-
By Tim Lu1JclIrt
o
&.
...
N
:;;
-
l!f
g
()
ANDERSTORP, SWEDEN, July 22/23 To most Americans Sweden Is the land
of Husqn.rna, motocross, beautuul
women and free sex, and that Is about
it. Three of those four are of course
true, but Sw.Jden Is also much more.
It Is the richest country In Europe, full
of beautlful countryside to match the
women, and there are some very good
roadracers in Sweden, as well as one
of the very best meetings of the World
ChamplonsbJp series.
An Engllsh friend of mind referred to
Sweden as a "Young America", and 1
tblnk the description fits. Lots of very
big, very expensive motorcycles around,
more than at any GP I've attended,
and the status ear, along with Ferrari,
Is a 429 Mustang, complete with the
mag wheels and racing stripe. Outlaw
types are prevalent, riding very chromy
choppers, and fights are frequent. One
person was' stabbed to death at last
year's Swedlsh GP. But nothing could
mar the organization and efficiency of
the people beblnd the 'Swedlsh GP. And
the weather was the finest 0: the season, with not one drop of raln the
whole four days and temperatures In the
mid 80s. Perfect for the racers and the
spectators, for It meant a dry track
and g1r Is in tiny bits of cloth1ng. To
put the average Swedish beauty into a
tiny bit of clothing must take some
doing.
At the end of each day's practice and
ogllng sessions, some one somewhere
had someth1ng planned to entertain the
people. On Friday night, the last day
of practicing, the organizers had a fantastic supper for members of the press
at a place called the "High Chapparal."
Yes, from the TV series. All that rugged country that the tough Carmon family
Is trying to civilize in the face of unbelievable odds Is not anywhere near
Mexico or the Indian country, but nestled
in the midlands of gentle Sweden. The
set Is now a tourist attraction, as the
old western town still remalns, and I
Imagine the co-wboys still roam the
streets. Indeed, one of them was tending
the bar at this gala event, and In good
western drawl he greeted each ~ustomer
with a "waddaya have, pahdner?"
Elsewhere, a fair was in progress
across the road from the raceway, and
for two nights someone had hired a
band to play in a field next to tbls
fair. In the paddock, for the racer's
pleasure, the track owner had installed
a swimming pool and a very nice restaurant, plus a cafeteria where anyone
even remotely associated with ~e press
was given free meals for three days.
Anl1 there was a refrigerator stocked
with cold. drinks for anyone In the paddocks. The Swedish are hospitable people, and SWeden an enticing place to
llve. But along with being the wealtblest
country in Europe, It Is also probably
the cosWest In which to llve.
S.edlsh pit tootsles.
SWEDISH GP
Agostini (1) .ent on to win the 500 class again.
The track was open to the riders for
the GP on Thursday, for untimed practice sessions of 50 minutes for each
<::lass. This-left only Friday's half-hour
sessions (2 sessions per class, one In
the mornlng and one in the afternoon)
in which riders could quaUfy for the
race. The riders, understandably, did
not like tbls, and sent their spokesmen
to talk with the organizers. It Is ,the
custom at GP's to have two days of
timed practice" an hour for each class
each day (next year It may be an FIM
rule). So It was agreed that if any
rider from last year's top ten in point
standings falled to qualify, he would be
allowed to race anyway. A fair compromise considering the circumstances.
The same situation exists for next week's
Fin 11sb GP, and the riders already contacted the organlaers, only to be told
that the pollee would not allow two days
of timed practice, but to iry again next
year. The International Riders Union
(of which mo;;t of the top riders are
members) will be petitioning from afar
for the same deal at Flnland as was
decided at Sweden. If the top ten are
not guaranteed a start, supposedly they
w1ll not go. It should be interestlng.
Another item about the Finnish race
was that the organizers rejected nldeo
Kanaya's entry, with the statement that
the field was already full. Kanaya Is a
Yamaha factory rider and one of the
top on the GP e1rcuit. The Finnish people later (Saturday to be exact) offered
him a ride, but with such a small startmoney offering that he can n t come. A
very unusual oecurence.
Fr1c1ay's practice sessions saw the
fastest lap turned in by Rod Gould on a
250 Yamaha at 1:49.42, a speed of
82.5 mph. The lap record is held by
a fellow named Leo Klnnunen at a very
fast 99 mph. Some unknown donor had
offered a prize of 1,000 Kronors to anyone who would break this, but no on",
came near, either In practice or in the
racing.
And the racing began on Saturday with
the 125 class at 2:30 p.m. Once again
the llttle ,bikes provided o~"'e ot the best
races of the meeting, with Angel Nieto
and Kent Andersson running wheel to
wheel for first place, an·j Borje Jansson
and Charles Mortimer doing the same for
the third spot. The first two riders were
never more than two bike lengths apart,
and at the flnish Nieto's Derbl was .28
seconds ahead of Andersson's Yamaha.
