Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125882
GP season ends: an • ~eat In Ve en team mate J ulia n Van Zeebroeck . There was anot he r Spanish victory in the 125 ra ce, when Benj am in Grau, on a Works Derb i, walked away for a st art to finis h re cord -breaking victory . Paolo Bian chi h eld second p lace for t he first 17 laps, b u t the n the Wo r ks Mo rbidelli had engi ne trouble, letting O tello Busch erini win by less than half a second from Yamaha mounted Bruno Kneu b uh ler. Surp risi ngly, Wo rld Cham pion Ke n t was p ush ed d own in to And ersson fourth spo t , and Spaniard Angel Nieto was fi ft h . Harl ey-D avid son 's n ew 25 0cc World Ch ampion , It ali an Wal te r Villa mi ssed this Grand Prix when he was rush ed to the ho spital near hi s home, sho rtly befor e he was due t o lea ve for .Spain, in a co ma. He is reported 10 be m aki n g progress , th ough still in the h ospital , and it is th ought that hi s m ys t ery illn ess could be co nnec te d w ith inj uries r e c eiv ed durin g the J a rn o S a ar inen-R en zo Pas olini di saster at Monza in May, 1973. While the m ajo ri ty of t he regu lar Gr and Pri x co m pe titors were racing in Spain, British st ars Barry Sh een e and Phil Read were in action at the 40th Anniversary celebration m ee ting at Cad well Par k, Linco lnshire, E ngland. There, than ks to a sho we r of rain three laps fr o m th e e nd, Read ridi ng the elde rly 4 20cc four-cy linder MV Ag usta beat Sheene (750 Suzu k i), though Sh ee ne earlier in the d a y wo n an up -t o· 75 0 te n la p bat tle . • Results lo o ks pretty, b u t city sce nery d oesn ' t give upo n im pa ct. Ch ampionship victory when · he beat West Gennan Dieter Brau n b y little m ore th an o ne seco nd in th e 35 0 even t. This vic to ry m ay have pleased th e Sp anish crowd , but it seems un li kely th at Palomo or Braun would have been in the runn in g if Finns Pen ti Ko rh o nen an d Pe k ka Nu rm i had no t dro pped OUl, wit h. a b ro ken chain a nd lack of fuel , re s p e c t i vely. or Wo rld Cham pi o n Giacomo Agos ti n i o ut with ign ition fai lu re on hi s Works Yamaha. T he unluc ky Finn s were o nly tw o lap s away fro m success in this 3 5 lap ba t tle, T he fat al 250 class accide n t and a crash involving French star Patri ck Pons res ulte d in a sho w-do wn between riders and organizers o ver substandard firs r-aid facilities, Ka ta yama broke a finger, Pons br o ke his collarbone and Frenchman Bernard Fau also b ro ke a collarbone. (For detaiZ; see th e incident description b y Jan Burgers • . . Editor.) Wh ile the injured we re taken to the ho spi tal, the riders, m ain ly t he Gennan co m petitors in the 50cc race, refuse d to go o u t, sup ported by G iaco m o Ago st ini , An gel Nie to an d Ch arl es Mo rtimer , and di scussed for two h ours with th e org anizers how t o o verco me the problems. It was a furt h er hal f-hour before racing re sum ed. Th e 25 0 r ace was won by Australi an John Dodds , wh o held a half-minute lead over Pen ti Korh onen and Dieter Braun , when it was finally ca lled 10 a premature cl os e due to th e acciden t after 2 7 laps. The 50cc ra ce foll owed a f ter that long break and it was a victory , though not so co n vincing fo r Henk Van Ke ssel on the Van V een Kriedler, t h r e e-a nd-a-half seconds ahead o f German Herbert Rittberger, wh o was almost last off the line. Rittberger 's effort was worth it beca us e th at runner-up spo t gave him second pl ace in th e final Wo rld Champ ionsh ip T able, 22 p oints beh ind Van Kessel. bu t n in e clear o f the Van 5 0c c: 1. H . Van Kessell (VVK) . 