Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~. ~ G(") 00 O'l ,, ~ (,,0 ...... ~ .~ l-o Ill/A A H ~ 0.. .< ) . , (Left to right) Team Yamaha manager Giacomo Agostini poses with Ke nny Roberts and Eddie Lawson. Preview: The 1983 World Championship Road Race Series By A lan Cathcart T he 1982 G rand P rix season was by common consent one of the mos t en thralling for years. The re-em ergence of Honda as a fo rce to be reckoned with; R oberto Gallina 's wizardry in retaining th e 500cc title for Suzuki, after reigning L hi II " d f h " c. a rnp ion ucc, m e I S e ecnon to Honda, WI th yet an othe r 26 ri der rescu ed from th e scrap- hea p -sFran co Uncini ; the little-kn own Jean Louis T ourn adre's feat in em u la ting J on Ekerold 's def eat of th e seem ingly in vin cibl e works Kaw asak is, th is tim e to scoop th e 250cc cro wn by a sin gle point from Anton Mang ; th e five- a nd , six -bi ke tu ssles for victory in th e : 125cc class, with th e old fox Angel Ni eto winning his 10th World , Championship title on th e G areli; a ll th is and much more made 1982 a hard ac t 10 foll ow , , Yet w,he n th e GP season .op~ns m ea rnest m France a t th e begi nn ing o f Ap ril, after last week 's fu ll dr ess reh ear sal in Sou th Africa, th e sig ns are th at a n even greater yea r o f road racin g is o n th e cards . T rue, th ere'll be some not able a bsen tees from las t term 's ro ll-ca ll : Kork Ball in gt on an d th e 500cc Kawa sak i have retired; th e works MBA 250 -third in the Wo rld Champio ns hi p a n d wi n ner of a GP in the hands o f Rol and Frey mond - w ill be sideli ned wh ile its crea tor J org Moller pursu es a lucrati ve co ntra ct desig ning an 80cc bike for th e Portug uese Ca sal company 10 enter . the fray wit h n ext season; an d th e closest a nd most even ly mat ch ed ca tegory o f a ll, the 350cc, h as been comp letely axed, victim of th e un hol y a llia nce o f th e FIM an d J apanese manufacturers. But co mpetitio n in th e re ma in ing classes will be keen er th an ever, esp ecia lly with th e leading privat eers wh o mad e up th e bulk o f th e defunct 350cc class now for ced into th e 500 a nd 250cc categories 10 ea rn th eir keep : th ere a re go ing 10 be so me em barrassed facto ry riders during th e course of th e next six months. 500cc As a lways , most a ttentio n is focuse d on th e blue ribbon 500cc cla ss, wh ere three-time World Champion Kenny Ro ben s is making a fin a l a ttem p t 10 rega in the crow n on a n im p ro ved version o f th e OW61 Yamaha V-4. ; Wi th reig n ing U.S. Su perbi kechamp Eddie Lawson joining h im for h is first full season in E uropea n G P racing, Robert s will be th e man 10 beat , but m uch will dep en d o n whe the r a winte r's developm ent and a new fram e have cured th e h andl ing p rob lem s an d vicio us p ow er cha rac teris tics of the lat est facto ry Yama ha . La guna Seca test sessio ns ha ve co nvi nced I Kenny tha t th e severa l changes he : requ ired in th e bike a fter la st season ha ve been carrie d o ut , with a m uch , smoothe r po wer delivery th e ch ief.. im p rove me nt . A sur p rising decision on the face o f it is th e team 's co n rin u ing u se o f Dunlop tires; the British company lost their early-season dom is nan ce 10 Mi chel in la st yea r in tlie 500cc class, but wi ll do u btless De maki ng every effort 10 stay in fro m th is time arou nd . With a ll the othe major teams o n Mich el in s, Yarn afia is o bvious ly gam bl in g o n esta blisHin g an edge in th is vital area. Day'ron a 's 1-2 by Rob ert s a nd La wson'on: Du nl