Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Graeme Crosby (5) and Marco Lucchinelli diced in the second leg lIeft!. On the victory podium Lucky accused Croz of behaving badly labove). Crosby conquers Imola 200 By Henny Ray Abrams IMOLA, IT ALY , APR. 3-4 Following in the footsteps of his team manager Giacomo Agostini and the late World Champion Jarno Saarinen, New Zealand's Graeme Crosby completed a sweep of the Daytorias of 'A m e r ica a n d Europe with a win in th e AGV Sinvet200 mile race on the Autodromo Dino Ferrari at Imola, 8 Italy. Crosby p iloted h is Team Marl boro Ag ostin i works sq uare-fo ur Yamaha to win s in both of the two lOO-mile legs before a crowd of ove r 100,000. Second overall went to World Champion Marco Lu cchinell i o n th e Honda NS500 three-cylinder twostroke with 3-2 fin ishes for th e day. Agostini 's team victory was sweetened with a third overa ll finish by h is other rid er , Graziano Rossi, wh ose 6-4 tally put him on th e pod ium. The race was won and lost in th e one mandatory dead engine p it stop. In th e first leg Lu cchinell i was doused from h is helmet on down due to slo p py pi t work. Cro sby was in and o u t in a flash , taking at least six seco n ds less th an " L uc ky" to pi t. In the seco nd leg Crosby wa s aga in in a nd out fast er with quick work from hi s cre w led by Trevor Tilbury and a push -off by Ago h imself. Lucchinell i was furt he r slowed by havin g to cha nge batteri es o n th e works H onda. For rea sons not full y explained, th e new H onda uses a rechargeable bat tery which is good for about 80 mil es to spark th e bike's ign itio n and it's located just in side th e fairin g o n th e left sid e of the machine. Although it has quick-change connections, it still tak es ti me to ch an ge in th e co urse o f a 100-mile race. Second in th e first heat went to th e Tea m Gallina Suzuki of Franco Un cini who battled "Croz" for the lead most of the race, leading for 16o f th e 32 laps on the 3. 13 m ile circu it. But visibility problems due to a dirty , faceshi eld slowed his ch arge dropp in g him to secon d. In th e second heat he went one lap and was ou t wi th mechanical problems. Third in th e second leg and fourth overall went to European Champion Leandro Becheron i o n the Co ldo ni , Suzuki wit h 3-7 finis hes . Bech eron i a nd Rossi seemed evenly ma tched a nd spent most of the race side by side. Rossi is so me thi ng of a 'cro wd favorite he re fo r his likea ble cou ntenance a nd his gra ndsta nd wheelies every lap in qual ifying and during pa rt o f the race . T he bes t America n finish was turned in by New Yor ker Jimm y Ada mo in h is fir st-ever t ide o n th e factor y Du cat i Panta 600. Adamo found ou t on ly a day bcforequa lifying tha t he would be on th e bike, th en took it to 15-13 p lacin gs for a ISrh ove ra ll. T he o n ly other America n in the top 20 was Gi na Bo vai rd whose 24-20 placi ngs were good for 20th p lace. The U.S. Road Racing Champio ns of 1981 and 1980, Dal e Singleton and Rich Schlachter, had their share of p roblem s with the Yamah a TZ750s they were usin g. In the first leg , Si ngleton 's rear G oodyear slic k hea ted up so much during th e race th at it rubbed agains t th e chain , endi ng h is rid e on the Beaulieu-sponsored bike. Sch lachter 's MacLean Ra cing Yama ha was in early for ign it ion tro ubl es, but o nce fixed he went back o ut. Singl eton a nd Adamo had a Iiule scu ffle go ing for II th pl ace in th e seco nd leg before front brake troubles side lined Dale. First, Schlachter 's steerin g damper broke, th en hi s number two cylinder exploded, ca p pi ng a fru strating weekend. In the Superbike ranks it was America ns 1·3 with Honda 's Roberto Pietri taking a closely contested win over Honda Italia Racing Team member Maurizio Massimiani a nd the Team Escargot Suzuki of Thad Wolff. Pietri had to be given a specia l qualifying sessio n o n Friday to mak e th e grid. H is bik e was mistaken ly sh ip ped to Frankfurt wh ere it sa t for three da ys before being found. H e went o u t for th e required five laps and landed a spot o n the seco nd row from where he won th e MDS Sinve t 100 mil e race on th e La rry Worrell pr ep ared machin e. In lSth pl ace ca me the Wh ite's Truck Stop /Uni on 76 Kawasaki o f Rich Chambers. Chambers