Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

sta rt , bu t cu t h is way th ro ugh th e field of th e wo rld's elite to tak e over th e lead o n th e 13t h o f th e 29 laps. H e scraped fa ir ings with " L uc ky" unti l Marco fell an d went on to a five second win ov er Barry Shee ne on th e John Pl ayer Special factory sq uarefour OW-60 Yamaha. Former World Champion Kenny Ro berts eme rged in third pl ace due to the mi sfortunes of Lucchinelli and U ncin i's teammat e Loris Regg ian i who crashed in th e sa m e sp ot as Lu cchi nelli . Ro bert s led ea rly in th e race, bu t was obvious ly dow n on power on th e Su zukis and Hondas a nd sa id there was still much testing to be done o n the new mach in e. In seventh place was Ra ndy Mamola on the Team H B factory Suzuki. Mamol a was h indered by a heavilybandaged and swollen foot which h e inj u red in a p ractice fall. U nable to p us h start well, h e ca me off the lin e in next to last p la ce and spe nt the whole race makin g u p for it. Finish in g o ut of the m oney, but putti ng on a good show was H onda 's Fre ddi e Spencer on the NS-500 th reecylinder entry. After run n in g fo u rth early in the ra ce, he mov ed up to secon d beh in d Un ci ni only to have a cra n k failure at th e two-thirds point of th e race, leav ing Takazumi Katayama the highest placing m ember of th e Honda team in n in th . Added 10 th e rulebook for th e race was a p rovi sion th at if th e temperature was bel ow 10 degr ees centigra de o r if it was ra in ing, th e race wo u ld be sho rte ned by eig h t laps. But th e show wen t o n. T he story in th e 500cc race was th e fir st G P app eara nce o f the new V·4 Yama ha in th e h ands o f Ro bert s. All eyes were o n hi m in Fr id ay's p racti ce sessio n wh en th e track was dry, bu t h e fin ish ed th e session o n ly third best beh ind fell ow Yamaha riders Graeme Crosby on th e Mar lboro Agosti ni entry an d Shee ne 's J ohn Pl ayer Spe cia l, bo th o f wh ich were th e sq ua refou r typ e th at Ro berts a ba ndo ned. " w e' ve been testing it o ut over h ere, bu t we've had so me p roblem s ge tti n g on to tracks ' because o f th e weather," Ro bert s said. "It's harder to ride th an m y ot he r bike because it acce lera tes so much hard er. The to p en d is abou t th e same, but th e p ow er comes on faster. We're working th in gs ou t." . " T h e Yamahas and Suzukis have ha d about the same top end for qu ite a while, bu t they get th ere q uicker," Spencer o bser ved. "It's like a quarter mile drag stri p an d th ey get to th e en d faste st an d co me out of the corners harder." Making it four Yamahas in a row on the front was the So nauto G au lo ises Yamaha of Marc Fonatan. Next to h im was Boe t Van Dulmen, a rai n specia list who pu t the factory Cagiva in the fifth spo t ahead of Gustav Rein er 's Krauser-MDS Germa ny Ra cin g T eam R GB Suzu ki. Lucchinell i was n inth just ah ead of Uncini, the top-placed Ka wasa ki of Kor k Ba llington, a nd Spencer. Mamo la wa s in the middle o f th e third row. A light drizzle was falling as th e gr id was cleared for th e feature, but a ll o f th e riders chose sl icks. " T h ere's no way th at an intermedi a te wou ld last o ut the re," Roberts sai d. Sh een e made th e most of th e bump a nd run start and jumped o u t to a 100 yard lead over Rob ert s, Cro sb y, Spe n cer , and Lucch inell i. . H obbled by a swo llen foo t, Ma mola was a way in n ext 10 last pl ace, just behind U nci n i. " T h ere were on ly three or fo ur behi nd me at th e sta rt, " U nci ni said. " It was a bad start, lik e al ways ." Sheene was holding his adva ntage ou t front, bu t a bla n ket co u ld have covered Roberts, Spe ncer, Lu cchinelli , and Crosby. Sheen e dropped back to fifth on the seven th lap when his bike sudden ly lost power. " It j ust wen t flat ," th e Englis h ma n sa id . " It felt lik e it was runn in g on 3 ~ cylin de rs. I sta rted 10 lose a bo u t a seco nd a lap ." _ Sh een e's trouble was Ro bert s' lu ck as he moved th e number "3" red , wh ite, a nd