohan, who was also 
second fastest in this morning's free practice. "The sun
came out a couple of times but it didn't seem to warm the track up at 
all. A dry race would probably be safer for everyone,
but it probably won't matter too much either way because the track isn't 
so grippy in the dry. You just can't push at all hard."
Both Doohan and Criville have agreed to continue with Repsol Honda for 
1997. The Australian - who goes for his 32nd GP
win tomorrow - has been with Honda since his GP debut in March 1989.
RUSSELL UP FRONT
Scott Russell scored his first front row start of the year this 
afternoon and the former World Superbike champ is determined
to make his mark tomorrow after struggling through the last few Grand 
Prix
"I'm pretty happy, because this is my first time here," said the Lucky 
Strike Suzuki man. "I need to win tomorrow, I know it'll
be hard, but I need to be in the top three every race from now on."


7 July 1996 - 18:00 CET
125 & 250cc Races
250cc
ELECTRICS STOP HARADA
Tetsuya Harada ended a difficult German Grand Prix when he retired from 
the 250 race after 18 laps. The Marlboro Yamaha
Team Rainey man had crashed in the final qualifying session and ended up 
starting the race from the fifth row of the grid.
Completing the first lap in 12th place, the former World Champion made 
it into the top ten, but then ran into trouble.
"The bike suddenly cut onto one cylinder," said Harada. "I was just 
finishing a lap, so I had to start the next lap, and then the
engine started to fire on both cylinders again. But finally it went onto 
one and so I had to pull into the pits. Maybe it was an
ignition coil or something, we're not sure yet."
WALDMANN WINS AGAIN
Ralf Waldmann (HB Honda) won his second Grand Prix in succession after a 
race-long tussle with Oliver Jacque
(Chesterfield Elf Tech 3 Team), Jurgen Fuchs (HB Honda) and Max Biaggi 
(Chesterfield Aprilia Team). The German star
finally broke clear of the four-man battle with a few laps remaining to 
finish two seconds clear.
"I've been told I'm the first German to win a GP at the new Nurburgring, 
so I'm very, very happy," said a delighted
Waldmann. "It was a really close race. Over the last few laps I could 
see the others were struggling with their tyres, but mine
were fine, and that allowed me to make the break. To win at home is the 
best thing that can happen to a racer."
BIAGGI'S RUN ENDS
A disappointed Max Biaggi was beaten into fourth on the final lap by 
Jurgen Fuchs. The result ended his string of 17
consecutive podium finishes. Biaggi had been aiming to beat Giacomo 
Agostini's non-stop run of 22 top-three results.
"I'm happy that I finished and got some points, because that wasn't at 
all easy," said Biaggi. "My back hurt a lot and that did
slow me a bit. What I'm unhappy about is that I lost my chance at 
beating Ago's record - he can sleep soundly now! The
Aprilia wasn't so good today - the Hondas seemed to work well here."
125cc
OETTL RIDES A HERO'S RACE
Peter Oettl was the hero of the thrilling 125 race which opened the 
action at the Nurburgring today. The Marlboro Aprilia
Eckl rider finished a superb sixth after qualifying a lowly 23rd after 
he was brought down by another rider on Friday. That
crash followed a heavy tumble at Assen last week, which threatened to 
keep Oettl out of his home GP. The German admitted
he wasn't feeling well before the race, but nevertheless he was at one 
point up to third in the six-man battle for victory. 
"From 23rd to sixth is okay, but I could have done better because I 
didn't know it was the last lap," said Oettl who was third
with one lap to go. "It was my mistake and a big shame, because it would 
have been fantastic to make the top three at home.
My bike was great, really fast, so thanks to my team for that."
GEISSLER LEADS SECOND PACK
Manfred 'Tex' Geissler led home the second group - a bunch of nine 
riders battling frantically for ninth place. A slow start left
the Marlboro Aprilia Eckl rider with all the work to do, but he worked 
his way up the field, getting into ninth in the late stages
after a hectic contest with former World Champion Kazuto Sakata 
(Aprilia), Ivan Goi (Honda) and others.
"It was a tough one, thanks to my old problem of being too cautious at 
the start," said a delighted Geissler. "It was hard to
close the gap from there, but I caught the group ahead of me and then 
worked my way to the front. But everyone was braking
late and coming past, and then going really slow through the corners, 
especially Sakata and Goi. I had been doing 49s before
I joined the group, then I was doing 50s, so I waited until three laps 
from the end, passed everyone again and started doing
fast times once more.
"It was a good result for my confidence. Now I just have to work on the 
early part of my races."
TOKUDOME WINS
Masaki Tokudome (Aprilia) headed the 125 pack over the line after a 
hectic battle with up to eight other riders. Unlike most
of his rivals, 'Toku' did not take the controversial short-cut over the 
final chicane while he held the lead. But when the pace
hotted-up in the last few laps and Stefano Perugini (Aprilia) and 
Valentino Rossi (Aprilia) came past by using the short-cut,
the Japanese followed suit and got back ahead. He beat Perugini by three 
tenths, with World Champ Haruchika Aoki a close
third.
"I didn't cut the chicane during practice, so it was dangerous to change 
my style for the race," said Tokudome. "I wanted to
use the track as normal, but when Stefano came by at the end I could see 
how to do it, so I followed suit and took the
short-cut for the last few laps."
