Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Kenny Roberts ran away from everyone to win hi. first 500cc GP. Rle photo. World Champloashlp CP Road Racln. Series· Round three ·Rob e r t s devastates Austria to close on Sheene By Chris Carter SIlTENDO RF , AUSTRIA , APR. , 30 Kenny Roberts, in a record-breaking ride that destroyed the opposition, stole the show in th e Austrian 500cc GP. The win moved Roberts within four points of defending champion Barry Sheene,who regained the points lead in Austria via his third place finish. King Kenny took the lead on 12 . the third lap of the 5~Occ race: and from then on the question was slmp~y ~ho would be second? He stretched hIS l~ad at the. rate of one secon? a lap until t.h~ closing stages, and ":Ith the op position thrashed out of SIght and a new lap record in the bag, he eased off, yet he still lapped all below fifth man Teuvo Lansivuori. Roberts crossed the line more than 16 seconds ahead of johnny Cecotto, a nd Sheene on the Texac o Heron Suzuki,just never looked like catching the Yamaha pair. . Sheene's race was easier after first ~ teart.Jmate Pat Henne~ h~? to stop Wlth a pISton holed by an Igmtlon fault while battling with Barry for t hird spot, and then little American Ste ve Baker crashed the Nava Olio Fiat Suzuki on the 20th lap, while closing rapidly on the world champion. . Steve. went to the hospital fo r a precauuonary.check-up but he was no t the onl y top liner to take a heavy fall during the day. In the 350cc race, Yorkshirernan Mike Grant had to change line su d- denly, to m iss Frenchman Ch ristia n Sarron's broken down Yamaha, which was parked on the racing line at the be nd where last year's disaster struck. Mick was on the grass and off the bike like lig h tn ing . but fortunately everyone missed him , and the marshalling a nd first -aid facili ties stood the test. Poo r Mick d idn't come out of it so well. He chi pped a bone in his foot , but set off to Engla nd determined to race at Ou lton Park , if possib le. While Mick was doing his gym · nastics , his teammate Kork Ball ington was making easy work of winning the race. The new Kawasaki, in the hands of this South African was just too much for either Italian Franco Unc ini on the Venemotos Yamaha. or Takazumi Katayama on the latest three-cylinderworks Yamaha. The third Kawasaki super star, Gregg Hansford started off well, but his injured shoulder began to hurt. and he dropped back gradually to finish seventh, caught by jo.n Ekerold, O livier Chevallier and Michel Rougerie . Best race of the day, though, was the sidecar clash between West Cerman Werner Schwarzel with the latest. Fath-powered Am, and Swiss ace Rolf Biland , using the conventional Trachsel outfit powered by a fourcylind er Yamaha . The dice end ed when Schwarzel was forced to stop as his motor lost more and more power , and fin ally he pull out._Bu.U.! and Ills passenger Andre !: Huber had made Biland and Kenn W illiams w 'pr~fo!..~h«~ir )5 points. The scrap for second place was j as good, if not better! It starred Ceol'd ie Mac Hobson, and Kenny Birch in the Schmidham-Yam. and Frenchman Alain Michel and his new BritisH ballast Stu Collins in th e Seymaz. The record crowd, close on 100 ,000 , loved it , and things were so hectic that fairings touched more than once! Mac hung on to take second place with Alai n th ird, and slow starting George O 'Dell with Cliff Holland in the chair of the new Schmid Yamaha was only four seconds behind the pair thanks to some flat out driving in the final few la ps. Schwarzel's retirement wasn't the only blow for West Germany. Rolf Steinhausen was looking set for a top six place until the primary drive broke on his Yamaha. Other British sidecar racers, though, were not so lucky as Hobson and O 'Del l. Poor Dick Greasley d iscovered a puncture after th e warmup la p, and j ock Taylor had to stop te change a plug at the end of the first lap, but on ce restarted he charged through well to grab 12th place in his debutGP . Fourth race on th e da y's p rogramme was the 125cc event , won by Italian Eugenio La zza r in i who upset t he crowd by beating their hero, local ace Harald Bartol, who had been ahead for 10 ofthe 30 laps. Reign ing world chamion Pierpaolo Bianchi had his Minarelli engine mysteriously stop on the first lap at the end of the straight, and though he hurried on , once he had restarted, he couldn't climb higher than third . Clive Hoton, looking certain to make his mark on the 125cc world champion table this year, had the misfortune to take a tumble off hiJ Morbidelli, when lying a good sixth. • Results . 125cc 130 laps 79 miles) : 1 . E. Lazzorini 1M",); 2. H. Bartol IMor); 3 . P. Bianchi IMinl ; 4. T. Espie Im1Obecanel ; 5. P. L Conforti (M",); 6. B. Carlsson (M",); 7. H. Muller 1M",); B. M. Kinnunen (M",); 9. J.l.! Guignabodet lMO

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