Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Cycle News 1979 06 06

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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500cc MX Series (Continued from page 13) Claude Gomaz (Maico) .was fourth with Belgian Andre Malherbe (H on da) a nd No yce fifth and sixth. respectively. Mikkola was seventh. Wolsink and Lackey pulled awa y from the rest of the field as Gomez disappeared from the leaderboard. Lackey pressed Wols ink hard and the Dutchman's lead lasted j ust fou r laps before La ckey too k over a nd opened up the gap . Bruno went out with a colla psed rear wheel on lap six as Noy ce overhauled Ma lherbe and closed o n Wolsink. No yce was really flying. and on la p 11 came past as Mikkola put Malherbe behind h im . By the th irteenth la p. La cke y's lead was some two seconds from No yce . Mikkola took up stations in third one lap later and now the slowing Wolsink in fourth place had his work cut out fighting off a new challenge from Mal herbe . Four laps from the flag Noyce and Lackey were battling away for the lead. Side by side they tore into bends, and then just when No yce forced his ma chine half a wheel into the lead , he crashed. He rem ou n ted in second spo t again . but co uld no t- make up the distance again, and at t he flag Lackey had an eigh t second lead. Third was Mikkola , well down, and fourth came Wo lsink ahead of Belgian Andre Vrom ans (Suzu ki). who 'd come past Malherbe on the last lap. Rond was seventh - a magnificent effo rt after his crash on the first lap that put him at the back of the field in 29th spo t. Multi-World Champion Roger De Coster (Suzuki) pulled out on the first ' lap after a flying stone hit him on his _ knee. and West ,Cerman Herbert Schmitz on th e works Maico retired on the same lap after a heavy crash. The organizers watered the track in between ra ces to keep down the dust and the combination of dust and water soon fouled up'the riders' goggles early on in the second race. Again it was Wolsink who took the start. and at the end of the first lap he still held the lead with Mikkola in second from Rond , DeCoster and Gomez. Lackey and Noyce were well down in 11th and '16th places; respectively . after poor starts. Lackey pulled out the stops and on . the sixth lap he had hauled himself up behind DeCoster in fifth as Mikkola challenged Wolsink for the lead. Positions of the top five men remained the same for the next seven laps. Sixth, well behind came West German Fritz Kobele (Maico ) from Bruno. Swedish veteran Arne Lindfors (Yamaha) and Noyce. - With Wolsink ou t in front Mikkola, Rond _and DeCoster and Lackey fought a four-way battle for the run nerup spo t . and both DeCoster and Rond b riefl y took Mikkola's second place until the Finn took it back finally on the last lap.. DeCoster settled for third at the flag, wh ile Rond came in fourth well clear of Kobele after Lackeydisappeared from the scene on the last but o!!e lap. • Results o-all: I . G. Wol sink (Suzl 8 + 15=23; 2 . H. Mikkola lYaml 10 + 12 -22; 3. G. Noyce IHanl 12 +5 -17;4. 8 .lJIckey (KawI15 +0=15; 6. G. Rond ISuzl4 + 8 - 12;6. R. DeCoster (SuzI 0 + 10 - 10; 7. A. Vromans (Suz}6 + 0 _ 6/F. Kobele IMai) 0 + 6 - 6; 9 . A. Malherbe IHon} 5 +0 -5; 10 . J-J . Bruno IKTM) 0+4 .. 4; II . V. Van Den Broek IMail3 + 0 = 31A. lindfors IVam) 0 + 3 - 3; 13. C. Sun tHus} 0 + 2 - 21H. Anderson IHusl 2 + 0 - 2; 15 . P Herlings (Mai) 0 + I = II H. Schmitz IMai} I + 0 = I . First race: 1. lackey; 2. Noyce; 3. Mikkola; 4. Wo'aink; 5. Vromans; 6. Malherbe; 7. Rond; 8. Van Den 8roeck; 9. Andorsaon; 10. Schmitz. Second: 1. Wol.ink; 2. Mikkola; 3. DeCoster; 4. Rend; 5. Kobele; 6. Noyce; 7. Bruno; 8. LIndfors ; 9. Sun; 10. Herlings. . World Championship poin t Standings: I . lJIckey . 61 ; 2. Noyce , 57 ; 3 . Wolsink. 50 ; 4. Mikkola, 40; 5. Bruno, 35; 6 . Rond . 31; 7. Van Den BroekiMalherbe. 28; 9. DeCoster. 