Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

World Champlonahle.. Road Race SerIM: RoaIldS E ~ E Belgian fiasco ~ ·after stars -3 depart 0') •• § ~ By Chris Certer FRANCORCHAMPS. BELGIUM, JULY 1 . , A boycott by the world's top riders reduced the Belgian Grand Prix to litde more than an intemational meeting on Sunday. 18 and left the 100.000 crowd lining the new, shaner Spa Francorchamps circuit simmering on the edge of a riot. The callR of the riders' deCWon was the slippery state of the newly laid tarmac. and despite ItreDUOUI efforts by the oqanizers, the surface stayed treacherous. ' By Saturday afternoon. the paddock was beginning to thin out as riders decided to leave the circuit followinlt news that the organizers in liailon with the FlM jury had turned down a request to reduce the statui of the meeting from world champioosbip to international, with DO points at stake. Othen fonawed that evening. but more evacuated early Sunday morning after an estimated 2000 drunken fans showered the police and the paddock with stones and bottles late Sunday night. Cars were over-turned, a police van let on fin and dozens of straw bales burned. It was that. coupled with threats from IOIDe Wil Hanog supponers that persuaded Boet van DuImen and.J~ck Middleburg. two of the few remauung top linen prepared to race, to go. Fears that violence might erupt again on Sunday afternoon when the fans learnt that the stars had sone. proved groundless. though fighti~ did break out in sections of the maID grandstand soOn after the stan of the 500cc event. But the suspicion that something might happen was enough to ~ade the organizeD to accept a pIea from the sidecar entry to bring their race forward from the last race of the day. to third on the programme. The three-wheeler event. for B2A (conventional) sidecars was the only race wonhy of world dwnpionship status, and fonunately it was one of the best oCthe day, too. At the end of the 18 laps. Rolf Steinhauaen (Yamaha) emerged triumphant over reigning sidecar world champion Rolf Biland (Yamaha) to extend his lead in the category . over next best, Siegfried Schauzu (Yamaha). Now Steinhausen. with Briton Kenny Anhur in the chair, ·is 20 points ahead of Schauzu, who was ,pushed in· to founh place in Sunday's race by impressive Dic;Jr. Greas1ey (Yamaha). It looked as though Biland, who let the fastell time in training would walk away with the race, once he took the lead from early pacemaker Schauzu. But then as Stetnhausen. in second spot, began to come under pressure (rom Werner Schwa~ (Yamaha) the T r n this pair and the leader to shrink. . usen took command four laps from home. and held on to win by just under five seconds from the Swiss ace. But though the German was happy enough after the race. Biland ex· plained that he had had problems. "For the first three laps it was good, but then my front tire began to lOR grip, particularly on riJ[ht handers. Then I found the bike was un· dergeared, I just couldn't match the speed of Rolfs outfit. Then three laps from the finish I aaned to run shon of petrol. I wanted to make an attack at the 1aIt comer but it wasn't poISible." said Biland. Third home was Dick Greasley after another sluggish start that robbed him of any chance of catching the leading duo. But Greasley. with John Parkins in the chair looked once again world cl.... Out of the running went Werner Schwarze! (Yamaha) five laps from the flag. when battling with Biland and Steinhausen. after his fuel pump failed. Dennis Ireland (Suzuki) was the man to have the dubious pleasure of winning the SOOcc race, his a~rage speed was slower than the sidecan. and the absence of mOlt of the top naines in the 500cc class left him with little oppoIition to heat~ Second place went to Australian Kenny Blake (5SI Yamaha) who abo let the 500cc_. lap record. with youngster Gary Lingtwn (Suzuki) understandably not keen to give up his first ever Grand Prix outing. third home. Gary, in fact. held second spot. for a while till re\epted to third by Blake. But he was oo1y six seconds