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/126426
Former World Champion Barry Sheene 171 gave Kenny Roberts a run for the money at Silverstone. but the defending World Champion took the win. World Championship Road Racing Series: Round JJ Roberts wins British GP thriller; Honda's NR500 debut flops World Champion Roberts and members of the Yamaha crew eyebaU the ultimate GP weapon. . By Chris Carter Photos by John Owens SILVERSTONE, ENGLAND, AUG. 12 Yamaha's Kenny Roberts moved one step closer to another World Championship title as Barry Sheene's valiant efforts to win the 500cc race were thwarted by the unwitting action of George Fogarty in the closing stages of the thrilling 28-lap b I au e. Sheene was hard on the heels 30 of race leader and eventual winner Roberts when the pair came up to lap Fogarty at Woodcote. The American was able tQ move ahead', passing the experienced Lan· castrian on the inside, but Sheenc had to go around, and lost 150 yards. It looked all over, but so determined to win was Sheene that he broke the lap record on the final lap, and was just three hundredths of a second behind Kenny at the line. Barry tried all he knew, and even took to the grass in his efforts to snatch the win he wanted, and perhaps even deserved.. "Once I lost all that ground after we passed Fogarty I thought I'd blown it. . But really the mechanics d~rved a lot of the credit. The bike was h;l.ndlingso badly in practice, and they all worked through the night to put it right," said Sheene after the race. For Roberts and his pit crew it was a long, and nail· biting race. On the warm-up lap his Yamaha engine had blo~ an oil ~al, .and the.only thing to the short l1~e availa~Ie on th.e gnd was to push It back, WIpe the oil offthe tire, and hope for the best. Their luck held out, but if the bike had blown the seal again then it would have been a very different Slory. But though the problem did not recur, Rohcrts was in trouble throughout the race as a direct rcsuh of his warm-up lap misfonune. "I was so jumpy about the oil that like a fool 1 started to wipe away the oil with my glove when 1 got back to the grid. I had problems with the oil making the throttle difficult to control, but I felt all along that I could probably outpace the Suzukis, if I could stay in their draft," said Kenny. Third home was Dutchman Wil Hartog (Suzuki), who started in typical lightning-fast style then faded in the middle of the race before making a determined bid in the closing stages to cha~ Roberts and Sheene home. Now, with just one round left, in the world championship, the. French Grand Prix at Le Mans on September 2, Roberts leads by 14 points from Vir~nio Ferrari, who finished a lowly fourth becau~' his Suzuki J had d~ In