blue machine 10 th e front o f a cha rging h orde. U nc in i h ad ma de his way up to the leaders aft er a brief encou nter with teammate Loris Regg ia n i. The two moved up in ta n dem an d U nci ni took over just before the h alfway po int with the Hondas of Spencer an d L ucchinell i never more than a whisker away an d Ro berts ready to seize a ny m ist ak e that wo u ld . p u t h im back out front . The en d came early for " Fas t Freddi e" wh en th e cra n k o n hi s th ro a tyso u n di ng H onda went out o n th e 18th lap. " I was justbiding m y ti m e an d I th ink I co u ld have won it," th e Louisia na nat ive sai d. "Un ci n i's Suzu ki was th e fastest o ne o u t th ere on th e top end ." O ut fro nt it became a leadin g trio o f It al ians wi th th e Team Gallina Suzukis of U nci n i a nd Reggian i sandwic h ing Lu cchin elli 's H onda. Shee ne was a safe fo u rt h a hea d of Robert s and it appeared that the Michelinsof the to p fou r were wo rkin g bette r th a n Robert s' Dun lops. For the last 12 laps it was Fra n co and Mar co side-by-side, banging fai rings in the corn ers, a nd ma tchi ng p o wer d o w n th e straigh taways . Neither h eld a n adva ntage an d 10 wa tch them move as one was a thing beau ty. U nci ni h angin g more radi ca ll y off the bik e in th e corners, wh ile " L uc ky" ap peared always in control - a lways chargi ng . In the pr ocess " L ucky" set a ne w la p record wi th a n a verage speed o f 115.26 mph. Sheene , 100, was cha rgi n g and mad e it three different brands in th e top three places. The race effecti vely ended on th e n ext 10 the las t la p in a to p of fourthgea r dogl eg right on th e upper part o f the 2.63 m ile Sa lzburgring co urse. " He was behind me," Unci n i stated, " And it was a Ii ule wet a nd he tr ied 10 pass me on th e outside." . What hap pe ned, was a spectacular cra sh as the Wo rl d Cha mpion went off th e track an d tu m bled hard . He admitted he was being overenthusiastic and was taken away by arnbulance with possi ble broken bo ne s in h is foot. J ust behind the u n lucky " L u cky," Reggia n i spilled when his front en d wa sh ed o u t. Fortuna tel y, he wa s able to wa lk aw a y from it , but threw a way a spot on the podium that fell 10 Robert s. " T h e race was perfect excep t for th e sta rt," Uncini said. " My bike seem ed fas ter tha n th e o th ers , but only in six th gea r. When it starte d to rain ha rd a t th e en d o f th e race I slowed down and that 's when Mar co fell. " T he ma rgi n a t th e end was five seco n ds over Shee ne . Ro bert s managed 10 survive th e la te race shower also, bu t wasn't happy with th e rac e. "It was raini ng th e whole race, but yo u had 10 go with slicks," th e threetime champ sa id . " And th e Suzu kis EI ER· (Continued to page 23) PRIX SEARS POINT RACEWAY Watch the top U.S. Endurance teams do battle at the BudweiserGrand Prix. see 160 mph top speeds and hairraising lean angles. If you missed Daytona, don't miss sears Point Raceway.Get discount "Supertic kets" exclusively at Bass ticket outlets. YOU PAY $10 FOR BOTH DAYS OF RACING INSTEAD OF $16 AND YOU GET A GARAGE PASS TOO! CHILDREN UNDER 12 FREE SATURDAY, MAY 15 • QualifYing Time Trials For Sunday's Events SUNDAY, MAY 16 • Vintage Motorcycle Race • Bell Helmets 100 kilometer . Stock Production • Formula II 250cc G.P. Race • Budweiser 500 Kilometer Endurance Race On Exotic Formula I Machinery WIN A KAWASAKI KZ550 Enter the Kawasaki sweepstakes at any participating Kawasaki dealer or Budwe iser retail outlet. This Is your chance10 win a 1982 KZ550 Sport In the drawing between Sunday's races. FREE RACING POSTERS TheIIrst 50 people who stop bytheir participating Kawasaki dealer will receive a free racing poster when entering the Kawasaki sweepstakes SEARS POINT RACEWAY searsPoint Raceway Is lo c ated a t the junctio n of Highways 37 a nd 121 In Sonoma, CA, 45 miles north o f San Francisco, 50 mile s from Socramento. ~~E ... IIiiES Exhaus t Systems Kawasaki AFM. PRO. INC. 19

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