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/125990
International dateline both Malherbe an d De Ro over clear ed o u t o f th e hea vier traffic an d st arted m ovin g. Nobody can figure o u t how, o r why , th e 125 Zu nd ap ps a re so fast a nd so rorquev , b u t they are . Heavy ; small Amal 3 0m m 'car bs ; st an d a rd Ce rian i and gas Bilstein suspension ; t hey go wheeling up t he bumpy hills. Malh erbe used his Zundapp t o pass Watanabe aft e r 15 m in u tes. Sin ce Watanabe had sho rtly before pas sed Harve y, th at le ft t he yo ung Belgian champion in second. De Ro ov er came up q uickly on his Zundap p and started press uring Wat an abe. Th ey ra n side b y side thro ugh th e hairpins . ac ro ss the smal l stream and up the loop-withi n-a-loop side h ill, Watanab e got o ff hi s ou tside line. fo rced t he re to some extent by De Ro o ver 's charge , an d lit erall y stepped o ff h is RA Suzuki as he c ho ked. He kep t running with it up th e hill but had lo st cri tical m omentum. It took him five positions lost to fin d first gear an d get goi ng . Antonin Babor ov sk y, a CZ tr ansfer from the 25 0 cl ass, als o ca m e up from ab o u t 15 th to fift h whi ch was as far as he could get before time ran o ut. He ha d crashed lightly in th e firs t few la ps, Gas t on , meanwhile, had the time and was of a mind t o sm ile at this rep o rt er in the co m e rs as he finished his gate-to-checkered winning rid e. It was clearly very easy for him. Receivin g co ngratulatio ns in his pi ts, la te r, Gast on re m arke d , "M aybe n ot so easy for m e if Malh erbe get t ing be tter start." When the wo rld's lon gest start gate dr opped fo r the seco nd 45-mi nute ro un d , Malherbe did get a better st art . Right behind Gast on Rah ie r, wh o p ulled anot her h o rse powe r holesh o t , (Gas ton's RA Suz u ki is reportedly develo ping 28 o f th e elusive p oni es. ) Baboro vsk y, De Ro over , an d Watan ab e were al l bunched tig h tly be hind at th e sta rt of th e second ro und. The pac k bunched an d spilled t hrough th e grass. Fin ishin g t he first lap , Gast on c u t in side at t he fin ish turn in a n atte m p t to avo id the ruts wo rn in by t he 500 Support class. As he accelerated , the rear 4 .0 0 lIIe t zeler st uc k in one of the cross ru ts an d th e Su zuki slip pe d side ways - o ff it s wh eels . Gast on was back up immediately b ut both lIIalher be (Zun) and Ba bo ro vsky (CZ) had go tte n b y wh ile the d im inutive Belgian was in his em ba rrassing p osition . Malh erbe pull ed o u t a lead o f abo u t 15 seconds. Gilbert De Ro ov e r was in fo u rth and p ress u ring Rahier, who hadn 't yet gotten h is p ace back. De Ro ever ca me righ t up o n Ra hie r's rear kn obby in one o f th e man y tigh t hairpin s. b ut m issed a shi ft an d high-sided. This to ok the p ressure o ff Gas t on so he sta rte d applyi ng it t o Anto n in Bab o rov sk y. Wat an ab e also started m oving up stead ily after a less than spectacula r start. After 15 elap sed m inu t es. Gast o n had passed Ba borov s ky . Th e Bel gian was now back in secon d an d closing o n First corner, first moto, and already Rahier (11) is in control. Second moto, he worked ha rder. 125cc GP of Great Britairi By John Huetter DEEP CWIII. WALES, ili AY 4 Just over the hill from Camarthen Bay, on the rolling, hedgerowstriped green of South Wales, Belgian Gaston Rahier (Suz) continued his st un ning dominat ion o f the 125 Mo to cross Worl d Ch am pion ship : an arena t hat, until this year, had been Zundap p co un try. Gaston won bo t h m oto s t oday in t otally differen t b u t equally convincing styles. Sec o nd to him bo th heats was two -tim e F.I. M. 125cc Motocross Champ An dre Malherbe, the 19-year-ol d Belgian Zu ndapp pi lot wh o, p rior to th e season. had been favored t o repeat . In the first m ota , Gaston Ra hie r had his ul tra- t rick, feathe rweight Suz uki into the first tu rn 10 yards ahead of the pack. He grabbed the inside ru t on the o ff-cam be r second turn (a hairpin) . whee lied up th e fo llowing hi ll and that was it. No bo d y go t close to h im for 45 minutes as he won with 2 1 seconds over Malherbe. Andre Malh erbe (Zu n ) has been the rei gning enf an t terrible of t he 125cc Worl d co m pe ti tio n. Las t year, he'd won Gaston's the Munchkin in the m iddle with the kid. th e F.I. M. Cham pionsh ip s in th e fi rst six straight GP s an d d idn 't even ride any m o re 125 rounds, in cluding t he U.S_ 125 World Cup eve n t. In th e first m oto t oday , Malhe rbe go t a n in different star t abou t mi d-p ac k. o ne positio n ah ead o f Belgian Zu ndapp teammate Gilbert De Roever, Second p lace in the opening lap s was held by Briton Ro ge r Harv ey who had pi ck ed up a 125 m onosho ck Yam ah a ride just fo r t his even t. It was "European stock." After Rah ier , the m o st re ma rkable new rider in th e 125 GP s t his year : Akira Wat an abe fo un d hims el f in an u nconteste d third spot afte r two la ps. Watanabe was res ponsib le for th e development of the RMI 25 Suzuki, as test rid er , bu t is riding a wo rk s RA I 25 in th e G Ps. Akir a is rem arkabl e in th at he is getting consistent h igh p laci ngs in his first GP season, and unl ike m o st other kamikaze-style J ap an ese ride rs. he is smoo th , co llec te d , con tr o lled a nd d eceptivel y qui ck . He had already collected a th ird ov e rall in t he Fre nch 125 G P. finishing second in m o ta two. Gaston kept m o t or in g away, using the easy lines over the hi lly, tw isti ng seaside co urse. Afte r about 10 m inu tes. Works 125 ez, nothing trick - just engine, ta nk, air box, hubs . .. -' I .,- t 12