behind the AlIIIie after the 20 laps. Kenny's friend. and travelling companion. Chas Mortimer was also-pipped at the post in his bid to win a Grand Prix race. Chas was quickest in the 2SOcc training, and refused point blank to he pres-ganged by his fellow competitors into joining tbe boycott. Chas led Kawasaki mounted AUItrian Edi StoUinger over the line. starting the 1aIt lap of the lightweight event, )Mat in the sprinj. from La Sour· ce hairpin the Green Meanie was just a shade faster than Monimer's Yamaha. StoUinger won by half a second. the first Austrian GP success since the days of Bertie Schneider and his works SuzukU in the mid sixties. The l2See race' was another DOItaigic occasion. It went to Australian Barry Smith. who was back in. Europe for the 6nt time in len years. Appropriately Barry's last GP win' was the SOCC class in the 1969 Belgian GP at Spa Francorchamps. • Smith dropped back from the leading trio (or a while, becallR he thought they were getting a little wild. But then he piled on the pressure to win easily from the unknown Spaniard Marcelino Garcia (Morbidelll'). . Results IiOcc: 1. H.V. K _ lXll1; 2. T. r ..... l8uIl; 3. R. Kunz CKNI; 4. J. _ CAIIF1; 5. I. _ CKrWI: 8E. Ceredo lKJW; 7. V. _ .,..,t, 8- G. Singor lKJW; 9. R. ~ CBGSl; 10. C. Y. dangon lKJeI. 1121lcc115 ~ 14.71r~1.B. Smilh CMart, 2. M. ~ CMarI; tMlIAI; 5. J.F. l. M. V _ (Marl; 4. P. _ e. P. _ ( _ ; 7. A. 5 _ CMarl; B. F. Gronon tMBAl; 9. HubortlI tMlIAI; 10. R. _ tMlIAI. 2!iOa: 11 e IIpo. n.s milooI: 1. E. 5 _ _ C~; 2. C. _ lYoml; 3. M. s.yte lY_I; 4. F. _ lY....; 5. G.M. ~ lY ; 8- M. _ lYom!; 7. J. s.yte lY....; 8. J. LRo lY ; 9. Y. _ lYom!; ~ CMarI; 10. R. _ e-n lY_). 500cc C20 IIpo 11I.3 _ : 1. D. _ CSuzl; 2. K. __ lYom!; 3. G. LinghIm CSuzl; 4. G. Rei_ CSuzI; 5. • H. Devrioo CSuzl; 8. J. Hogo ISuzI; 7. J. CSuzl; B. G. Vag! CSuzl; 9. G. e-......ISuzI; 10. D. _ _ lYom!. ~C1811po. n.5_: 1. R. 5 _ . AI- thur lYom!; 2. R. _ . WIlliIporv lY_I; 3. D. ~/J. PIrtlitw lY_l; 4. S. _ L PuzolY_'; 5. A. MichoIIS. ColIna lY....; 8. M. 1loddIceIC. _ lV_t. 7. O. ~ lV_I; 8. H. _ . S d ~ lY....; 9. P. Frid _lAuolrIliI ~ 45; 3. G. _llloly Marl 40; 4. R. _!USA Yom! 38; 5. W. IIIIe IIlIIy Yom! 31 ; 8. P. ........ ....... Yoml2l5. 5OOcc: 1. V. Fen8ri (1loIy Suzl81; 2. PC. _ _ lUSA Yom! 75; 3. W. t'Ionog ..-.01 SuzI 55; 4. F. Unc:ini IIlIIy SuzI 38; 5. B. ~ 1GB SuzI 36; 8. T. _ IGBSuzl28. ,. S_ _ IIN. KSAl 52; 2. _ lIN. '"""'-'t Yoml 32; 3. CiI"Jhki1. fG8 v.... 21; 4. BiI. .:I'W P. t U lSwltaoiaidl 27; 6. BrodinIGIhI ~ Yoml22; 8~ """'1Sd ~ $ '. /lIN. a.rm.,y, 20. World Chamt\0nShie SOOCc X series: Round I Noyce. • nips Lackey-By Chris Myers \ FARLEIGH CASTLE. WILTSHIRE, ENGLAND. JULY I Mobbed by an ecstatic crowd, Great Britain's Graham Noyce .mounted the victory rostrum at sunny Farleigh Castle in Wiltshire on Sunday to become first Briton in eleven years to win a Motocrtll5 Grand Prix on home ground. Not since 1968 when ic Eastwood raced a Husqvarna to victory over the same circuit has a Briton won an overall Grand Prix at home. "With everyone cheering... pushing me on. I just had to win. What e~ could I do?" said a jubilant Noyce after his dream victory on a works Honda in front of a record 28.000 crowd who packed the t';'isty. bumpy and ~ry tricky circuit. Noyce's tally of a win in the second race plus his runner up spot first time out was his own personal best ever result and now he leads his nearest rival in the world championship. Dutchman Gerrit' Wolsink (Suzuki). by 27 points - 162 to 1!l5. Victor at Farleigh for the la51 two years. Brad Lackey (Kawasaki) ill« pipped Noyce for the lead in the first race seconds after the start and went on to the checkered nag to win bY' just five seconds. But next time out there was no holding the British champion: again he gated brilliantly to take the number one spot just after the first bend ~nd stay out in front for the next 45 glorious minutes. Reigning world champion . Finn Heikki Mikkola (Yamaha) returned to the grand prix fray at Farleigh after injury had forced him to miss