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/126532
Marco Lucchlnel1l performed perfectly for his homecountry fans, setting fast qualifying time, then taking the Italian GP win. (File photo). World Road Race Championship Series: Round 10 Lucchinelli storms Irnola, Roberts stricken By Lou Martin IMOLA, ITALY, JULY 12 Suzuki pilot Marco "Lucky" Lucchinelli stretched his points lead in the 500cc World Road Race Championship Series by taking the San Marino round, run at Italy's Imola circuit. With Suzuki's Randy Mamola placing founh after transmission ' K pro bl ems, an d Yama h a s enny Roberts unable to start due to 12 food poisoning, Lucchinelli now leads the two Americans by 16 and 30 points, respectively. The fastest time in qualifying was set by Lucchinelli on his last lap of the last session, a 1:56.30 that was ninetenths of a second faster than runnerup qualifier Roberts. Nine-tenths of a second isn't very much time, but it's the largest margin set all year. Only .78 seconds separated the next four riders, which is more indicative of how close the 1981 season has been. Sun' shine marked both days of unofficial practice, both days of official practice, and when it was all over Lucchinelli, Roberts (1:57.20), Mamola (1:57.66), Graeme Crosby (1:57.88) and jack Middleburg (1: 57.98) had earned spots on the front row of the grid. As usual the 500cc race was held late in the day, which gave everyone time to get everything perfect, but the Roberts camp was in a state of total confusion. Three time World Champ Roberts had been up since 5 a.m., vomiting violently. Food poisoning was the cause and it was announced 15 minutes prior to race time that King Kenny would not appear on the start grid. The vomiting had left KR extremely weak and dizzy and he was not capable of riding to the limit that would be required if he was to have a chance of winning the race. As the riders were called to the pre· grid area, threatening clouds hung over the central Italy race circuit. It started raining five minutes before race time, but the shower was light and the water dried quickly because the temperature was still quite high. The warm·up lap was delayed so Lucchinelli could change from intermediate tires back to slicks. The race finally started with New Zealander Graeme Crosby (Suz) taking the lead from Barry Sheene, Lucchinelli, Kork Ballington and Mamola. On lap two Yamaha-mounted Sheene took the lead, which he was able to hold onto for the next 11 laps, building up a five second lead over whomever happened to be in second. Mamola moved into fourth on lap two also, displacing Ballington's KR500. For the 11 laps he led, Sheene had Mamola, Crosby and Lucchinelli dogfighting for second place, with Marco finally being the one to. break away and pass Sheene to take the lead. Lucky held the lead until the race was stopped on lap 22 because of heavy rain. The rain started on lap 20 and Mamola and Ballington both started falling back, not enjoying the rain at all. Crosby, who had a secure third, made his move on the leading pair on lap 16 and on the final lap, in the wet, he momentarily passed Sheene for second. But in doing so he highsided without crashing, but the forces involved caused his arms to break the fairing screen. Mamola finished fourth with his bike experiencing gear shifting problems caused by excessive vibration. Ballington finished fifth, well back from Mamola. LucchineUi now has a 16 point lead on Mamola, 88-72, and a massive 50 point lead over Roberts. West German Anton Mang tightened his stranglehold on the 250cc championship with a convincing win on his Kawasaki. Second place went to Roland Freymond, who was followed by jean Francois Balde and Italian Luigi Conforti. Mang now has 100 points in the championship, 55 clear of second place Balde's 67. There are four 250cc rounds remaining, and three 500cc rounds, the next being Silo verstone on Aug. 2. American Richard Schlachter had a day he would rather forget at Imola. Different fuel and a change of lubricating oil caused untold carburetion problems in practice and during the race. The bike was described as a pig by mechanic Kevin Cameron after Schlachter finished 19th out of 22 finishers in the 250cc class. Loris Reggiani, riding a Minarelli, took the 125cc race from Angel Nieto,. on a similar Minarelli, by just 1.8 seconds with defending champion Pier Paolo Bianchi just .3 seconds back from Nieto. The three put on a fantastic display of technical skill as they jockeyed for placing right from the start of the 20-lap event. Although the 125cc class lacks the glamor of the 500cc class, it gives nothing away in terms of nail biting suspense. Ricardo Tormo won the 50cc class by seven seconds over Van Kessel. The interest has fallen out of the 50cc class because Tormo clinched the title at Spa the previous week. Stefan Dorfliger, who was a close second in the title chase, fell at Assen and broke his leg. He will miss the remainder of the season. •