IRTA GP Notes.
Added on Monday, February 18th, 2002 by Carole Nash Editor
IRTA GP Notes.
This from Chris Pearson out in Spain;
The Strokers Live.
It became quite clear last week that the two strokes are not going without a considerable fight. Having met for the first time at the MotoGP IRTA test in Valencia, the half-litres emerged with the upper hand.
The result of this first salvo was that three of the top five times came from two-stroke machines, with the Yamaha YZR500 of Garry McCoy finishing as the fastest machine around the track. Hampered all through the test by intermittent rain and cool track conditions the sun did shine sufficiently for the times to start getting serious, giving the world an insight of the season to come.
Lets hope this marks a return to the past form that has seen McCoy win three GPs in 2000. Another stroker, Nakano’s YZR, was second quickest with Checa on the new M1 third in the final times. Max Biaggi was also present but appears to be suffering the same problems with his new M1 the cursed him all through last season on the YZR500. So much so that on the last day of the test he rode Yamaha test rider John Kocinski’s machine to see if the set up was better. His times did improve on the Kocinski machine but not enough to finish any higher than fifth in the standings.
Official times;
Garry McCOY, AUS (Yamaha YZR500) – 1’34.070
Shinya NAKANO, JPN (Yamaha YZR500) – 1’34.360
Carlos CHECA, SPA (Yamaha YZR-M1) – 1’34.654
Daijiro KATOH, JPN (Honda NSR500) – 1’34.722
Max BIAGGI, ITA (Yamaha YZR-M1) – 1’34.820
Criville Retires.
1999 500cc World Champion, Alex Criville, has been forced to withdraw, temporarily, from the MotoGP World Championship season. Having recently travelled to Canada to seek the advice of specialists, the condition which has affected him since his championship-winning season, has been deemed serious enough to warrant the break from competition.
The Spaniard made his announcement during a specially arranged press conference at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, where IRTA tests are currently taking place.
Criville stated “I have been forced to take a break from my sporting career due to physical problems. Since 1999, I have had a condition whereby I temporarily lose consciousness from time to time. It is not serious, but after consulting the best specialists in the field I was advised to stop riding for a while, to take the time to relax and undergo the necessary tests.’
Having only recently made the move from Honda to Yamaha, Criville was flanked at the conference by his new Team Manager, Luis D’Antin, and the Team Doctor, Angel Villamor. The latter stated, ‘We have until now been unable to ascertain the cause of these fainting incidents, and treatment has not been effective. We need to carry out tests that are more specific than before in order to determine the problem, and this cannot be done under the current circumstances.’
Team D’Antin were present at the IRTA test and their sole rider Norick Abe put in many laps aboard the YZR500 and it surely is only a matter of time before a replacement for Criville is announced.
CP
