Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

man who clinche d the p lace with a great last lap to score his best ever GP pl acing. Fello w co un try man J on Ek erold , who ha d been at the circuit a week trying his best to learn the track an d prep are his machines, was third ho me. Dieter Braun was fourt h and Bru no Kneubuhler fift h. Th e clouds we re even thicker for th e start of the 500ec eve n t an d the choice w as " slic ks' o r.no t. .Ago led the p ack away o n his ~IV and there th e It alian stayed to score a popular an d deserved vic tory. Behind him th ou gh fo rt un es waxed and wan ed. Mar co L ucch inelli ignored th e soaring water te m peratu re on h is S uzuki to take second p lace . b u t his te am mate Vi rginio Fer rari . wh o had lap ped at a staggeri ng 8m 53 .9s in practice, h ad a simi la r probl em an d pulled o ut -of th e runnin g. Mar cel An kone cli m be d to third pl ace before it ' start ed t o rain and with "slicks" o n his Su zuki he cased o ff the pace to finish fifth. Marcel h ad th e conso latio n of a new lap record at 8m59 .9s. With th e Dutchman slow ing it was left to Henncn and Newbold to figh t fo r third place. Hennen wo n. J ohn . in fourth p lace , h ad do ne enough to grab fifth pl ace in th e fina l cham p ionship listing. • • Results 50cc: 1. Angel Nieto IBull' 2. Herbert Rittberger (Krel; 3. Ulrich Grat I Kr~); 4. Hans Hummet IKrel · :>. ROlf B(;jtter (Krel; 6. J ulien n Zeebroeck (K re; 7. Wolfg a['Q Mull er Krel; 8. Bruno Stopp (Krel: 9. Rudi Kunz Kre ro . 125cc: 1. A. Mang (Morl; 2. W. Koschine M~ i l ; 3. J . van Zeebroeek l~or), 4. H.·Seel E,g ) ; 5 . L. Lundaren Ya'r!'; 6. J.L. uignabodet IMorl~ 7. 'Ii . Mu ier ( Ya rn): 8 . H. Barfol (Morl; 9. 1::. Cereda tMor); 10. H. Hallberg (Yarn] . B a ll ing 2. J . Ekero ld 50a;: 1. ,,Yaml ' 3. K. Braun ~ n IVam)'B. K~eubuh ler D. Yam); 4. Yam l ; 5 . 0 \ C evaIller rYi'"r1l ; 6. T. Katayama (Yam ; 7. V. Palomo Yaml; 8. P. H w. German GP d iced it o ut for five of the seve n lap s w it h b oth sh attering th e lap record in th eir b at tle. Just as Deiter had h it t rou b le a wee k ear lier in Czech oslovaki a , h e was de st ined to be o ut of lu ck her e also. Mid way round th e sixt h lap hi s m ach in e sta rt ed to slow an d b y the end of that lap he had d ropped ba ck to second p lace. 17 seconds beh ind Vi lla, bu t under strong pressur e fr om Ceco t to . J ohnny p assed Diet er and se t off aft er Villa, but th ough th e Ve nezuelan boy shattered th e class and absolu te lap record with a lap at 8m 57 .3 seconds , he was still just under 10 seconds sho rt o f ca tc hi ng th e flying Harl ey -David son . Ch as Mortimer. at o ne time a likel y challenger t o Villa's t itl e h op es. saw his ch am pionsh ip dr eam di sapp ear wh en h is Yam ah a ra n sho rt of ste am righ t fro m th e start. He fi na lly p ulled out of the race an d th e b attle fo r run ner pl ace b e t w e en Chas and Ceco t to in the cham p io nsh ip go es to Sp ain . T hi r d h om e at Nurburgring was Franco Boner a who ro de su perb ly to ove rco me a po o r start. To Franco wen t the hon ou r of th e firs t eve r under nine min ute lap at the Ring wh o t urned a 8 m 59.3 seco nds lap on his fift h cu rc uit. D iet er 's m e ch an i c al mi sfo urtune finally dropped h im to eighth p lace, By Chris Carter NU RBU RG R ING, WEST GE RMANY AUGUST 29 • Two world titles. the last up for gra bs. w e r e d e cided at Nurb urgring w ith Walter Villa giving Harl ey -David son the 35 0cc cro wn to d ispl ay alo ngsi de the 25 0cc on e th at he had clinched in C z ech oslovak ia and Spaniard Ange l Nie to rewa rding Bult aco 's return to road racing after a 10 year ab sen ce wi th th e 50cc title . . Villa won the 350cc race ea r ly o n during the day's six race program from young 'So ut h American J ohnny Cecotto , wh o walked back to the pits in tear s, knowing th at his reign as 35 0cc Wor ld Champion was o ver. Later in th e day Vill a won the 250cc rac e f r om South African's Ko r k Ballington an d J o n Ekero ld sco ring hi s fo urth "double " su ccess in th is yea r's world cha mp io nshi p series. Wa lter's Harl ey -Davidson team mate Fr an c o Bon er a , who h ad ridden sup erbly to third sp o t in th e 35 0cc race, was lat er forced o ut of the event wi th a faulty cl utch. Before 'the 35 0cc race came th e 50cc eve nt wh ere Ange l Nieto , in convincing style, wo n his seve nth world title, but p erh ap s m ore im po rtant gave the Sp anish Bult aco factory their first ever champ io nshi p success. Second home to Nieto was West German Herbert Ri ttberger , who tried hard to keep Kr eidl er's grip o n th e 5 0cc world seri es alive, with Swi ss ace Ulric h Graf third home afte r a d iab ol ical sta rt. De t erred perhap s by the showers of Friday and Saturday , the crowds d id no t tu rn up in th e n umbe rs expec ted by th e o rga nizers. Eve n so almost 80,000 fa ns were aro un d th e best van tage points o n the full 22 kilo me te r t rac k for t he start of Sunday 's racing o n a d ry t rack threatene d by a cloudy sky . 