Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Boet VIIn Dulman - at center, obviously - took his first 500cc roecl race World Champlo.shlp Road Rael., series: Rou.dJO Dulmen dominates, Roberts sidetracked in Finnish GP By Chris Carter IMATRA, FINLAND, JULY 29 Boet Van Dulmen capped one of his most unforgettable weeks by Winning the 500cc race in Sunday's Finnish Grand Prix at 16 Imatra to score his first ever World Championship victory. The Dutch rider had been visited by officers in the Finnish police drugs squad. after someone had mistaken 8oet's roll-your-own cigarette equipment for more sinister smoking material. The police left full of apologies when theyofound no trace of marijuana. The Boet was listed as fastest man after the two days of practicing. almost two seconds faster than next best Kenny Roberts. But though few people believed it to be true. it was Van Dulmen who set a rocket-like pace. and he finally charged home l!l seconds ahead of the runner-up American teenager Randy Mamola, and 18 seconds up on third place finisher Barry Sheene. . Amidst a race of drama and excitement Kenny Roberts, the reigning World Champion, recovered from a mistake at the railway station chicane when lying third on the fourth lap. to finish sixth and extend his championship lead over unlucky Virginio Ferrari from two points to eight. Ferrari fell victim to the other Imatra chicane, but unlike Roberts. the Italian was not abIe to recover GP win in RnIand. (File photo.' from his mistake. The Suzuki ace climbed up to twelfth spot. before his er:tgine died on the final lap and he shpped back to fifteenth place in the final results. The race was delayed one and a half hours thanks to a torrential downpour as the competitors lined up on the grid for the !l!)Occ race which started the four-race program. It rained so hard they had to wait 20 minutes for it to ease off. and then came anOt!ler lap to survey the wet track. The race was chopped by a lap, but still took close on an hour to run. and the whole timetable began to suffer. Further delay was ca.used when the !)OOcc competitors demanded two laps warm-up, and the opportunity to change their tires after that, if they wanted to. The organizers were left with very little choice. for riders' spokesman Barry Sheene made it.c1ear that if they did not fall in line with .this demand they just wouldn't race at all. But when it came to the crunch, it was the broken rear chain on Michel Rougerie's Suzuki that led to another ten-minute wait, because no one bothered to change from their original choice of tire whether that was slick or rain tire. Kenny Roberts led the pack off the grid, with the new 2.!l-mile shorte.ned Imatra track still wet in patches. but drying out. By the end of the first lap Van Dulmen was in front and the others didn't see which way he went. Fellow countryman Jack Middelburg was second, Kenny Roberts third and Wil Hartog fourth, giving the inevitable plane load of Dutch enthusiasts plenty to cheer about with three countrymen among the first four. Ferrari had his trip up the slip road at the end of the next lap, when lying seventh, but before Roberts had a chance to appreciate the position fully. he too had gone straight on at a chicane. . The American rejoined the fray in ntnth place, and charged off in pursuit of the others. By the end of the 26-lap race he was up to sixth place, after Johnny Cecotto had spotted the signal from the Yamaha race chief to slow down. . It ~~ht have been even fifth place If Chnstlan Sarron had seen his signal instructing him to let Roberts through. The Frenchman didn't see it though, and was given a talking to after the race. Van Dulmen was tremendous, and Randy ~am?la, too, very impressive. T~e Cahfornlan youngster said that he might even have caught Boet if his front brake had not started to go very spongy midway through. Randy's hand was so tired after pumping the lever he just hd to ease off. ~hird was Barry Sheene, happy to be 10 the top three for the third GP outing in succession, but a touch unhappy he hadn't been able to catch Mamola. Seven laps from home, with the American in sight, Barry had been close to being brought down when West German Gustav Reiner's Suzuki skittled across the track after a spill, and IYt his front wheel as Barry was lapping him. Sheene stayed on, but lost ground, and at the end of the race was still five seconds short on catching Mamola. However, the points were enough to put Barry into third place in the championship chase, with 60 points to Roberts' score of 88 and Ferrari's tally of 81. Wil Hartog's hopes of staying in contact with the leading pair slumped when his Suzuki struck carburetor trouble, and he dropped back from one-time second place. chasing' Van Dulmen to finish tenth. Middelburg, too, dropped down the field.from second place to Sevenlh, but despite claims that his Suzuki was too slow he