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/126259
EAmerican tragedies • ~ Roberts brilliant performance ...... ...... :.:. >:. :..··~ 'I" CH E Ll N ' • 200 Miglia di Imela- Round 2/AGV Helmets World Cup By Chris Carter IMO LA . ITALY . APR . 3 Kenny Roberts. the America n who is keener on regaining his lost Number O ne spot in the Uni ted St a tes than winning a world title . thrashed his rivals out of sight in Italy on Sunday to win th e Imola 200 . Roberts was su pe rb . Riding his factory Yamaha OW31. tuned a nd prepared by Kel Carruthers. Kenny won both 100 mil e legs in th e aft ernoon . sha tteri ng th e, lap record' lim e a fter t im e , a nd ga ining a m ple reven ge for his bad lu ck in pr evious maj or European excu rsio ns. It look Roberts unt il th e sixth lap o f th e first 32 lap leg 10 take th e lead. but on ce in front th e others never saw him aga in and he beat runner up Steve Bak er by a lmo st 13 seconds . Steve Baker was runner up · 10 Rob erts in the seco nd leg . too . th is lime eight secon ds down , a fte r Kenn y had eased th e pa ce in th e last few la ps. Now . with lWO ro u nds gone in th e 14 new F750 World Ch am pionship Series Bak er and Roberts tie for th e lead , but th e odds are now firmly in Bak er 's favo r as he. unlike Rob erts is certai n 10 co ntes t the majorit y of th e rem aining rou nds . Third in this round was Italian hero Giacomo Agostini. who had his fickle fa ns cha nlin g with d elight at th e garlanding cl'rl'mony. He was pleased . but his happiness was nothing 10 th at of Rob erts. who ha s had 10 wail a lon g lime to prO"e his won h 10 Eu ro pean fa ns. The 150.000 enthusiasts who lined th e new look resurfaced Imola tra ck certa inly couldn't be a nyt hing othe r than im pressed after Roberts' perfor m a nce . On a day when 16 OUI of th e qu alifying line-u p of 40 riders crashed at lea st once. Roberts stood out above a ta lented support ing cast. Baker's Yamaha didn't see m to ' mat ch Rob erts' for pa ce , but the third works Yamaha for J ohnny Alb erto Cecouo stopped with a m yster y ai lme n t in th e first leg th at co uld probably ha ve been ge nui ne. but when th e South Am eri can you ngs ler stop ped in th e seco nd leg , t he re were a few ra ised eyebro ws. Best you ngste r on display as Fren ch boy Christian Sarron. His shoulder painful aft er a crash a t Nogaro a co u ple of weeks ago . Christian . on th e Gauloises Sonauto Yamaha rod e safely. and stylishly into fourth position overa ll. Aft er th e second leg , when Sarron had been pipped int o place by man Boet van Dulmen , he cou ld n't even raise his arm a bove shoulder height. Fifth overa ll was va n Dulmen who was also in impressive form . Un like many of his rival s Boet was able 10 find a second wind for the final gallop . Japanese ace Takazumi Katayama moved into third position in th e championship table with sixth spot here. The Zooming Taxi was lapped bv Roberts and Baker in the second I":g. when he fini shed seventh. "Big problems" said Takazumi after th e ra ce. "Gea rbox not good , a nd steeri ng damper broken." The ope ning laps of rhc first leg eliminated five men. Australian Warren Will ing was elb owed off th e track onto t he din as th e pack jostled for position. He slid . broadsided , and then roc ket ed OUI of con trol on 10 the tra ck, and fell off. Barry Ditchbu rn on th e works Kawasaki couldn't miss him and crashed heavily. badly damaging the bike. but escaping with a sore shoulder and a cut elbow. Then Victor Palomo. the reigning F750 cha m pion slid off at the final chicane. bringing Frenchman Michel Rougerie with him . Michel's wardance was more through ill lemper than . pain! Then Franco Bon era was off on the oil spi lt by this in cident. Patrick Pons stepped off at high speed at th e left h ander just after the start and fin ish . He esca ped with bruises, and walked awa y. but unlucky Am erican Pat Eva ns cras hed at the sa me SP0l, five la ps later . the 131h, when striving 10 ca tc h Roberts and Bak er . He was ru shed 10 Bologna Ho spital with fat al he ad injuries. Mick Gr ant stopped at th e end of the first lap with a misfure in the opening leg . and th e ignition fau lt stop ped him making a ny son of show, whil e T euvo Lansivuori retired after successfull y avoiding crashing in the Dirchburn/Willing affair , only 10 find an ea rlier crash in practice had damaged th e petrol ca p, which lea ked with a full tank of gas! Christian Estrosi crashed at the last chica ne . and escaped injury. and Alex George clipped the curb on another chicane. and stepped off. too, unin jured. Tom Herron broke second and third gear on the final laps of the race and limped home . 19th. Smart work in the paddock saw new gears fitted. but Tom didn't go far in th e second race. Virginio Ferrari was another faller . to the dismay of h is own fans . He was up 10 th ird , ha ving ca ugh t and passed Ago before a fault y rear tyre pitched him off. The second leg saw the brave few back for more. and it was the same slOry as th e first race with Roberts su p reme. Baker was always firml y in seco nd spot , but Ago showed flashes of his old skill as he cha rged through to third pla ce. Unlu cky Gregg Hansford . making his Imola debut . had ridden well for his first leg sixt h , but though high on the leaderboard in the seco nd race he was for ced 10 SlOp when his Ka wasak i went on two cylinders. Mick Grant went out for anothe r go . and thi s lim e the gearlever broke. another sad inc ident in a n unhappy weekend for the Britis h based Kawasaki effort. IAbove) Steve Baker was second at lrnola, but went on to ~in Pa';ll R.icard and the AGV Helmets World Cup. (Left) Pat Evans was runOing third 10 the first leg at Imola before his fatal accident. IB el ow) Takaz';Imi Kataya!"a (211. Johnny Cecotto. V irginio Ferrari (9) and Gregg Hansford 10 close action.