Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ " ... , -- " J . i ' c ,~ ( C(') 00 O'l .-< ~ 0 c-r ..... .-< l-< 0- < Mini but m-ohty t-t e hulderBy Alan Cathcart I sat up and braked for the Parabolica, the twin Brembos hauling the works Carelli down from top speed for the long, long corner. Lazzarini slipped inside me as I peeled off fo r th e tu rn but I tu cked in behind h im a nd d rew level as ' . d h Ii . h ~ e screa me d to IN ar s t ~ ~ms lin e. Team manager Verini held -32 o u t th e board: o ne la p to g o a t Monza , o nce m ore a ro u n d before th e c heckered flag a nd a historic win . . . . Dreaming? Not entire ly - for th ere I wa s indeed o n Angel Ni eto's Wo rld Champi on ship winni n g G arelli . chasin g lilli e Eugen io Lazzarin i, hi s ers tw h ile teammate, around Monza o n a su n ny m ornin g o ne da y last winter. Bu t this was no d o-or-di e Grand P rix effo rt, but a cha nce to try o u t o ne o f th e m ost su ccessfu l bikes in recent G P h istory. Ask m ost raci ng enth usia sts whi ch th ey co ns ide r to be th e ultimate G rand Pr ix bike o f th e m odern era, and th ey'll probabl y plump for th e R G500 Suzu ki , which in vari ous guises has reaped four World Championship 500cc tit les, in cl ud ing the last tw o. Other co n tend ers might also be-the 250/ 350cc ta ndem twin Kawasa ki which has do m inat ed the int ermediate cl as ses for th e best part of th e last five yea rs, or even th e a mazing T Z2501 350cc Yama ha - th at Manx No rt o n . of the 1970' s whi ch eve n today is ca p a ble o f defeating the best of th e d isc valve d esigns a n d ca rr ied J ea n -L ouis T ourna dr e to a p r ivateer 250cc ti tl e in 1982. Yet it 's perhaps a reflecti on o f th e lack of a p p recia tio n of th e smaller GP classes outside t he Latin' co u n tries that the bi ke which sta nds m ore clearl y head a nd s hou ld~rs abov e it s riva ls sh o u ld be p ractica lly unher a ld ed am on gst racing fans th e wo rl d over. In th e 500cc a re na , a m ach in e whi ch won the 1982 tit le fo r i ts class in bot h th e riders ' and cons tr uctor 's ca tegori es by scoring eight wins o u t o f th e II Grands Prix co ntes ted by th e wo rk s team s, a nd p rovided th e runner-u p in th e r ide rs ' table to boot , would be rightl y accl aimed as th e bike o f th e season - the cha m p io n o f cha m pions . Bu t because th e d isc-valve G arelli twin is bu t a humble 125cc sem iriddl er , it s ac h ievement in sco ring suc h a n o ve r w he l m i ng s uccess , aga ins t far from negligibl e o p position, has go ne largel y unsung ou tsid e Ital y- w hence it hail s- and Spain , home ofunarguabl ythegreat estlightweight rider of m od ern times, ten times Wo rl d Cham pi on and cu rre n t 125cc ti tle holder, Angel N ieto. Ni eto stro lled to th e 1982 cha m pionship, winni n g the first five G Ps he co ntested on th e trot, before slackerrin g off a bit to a ll o w teamm ate Eugeni o Lazza ri ni to ca tch u p closer in th e points table. Bu t even m ore sig n ifica nt was the G arellis ' a mazing rel iabil it y reco rd - o u t of 2 1 GP sta rts th ere we re o nl y two ret irements for m echa ni ca l reas ons, o ne a fai led igniti o n system . Given the pace o f th e tit a ni c st ruggl e for su pre macy betwee n th e M BA, San vanero a n d G ar elli squads, su ch a record was si m p ly rem a rk a ble, It 's even m o re rem ar kabl e given th e p o wer produced b y th e tiny 44 x 41mm cylin de rs. An outp u t o f 46.8 bhp ma kes the 125cc G a relli to da y's mos t powerful G P bike in speci fic ter m s, a t j us t u nder 375 bhp /l it er. Compare