climbed back to fourth, and notched the fastest lap of the race. Steve Parrish was left struggling to fire up his SuzuIt! when the race finally began, but his tremendous ride through from the back came just one place short of scoring world championships points when he finished eIevemh. That rain-soaked !l!)Occ race had drarr:tatic bearing ~ t~ championship placmgs, after relgnmg title holder Kork Ballington (Kawasaki) had slid off at the level crossing comer when in third place on the eighteenth lap. Kork went down as the front wheel locked as he braked for the 90 degree bend, but he was unhurt in what was his first crash since the 1977 Spanish GP. Ballingcon remounted and finished ninth. Those two points were not enough for him to hang on to the championship lead because Patrick Fernandez (Yamaha) grabbed second place to Gregg HalllOrd (Kawasak) and moved two p?ints ahead of the South African, With three more races to 1(0. Unlucky Jon Ekerold (Yamaha) looked let for a top three place until the rain, the cold and exertion toolt their toll on his recently broken leg_ T!'e tough ~th African cou.Id hardly climb off his bike when he finally quit. but by then he had slumped from first place to fifth. Walter Villa (Yamaha) was among the leaden. too, until he ran straight on at the level crossing comer, and though he rejoined the fray, t~ Venemotos machine expired a few laps later. Ballingcon was not happy at his !l!)Occ tumble, but he bounced back to score a tremendow victory in the 2!)Occ event after a magnificent race" with Kawasaki team·mate Gregg Han· sford. But both must have breathed ii sigh of relief when Graziano Rossi retired on the fint lap when a carb~.tret?r f~1I ort: the ultra-quick Morbldelh, wIDner ID Sweden the previous Sunday. The track was beginnin, to dry out, and the sun was shimng as the Kawasaki duo battled it out for supremacy. Both looked as though they were playing a waiting game as first one led and then the other, but in the sprint to the line Kork had the edge.. . Patrick Fernandez (Yamaha) was with the pair for' a while but he couldn't stay with them and letded for a safe third, though that was in doubt at the crunch because Swiss Roland Freymond (Yamaha) followed up a fine !l!)Occ ride by chasing Fernandft home. Fifth was Walter Villa (Yamaha) obviousIy happy with the conditions, but poor Christian Estrosi (Kawasaki) s~w a bundle of championship points disappear when his machine seized for the !l<"'''mh and final time. The I2!)cc race, like the !l!)Occ ~ent, was a wet and sorry affair. Ricardo Tormo (Bultaco) liked the rain and won his fint 12!)cc GP at a canter, well clear of Finn Matti Kinnunen (MBA) who was over half a minute behind. Third was Hans Muller (Morbidelli) I!) seconds down on Kinnunen but well clear of fourth place finisher Stefan Dorflinger (Morbidelli). Rei~i.ng world champion Eugenio Lazzanm was taken to hospital after knocking hilnself out when he crashed at the railway chicane and Pier Paolo Bianchi (Minarelli) saw his chance to go when his machine hit mechanical problems. Fifth over the line was Australian Barry Smith (Morbidelli) who had his . carburetor in bits when the race staned. • ' Results . 125cc 123 IlIpo. 70.61 . . . .: 1. R. Torma 1BuIJ' 2. M KinnurwllM8AI; 3. H. _ lM8AI; 4. 5. ~ lMotl; 5. B. Smith lM8AI; 6. M. GIn:ilIlMo,l; 7. 5. ".,. . . , IMIIA); B. G. s.ndor lBenl; 9. M. e-tin lM8AI; 10. A. AuingerlMotl. _ l o p : R. Torma CBulI2m 26.80 - 75.39 mph. 25Oa: 124 .... n.n ....: 1. K. - . . . . oc-t. 2. G. _ (~I; 3. P. ~ lVoml; 4. R: Freymond IV_I; 5. W. Villo IV_I; 6. P. Korhnone lVoml; 7. J. _ e<-I; B. P. Nurmi IY_I; 9. B. EIgh IV_I; 10. 5. _lVoml. _ l o p : G. _ ~12m 18.31-80Jl5 mph. 3liOccl241l1po. 73.n ....:1. G. _ ae-I' 2 P. _ l V o m l ; 3. P.It_lVoml; 4. A. I~I; 5. R. Freymond lVoml; 6. C. _ nc-tIB. EIgh lVoml; B. P. Nurmi lVoml; 9. K. IIoIIingIon oc-t. 10. M. W_IV_I. . 500cc 126 .... 79.92 . . . .: 1. B. V.. Dulm-.1SuzI· 2. R. MomcU lSuzl; 3. B. ~ ISuzl; 4. J. - : 1Suzl; 5. C. Sorron IV_I; 6. K. -.s1V_1· 7..J. Cecono IV_I; 8. P. Coulon fSuzl; 9. M. lue: _lSuzl; 10. W. Honog.ISuzl. _ l o p : J. ISuzIlm 571- 94.58 mph. WOALD CHAMPl0N5H'" POINT STANDINGS 125cc: 1. A. NiMo tSpein. MinI 106 pIS; 2. T. &pie 1ff8nce. M-Bl48; 3. M. _ _ C1lO1y MBAlond H MinQ -.ra -.rv Mul.. l~. MBA) 35; 5. G. een.. MI. (;or: "*'Y' s.ndorlond R. Torma lSpoin. Bu,*,,127. 250a:: 1. K. IIoClinllton IS. Africa. ItNI 96 pIS; 2. G. _ ~, ItNI 69; 3. G. ROlli l~. Mar· bidellil 56; 4. P. _ (Frlnco. Yoml 45; 5. R. MomcU IUSA. Y_I3B; 6. W. IIiIIo l~. Yoml 37. 3liOoc: 1. P. ~ (Fr_. Y_I 85 pIS; 2. K. - . . . . 15. Africa, ~I 63; 3. G. _ 1AuIlrIlII.1tIwI57; 4. A. MIng MI. Gor..-v ~151' 5.M._~ Yoml 37'6. , - - .... - . Yoml 33. • . J ~~-' 5OOcc: 1. It. -'IUSA. Y. . . . . pIS; 2. V. _ OIIly, SuzlI1; 3. B. ~ 4GB, Suzl80; 4. W. HIr1Dg _ . Sud5&; S. B. V. . ~ - . Suzl41' 8. F. Uncini 1IIlIIy, Suzl3l. •

• Cover