Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

o n th e sixt h lap. Spencer was th ir d at the sta rt / fin ish li ne, b ut co u ld ha ve been second a t a n y g iven pan of th e co u rse. T he o rde r was cha nging co n sta n tly as th ey pull ed so me space o n H aslam who was safely a hea d o f "Luck y" a nd th e bo ys. " We a ll had differ ent part s o f the tra ck w here we we n t well ," said S pencer. " I th ink I co u ld o u tbra ke them on the sho rt dow n h ill a nd make up so m e t ime th rough the chicane if I kept it in the p ow er ba nd. Randy was lak in g th e ri ght-bander s a t th e end of th e st rai g h t th e bes t and pulling us ou t o f th e last turn before th e front straig ht. Kenny' s bike has powerband a nd to p end a nd it was hard to gel by hi m . T hey've got th at bike worki n g real well. " As u npred ict abl e as th e first three were, the sa me went for th e seco n d pack. Roch e was a ll o ver a nd , o n several occasions , o ff the tr ack . Lawson hooked up wi th U nci n i af ter passing Ka ta yama a n d a fading Lucchin ell i who co m p la ined of tir e tro u bles. " Ro ch e was w ild. H e was all over th e track a n d Kat a yama crashed rig h t in fro nt o f m e, b ut kep t goi ng. I couldn' t bel ieve it. It was the ch ica ne right after the to wer bridge and he was b raking so h a rd tha t h e st ood it o n th e fro nt wheel. T hen he ca m e down o n hi s r ig h t a nd flo p ped o ver to his left a nd kept goi ng. H e crashed , bu t he didn 't sto p .' sa id La wson. Law son g OI by W orld C ham p io n Lucchinelli at th e halfway mark a n d se t h is sights o n H asla m . " If I was in h is draft I co u ld st a y wi th Lawson, bu t hi s bike had so much m ore power tha n min e th at h e co u ld jus t pull awa y o n th e straighta ways," U nci n i explain ed . T he crafty Ro bert s sh owed h is two pu rsu ers tha t a littl e experien ce ca n go a lo ng way b y u sing a backmarker 10 lose th em going into the ch ica ne. " If I d o n ' t keep my bike be twee n 9 ,000 a nd 11,500 i r's no t g o i ng 10 work real well a nd in th a t ch ica n e if. yo u ge t o ff the powerba nd yo u ei ther have to do wns h ift, or yo u sp in th e wh eel," ex p la ined Spencer. After cl ea ring the back rna rk er for th e o thers 10 d ea l with , R oberts got dow n to so me seri ous racing and o n th e 16 th la p lo wer ed th e tr ack record to I:52.80, a ver aging 115.043. It was o nly a tenth o f a second slo we r th an his q ua lif yi n g time. Robert s h ad ta ken co m ma nd by now a nd was h o lding o nto a p recarious two to th ree secon d lead on firs t Ma rnol a , th en S pencer. H asla m felt h is m o tor sta rti ng to go a nd held do wn th e revs 10 co n ser ve i t to th e end, dropping furt h er back fro m the front-runners a nd feeling th e heal from L aw so n. Spencer 's second was lo o king g ood a nd his hand was stren g the ne d w hen Ma rnol a ' s front br ake pads s ta r ted 10 wear OUI lat e in th e race. The ru le for stree t-rid ing is th at th e fr ont br akes d o 70% o f the wor k. In Gra nd P rix raci n g it's cl oser to 100%. " I d on ' t u se m v rea r br ake a t a ll." said Spencer. " Excep t maybe 10 stop it w he n I ro ll up to the sta rt li n e." " T h ere a re o n ly two p laces o n thi s co u rse w her e yo u usc a ny rear br ake," La wson adde d . As th e laps wear o n , th e tires wea r OUI a nd sta rt 10 slide a ro u nd so m e. " It 's n o t sca ry," sa id .S p encer. " It's a n ice p redi cta ble slide yo u get w hen you g et o n th e ga s. " " F red d ie was sp in n in g hi s rea r tire th e w hole way dow n the short strai g ht in the c h ica ne. An d when h e ca m e OUI of it h e was g on e because n o o ne gOI a j u m p o u t o f it l ik e h e d id ," explained Ma m o la . O n the 201h lap , Robert s was charging into the " P a ra bo l ica ," braki ng lat e a nd pee li ng o ff a t the last mi n- . ut e, driving it in w ith h is rear w heel. But t hi s time h e ca m e in lower a nd th er e wa s a " dop p ia to" (backm a rker) in hi s lin e. T o a vo id the rid er h e tr ied to go around hi m , lifted h is rea r wheel o ff t he g ro u nd, ra n o ff the tr ack , a nd in to th e dirt . " I ca me in 100 low and th e rear w h eel ca me o ff th e grou n d. I kind o f used th e backm a rk ers 10 pu t so me ground between Fr ed di e a nd m yself. I k new th is was going to be o ne o f th ose last la p d eal s and when yo u make o ne o f tho se little mista kes, just ten feet , it m a kes a ll th e di ffer ence in th e wo rld. I h ad a bo u t two seconds o n him b ut we wer e going 110- 120% every la p . I th o u g ht I h ad fou r laps to p u ll a way because. I co u ld n ' t hav e kep t th at p ace up. Everbod y doe s the sa me thing. Your tires sta rt 10 go away towards the end a nd yo u slide a littl e. I thi nk Rand y had t he g ear