Jansson's Malco seemed to tire towards
the end of the race, and Mortimer pulled
out a 3.5 second lead over him for
third place. With two races to go, the
125 World Champion Is still to be decIded, and these four men all have a chance
at It, with Nieto the favorite.
Saturday's second race was looked forward to by many, as Jarno Saarln'i!n
had clocked his Yamaha in almost a full
second ahead of Agostini and the .mighty
MY. But Saarinen, after leading for a
short time, was passed by Agostini and
then dueled with Phil Read on another
MV, for second until his gearbox didn't
do it's gearing properly, and he was
slOWed to the extent that Read took an
easy second. He did turn the fastest lap
of the 34 lap race at 84.4 mph for his
third place finish. Agostini's winnlngaverage was 82.9 mph. The 350 World
Title Is st1ll to be decided with Agostlni th", deflnlte favorite an:! Saarinen
having an outside chance.
The flnal race of Saturday was the
big-purse Formula 750. ThIs class Is
not of World Championship status, but
plans are (tentatively at least) to make
It one in 1973. At any rate, there was
keen Interest among the spectators and
riders as well, as a wealthy Swede had
donated 5,000 Kronors prize money (2,
200 dollars) for lirst place. The John
Player Norton team was here, resplen~
dent In the team colors of pow(]erblue and white, and Peter Wllllams turned
the fastest practice time on his team
Norton at 82.4 mph. However the organizers had allowed four 350 Yamahas to
enter, and one of them was ridden by
Kent Andersson. The first few laps
saw a race betwee\l Andersson, WIll1ams,
and Phil Read on another team Norton.
Andersson began pulllng away, and Peter
Williams overcooked a tight left-hander
in his hurry to catch up and dropped it.
He was unhurt, but out of the race,
leaVing Read to ftnlsh second. Mick Grant
had crashed the third team Norton during
practice, and did not race. Third place
went to Tony Jefferies on a Triumph,
triple. Andersson's pace for the 20 lap
race was 81.8 mph, with the fastest lap
also by him being 83.4 mp~. Needless
to say, Andersson boughtthemUkshakes
Saturday night with that fat pay check,
coupled with his second In the 125 class.
Saturday nlght the race track sponsored lL pork barbecue for all the racers, mechanics, press and offlclaIs right
at the track. No one goes away from the
Swedish GP hungry.
Sunday, July 23rd was just as nice as
the three days preceed1ng it. And the
500cc class forecasted a day of racing
at least as good as what went before.
Angel Nieto and' Jan de Vries en tered
the first turn almost side by side, and
they stayed that way most of the race,
until Nieto crashed (uninjured) on the
eleventh lap of the 15 lapper. De Vries'S
Krledler seemed a bit faster on top end
than the Derbi, so he would take a lead
down the stralght. Then the fiery SpanIard would do something rash in a corner and take the lead back. The small
bike classes have been the best all
season long. De Vries ran an average
74 mph, but Nieto took fast lap honors at 75.1 mph. Second place went to
Th",o Timmer on a Jamathi aiter Nieto's crash, and third wa:3 Juan Pares
of Spain on a Derbl. The 50cc World
title Is open yet to eith",r Nieto or
de Vries, as Nieto has two wins and
three seconds, and de Vries has three
wins and two seconds. Tb.~ only meeting left is In Spain, in September. Nieto
must be the favorite there, but 1f he
wins, the two will be ties, both in wins
and In points, assuming de Vries takes
a second.
Rod!l"'y Gould took an im mediate lead In the 250 race, and just smoothly rode
on to a win, increasing ,his lead every •
lap until his wln1.ing margin was over
31 seconds ahead of Saarinen'S Yamaha,
who had to hold off a late charge from
Renzo Pasollni and the H-D Aermacchi.
Pasollni started poorly,
but worked
through the field in time to push SaarInen to the fast lap on lap 28 of the 30
lap race at 83.0 mph. Gould's average
was 81.7 for the win.
Agostini already has his world title
in the 500 class, but he races anyway, and It Is a good tblng for the promoters, as the MV's are crowd pleaser s and Agostini has a female fan club
that must number In the milllons. But
Ago was late getting started for the 35
lap race, and Rod Gould, on a 350 plus
Yamaha, was not. At one point Gould
was first and Agostini 9th. On his way
to catch Gould, the' MV turned a lap
at 83.6 mph, the fastest lap of the
entire session. But it still looked llke
Ago might be beaten for the first time
this year in the 500 class, for when
he finally took second place, Gould had
a lead of over 1/4 mile. It wa3 not
enough, Agostini took the lead some-Nhere
Peter Williams (6) and Phil Read on the John Player Nortons.
Jamo Saarinen (Yam) still has a shot at Ago in-the 350 cla~s.