24; 10. Vromans. , 4 . ~ Road Race Series (Cont inued from page 13) The final record-breaking lap went to Roberts. In the closing stages when the ra ce was firmly in his pocket he hammered round in 1 m in . , 56 .0 sec .. to put his name once more in t he record books. Pri vateer Mike Baldwin . the sensation of the AGV Nations Cup at Imola last O ctober , showed he had forgott en nothing about the Italian circuit. He was fourth fas tes t in practice and m ight well have im p roved on h is fif th place if his tires had stood the test bet ter. Roberts' Yamaha teamm ate Christian Sarron pulled out after 2~ laps absolutely exhausted. He was fa r from fit before the race .a nd th e ' heat and pace finally took their toll . It wasn 't exhaustion , though ., that wor ried Kel Carruthers and his crew. Like everyone else, they had topped -u p Kenny's tank after the warm-up lap , but they were seriously debating bringing Kenny in for a lightening fuel stop on the last lap. But with scarcely more than ten seconds in hand they gambled on finishing the race ' an d they won their bet. In comparison with the previous week's race at Hockenheim , the ~50cc event was tame stuff. brought to life only by some dramatic retirements along the way . Jon Ekerold was the first to go . He crashed at Rivazza on the first lap. leaving h is arch rival Kork Ballington (Kawasaki) well clear of the rest . fol lowed by Walter Villa (Ya m a h a). Christian Estrosi (Kawasaki) and Randy Mamola (Yam a ha) . Mamola was next to go . His engine seized in the final practice session and the new motor had not had the luxury of being run-in and seized again . Gregg Hansford (Ka wasa ki), meantime, was carving his way through the pack. Sixth on the second lap , the Australian had moved up into second berth four laps later. By then Ballington's lead looked im pregnab le - with more than seven seconds advantage, the race seemed in his pocket. Hansford . though , had other ideas. He whittled the lead down to less than four seconds , but Ballington had started , to move away again and had pulled open a six-second lead when .the crankshaft fa iled. The 250cc race lacked excitement too . It was a Kork Ballington (Kawasaki) benefit. He galloped home more than 27 seconds ahead of American teenager Randy Mamola (Yamaha), who was troubled by Grazziano Rossi (Morbidelli) until the eighth lap when . he took a tumble. • . /41<115"l5 g5 1WO HI5I5 · 5 10,..14 I G ,..010 . • »: Results 5Oc:e: 1. E. l.IzDrini (Kre); 2. R. Blatter IKrol; 3. P. Looyeeteyn IKre); 4. A. ,era IKrel; 5. H. Klein (Deoo); 6. P. P1iuon lABA; 7. M . Serveeio (UFO); 8. I. Emmerich . IKrel ; 9. Eo SafIiotti IPac); 10. P. Priori(Deril. 12Scc: 1. A. Nieto (Min); :z. T. Espie (Moll; 3. M. Moesimoni (MBAl; 4 . B. Kneubler (M8A ?; 5. H. Muller (MBAl; 6 . E.l.IzDrini (Mar); 7 . P. Comfoni IMBAl; 8. A. Auinger IMar); 9. S . Ferretti (MBAl; 10. B. Cerlaon (Morl. . 25Oc:e: 1. K. Ballington IKawI;:z. R. Mamola lYaml; 3. 8 . Di1chbum IKaw); 4 . W . Villa lYam); 5 . J . F. Balde 1Kaw1; 6. P. Fomandez lYam); 5. P. Pileri lYaml; 8. M. Mottooni lYam); 9. P. Korhonen lYaml; 10. T. Espie lYam). 35Occ: 1. G. Hansford IKaw); :z. S . Asami lYam); 3 . P. Fernandez lYam); 4. A. Meng IKawl; 5. J . Sayle lYaml; 6. M. Sayle lYaml; 7. E. Elias IVaml; 8 . R. Roth lYam); 9. A. FaciolVlYaml. 5OOcc: 1. K. Roberts lYaml; 2. V. Ferrari ISuzl; 3. T. Herron ISuzl; 4 . B. Sheena ISuzI; 5. M. Baldwin (Suz); 6. B. Fau ISuz); 7. J. Middleburg ISuz); 8. P. Coulon ISuzl; 9. G. Roosio IMorl; 10 . S . Pelletier ISuzl. World Championship Point Standings 500cc; 1. P. Loovesteyn IKrel 22; 2. R. 81ano, IKrol 20; 3. E. Lazzarini (KreIIG. Waibel IKre) 15; 5. A Pero IKrolll. Emmerich IKre)13. 12Scc: 1. A. Nieto IMinl60; 2. H. Muller (MBAl25; 3 . H BortoIIMor)fT. Espie Moll 24 ; 5. E. l..az2arini IMorIIG. Bender IBen116 . . 25Occ: 1. K. Ballington IKaw) 42; 2. R. Mamola IVaml 40; 3. W . VillalYam) 23; 4 . B. Ditchburn IKaw113 ; 5. A. Mang tKawIN. Sou...n lYaml 10. 35Occ: 1. J . Ekerold lOps ) 33; 2 . K. Ballington IKawl 31; 3. A. Meng IKawI 30; 4. P. Fernandez lYaml 25; 5. W . ViliaiM. Frutsetli lYam118. 5OOcc: 1. V. Ferrari IS uzl 46; 2. K. Roberts (Vam l 42 ; 3. T. Herron IS uz) 28 ; 4 . W . Hanog (SuzI 25 ; 5 . B. S'-"e ISuz) 23; 6. F. Uncini ISuz) 18. . 21

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