2. H . R l ttberger (VVK) . 3. J. Van Z eebro ec k (VVK) . 4 . G . Thurow (VVK ). 5. U . Gra f (VVK) . 6. S . Dorflinger (VVK). 7 . R . Kunz (VV K) . 8 . T . T imer (Jam) . 9 . J . Lopez (Der) . 10. N . Pescne (Kre) . 125cc : 1. B. Grau (Oer) . 2. O. Busch er in l (Mal) . 3. B . Kneubuhler (Yam) . 4 . K. An d e rsson (Yam) . 5 . A . N ieto (O er ). 6. M . Saronen (Yam). '1. J. Gu lgnavodec (Yam) . 8. M . K innunen (Mai) . 9 . P. Pero (Cer ) . 1 0 . P. Froh n mey er (Ma l) . 2 5 0cc: 1. J. Dod d s (Yam) . 2 . P. Korhon en (Y am ) . 3. D . Bru jn (Y am ) . 4 . B . Kn eubuhl er (Y am ) . 5. V. Palomo ( Yam) . 6 . R . M lnhoff (Y am) . 7. J . Guignabodet (Yam) . 8. O. Chevali er ( Yam) . 9 . A. G eorge ( Yam ) . 10. H. Mun ten ach (Yam). 350cc : 1. V. Palomo (Yam) . 2 . D . Bruan (Yam) . 3. O . Ch evalier (Yam) . 4 . C. Mortimer (Y am ). 5 . H . M uhl eba ch I V a m ) . 6 . B . H ender so n (Yam) . 7. U . G ra (Ya m) . 8 . N . V an Der Zanden (Ya m ) . 9. K . So lbe rg (Ya m). The J ohn Dodds (Yam 2) versus T akazu m i Katayama (Yam 211 dice-of-the-day en ded when a fi reman, running across the track w ithout looking to aid crashed Bernard Fau, was fat ally injured in a coll ision that put Katayama out. • pam .... u ..0 o o u Kent Andersson (rightl tri es to comfort h is friend Takazumi Katay ama aft er th e tragic crash . The terrible scene at Montjuich By Jan Burgers BARCELONA, SP AI N, S EPT . 24 Th e fa n tas tic 19 74 G rand Prix season ended tragicall y a t the beautiful Mo ntjuich Par k circuit near Barcelona . Fr enchman I n exp er i en c e d Bernard Fau got off heavily rig h t in front o f the grandsta nds at t he slart/finis h line d uring the 250cc race, the d ay 's first even t. Fo ur laps la ter Fa u was still ly in g in th e grass wai ti ng for an am b u lanc e, which was stra nded on the other side of th e t ra ck , bi ts and p ieces of hi s smashed Yam ah a scattered ov er th e course . Whe n frantic riders an d mechan ics p oin ted o u t 10 the officials in the pits tha t Fau needed hel p. ' an o ffici al fir eman ra n acr oss th e tra c k with out lo o kin g an d was hit by Takazu mi Katayama o n the fastest part o f th e ci rc ui t. The res u l ti ng spec tac ular crash sheared o ff o ne of th e fire man 's legs. Katayama escap ed w ith a br oken finger , but the fireman di ed on th e way to th e hospital. Immedia te chaos and panic followed . Shouting and fight ing, people st re a med ac ro ss the tr ack in a terribl e sce ne. A d isas t er like the one at Mo n za (in which Renzo Pasolin i an d Jamo Saarinen died) coul d ha ve easil y re sulted, a nd the organiz ers blac kfl agged th e race because th ey were running o ut of am b ula nces. Fre nch man Pa tric k Pons also cras h ed and was told to leave th e am b ulance he was in b ecause a m or e ser io us accident had happen ed. He wal ked to the paddo ck with a bad ly cut leg an d t h e re fa inted fro m p ain. Fo llowing th at , for th ree hours rid ers refused to race until be tt er med i cal facili ties an d more amb ul a nces were o n ha nd. 17