ops started th e year with a bang. In 1982 th ere were fou r facto rysupporte d Yamaha teams, bu t this year the re are on ly two , with Fren ch man Ma rc Fontan at best a n o utside hop e o n the o n ly o ther OW6l in circu lat io n. With ou tside sponsorsh ip a nece si tv to be a ble to afford the back-u p rid er that Ro bens co ns ide red vita l, th e Yam aha fa ctory " pe rs uaded'' Gi acom o Ago st ini to brin g hi . in creased Marlboro sponso rshi p Iurids over to the wo rks team by th e simple expedient of refusi ng 10 su pp ly him wi th mach in ery if h e co nt inued a lone as last vear . With Marlboro in sistin on works bik es, Ago h ad lill ie choice, th ough he' s prob abl y bet ter cu t o u t for h is n ew ro le o f fig u reh ead PR man a n d tracksid e a dvisor tha n o u tright team manager , if the turmoil in la st year's Marlboro Team Agosti n i was any th ing 10 go by. In spite qf tha t, they earned seco n d pl ace in to e, cham pions hip, tha n ks largely 10 tO~ fast a n d consistent riding o f G ra em e Cros by, whose'bravery in co nt in ui'ng to sco re lead erboard res u lts a fter inj uri n g hi s h ands badly in a practi ce cras h at Silverstone dese rved bett er rewa rd tha n to be effec tive ly d um ped for the co mi ng season. Abou t th e o nly people who' ll be p leased to see the seco nd-best 500cc rider in th e worl d si tting o ut the 1983 season ba ck h ome in New Zeal an d, bu ildi ng a fami ly an d racing for fun , will be h is riva ls. Croz w ill be so re ly mi ssed arou nd the Europea n p ad docks thi s co m ing season. Also inj ured in Silverstone practice - a lmost ter mi na lly so - was the fourth Yamaha rider last season, Ba rr y Sheene. Bion ic Ba rr y h a s become a legen d in his ow n life ti me. as much for h is seemi ngly unl im it ed" powers of reco very from h orr ific in juries which wo u ld have left most o the r peop le permane nt ly d i sabl ed , ~ as fo r hi s undoubted ta len ts on th e track. J us t o ver si x m onths a fter a ll bu t losin g bo th h is legs in th at con. troversial accident , Sheene is back in the saddle again, but th is time on a prod uc tio n RGB Suzuki courtesy o f the British im porters, wit h th e promise of full work s machinery o n th e horizon if h e ca n ac h ieve hi s old form . No thi ng seems to be beyond th is incre dible man whose pop u la rity ex ten ds far beyond hi s nat ive shores; it must be accou nted a maj or publicity error by bo th Yamaha an d h is last year's J ohn Pl ayer cigare tte sponsors to hav e dro p ped Sheene after his lates t acci de nt. Su zu ki has a lready ad m itted publicl y th at Ba rr y n eed never turn a .... wh eel for th em o n th e track for th em to h ave go tten th eir money's wortt\, fro m his eag erl y-fo llowed co me bac ks tra i I. Wh ether even h e will be a ble to I recap ture a ll hi s o ld fir e and speed is a nother question , but wi th a m a ne like this, anythi ng is possible. If all~ goes well , I expect h im 10 wi n a t least one G P -proba bly th e Swedish, a ) race he's a lways do ne well in, and towa rds th e end o f th e season when'l he shou ld have recovered m ost of h is1 sta m i na - the n re ti re to a well deserved ro le as ta lk -sh ow host , PR man and perh a ps team manager. .. T he Sheene comebac k m ay be the' on ly success sto ry in 1983 for Su zu ki. In a remarkable series of off-season m o ves, the J a p an ese fa ct ory h a s en deavore d 10 integra te th e ti tl ewinning G all in a team with the lu cratively-backed but mi serably unsuccess-

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