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/126529
ao 0) !Topl M.-c:o "Lucky" Lucchlnelll (left) ah8rea the victory podium with e very heppy Boet V.... Dulmen end WI Hertog. Hertog hed ennouncecl his nrtinIment from GP rec:ing ...... In the dey end WM praent8d en 8Werd by the Dutch orgenIzeq. (Above left) MemoIe leeda Lucchlneln C2J. Sergio PelIendInI1211. Ven Dulmen ClI end WIIIem Zoet 1381. (Above rlghtJ Roberta wetchea from the aidellnea. World Championship Road Race Series: RoundS By Henny Ray Abrar:ns Photos by Jeff Fisher/Sport Graphics and Abrams ASSEN, HOLLAND,JUNE27 Italian Marco Lucchinelli took advantage of the misfortune of the American title contenders by winning the 500cc class of the 51 st Dutch TT at Assen. Neither'World Champion Kenny .Roberts nor Randy Mamola finished the race. Roberts pulled off of the grid with front brake problems and Mamola crashed due to poor visibility Ut the rain. Lucchinelli's win puts him 16 atop' the points standings with 58 to Mamola's 54 and Roberts' 46. Dutch· man Boet Van Dulmen was a crowd pleasing second after leading half of the !"ace and South African Kork Ballington on the works square-four Kawasaki was third. Amencan Dale Singleton was running in 17th place when he pulled off with a sticking throttle. 250cc World Champion Anton Mang pulled off a double on the Van Drenthe circuit by winning both the 250 and 550cc races on the factory Kawasakis. In both races he narrowly .beat Venezuelan Carlos Lavado on the Venemotos Yamahas. American Richard Schlachter had qualified the Solitude 550 Yamaha 20th, b.ut broke a shift lever on the first lap. He quaIi. fied the MacLean Racing H·model Yamaha sixth for the 250cc race, but was last off of the line and rode commendably to finish ninth and gamer two World Championship points. Minarelli Corse rider Angel Nieto continued his absolute domination of the 125cc class by taking his sixth win in eight tries. Second in both the race and points standings went to Loris Reggiani on another Minarelli and Pier Paolo Bianchi led a host of MBA's home in third. Spain's Ricardo Tormo won a race and is winning a season·long battle with Stefan Doerflinger by topping the 50cc field on his Bultaco. Doerflinger fell on the last lap giving second to HenIr. Van Kessel on tbe Kreidler with third going to Rolf Blatte.r, also Kreidler mounted. And in the final race of the day Frenchman Alain Michel and Michael Burkard took over the lead at the halfway point to power their Seymaz rig to a win over defending World Cham· pions Jock Taylor and Benp Johanns son in the Trollop Raang/Fowler Yamaha chair to win the Klaue Zijspanuen (Sidecar class). According to Jaap Ttmmer, the organizer here and president of the International Road Racing Committee of the FlM, the Dutch TT ia the biggs sponing event of the year in Holland. "On race day we will have ho,ooo spectators. That includes about 20,000 motorcycles and 15,000 cars. (The actual attendance was ll!8 ,000, although it is believed that at least twice that many people come to the town of Aasen, but not the race.) In order to accommodate the diverse crowd there are Dutch, German, French, and English an· nouncers. It is broadcast'on television to not only Holland, but also West Germany, Britian, Belgium, and France. It is the equivalent of Daytona Cycle Week. but much larger. For timed practice/qualifying on Thunday there were 40.000 people; 45,000 showed up for Friday's practice. On Saturday, the day of the race, the entire 5.26 mile Van Drenthe circuit is lined with fans except on a few parcels of farmland where dairy cows leisurely graze while the 500cc bikes go past at 160 mph. Lavado was happy with his second place and conceded the best combina· tion was Mang's. American hopes were hi~h as Richard Schlachter lined up m the middle of the second row with the sixth fastest qualifying time in a talented field of 250cc racers. The hopes were dashed almost immediately as Schlachter was unable to immediately push-stan his MacLean Cameron-tuned Racing Kevin Yamaha and was the 50th and final rider away. "I was preoccupied with the gear· ing," he said explaining that he had changed it at the last minute. While Schlachter slashed his way through the field Lavado and Mang were renewing their rivalry out front. Lavado overshot the chicane on the third lap and Mang sped by never to beheaded. Schlachter was picking up the pace and on the eighth (his fastest) lap he was in eleventh place. Two more laps and he settled into eighth, but fell to ninth with a last lap pass by Manin Wimmer. Frenchman Patrick Fernandez got the better of a duel with Roland Freymond to take third with Armstrong mounted Jeffrey Sayle futh. As Mang crossed the finish line with a host of records he looked back to Lavado and the two waved amicably. For Mang it was his founh win in six tries and the second time Lavado had followed him home. "Mang is good. He has a little on the engine. The Kawasaki is perfect. The driver is perfect. My motorcycle is a little off. The driver is a little off," Lavado said. The race of the week was next as the 500 s readied to grid, but the weather was uncooperative as the skies opened up with a typical Dutch summer shower. The gamble was the tire choice as Van Dulmen, Roberts. Mamola and Uncini fitted full rain tires with Sbeene. Lucchinelli, Ballington, and Crosby going with the intermediates. The stan was delayed 10 minutes. both as a safety measure for tbe rain to stop and for an ambulance to clear an injured fan out of the stands. The rain slowed conliderably and at the last minute Roberts decided to change tires. In the rush one of the front brake pads was replaced improperly. He went around on the warm·up lap, but with ten seconds to go before the race he pulled off and parked the bike with aluminum covering the brake rotor. "That's the breaks," he said, no pun intended. "It seems to always happen at this track or Daytona... The factory Yamaha of Barry Sbeene did ahnost as JIOO!'ly. The rain apparently affected Its ignition and after gating last he pulled in after one lap. That was the first lap. The second lap was equally unkind taking series points leader Randy Mamola out of the race. ..It was in the hard left·bander before the chicane," Mamola explained. "My faceshield and wind· screen misted up from water on the track. I judged it wrong because I couldn't see. I didn't haYe time to clear it and I just ran out of track." He wasn't hun, just frustrated. . The Dutch fans seemed uninterested in these retirements as their countryman Boer Van Du1men was out front on the IMN factory· backed Yamaha. As the track dried it was obvious that "Lucky" Lucchinelli