Motorcycle Industry
MotoGP MOVES TO WELKOM IN SUBDUED BUT RESOLUTE MOOD
By I Mackay
Honda Motor Company, Ltd - Motor Sports Division
Apr 23, 2003, 9:23am

MotoGP mourns the loss of Daijiro Kato who died last weekend from injuries sustained in a third lap crash at the opening Grand Prix of the season at Suzuka in Japan on April 6. Teams and riders were universally affected by the tragedy and move on to Welkom this weekend in quiet remembrance of Kato.

The 4.242km Phakisa Freeway near Welkom lies deep in the Free State Province. It has been re-surfaced for 2003, but whether this work has ironed out any of Welkom’s notorious bumps remains to be seen during first free practice. The dusty track has a tendency to get faster as raceday gets closer. Each practice and qualifying session lays down more rubber which provides increased levels of grip but in turn brings more set-up difficulties as teams struggle to second-guess prevailing track conditions. Even during the race itself conditions can change markedly between the opening laps and the final stages.

There are no long straights (the longest straight section is only 413m) and there’s a balanced blend of nine right-hand and five left-hand turns on a track which is 1350m above sea level. This elevated altitude robs the engines of power owing to the lack of oxygen. Power outputs can sometimes be reduced by as much as 20%. But suspension set-up and tyre choice are the critical factors for success on this track. Tohru Ukawa (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) made a masterly set-up choice last year to win the race from his then team-mate Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda RC211V). The duo recorded a race lap record of 1m 34.834s and a pole-setting lap of 1m 34.660s respectively in 2002.

The current World Champion Rossi who won the curtain-raising Grand Prix at Suzuka is looking for another win, albeit in subdued circumstances. “I said that nothing was really that important after hearing the news of Kato. I was shocked then and am greatly saddened now. Out thoughts are with Kato’s family and friends and we can only hope that the whole Grand Prix world learns something from this very bad situation and acts on it. As to the race, I can only hope to do my best and will do my job as a professional.”

These sentiments were mirrored by Rossi’s team-mate, the US rookie and current AMA Superbike Champion Nicky Hayden. “I guess I’ll remember my first Grand Prix for all the wrong reasons. I wish Kato’s family strength. Turning to this Grand Prix I’m really looking forward to going to another new circuit. I got to know Suzuka quite well in the end and Welkom will be like quite a lot of circuits this year – I’ll start riding a new track on Friday morning and then I’ll be racing on it by Sunday. I’ve never been to South Africa before and it will be another learning experience going to a new country and hopefully I’ll get up to speed fast. I’ve just got to keep learning and chipping away.”

Max Biaggi (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) lies second in the World Championship standings after his second place at Suzuka and Rossi’s erstwhile rival will be determined not to let the World Champion stretch his lead further. “I’ve been working hard on my fitness,” said the Italian. “At Welkom the temperatures can be quite high and the race can become a fitness test. I want to keep applying the system and working methods we used at Suzuka and maintain my concentration throughout the race. We don’t have the advantage of extra testing time here, but it will be an important race to see more of our potential – on the racetrack.”

Biaggi’s team-mate Tohru Ukawa (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) brings a typically measured approach to the race, a tactic that won him last year’s race when he selected a harder compound rear Michelin than his team-mate Rossi to snatch victory in the closing laps. “You have to think harder at Welkom than at many other tracks,” said the methodical Japanese. “It’s a very different track to many others because it’s so hot, bumpy, dirty and therefore slippery. You can get a lot of wheelspin and so you have to be very steady on the gas and if you don’t stay on top of this you can easily wear out your tyres. “The front end can also be very difficult to control here where if you are too aggressive it can slide too much. So you need to be really smooth and try to find the smoothest lines through the turns. But that is hard too because if you get too much off the usual racing line it’s dusty, there’s much less grip and that brings another set of problems. “The most important parts of the track are the high-speed twists after turn one. It’s really hard to get through here on full throttle because it’s so bumpy, but you really can make a lot of time here if you can do that. It’s too bumpy and slippery to be a really fun track, but maybe that will change this year because of the resurfacing work.”

In the 250cc class Roberto Rolfo (Fortuna Honda Gresini RS250RW) and Sebastian Porto (Telefonica Movistar Junior RS250RW) are aiming to give themselves an early season boost at a track that is equally unfamiliar to all the riders. “I like Welkom because it really levels everybody out,” said Rolfo. “In Europe riders have their ‘own’ circuits which they know really well and in Japan there are always the ‘wild card’ riders who go well at home. But at places like Welkom we are all equal so the racing is tough. In recent years the track has been slippery because of the dust, but I really like the layout and I’m confident of a good performance.” The 125cc riders are relishing the chance to put on another scintillating race performance to rival last year’s showdown when the first eight riders across the line were covered by a mere 1.8 seconds. And Telefonica Movistar Junior Team rider Danny Pedrosa is among those shooting for the win after finishing third in 2002. “I’m sure it will be close again at Welkom. Suzuka was close and the result here will depend on a combination of race tactics and tyre conservation.”


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