rat ios ri ght for thi s track a n d his power was better. Freddie had the best fo r the short d ow n hill stra ig h t a nd was o u t bra ki ng m e th rough th e ch ica n e. F re d die wa s ridin g th at th ing," sa id Ro berts. " It happ ened righ t in front o f m e," sai d Spencer. " H e just ra n o u t o f race track a n d did a Sa n] ose slide into th e sa nd holdi ng o n to the bi ke. I sa w him st a r t to gel up r ig h t o u t o f th e co rn er o f m y eye as I went past h im." W ith the cl u tch held in a nd the engine still runn ing, Ro berts re-jo ined the pack in fo u rth p la ce, lo sin g o n ly th ree spo ts in his off-road excu rsio n . Spe ncer was now clear o f Mamol a wh o se fro nt brake p ads had worn o u t co m p le tely . H a sla m was n ursing his ai lin g H onda w hi le tryin g n o t 10 thin k o f Ro bert s a nd L a wso n cl osing on him. All th e work H aslam h ad done went for n a ught when h is cra n kshaft bea ri ng went o u t w i th 3/4 o f a lap to go. Alth ou gh he a nd Fr eddie ar e re poned to get prefere ntia l trea tme n t, there is still a pa rt s sh o rt age wi th the H ondas, a lt hough their re li a bi li lty reco rd th is yea r ca n' t be faulted . It was th e fir st m ech an ical DNF o f th e yea r for the four-man H ond a fact ory team . Ro bert s, too , was o u t o n th e la st la p wh en h is m ach ine sputtered 10 a sto p , o u t o f gas. " I had no id ea that wo uld happen . T hat 's n o t m y d epart m ent ," Ro berts sa id. " I was wi lli ng to take fi rst o r second; ir 's the p o ints we're a fte r a nd I knew it wou ld be close a t th e e nd . If i t had run o u t o f g as wh en I wa s lead in g I would have b ur nt it. " T eam manag er Giaco m o Agost ini said, ".I tho ug h t h e would ge l a bo u t five kil om et er s p er liter , bu t a t th at speed h e was gett ing four." For Ag o it was d eja vu. In 1974, w hile lead ing th e 500cc G P a t Irno la , h e, to o , ran o u t o f fuel; like Kenny o n th e la sI lap. FIM ru les p ermit 32 liter g as tan ks so th at at five kilo meter s .p er liter ther e shou ld hav e been a reserve a t th e end . Lawso n fi nished w ith fu el to spare in th e 139.2 kil o m eter race (86.5 1 mi les), but o ne team member sa id th at Law son was usi ng a differem g as ta nk than R obert s. " Ken n y was running h is motor hard er th an we wer e since we wer e in hi s d raft," no ted Ma m ol a . At th e en d it was S pencer wi n ni ng hi s th ird Gra n d Prix in a row for a pi ct u re-book beginn in g to the sea so n . Mamol a was eig h t seco nds back , bu t te n up o n Lawson, who ben efi tled fro m the tw o d rop-o u ts 10 m ak e hi s fi rst visit 10 t he p odium since jo in in g the Yam aha tea m . U nci n i hung in for fourt h , Kat ay a m a was fift h, and R och e was th e first privateer, in six th . T h ree Amer icans, th ree d iff erent brands, o ne nationa l a nthem . " I rea lly felt proud u p there w hen th ey were pl a yin g t he na tio na l a n them ," La wson began. " It was crazy up there; the crowd of pho to g - ...... ...... (Top) Eddie Lawson got his best GPfinish with a third, (Above) The first time in history that a GP winner's circle was all-American, ra ph ers a nd p eople were m o bbing u s. C ha m p io ns h ip a nd so m eo ne told m e I as ked Fr eddi e if i t was a lways like Barry (Shee ne) did il when he won a this a nd he sa id ' O n ly in Ital y.' I Wo rl d Cham pi on ship." th ink th at if I'd hav e g otten a way The preced ent has been se t a nd th e better I co u ld have raced with the wav th at this H o nd a dea ler from fro nt bu nch , but I b u rn ed m y clu tch S h reve po rt is goi ng, ir's goi n g to be a a t th e start a n d thoug h t 10 m yse lf laugh o ne to break . Results ' N o t aga in .' BUI by t he dow nh ill under th e br idge it wa s h ooking u p 500cc: 1. Freddie Spe ncer (Han ); 2. Rand v Mam· OK a nd I sta rt ed to feed it so me m ore eta (SUl); 3. Eddie Lawson (Yam ); 4 . Franco Unc in i th ro ttle. E ve ryt h i ng o n th e bik e (Sull; 5. Takaz u m i Kata yama (Hon); 6. Raymond d . I' I h Roc h e (Hon): 7. M arc Fonta n (Yaml ; 8. Serge Pe l· wa r ke d g rea t, b ut I h a a III e c a uer la ndini (SUl ); 9 . Barr y Sh een e (Su l t 10 M arch right a t the en d." Luc ch i nelli (Honl . " I hi k I ld h b F d 25 Occ: 1. Carlos Lava do (Yam ); 2. Thi erry Espie t 11\ co u ave ea len re .(Yam ); 3. M an fr ed Herweh (Yam ); 4. M art i n W i m m er di e if m y br akes hadn't gone, " sa id (Yam ); 5. Jacqu es Cornu (Yam); 6. Her ve Gu illeux Mam ol a . " M y foo t's a litt le so re, but I (Ka w ); 7 . Thie rry Rapicault (Yam ); B. lvan Palazzese (Ya m ); 9 . Did ier de Rad igue s (Ch e); 10 . Je an Prano n ly n o ticed it in t he slo w co rners. co is Balde (Che ). (Ma rno la was walk ing w i th a n in fla t125

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