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/126411
World Championship Road Race Series: Round 2 Roberts recovers, scores • win at Salzbu / By Chris Carter Photos by Graham Hanslip SAUBURGRING. AUSTRIA, APR. 2~ Yamaha's Kenny Roberts confounded all those who said he would take time to recover from the injuries he received in his pre-season crash inJapan, when he destroyed the opposition to win the 500cc race in the Austrian GP. . h Arch rival , Barry Sheene, ad a disastrous day. His Suzuki developed a front brake fau lt on the warm-up lap, and in the race he slipped farther and farther back after a slick stan to finish twelfth. out of the points. The man who put the pressure on Roberts was Italian Virginio Ferrari (Suzuki) , who might well have given Kenny an even tougher time had his front tire, an intermediate instead of a slick, not started to overheat and slide in the closing stages of the 45 lap race. Even so, he finished only six seconds behind the sensational American. and the runnerup spot took his World . Championship points tall y to 24 to carry him into th e title lead. Kenny was more than just irnpressive. His lay.off did not appe~~ to have affected hIS confidence or ability, and while his rivals faced the elements of Saturday. when mow , rain and mist delayed practice for four hours and turned the track into a skid pan, he calmly drove into Salzburg to go shopping! "I felt stiff when I got off the bike. but during the race everything was fine . I had no problems at all." said Kenny , cool, calm and collected after his one-man Yamaha show. Roberts' only hope of Yamaha mounted assistance after Frenchman Christian Sarron had been advised by his doctor not to race the factory mount following his Brands crash was Johnny Cecotto. who had been fastest in Friday's dry test session . The Vene zuelan made a bad start. though. and Kenny Roberts didn't let the post-crash layoff bother him and he beat . Vlrginio Ferrari 1111 by six seconds to win the 500cc class. 12 on the twelfth lap, when lying sixth . he crashed at the chicane. bringing down Giovanni Rolando (Suzuki ). In the tumble Cecotto injured his knee, bu t Rolando was unhurt, Third home was Dutchman Wil Hartog (Suzuki) . looking none the worse. for his crash earlier in the year when he broke an arm. More Suzuki works machinery, ridden by Tom Herron . and factory . tester Hiroyuko Kawasaki, filled founh and fifth places . Herron, almost fully fit after his Easter crash. had a real ding-dong scrap with the Japanese newcomer and was only 1 ~ seconds ahead at the flag and barely 2~ seconds down on the slowing Hanog. Privateer Franco Uncini (Suzuki) beat Steve Parrish (Suzuki) home for sixth place. A face -full of petrol 14 laps into the 550cc race robbed Jon Ekerold (Yamaha) of his chance of beating reigning World Champion Kork Ballington (Kawasaki). Up until that moment, when Jon flipped open the petrol cap after the breather pipe had become blocked, it looked as though the result would be in doubt un til the final sprint to the finishing line . It was Ekerold who had been out front, after ousting qu ick starting Chas Mortimer (Yamaha) from num ber one spot , only to be caught by fellow South African Ballington on the eleventh lap . But even when the Kawasaki ace went ahead, Ekerold refused to admit defeat and was glued to Kork's rear tire . But when Jon's fuel problems started, the invisible towrope snapped, and try as he might. he could not get back on equal terms. And how he triedt By the end of the race his right knee was raw and bleeding where the leathers had worn through as he cornered on the limit . With eyes red and watering from the fuel that had splashed up . Ekerold finish 22 seconds down on Ballington. Third home was Anton Mang on an other factory Kawasak i. He had made a sluggish stan, but passed both Swiss ace Michel Frutshci (Yamaha) and little Carlos Lavado on the Vencmotos Yamaha in the closing stages. Frutschi had to be content with fourth place, but unlucky Lavado, winner at San Carlos in March, took a tumble at the chicane in the final lap and was whipped to the hospital after being roughly manhandled off the track with a broken leg. . Lavado's teamm ate Walter Villa was fifth , only a fraction of a second clear of Frenchman Patrick Fernandez lBelow) Jon Ekerold gave winner Kork Bellington fits in the 350cc race. IBottom 1Rolf Biland's prototype sidecar winning rig.