was runn in g near th e top five when ign ition tro u bles put h im temporarily out of the hunt. A quick pit sto p with h elp fro m th e Du ca ti cre w a nd he was back on th e track. Adamo 's ride ended o n th e first lap wi th a crash in a top -of-th ird gear 100 mph turn on h is Ren o Leon i Du cat i 900. A rider in front of h im had coated th e track with oi l when th e plug in his sta rte r motor ca me out. Ada mo saved it thro ugh th e oi l, but h it th e falle n rider, br eaking th e o the r rider 's leg. T wo other I riders al so went down . T he fin al Amer ica n in th e field was Ru st y Sharp fro m Co lo ra do Sp rings, Col or ado, on a H onda 750based su per bike. Hi s ride lasted six laps befo re motor gre m lins put h im o ut. First leg Race day was a carbon copy o fSat urday with th e rid ers and fans mak ing the ir way th rough th e crowded stree ts of Imol a for th e 2 p .rn , sta rt of th e fir st lOO-mile leg. Pole sitter Lucch in ell i looked like th e man to beat. With a w in here in 1981 and a second in 1980 hi s record was proven. But off th e 'sta rt it was Boer Van Dulrnen, Suzuki-mounted th is yea r after givin g up his Yamaha ride from the Dutch Yamaha importers. H is com patriot J ack Middelburg was second ahead of Lorenzo Ghiselli, Crosby, Lucchinelli, Uncini, and Crosby's teammate Ro ssi. Retirements came early with former Morbidelli-rider, now Gallina Suzukimounted Loris Reggiani out on th e second lap for a two lap pit stop before rejoining. Van Dulmen was out on the second lap also, but couldn 't continue sin ce he 'd put a connecting rod through the cases of hi s Hordo Ra cing/Kiwi Mark 7 Suzuki. Back in l Sth and 14th were Singleton and Schlachter with Adamo not far behind on the throaty four- stroke. Crosby put th e bik e in the lead on' th e fourth lap , but h e couldn't shake Unci n i who was just ahead of Lucchinelli a s th e trio moved in unison ahead of Middelburg who had some breathing room on Ghiselli. Rossi moved up to pressure Ghiselli and th e two went a t it for the whole rac e. Uncini took over a nd held the lead on th e tenth lap with Crosby and Lucchinelli all cro ssing the lin e within half a seco nd of each other. Singleton had dropped ou t with tire troubles and Schlachter had come in , fixed an ignition problem and gone back out. Middelburg wa s a steady fourth . About midway through the first leg Lucchinelli too k a run for the front , bu t cou ld only manage second for three lap . Tires were starting to wea r with U ncini slidin g through th e first corner. Just as he started to lose Crosby and Lucchinelli in traffi c Unci n i wa s slowed with visibility troubles. " My faceshield got so dirty I co u ld n' t reall y see and I didn 't hav e any tear-offs," he sa id . " Wh en I came in for m y pit sto p I couldn 't see where to stop and overran my pits, running into a table." Most rid er s pined around the 23rd to 27th laps. Unlike most tracks where there is a clear sho t down off the front stra igh ta way to th e pits, at Imola you co me off a short straightaway and hav e to make a left-right turn in first gear right at the pit entrance where th e Yamaha pits were . Lucchinelli was al most two -t hi rds of th e wa y up th e garage a rea a nd ha d h is share of troubles with th e first gas sto p . "This track isn' t righ t for a pi t sto p. There shou ld be more space for slo wing down a nd go in g back out aga in," th e resid ent of LaS pezia said. H e ca me in on th e 24th lap and was in advertentl y soa ked with ga s by his crew before rejoin ing th e race to cr ies of " stu pendo" by the announcer. Crosb y was using th e gas tank off Roberts' Daytona bike a nd the quickfill worked flawlessly. In contrast was Rossi' s sto p wh ere on e rider poured gas out of a plastic can while Agostini, winner here in 1974, held the funnel while th e ga s cap was unscrewed. Crosby took over for good on the 26th lap and finished the slightly over an hour long race with a 16 second lead over Uncini who had four seconds on Lucchinelli. Middelburg was all alone in fourth 47 seconds ahead of Lorenzo Ghiselli, who came in with bloodied hands fro m wrestling his bike after th e steering damper broke. Rossi had the better of Becheroni for sixth. Seco nd l~

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