Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Barry Sheene wheelies his factory Suzuki off the grid. Kenny Roberts (1) won; Sheene was fifth. (File photo.) World Championship GP Road Racing Series - Round four Roberts widens title gap withwi~ in Italy By Chris Carter Kenny Roberts tightened his grip on the 500cc world title with another magical display of road racing In the Italian Grand Prix at rac early on when the ge a r·c ha nge Mugello. lever broke on th e works Min arelli . 12 T he Ame rican overcame a bad start to win with ease, wh ile Ba rry Sheen e was pushed into fift h spo t by Pat Hen · nen , Marco Lucchinelli a nd fin all y Steve Bak er. Barry is still fa r from fighti ng fit after picking up a virus infection in Venuezu ela. Bu t now Roberts and H ennen are ahead of him in the c h a m pi ons h ip chase and sta rt ing slightly to pull away, with all rounds to count it's far from over. But though the 500 cc class has pride of place in the World Champion ships, the 250cc and 350cc events are begin- . ning to bo il up, Wfiile Mick Grant was driving back to Bri tain after being refused a ride by th e track do ctor, South African Kork Ballington and Australian Gregg Hansford on their Kawasakis were wowing the crowds. Kork won both races but ea ch time he had Hansford breathing down his neck , and in the 250cc event it was so close that the tim ekeepers co u ld n' t separate them , th ough the judges ga ve th e verd ict to Kork by just a wheel. Little Italia n Eugenio Lazzarini p roved the old saying that you win some and you lose som e in th e racing game by taking firs t place in the l 25cc event, where reign ing champi on .Pier paolo Bianchi had to pull ou t of the 50cc 1 laps-39.08 miles): 1. A. Tormo IBull 2. P. 12 ; P1isson IABF); 3. J . Van 2eebroeck IKre); 4. R. Blatter tKrel: 5. Derfl inger (Krel; 6. A. Pero (KIa); 7. W . Muller (Krel: 8. A. J eva (Mor); 9. S. Monreale UFO); 10. P. Dumon t (Kre); 11. P. Cervi (Kre); 12. C. Lusuardi (Bull; 13. E. CeredaIUFO); 14. H. Klein IK re). Record Lap: S. Dorflinger IK 2. 2B.l. · 79.17 mph. re); Old record A. Nieto (Bull 2m 32.25 - MUGE L LO, ITALY , MA Y 14 It wasn't m erely th at Kenny won aga in, bu t m ore the way he di d it , and the way his riva ls tried in vai n to stay with him . Frenchman Thierry Espie on the Motobecane led for a while but then his engine seized . and down he went after 15 laps. Espie remounted but he could only manage fourth spot , though he was right on third placeman. Harold Bartol'stail at the line. . Second spot went to another Italian Maurizio Massimiani on a Morbidelli , but Lazzarini is galloping away with the title chase. . Not so clear is who is going to win the 250 and 350 titles , The 350cc event was the first on the programme and it was very much a Kawasaki benefit. Kork Ballington took the lead after a poor start, he was soon joined by Gr egg Hansford on the Australian Kawasaki . The pair left their rivals behind with Takazumi Katayama , Michel Rougerie and Jon Ekerold locked in an all-Yama ha scra p. Eke rol d cras hed without injury, Kat ayama pi pped Rougerie to the line fOL third pla ce but th e crowd hardly noti ced - they wer e st ill talk ing abo ut th e last -lap scra p wh en Ball in gton held off Hansford's challenge to win . Kork did it ag ain in the 250cc race. a nd aga in he set a record -b reaking la p. This tim e th ough it was Ha nsfor d who led on th e fin al circ uit after a race- long due l. bu t Kork found a littl e ex tra pace on the ru n-in to win by a wheel. Kenny Rob ert s was with th em for a' while , but he dropped back when the rear tyre began to fail on his Yamah a, he was st ruggli ng to mat ch th e Kawasakis and th oughts of a safe third spot wer e sha ttered when the Yamaha seized and Kenny was out. Third hom e was Italian Franco Un. cin i a long wa y behind th e Gr een Meanies. • Results But Eugenio h imself had problems in the 50cc event whic h opened Su nday's p rog r amm e , a nd co u ld do no t h ing to stop Sp a n ia rd Ri carod Tormo 's win on th e