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/126633
will be equally hard 10 beat, bu t there's a feeling that he thinks he sho u ld by rights be ra cing a 500cc bi ke this yea r, a nd th at a 250cc is so meho w seco nd-best: th at's no a tt itude to win cham p io ns hi ps with. La vado ca n win ra ces but crashe s too o ften to w in ti tles, but for a real dark horse wat ch o u t fo r T i ro Po ns . If he can stay o u t of th e d iscos long enoug h to mak e a serio us a tte m p t on th e title wi th th e weird-looking but effect ive Kobas , th e yo u ng Spaniard with the p lay boy lif est yle co u ld surp rise man y . peo p le: he 's naturally ta lented. 5PEEDWAV 50/125cc In th e tiddler classes. th e Ital ian C arell is look to be heading for a clean swee p . A winter's development sho u ld see th e 50cc fast eno ug h 10 ena ble Lazzarin i to avenge last season's defeat by Derflinger's Kreider, th ough with a fast er rider than the veteran Lusuardi o n the Villa it migh t bJ a three-h or se ra ce. .It 's hard to see anyone beating Nieto on the Care lli for th e l 25cc cla ss; sooner o r la ter th e day w ill co me when h e wo n 't be able to stroll to victory a t will, bu t th at moment ha sn 't co meyet a n d Lazzarini a nd h e wi ll probably h ave a lready agreed 10 divvy up the riddlcr tit les, one each. Severe finan cial cram p will hav e restricted winter devel opment o n th e Sanven eros, but former cha m p Bianch i m ay be a ble 10 ge t their l 25cc into the fram e o n occasion . Sidecars Finall y, th e sidecars. Sooner o r lat er th e FIM m u st tak e steps to halt th e inexora ble stride o f th is class towards its o w n self-des truction. T he th ree -w hee l raci ng rigs now do mina tin g th is ca tegory bel ong a t a ca r meetin g , not a bik e CP , a nd it wo u ld have been much bett er to have reta ined th e 350cc class a n d o ffered th e sidecar circ us to th e four-wh eel world. Ironi ca lly, th e ma n chiefly responsibl e for this sta te o f affai rs, Sw iss Rold Biland, got hi s co me -u p pa nce last season wh en a severe bout o f over -confidence and an unprecedented run o f mech an- ' ical br eakagessaw him los e th e titl e to a rch -riva l Werner Schwarzel . But a ny time a rider ca n make a pit -stop for a completel y unnecessary cha t wit h h is me chanic, th en pu ll out aga in and still tak e the flag with ease, that's wh en I a nd thousands lik e me lose interest in the so-ca lled race. T he modern generation o f rearengine d , lo n g-wheelbase m achines with hub-center steering are o n ly exci ting to watch for th e first two laps a nd th ereaft er when som ething goes wrong-such as wh en Derek J on es' machine lost su dden a d he sio n (a particular problem with th e new ge nera tion o f sidecars) at Si lverstone and flipped int o th e stra w bal es. H oping for a n ac cident to rel ieve th e tedi urn does n ot belong in motorcycle racing, but with this class co ntrolled bv th e ent re nc hed vested inter ests it's h~rd to for esee an y ch an ge. Oh well - it' s n ice to have a ra ce wh er e yo u ca n go look fo r a hot dog a nd Coke aft er a co up le o f la p s. Wh o 'll win . did yo u as k? Who ca res, would be th e an sw er from some, but I guess it 'll be Biland again, especi a lly if h e breaks ranks as th rea tene d a nd becomes th e fir st leadin g dri ver to desert th e ch ro nica lly unreliab le TZ500 Yamaha en g ine fo r a n RC Suzuki, Sp en cer , Wimmer, Nieto and Laz zarin i - H onda . Yamaha a nd C ar elli tim es tw o : that 's wh ere th e rea l int erest lies in th e next six months. Whoever wins, we look set for an o th er seaso n o f vintage-q ua lity racin g. especia ll y in th e tw o la rger ca paci ty cla sses. One thing' s for sure, th ough, th e age of the priva teer is over : you have to have a Iactorv bik e 10 win in atl )' class from now on: . . . ' '. ..::-. ' 5easan·Opener Friday Wednesday APRIL 1st APRIL 6th Orange County Fairgrounds National Orange Showgrounds Costa Mesa San Bernardino Gates Open at 6:30 PM Racing at 8 PM Gates Open at 6:30 PM Racing at 8 PM FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY (714) 492-9933 FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL AMERICAN RACEWAYS (213) 448-0969 ~--+--METZEl:E'~~) - P.O . ~x 15536i. PIttsbu,.gh. PA 15244 31