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/126534
New Hampshire's Bryar Motorsport Park. Jimmy Adamo IDuc) placed second ahead of Norm Smyser IM-GI. 250cc and 490cc Maicos with single shock rear suspension should hit dealer floors in November. A 125cc Maico is still on the drawing board and an '82 version may find its way to the U.S. around May. A cloud hangs over the future of Australian road racer Gregg Hansford following his crash during the July 5 Belgian GP. Hans· ford suffered a broken leg and a cracked hip, the result of hitting an official's car parked on an escape road at the Spa circuit. Team Kawasaki Australia has disbanded their European GP effort and the two KRSOOs, hardly used since Hansford's crash earlier in the year at Imola, have been returned to Japan. California Amateur State Championship Series Following ere race dates In each . . . Including the final State Championship race: Northern California September 27 LocaIicM: Prairie City ORV Boa Motocross cia Fred Dion 88Iifi DubIn Blvd. DubIn. CA !MfiII 2091952-3&28 October 11 location: MarysviIe, CA MarysvIlle Motocross c/o Charlie sexton 2113 Pueo Avenue Uve Oak. CA 96963 9161696-2727 October 17 location: Argyll Park Argyll Park Promotions c/o Buel campbell P.O. Box 801 Dixon, CA 95820 9181178-3&92 October 26 location: Marysville, CA Marysville Motocross c/o Charlie sexton 2113 Pueo Avenue Uve Oek, CA 96963 9161696-2727 Silverstone snippets By Alan cathcart One of the British magazines set up a speed trap on the main straight at Silverstone Road Race GP on the first day of practice, and the figures tIIken made illll....tlllg reedIng_ In the 500cc clan, lucchinelli's Suzuki _ quickeat. at 149 mph, tied with Swiss privateer Philippe Coulon's standard RG. Mamola's works Suzuki was third best at 148, with Dave Potter's TZ500 first Yamaha on 147. In contrast. the Kenny Roberts/Barry Sheene factory 0W53 square four machines which were widely thought to have a considerable edge on top speed over the opposition were only joint sixth and eighth best. respectively, at 14&1144 mph. Roberto Pietri showed that there's nothing wrong with a box-atoek RG600 if i;t"s set up right by trapping 146, for fifth quickest. Spencer's Honda tied Sh_ne, together with Bellington's works Kewuaki, at 144 mph. In the 250cc cIus Anton Mang's Kawaseki was, as you'd expect. a cool 3mph faster than the opposition on the 139 mark, but what's surprising is that none of the other Kwackers made the top 10. Nor did Rict.'d Schlachter's Yamaha, though to be fair, his was a troubled practice _sion. StilL he must have ~n riding double-hard around the comers to finish fourth as he did against other bikes up to 5mph faster in a straight line. All thse figures pale in comparison with the incredible speeds of the 126 machines. Displacing one quarter of tha capacity of the 600 bikes, Bianchi's factory MBA _ trapped at 129 mph, and the Mlnarelll duo of Regglani and eventual winner Nieto at 128 and 126, raspectively. 34-.,.. old Spanish rider Angel Nieto put himself on a firm track for his 10th World Championship when he romped to an eesy win in the 126cc GP. His aim now is to beat Agoatini's total of 15 World titlas, and there's no ..-on he shouldn't if he k_ps on dominating the tiddler de..... Fastest lap in the 2!iOcc GP went to fourth place rnan Richard Schlachter on his Kevin cameron-tuned Yamaha, sponsored by Krauser/Bob Mclean Racing. Considering there were three factory Kawasekls in the race, .. _II u another half dozen disc valve works machines, it's a testament to the cameron tuning wizardry as well as Schlachter's superb riding. Kenny Roberts is preaing the FIM to include a World Championship round in the USA in 1983, preferably at laguna Seca, where the recent axe II It crowd turIMXIt gives some confidence that a USGP coul~ pay its way. Problem is that the RM wants a minimum of four cla...s to be run. as against the 250 and &OOcc only that seem on the cards. But with top sidecar men such as Rolf Blland eager to make the trip to race in America. this may be the key to a compromise. Randy Marnola ,..r-totalled his Mercedes rental car on his way to practice at Silverstone on the Wednuday before the race. Another driver performed a U-turn llegel in Britain provided you don't do it dangerously) in front of him, and Randy had no o'ption but to T-bone him. A police report absolvu him from blame, but he had to go for an interview with the local 'bobbles' after practice. Marlboro sponsored not only the Grand Prix at Silverstone but also the Tr-.Ientic Match Reces over the Easter w_kend. When I asked The rumor mill begins working over· time when we hit what the British call "silly season." Among the rumors floating around is one that has Kawasaki releasing a turbocharged KZl300 this fall. Those who swear the rumor is true say the 150 hp bike will be called the KZI300TTS. And there'll reportedly be a sporty version of the 1300, the KZI300TS. Sidecar road racer Bob McGuire is offering a $600 reward, no questions asked, for information leading to the recovery of two antique Harley-Davidson motorcycles which were recently stolen from him. The Harley's are a 1916F, serial number l10437-M, 61 cubic inch . 