facto ry Bult aco , while L az zarini on th e Va n Vee n Kreidl er was last. Sid ecars are just -a n afte r,th ou ght in Ital y - th e last time th ey tried to run a rou nd the crowd in vad ed th e track a t Im ola and forced th e cancel a tio n of the event . This tim e th e orga nizers ran th e three-wheeler ra ce at th e end of Saturday's practice, when the re wasn't en ough spectators around to ca use a riot. In fact it was the sidecar drivers themselves who came closest to making trouble. Before the race a gr oup of them told Swiss ace Rolf Biland in no uncertain terms that they d idn't think his new ca r-style dev ice was good for the sport. When Biland , with Kenny Williams no more than an interested spectat or at his side, won the race, to no tch h is th ird successive win and extend his lead , the rest of the sideca r drivers were even less ha ppy . H el mut Fa th , t he hrill iant W est German engineer who bu ilt th e engi ne . to power Werner Schwarze!'s Aro , was so angry he tr ied to sto p Sch wa rzel goi ng on to the podium to ta ke seco nd prize. Bu t Werner relu cta ntly wen t to the prize p resentation. Biland looks all set to win the titl e , and t h ings look gri m for George O'Dell , th e reigning champion , who had to make a pit stop to fix a loose throttle and lost so much ground he cou ld only climb ba ck to I Oth spot. Schwarzel roc keted int o . the lea d . bu t h is fe llo w co u n trym a n Rol f Stei nhause n d idn 't even get off th e gr id . H e was r amm ed b y ano t he r Geman , O tto Haller . a nd his sidecar was too bad ly d am aged , for him to sta rt. Schwa rzel was ca ug ht by Biland in the closing stages of the race. Rolf played around a while befor e pulling out a com forta b le lead . His win was even mor e va lua ble to him as Mac. Hobson co u ld on ly man age twelf th spo t a nd fail ed to a dd to his score . Also Alan Michel , in second spo t with Ma c in th e titl e chase. had an engi ne seizu re on th e first lap . Dick Greasley looked better tha n for so met im e and c h ased third pla ce finisher Bruno Holzer home. Scotsman Jock T aylor had got th e motor to match the continentals , but eighth spot gave him three more points, a nd won him more friends, Sunda y, aft er th e ra in and cloud of Saturday, was bri gh t and su nny, a nd the fan s were ou t ea rly on the hillsides overlooking th e Mugello circu it. Tormo won th e 50cc race , but he was ch as ed hom e by Frenchm an Patri ck Pli sson o n h is ABF, th e Spa nia rd crossed th e line barely two seconds ah ead . T hird hom e was BelgianJulian Van Zeebroeck , but th e Va n Vee n Kr e idler cha lle nge from Lazari ni was blu nted when he ha d to wait two la ps before joining the ba tt le after a pro b lem with th e eng ine at the start . La zzari ni made no mistake in the l 25cc event. This time it was Bia nchi's turn to ha ve the problem s · t he gea r lever brok e on the Minarelli and he was out of the h unt . n .04 mph . 125cc 120 lap. -65.14 miles): 1. E. Lazzarini IMar); 2. M. Massimiani (Mar); 3. H. Bartol {M orl; 4. T. Espie (mo to-B); 5. j).E. Carlsson (Marl ; 6. H. Mu ller (Mot); 7. A . Nieto fBull; B. J.J. Guignabodet (Mar); 9. S. Dorflinger (Mar); 10. E. Cereda (Mot) ; 11. B. Vasetti (Marl ; 12. 1.Zerbini (Marl ; 13. E. Giuliano (Marl ; 14. R. Russo (Mar); 15.1. Pete zzese (Marl . Record Lap: T. Espie IMoto-BI; 2m 15.1s • 86.79 mph . Old record O. Buscherini (M alancal and P. conforti (Ma r) 2m 18.35 - 84.78 mph . 250cc (23laps -74.91 milesl : 1. K. Ballington (Kawl ; 2. G. Hansford (Kaw l; 3. F. Uncin i (Yam); 4. T. Herron (Yaml; 5. P. Fernandez (Yam); 6. M . Lega (Marl; 7. O. chevallier IV am); B. R. Roche IVaml; 9. J . F. Balde IKaw); 10. S. Asami (Vam); 11. A. Mang IKawl; 12. S. Pazaaglia (Yaml; 13. J . Dodds (Yaml; 1.4 F. Solaroli IV am); 15. V. Soussan IVam). Record Lap: 1. K. Ballington IKew) 2m 9.35 - 90.68 mph. Old record W. Villa IH-D12m12.6s • 88.42 mph; 350cc 1251005-81-43 miles): 1. K. Ballington (Kaw); 2. G. Hansford (Kawl; 3. T. Katayama (Yaml; 4. M. Rougerie

• Cover