Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(To p) American Ric h Schlac ht er will mount a privateer assault in the 250cc GPs. (Above) Barry Sheene will join Kenny Roberts on a Yamaha. 24 rive Cagiva team o n ly o n co ndi tion h e p ro vides Marnol a wi th assista nce a n d d o esn ' ttry to race him. H o w long th a t idea will last depends o n th e ea rly res u lts . Bu t th e th ought o f Ferrari goin g to th e It al ian GP, fifth race of th e series o n May 30, level -p egging with Mam ol a or a head of. him on points a nd not doing hi s best in front of h is hom e crowd is ludicrous. My o wn feeling is th at Do yle may have been too clever by half, fo r a t least Crosby was a kn own quantit y, whereas Ferrari is an yth in g but, especially after h e's been wound up by the Italian press a n d fans. Now Randy 's got doubl e tr oubl e. Do n ' t forget that Virginio was always a m uch faster rider than L ucch i n ell i w hen they we re racing togeth er o n si mi lar machi ne ry a nd wo u ld have been si tting o n Mar co 's bike last seas o n if he hadn 't argued th e toss w ith G allina a n d been slu ng o u t o f th e team . I don' t fancy Suzu ki team m anager Rex White's job in keep in g h is number tw o rider in line, and whil e his number o ne may sta rt off th e seaso n with a r un o f success, I don' t see him winnin g th e tit le in th e long run. Also th e recipient of wo rk s Suzukis will be Roberto G allina , spons ored by Suzuki Italia, with Fran co Unci ni i n th e Lucchinell i seat , and ex- Minarelli youngster Lori s Reggiani on last year's bike to gain 500cc experi en ce. Uncini is th e th inker of the current crop of Italian stars, and th ough he 's so far fail ed to fulfill his early promise to th e full , h e undoubted ly has th e talent to wi n with th e ri ght bike. Especi ally wi th G all ina beh ind him , he must be accounted a ser io us co nten der, i n sp ite of his di sappointing '8 1 season. As last season , p riva teer Suzukis will pack out th e grids, o n ly Kojakstyle form er fighter pilot Guido Paci rem aining faithful to th e TZ500. New recruits to the Suzuki cla n will include fo rmer 350cc ch amp j on Ek erold, wh o 's renounced h is retire me nt vow s an d reportedl y has recovered from his mid-season broken leg wh ich cost him th e chance o f retain in g h is crown in '81. Bo et Van Dulmen - surely th e best 500cc r id er not to have a works ride - has swi tche d from h is troubl esome T Z500 to a brace o f late-m od el RGs, a n d fellow Dutchman j ack Middelburg, who proved at Silversto ne that yo u don 't have to have a works bike to win GPs, will a lso be Suzuki-mounted ag ai n, th is time with some faa or y back-u p th ro ugh th e Dutch i m porter. Van Dulm en is Crosby 's o n ly ri val as th e world's to p wet-weather specialist, so look o ut fo r h im if it's a dam p su m mer. Both Du tchmen seem dest in ed for the to p 10 a t season 's end . Fin al j a p an ese wo rks team is also the smallest, with Ko rk Ball in gton back aga in wi th the rnonocoqueframed KR500 Ka wa saki , proba bly joined fo r a cou p le of races by U .S. Superbi ke Cham p Eddie Lawson, bu t not , unfortunate ly, by Aussie G regg Hansford, whose future plans are uncertain after a seri es of injuries. Ko rk had the KR right up there with th e leaders bv th e end of last season, th ough the' bik e ' s much longer wh eelbas e than the co m pe t i t io n mak es it 'difficu lt to ste er. It was o n ly after Dun lop developed an ultra-wide 16" front tir e to sto p th e bike going off th e edge a t th e fron t th at it became reall y co m pe titive, and th ough some n igglin g problems still rema in to be cu red, th e " G ree n Mean ics" a re defi ni tely on th e verge of a breakthrough, as sh ow n by Ballin gto n's third an d fou rt h p laces i n th e last two GPs in '8 1. T he littl e South African 's still o ne of th e wo rl d's best, a nd th e close-kn i t tea m are a ble to p u t the i r entire effort beh ind h im. 1982 co u ld be th e year that the 500 Kawasa ki co mes good. Then th ere are the Ital ian tea ms , wi thou t wh om th e GP scene woul d be a lot less co lorful. Ta king o n the japanese in th e 500cc class ' is the nea rest thi ng o n two wheels to ti lti ng at wi ndmi lls, but las t year th er e were th ree Don Q u ixot es ready to have a go. O f these, much th e most co m pe titive, but with a shoestri ng bu d get , was the Morbidell i. Graziano Rossi q ual ifi ed for most of the races bu t never ma de i t to the fin ish lin e before