Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Cecotto scores Ago upset Ago sti ni leads Lan sivu o ri, Toracc:a an d Read at the start o f the 5 00cc event. Read passed up t he m onoshock MV after handling problems d e veloped in p ractice . See the New Bu ltaco at your dea ler now. P.O. Bo x 62547 . Virginia Beach.Virginia 23462 By John Brown LE CASTELLET, FRANCE, MARCH 30 Venezuelan teenager, Johnny Cecotto became the wonder boy of Europe at Sunday's French Grand Prix when he outrode W orld Ch am pi on G i a c o m o Agost ini to win t he 350cc race b y a full 25 seco n ds . And t o co m plete th e m ost sensational IS WORTH A 1000 WORDS •••••••••• le1. International Husqvarna Training Center 1975 Spring Schedule April 15 April 21 April 29 Mav 6 Mav 13 May 20 May 26 Carlsbad. Calif. and Salt Lake City. Utah Carlsbad. Calif. and Grand Junction . Colorado Carlsbad. Calif. Carlsbad. Calif. Carlsbad. Calif. Carlsbad. Calif. Morgantown. West V irginia For any studen t having attended one or more Training Cent er classes. a yea r membersh ip is available for $250 .00 annua lly. For furt her info. please 14 contact the cente r: 714·744 -2161. d ebut in cl assic racing histo ry th e 19 yea r o ld rider wo n th e 25 0cc race by one fifth o f a second after p lay ing a waiting game wit h Yamaha wo rks rider . Ituiku gir e Takai. "Mayb e it was j ust my lucky d ay," said Ce co tto as he left the win ne r's ros tru m still dazed by his convincing win over Ago st in i. " I intend to do all the Grands Pr ix in Europe b u t I have no predict ions to make a] present. We shall just have to see how t hings go in future." For Giacomo Ago st ini there was th e compensation of winnin g the 5 0 0 cc ra ce to get maximum po ints in a class that has attracted the might of three factory teams th is season . Rei gning 500cc champion Ph il Read crashed his MV -4 on the first lap o f pract ice , b adly damaging his right hand little fin ger th at was d isfigured in an Imola 20 0 crash, two years ago. Cause of the ac cide n t was the p o or handling o f th e MV an d al though Read was quick ly b ack in aetio n wi th hi s hand he avil y bandaged , the re was n o wa y o n race d ay th at he co uld get h is m u lt i a ro u nd at t he sa me sp eed as Agost ini and Su zuki works rid er T e uvo "Tepi" Lansivuori. " It was frustrat ing reall y," sa id Read wh o set tle d for th e stand ard fram ed MV in prefer en ce to the latest ex pe rim en tal ca n tilever unit. " The MV is as quic k o n top speed as the Yamaha, but is sim ply im possib le t o get ro u nd the corne rs as q uic kl y. If th e h an d ling can be sorted out I am sure we are sti ll in with a chance of retaining the title ," R ead was joined on th e MV team by 23 year Italian Armando To rac ca who was enlisted into the team under a week before the Grand Prix . T ak en o n a race b y' race co n tract basis, Toracca who normally rides th e It alian built Paton tw in , w as o n th e team t o replace Gi anfran co Bon cr a wh o broke his left leg wh en he crashe d it against a straw b ale a t 100 mph while pr acticing fo r a n in te rnat io na l meeting at Moden a two w eeks earlier . Toracca agreed w it h th e handlin g p roblems ex plaine d b y Read , but m ad e a cre d itab le MV d ebut p erformance with fou rth p lace o n the cantileve r framed fou r. All th e factory riders go t away well at the start of th e 50 0 cc race an d all were anxio us to m ake th e fir st m aximum po ints killing a nd at t he e nd o f the first lap of the 3.60 mile Paul Ricard circuit Agostini just showed in front with his n ew lightw eight Yamaha -4, with Toracca, Re ad and Japanese Yamaha works rider Hideo Kana ya right on his t ail . On lap two T o racca actually nosed ahead momentarily but then all four were passed b y La nsivuori who p roduced a sudden burst of sp eed from his Su zuki -4. Tepi, rid ing alo ne on th e Su zuki tea m u n til Daytona inj ured Barry Sheen e is b ack in actio n, p owered h is m ach ine o u t of th e co rners like a space ro cket to estab lish a lead in th e next two laps . Agost ini, suffering a sligh t a mo u nt o f cl u tch troub le on th e second a nd th ird lap s, st a rted to cl o se w hen th e trouble cleared b u t t he rest o f th e field wer e starti ng t o t rail. Tepi w as st ill in th e lead at th e start o f lap five but it was to b e th e en d o f th e race for hi m . A n yl on bu sh in th e ' gearbox tig htened beca use of the engine heat a nd th e Fin nis h ride r was unable to select gears. O nce the engine had co o led the bush freed but by then it was t o o late for Lansivuori to do a ny t h ing else but watch Agostini and Kan a ya on the two Yamahas rush on to first an d seco nd p laces. Kan a ya ac tually set the fast est lap in 2m l3 .8s but Ago w as always in co m man d . T he speed w as slower t han a n ticipat ed b y all th e riders because in practi ce Lansivuo ri topped t he lead er b o ard wi th a lap in 2 m 12.3s. Behind Read . 29 seconds adrift of Ka naya - and Toracca came French man P a t ri c k Po ns w it h his semi-w o rks Ya mah a-4 who neve r looked like mixing it with the full works machines. One of t he first off t he start lin e and sixth at t he fin ish was Eng lishman Pet e McKinley, ma k in g his Gra nd Pr ix d ebut on a 354 Yamah a twi n prepared by Padgett's o f Batley. He was four sec o nds ahead of Mich el Rougeri e o n a twin cyli nder f our ca r b u re t t or Harley -Da vidson th at was n othing near as impressive as had b een predicted after impressive d ebut o u t ings at th e early It ali an interna t io nals wh en it was ridden b y Walte r Vill a. s tarted hi s w orks team Cecot 0 rocking da y in th e 250cc race wi th a p er f ormance tha t had t he 120 ,000 sho u t ing a pproval. With World Ch ampi o n Walt e r Villa out o n the first lap when his Ha rle y tw in seized a p ist on , it was lef t t o T ak ai a nd Ceco tto to battle for the lead, well in fro nt of t he rest o f th e field. ceC otto was first o ff th e lin e but was passed b y the Japanese rider within a quarter of mile . Showing that he has an experie nced he ad o n yo ung shoulders Ce cotto refused t o be dragged into o pen battle and he sat in th e slip st ream o f th e fa ster works ma chine for 2 1 laps. Then o n the fin al lap, and at th e end o f th e f a st Mistral m ain straight , he e ngaged in a successful o ut brak ing p lan . With his Ya maha almost sid ew ays, he po wered through the next right and left sectio n and h ung o n in th e final run in to the checke red flag to win by th e narrowest of m a rgins. The pair wer e ove r a minu te a hea d o f th irdman Ro uge rie who simply co uld make no imp ression wit h h is Harl ey tw in . Cecotto, hi s Yamaha p ow er ed b y a last year's w orks eng ine, quickl y d eal t with a freak start fro m th e fo u rth row b y Christ ian Hu gu et , and bu ilt up a n impressive lead o n th e fir st lap of th e 35 0cc race. Agostini, down in fou rth after o n e lap, fo rced his pace up o n the second lap to move in to second p lace but was still three seco nd s behind t he flying Ce cotto . But all Ago 's efforts were b ettered b y the Ve nez uela n who p u t in th e fastest lap at 2 m 15 .9 s . a ne w class reco rd on the eighth lay . After twelve >

• Cover