1,OOOcc, gray with original tank, lettering and striping; also a 1946, serial number 46Wl1481, 45 cubic inch - 750cc, two-tone brown and cream. Write: Bob McGuire, 8839 Miller, Fair Haven, MI 48023. Phone: 313/725-1842. • Southern California september 20 location: DeAnza Park DeAnza Racing Club c/o Edward Michetti P.O. Box 366 Sunnymead, CA september 27 location: Sunrise Cycle Park Anaheim Hi-Slders c/o AI Smith 11382 Earlham Orange, CA 92889 October 11 location: Sunrise Park Sunrise Valley Cycle Park cia Nick Brajevich 15224 7th St. Victorville, CA 92392 7141246-7339 October 18 location: DeAnza Park DeAnza Racing Club c/o Edward Michetti P.O. Box 366 Sunnymead, CA 7141245-7339 7141863-8068 7141863-8068 State Championship Final - November 1& location: seddleback Park c/o James Beltinek 28892 Marguerite Parkway Mission Viejo, CA 92892 7141495-4771 the tobacco giant's UK sales director George Mackin if the rumored extension of the series to take in a team of Australasian riders was likely lit isn't - but there will almost certainly tie a separate series pitting such a team against the UK squad), an even more interesting possibility came to light there's a chance that a reciprocal series might be run on American tracks. Marlboro is taking the lead to try to arrange a thr__meeting series in the USA - probably at Californian tracks llaguna seca, Riverside and Sears Point71 in 1982. At present. nothing firm has been arranged, but if the extension to the series does come off, a slx·man British team would contest three rounds in the USA before the circus moved to the UK for the Easter match races. March is the most likely month for the U.S. rounds, not only because the European calendar is clear of International meetings, but also because the Brits might well tie in the series with an outing at Daytona. One one quastion mark hang. over the plans: Would the U.S. rounds attract enough spectators to make it economically feasible to bring the British team over? Mackin's 20-year-old son Steve is a topline road racer in his own right and only failed narrowly to qualify for the 600cc GP on his RG SUzuki. Marlboro's commitment to motorcycle racing is thought to be in no immediate danger for the forseeable futurel Freddie Spencer delighted many spectators at Silverstone with his highly competitive ride on the NR600 Honda, which must have given a new lease of life to the controversial project. What's It like to ride compared, say, with his Formula 1 U.S. Honda? "The main problem is the NR has no torque exiting from comers Ithere are no flywheels as such, as compared to the F1 bike). I can go Into turns on tha same line as Mamola or Roberts on their strokers - real late and squaring off the turn like on a dirt track - but if I do that I can't pull out of the corner as quickly because of the lack of torque. So I have to go in much earlier than on the big four-stroke, and feed the power on earlier to come out of the bend faster, and that's really difficult on a fast track like Silverstone. At laguna we geared the bike right down, and I could keep the revs up the whole time in the powerband," Peak revs on the 90" V4 ara '20,000 rpm. . At first it was thought that Berry Sheene had escaped with just a gashed hand from his third lap crash in the 600cc GP when Graeme Crosby unloaded in front of him. But after a restless night at lord Hesketh's palatial country home near Silverstone, Barry felt a hospital check up would be a good Idea. They found he had a broken finger In his left hand, a broken bone in his leg and a crecked one in his foot. and severe chest bruising. Determined not to miss the last two GPs in Sweden and Anland, Barry slipped out the side door before the doctor could stop him, and drove beck to his country home for some rast befora flying to Scandinavia. "I'll try It and .eehow I feell"was his only comment when asked if he thought he'd be fit to ride there. Freddie Spencer's next outing on the NA600 Honda is expected to be at the Raca of the Year at Mallory Park in Britain on Sept. 20. After the Silverstone GP retirement. both bikes were shipped back to Japan for examination and modification rather than contest the last two rounds of the 600cc series. With its tight hairpin and lack of any real straight. Mallory will be as different a test as possible from the wide open spaces of Silverstone. Ron Haslam's Honda Britain F1 bike beat all the strokers there in a round of the Match Rac. . in April, so it must be counted a ,four-stroke tnick on which the NR should theoretically shine. 3