qu itt in g in di sgust in m id-season. Giova n ni Pell etier too k o ver a n d seemed to have th e mach in e on th e verge of co mperit ivi tv befo re o ne of the two bik es bu ilt was destroyed in a fiery end of season crash at Donington. Close season rumor s o f a link-up wi th th e rival Ca giva team have co me to nought, a n d it seems th at Gianca rlo Morbidelli intends to persevere with his effort n ext season. A fo r effo rt, but now we need B for reliability from the former kings ofthe 125cc class, for their bike is plenty powerful and quite light. Whether Pell etier is o f a clas s to bring GP su ccess is open to question, though. Cagiva did have suc h a rider last seas o n, but now he's a Suzuki teamster. With Ferrari's departure, i t seems doubtful that th e Varese compan y wi ll persevere with their unconventional in-lin e, dis c-valve fourcy lin der, especiall y sin ce Van Dul m en turned down th e ride after a series of test sessions. They'll concentrate on Ita lian events till the bike's co m pet itive ...if ever. Meanwhil e, th e third Ital ian job, Sanven ero , w ill co ncen tra te more strongly on th eir 500cc machine in '82 with new recr uit Bernard Fau providing th em with a top-line rider to do it with. Sanvenero put successful emphasis o n th eir I25cc machine last sea so n , to th e detriment o f their zebra-striped RG500 look-alik e. 1982 sh ould see m illionaire Em il io Sanvenero's desir e to see h is bik e on a 500cc grid fu lfilled m or e often witho u t, however , much ch ance of success . St ill, th ose bl ack a n d white str ip es sh o u ld show up ni cel y on TV ! The 500c c class is th e true Formul a One of motorcycling, but competition is eq ua ll y intense an d sometimes even m ore exc i tin g in the sma ller classes. 1982 is theoretically th e last yea r of ex istence for th e 350cc class, but wh il e Anton Man g defends hi s titl e o n th e tandem-twin Kawasaki , th ere 's at last a new machine on th e grid wh ic h sh ould m ak e lif e diffi cu lt for him. It 's th e fir st new all British GP ra cer since th e si nglecylinder Norton an d Mat chl ess days - th e CCM Armst rong, with all -new engi ne o wing nothin g to th e Austri an R otax mot ors fitted to the fir m's TT-wi n ni ng 250cc bik es. To be ri dde n by Au ssie jeff Sayle a n d o ld GP h and Clive H o rt on, the 350 Armstrong injects a whole new ingredient into th e m oribund ca tegory. Wi th n ew s from Ital y that the fast but fragile four-cy li nder RTM ma y be resurrected as well> Mang may have hi s work cu t o ut, especially wi th TZ350 riders lik e Carlos Lavado, Pa tr ick Fernandez, Eri c Saul a n d perhaps a lso his o ld adversa ry j on Ek erold all sn apping at his heels. It seems tragic th at a class which produces suc h close and exci ting raci ng, whi le also offeri n g th e hard-pressed privateers the ir only real shot at wo rld honors, shou ld bi te th e dust tha nks to th e whim of th e japanese manufacturers a nd the co n ivance of th e FIM. T he 250cc ca tegory threatened at times to ups tage th e 500s last season , with a t o ne time n o less th an I I di ffere nt factory team s co nt estin g the ti tle. Top of th e p il e with a co nvincing wi n wa s agai n Man g's Kawa sa ki, th e German rider scoring over the other G reen Meani es o f Balde, G ui gnabodet an d occasiona lly McGregor an d Conforti by virt ue of hi s finel y h on ed riding ski lls a n d superio r engine prepa ra tion. H e'll be ha rd to beat in '82 , bu t wi th '8 1 th ird-place m an Rol and Freym ond and his mentor j org Moller movin g to MBA to sort out the troubl eso me parallel twin , Man g has rea l co mpetitio n on h is ha nds. The d uo's 'S I m achin e, th e Ad Ma io ra , will be back aga in, but withou t a to p-liner aboard, it won 't be a serious co ntender. T he Pernod wi ll be, th ough, afte r a wi nter's developme nt to build o n la st season 's pro m i sin g result s, a n d T h ierry Espie, n ow reco vered fro m h is serio us leg inj ury an d hopefull y prepared to temper hi s undoubted talent with a bi t o f ca u tio n; he falls o ff far too oft en , Also Pernod-sponsored but Yamahamounted last yea r is Patrick Fernandez. H is plans to race a Rotax-powered ma chine this season ma y fall a t th e sp o nsorshi p hurdl e, but a fter knockin g at th e door for many seas o ns, Patri ck n eeds onl y th at little bit of luck to make him cha m p io n. But first h e'll have to cope with his fellow Yamaha riders . some of whom

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