10 scant reward fo r an excelle nt racc. Bu t then: was not a lot betwee n fourth man li e had b roken th e lap reco rd by ·4 6 seconds fro m a standing start, bu t he went quicker still next time round to improve on his ow n reco rd by another I 8 seconds ! . Ri ttberger co uld ' t stay wi th Niet o . Gruf,' who made a terrible start was no w up to third pl ace. bu t there was no time left on the fina l lap to close th e gap , Villa need ed only to finish in th e first . f ive of the 35 0cc ra ce to co mp le te his 250 c c and 3 5 0cc c ha m p i o ns h i p " do ub le" , but the wa y he scorched off the line it wa s ob vious that vict orv was his aim. . Dieter Braun, o n h is sup er quick Morbidelli , had other ideas and the p air T he three lap 50c c ra ce ope ned the s how w it h We s t German Herb ert Ri ttberger leading th e ficld o ff the line chased by Austrian lI ans lIummel and Wes t German Klaus Hilb k , but midway round the first lap Niet o swept into the lead and was in co m mand at the end o f .t!l:~ ~i~s! !~l! lap; . • • • . •. . • .. • • . ~ . . • . . .•. . . . . . _- -_. --- _. . ... home Takazumi Ka t ayam a an d Bra un . Katay ama sq ueeked h ome just three tenths of a second ahead of So u th Africa n Alan No rt h afte r a fi ne d ice wit h Vict or Palom o , ridi ng in' ago ny af te r a pract ice crash th at h ad b rok en a b on e in th e top of his sho ulde r, six th j us t Four-fift hs of a second be hi nd North ! It too k Walt er Villa more than half or the six lap race to ca tc h and pass Takazu mi Katay ama in the 250cc event. On ce ahead he pu lled away, b ut th e unl uc ky J ap an ese m ad e a m istak e an d slid off on the fif th lap and m ade a sto p in th e pi ts to adj ust h is br a ke an d gear lever s befor e start ing h is fin al lap . T ha t dr op pe d h im from second to sevent h place in the fina l tally . With Ka tayam a out it meant the fo ur me n behind were b a ttling for se con d place instead o f third and that added stil l e xtr a " need le " to wh at w as alrcad v . a fierce co n lest. S o ut h A frican K ork Ball ingo n w as the - .. ... _ • • .. .. • .. . • . ... .A . . . .. .. Korhon en (Ya m): 9 . C. Mort imer Y am . 350cc: 1. W. Villa 1 !'i·D); 2. J . Cecotto IY ~,:"I ; 3. G. Bonera IH·DI. 4. T. Kat av~ma (Yam).,. 5. A. North (Y ~ m ) ; 6. V. Palomo (Yarnl : 7. "hr. Sarron (Yarn) , oom: 1. G. Agostini IMV), 2. M. Luechinelli ' Suz ; 3. P. Hennen IS ~z ~ 4. J . Newbold Suz ; 5 . M . -A nkone ISuf:J ; c . B. van Dulme n Suz \ 7. A. North ( S ~z ; 8. Chr. Bourgeois ' ~ Y am ; 9 . C. Morti mer (Suz} . id eca r: 1 . S chwar z ~I /Huber (Kon); 2. te inhausen/Huber l ~on l(' 3. O'Deli/Arthur Yam ) ; 4. Biland W, tiam s (Yaml' 5. ol zer /M eierhans Yaml ; 6. Huberffieib IKonl. t Villa takes 250 title in Czeclw By Chris Carter BRI\'O, CZECHOSLOVAKIA AUGUST 22 In a ga m b le t ha t p aid off handsomely, English Suzuki work s ride r J ohn Newb old paid his own way to co mpete in th e Czech GP an d carne awav a winn er in the 500cc event fo; the firs t time. Th e vict orv was nol witho u t dr am a howe,:er as Te pi Lan sivuori , with vict ory in sight and a 25 seco nd lead in h and , ran o ut of petrol and was left to push h is m achine acros s th e finish lin e for second. Italian Walter Vill a clin ch ed hi s third successive 250cc world title with a cl ear c ut vict o ry for th e Harley-D avid son copcem. If th e 5 00cc race was dram ati c, th e 350cc eve nt , wh ich o pen ed the fo ur rac e program was breathtaking . It ende d with a victory .fo r \\'a fter Villa, o n the Harl ey -Davidso n, but o nly af te r West German Dieter Braun, o n th c new 35 0cc Morbidelli had been fo rced out of th e race with me chan ical trouble soon afte r tak ing the lead . Mo re th an eigh t rid er s were in volved in th e bat t le o u t front an d fi nally Villa ' won, feeling mor e than a little reli eved , with Victor Palomo, still in great form afte r his unexpected John Pla yer Grand Prix win at Silverstone a week earlier.

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