the previous round in West Germany. But the bad luck that has dogged the world champion all season did not let up. He dropped out half way through the first race ~ith a nat rear tire while holding third place and could only ma...age fifth next time out. ow he has slumped to fifth in. the title stakes with 88 points. behind Bdgium's multi-world champion Roger DeCoster (Suzuki) who has 94. Mikkola is privatdy admitting that with four rounds remaining in the championship the chances of him claiming his founh 500cc title have all but disappeared. . Top British points scorer at Farleigh apart from noyce _was Maico man Geoff Mayes who scored with a sixth place in the first race. but crashed in the second. Official next best Briton at Farleigh was Scot Vic Allan. who managed two tenth places on his Bultaco. Irishman Laurence Spence (Cotton- EMX) scored his first GP points of the season with a well-deserved eight in the first race but failed to score next time out. Bob Wright-(CCM) struck terrible luck at Farleigh; he crashed twice in the first race. eventually pulling out with a broken clutch lever. and dropped out of the second when the drive chain slipped off and jammed the sprocket. Frenchman jean jacques Bruno .(KTM) and West German works Maico man Herbert Schmitz both came out badly after a first-race. first· bend pile-up with Wright and Belgian Ivan Van den Broeck (Maico) and neither rejoined the race. Swedish veteran Bengt Aherg (Maico) made third on lap one of the first race behind Lackey and Noyce. Founh was Miltltola. ahead of Belgian works Suzuki man Andre Bromans with Dutchman Gerard Rond (Suzuki) in sixth spot. . Lackey had a two-second advantage on the second lap as he struggled to keep Noyce at bay and Aberg slipped further behind. Rond. who had crashed in practice. and injured his knee. dropped off the leaderboard and retired at the halfway stage. Aberg tired rapidly in the heat and within a few laps he too had dropped out of the points. By lap six Lackey had stretched his lead to three seconds but he had to fight every inch of the way to do it. New man in third place was Wolsink. on his way up after staning in ninth. Lackey and Noyce cleared off from Wolsink. and the rest of the pack. By the seventh lap the Dutchman was I!> seconds down on the leader and having his work cut out to fight off a determined challenge from Vromans. Fifth was Noyce's Honda team mate, Malherbe. ahead of DeCoster. These two battled away for two laps before the Suzuki man slipped past. Now DeCoster turned his attentioil to Vromans. tailing him for five lap; before his adversary went wide at a tight right hander letting hin through. . With the bit between his tee(l DeCoster set off after Wolsink and for the remaining few laps these tWl> engaged in a real set-to. that ended when the checkered nag went dowil and DeCoster had a split second advantage. The second race was a runaway victory for Noyce who was cheered on ever:ywhere on every lap. Van den Brocck tucked in behind him at the start ahead of Mikkola and Malherbe but as they came round to complete the first lap it was Malherbe in runnerup position from Van den Brocck. Mikkola and DeCoster. By lap two Noyce had a four second lead on Malherbe. Van den Brocck had slipped to tenth after a spill and IkCoster had made third. passing Mikkola with ease on a downhill stretch. Bruno went out early on after banging the left foot he injured in Canada. At the halfway stage the field had spread out behind Noyce; Malherbe was almost six seconds down and racing to win - there are no team o~ ders in the Honda camp. But the man who was really movin( now was Lackey who had gated badlr and had now fought his way up te fourth behind DeCoster. Mikkola was fifth. ahead or Vromans who was slowing with 1 exhaust and Van den Broeck. Wolsink was really struggling dows in eighth spot. unable to get into tht swing of things and disappointed with his performance. Now the pattern of the race was established and the top six men ~tayed

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