th a t to t he 40 bh p o r so ch urn ed o ut by th e V4 Yama h a o f th e Rea d an d Ivy era to ga uge the full me asure of th e Ga rell i's worth: a lighter , less co m p lica ted d esign with ha lf th e num ber of cy lin ders (tha n ks to FIM r u les), off ering a broader power band to co pe with th e maxi mum a llowa ble six speeds in th e gea rbox, yet p rod ucing 15% more p ow er th an the bike most people wo u ld nomin ate as th e most exotic l2 5cc roa d race r yet bui lt. Indeed , th e Garelli is almos t certa i n ly th e m ost powerful bike o f a ny ca paci ty ever raced in specific ter ms , ri val ed o n lv bv th e VanVeen Kreidl er with its 20 bhp cl aim from a si ngle eg gc u p -sized cylind er. U nder th ese circu ms ta nces , wh en the c ha nce ca me to test ride Ni et o 's title-wi n n ing bik e a t Monza in th e off seaso n, I need ed lilli e p rompting. " O n ly o ne problem ," worried Ro berto Pa tr ig n a n i, th e a ffa ble G a relli P R head who him self rode in th e 10 M IT back in the fifti es o n a li lli e Duca ri. " 1 hope yo u ca n ma nage to fit o n th e bike. N ieto mu st be a good nin e in ches sh orter than yo u , a nd it rea ll y is very sma ll. " Menta lly p o nde ring th e possibi li ties of a bio ni c c u t-a nd sh ut j ob o rr my legs, I rode u p to Monza o n a g lorious ly sunny winter morni ng to fin d the ent ire Garelli ra cing team , p lus fo rmer Wo rl d C hampio n Eugen io Lazzarini, a waiting m y p leas u re. Co nfi dence turned to cu r iosi tv, the n co nstern ation , as I real ized th is e n ti re sessio n was being laid on just for m y benefit, as th e o n ly no n-Ita li an journa list to ride this world -bea ring machi ne. T he Garelli' s engi ne was designed in 1977 by Jorg Moller, the journeyman two-stroke wizard from Germanv who's made a ca reer and na m e fo~ himself working in Ital y. Moller orig i na lly designed the unit for Minare lli, the huge proprietary en gine co ncern under wh ose na me it first appeared in p u blic, winn ing its de but race in Venezuela i n 1978 clad in a tu b ul a r fra m e a nd ridden by t hen cha m p io n Pi erpau lo Bia nch i. N iet o joined th e team during th e co u rse o f that seas on, but too la te to win t he titl e. Th e followin g yea r he m ade a m ends , sco ri ng ei ght G P vict or ies a nd winning e very race he finished en route to th e cham p io nship. Bian ch i o n ly managed tenth in th e table a nd departed the team a t seaso n's en d, a lo n g with Moll er whose co ntract had exp ired a nd, more importantl y, had ach ieved its purpose. To repl ace him, the o ther tw o [ree lance tw o -st roke wizards wer e hired a way from Bul taco , where th ey'd been workin g with Neit o for severa l seasons: Dutchmen J an Thiel th e engine man , and chassis desi gner Martin Mijwaa rt. Motorcycling's eq u ival en t o f Bria n Cl ough a n d Pet er T a ylor bu t in comparably less a bras ive, whi le eq ua ll y su ccessful - th e pair g ui d ed th e green and yellow Minarell im ounted Angel Ni eto to yet a nother wor ld tit le in 198 1, after narrowly m issing th e boat th e previ o us yea r. An int erna l shake-up at Mina rell i at th e en d of 1981 spell ed th e e nd o f th e G ra nd P rix effo r t. At o ne stage the tea m seeme d sure to be broken up - bu t th en in step ped Da n iele Ag rari, th e boss o f th e o ld -esta blished G ar elli factory, Europe's third- largest manu fact ur erof mopeds a nd small-ca pacity bikes. Agrati bought up th e ent ire tea m lo ck, stoc k a nd barrel - exc ept for Mijwaa rt wh o'd returned to H ol-

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