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t· International dateline 125ee World Championship Gaston.ene-enes it; Marty follows Gaston "Gassit" Rahier kept on doing what he does best -- winning 125cc GPs -- this t ime at the West German round. By David and Margery Maltais LAUBUS .ESCHBACH. WE ST GERMANY. AUGUST 8 Belgium's Gaston Rahier continued to dominate the 125cc World Championship series with double wins in West Germany followed by Marty Smith with a four-two finish for second overall. Italian newcomer Lolli Tomasso f rom Italy scored a second and . fourth and was tied with Marty for the day until the International Jury declared Marty second overa ll with ' a better total elapsed time for both races. Marty's race weapons, the new RC125 Type 2, arrived in Europe the Monday before the race. Steve Whitlock had measured the b ikes while in the states and upon arrival back in' Europe went directly to Koni in Holland and had a set of rear dampeners made to fit. Marty tried both bikes on Thursday at a race track near Darnstadt and said both the Showa and the Koni rear shocks felt good but he felt th e Konis had the slight advantage on corners that were bumpy. The track at Laubus-Eschbach, situated in the rolling hilIs of the T aunus area just an hour north of Frankfurt, is Fritz Kramer's pride and joy. Fritz is the builder of the hand-made ultra trick Kramer-Maico that is becoming increasingly popular on the European circuits. His main rider, Rolf Diefenbach, contests the 250cc class. The track is just above the small village , only a long stone's throw from F r i t z 's w 0 r k s hop and gasthaus/restaurant. Like anything else Fritz does , the track was im m acul ately laid out and was a beauty for both riders and spectators. The riders had only one hour to practice and sort out the bikes on Saturday and one hour to qualify on Sunday. On Sunday morning Marty went out and the course took its toll on the exotic works Honda. The longer Showa forks took a dump and the 12 1/2 mm shaft on the right Koni bent. Between practice and the first race Team Honda frantically switched to the shorter Showa forks .and replaced the only pair of Konis with the Showa rear shocks. G aston qualified fastest with Khudiakov in second, Churavy in third and Marty in fourth . The starting line wasn't wide enough for the forty-six riders that made their way from the pare fernie to the asphalt starting area. Low qualifiers made a second 'line, Fritz Kramer instructed the riders that the clock would be started one minute before the race. When the clock hit zero the gate would drop . Front line riders backed-up a meter and waited till the ten second mark before punching their bikes in to gear. Gaston, Churavy and Marty all got bad starts with Gaston coming around in fourth place after one lap and Marty way down in 23rd. Mar t)" kept the 'Hon da screwed to the stops in an effort to catch the leaders. Rahier made his way to the front but -ab ou t six laps from the end he got ready to overtake a lapped rider on the inside of a righ t hand turn, gassed it too early, and spun out bending his rear brake pedal. He completed the lap without the use of the rear brake and stop p ed at the me chanics' are a to get it straightened. He was far enough ahead that h e never los t a posi tion! Marty carved his way through the pack and worked his w'!y up "to fourth before time ran out. "I kept it wide open the whole race, I never let off for a second" was Marty's comment after the race. An unbelievable recovery from so far back on such a fast, rough course. His new Honda had never skipped a beat, onlya kinked rear brake cable had to be replaced for the second place. In the second race the starting gate was dropped righ t on time and Gaston rocketed into the lead with Marty passing Dario Nani for second place before the first- tum and Churavy in fourth place. . Rahier took command and , blitzed away from the rest of the field with onl y Marty being able to keep up with the World Champ's pace. G aston and Marty finished one-two only nine seconds apart with Churavy coming in th ird twenty-five seconds behind Marty. Marty still remained in third position in the World Championship standings behind Rahier, and Churavy, and it's a shame that he won't be in Spain and - Switzerland for the final two rounds aboard his new Honda. A chance for second place would not be out of reach, and it sure would be a great way for Marty to finish his first year in ,Grand Prix competi tion. Conflicting National dates prevent him from finishing the GP ' series. • Results Moto one : 1. Gaston Rahler; 2. Lolli Tomasso; 3. VelkYi 4. Marty Smith: 5. Pavel Ruley; 6. Darlo Nani .; 7 . Not named ; 8 . KhudlakoY: 9" 0 Roger Harvey.. 10. 'F ranc o i s Mlnne. Moto two: 1. Rahler;2 . Smlth;3. Churavy;4 . Lolli; 5 . Nanl; 6. Harvey; 1. Liljegren; 8. Autio; g : Mlnne; 10. Stouvenakers. Marty Smith (4) recovered from a 23rd place start for a 4-2 day as jiri Churavy (5) dropped out of round one, then took third in the second race. 11