Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

.. -. -- ~ ~ "'" A. " o<':l 00 O'l . ....... / ....... ....... >- C'j ~ (A bove) J im Gibson came through traffic for third in Italy . (A bove ri ght) D anny laPorte w as third in Spain. (File photos.) World Championship 500cc MX Series: Round 1 Noyce, Malherbe battle in Switzerland PA YERNE, SWITZERLAND, AP R. 10 The Swiss 500cc MX GP, th e opening round of th e series, was a battle of form er World Champions as H onda team- 20 ma tes Graha m Noyce a nd Andre Mal h er be traded moto wi n s a nd second p lace C ishes whil e dom ina ti ng the in event. T h ird in both m ot o s went 10 Suzu ki's Andre Vro mans . . Whil e th e C rm er cha m p io ns were a ba tt li ng, th e defendin g Worl d C ha mpion was n't. Brad Lackey, unable 10 co me up wi th a sponsorshi p package to his liking from a ny team, is apparent ly co ntent 10 si t o ut th e season . H e has made no ment ion o f reti rement as yet. Noyce, the 1979 tit le hol der, and Malher be, th e wi n ne r in both 1980 a nd '8 1, p layed a ga me o Cca t a nd mouse in bo th motos, No yce was co n fide n t of a lways hav in g th e upper han d. "'I d idn 't want to lead An dre," sai d No yce. "'I had so me reall y good lin es th at he d idn 't know a bo u t. I didn ' t wo rrv a bo ut th e second mo to because _ I kn~w wh ere 1 was goi ng to pass Andre o n the la st lap. H e m ad e a m istake befor e we got th ere so I mov ed on by . " Malh erbe, co mi n g off two injury plagued sea sons, sa id hi s sh o u lde r sti ll isn 't 100 p ercent so h e fell h e was rid ing a t a bo u t 75 p er cent o f his a bil. ity, Yamaha's H a kan Carlq vist bl asted a way from th e sta rt in m ot a o ne with H arry Everts a n d Vromans sha do win g him. Noyce and Malherbe sett led in cl ose behind, co n tent to sit and wait. Carlqvist wa s soon hit by a sever e cra m p in his ba ck and had to ease th e pace. Vromans saw his cha nce a nd p ressed Cor th e lead. However , h e mi s-rirned his move, co ll ided wi th Carlqvi st in a slo w co rner, a n d C Nov ce and Ma lell. herbe moved into seco n d'and th ird in th e co n fus io n . No yce clipped Vro mans ' downed bike as he we n t p ast a nd bent h is rea r brake lever. Malh erb e qui ckl y made a mov e past No yce a n d Carlqvist to tak e th e lead . It was a two r ider race Irorn th ere o n . Vro rnans caught Carlqv ist at th e 40 m inu te mar k and passed C or th ir d . The top Iour remained t he sa me to the finish . Carlqvist agai n set a blis tering pace C m th e sta rt in moto two , but struck ra trou bles a nd Ma lh er be mo ved int o the lead on la p th ree. Carlqvisi soon dropped o ut. N o yce a nd Vromans m ov ed u p to make th e battl e lo r t he lea d a three rid er one. l\Ialher be led in the cl osing la p s as Noyce moved in to set him up lor a last la p pass. Mal h erb e bobbl ed a nd Noyce moved p ast Cor th e win . Vroma ns continued in th ird Co llow ed bv Suzuki tea m m a te J e an -J a cque~ Br u no. • Re su lts OVERALL: 1. Graham Noyce (Hon·G B) 2-1 ; 2. A ndre M al h erb e IHon·B el gi um i ' -2 ; 3. Andre Vro man s (Suz - Belg i um ) 3 -3 ; 4 . J ean -J acc ues Bru n o (Sue-Fra nce) 6-4 ; 5. Hakan Carl qvi st (Yam -Swe de n) 4 - *; 6. Jaak Van Velthoven (KTM-luxe mbo urg) 7 · 8; 7. Neil Huds on (Yam -G BI- ·5; 8. Harrv Evert s (Su z· Belgium) 5 - - ; 9. Dave Thorpe IHon · GBj-· 6; 10 . Yuri Kh udiakov (Cag -USSR ) - ·7; 11 . L. Per sson IHu s Swed en )S - -; 12 . L. Spence (Mai -Ire tan d) g -- ; 13 . J . Si nton en (Ya m- Fi n land) -· 9; 14 . T. Tik kar ain en IHon·Finland) 10 -10. ·Oenotes pla cing ou t of top ten . WORLO CHAMPIONSHI P POINT STANOINGS: 1. (TIE) Ma lherbe /Noyce (27); 3 . Vromans 120 ); 4 . Bruno ( 13); 5. Carlqvist (8); 6. Va n Velthoven (7); 7. (TIE) Everts/Hudson 1 9. Thorpe 15); 10 . Khudia6); kov (4); 11 . Persson (3); 12 . (TIE) Sintonen /Tikka rai nen / Spenc e (2). World Championship 250cc MX Series: Round 1 lobe wins in 'Spain, LaPorte third By A lex Hodgkinson SABADEL L, SPAIN, APR. 17 Danny LaPorte's first event as th e d efending 250cc World 'Ch a m p io n sa w th e American Yamaha works rider finish th e day wi th second a n d fo urth pl ace mo to Fin ish es. LaPor te wo uld hav e won th e second moto, for he had a saf e lead in the closi ng la ps: but hi s fron t wheel bega n to break up. Suzu ki's Georges j o be, seek ing to regain the cro w n La Porte took lrom h i m , ended th e da y o n top of th e sta n di ngs w ith a win a nd seco nd p lace fini sh. Jea n-Cla ude Laqua ye, r idi ng lor th e Honda Iactorv, took th e second m o to win a nd, with'h is C h in th e openi ng ift moro, va u lte d a head o f LaPort e to take seco nd ove ra ll. America n Billv Gross i was to mak e h is G P de but o n' a facto ry su p ported Ma ico . H o wever, h e broke th e steering head .o n h is mach ine o n the secon d la p of practice a nd didn 't h a ve a spa re mach i ne to race, so becam e a specta to r. . T here was never a ny doubt th at J obe was th e qu ickest man o n th e track . Fa stest in train in g. h e led th e first race all the wa y 10 win by 20 secon ds easi ng u p a nd then stormed through 10 secon d Irorn 18th o n lap o ne o f th e second enco unter a fter mi ssing a gear from th e start. There we re Yamahas a p le nty o n hi s tail a t th e sta rt of the first race wtih Soren Mortensen, La Porte and Jo Martens spl it o n ly by Gaston R ahier , but a sti cking throttle soo n saw the old champion dropping back and out. Gradually th e two factory machines overhau led th e Dane, who then crashed out, a s Jobe raced clear. . Jeremy Whatley found himself in a four-way scrap with Kees Van der Yen , Laquaye and Dave Watson until the latter' s front br ake ca ble was bent by a flying stone a nd h e went down , continuing a t an en fo rced slowed pace to tenth. • Martens was th e nex t to crash and LaPorte was temporarily clear in second, The Ceroci o us battle behind took th em to him , however, and only a few yards co vered the Iour at th e flag , R ear pun ctures put ou t Vi H;imounted American Carlos Serrano a n d Rolf Di eff enbach , but th e second G erman H onda m an , Arno Drechsel , charged th ro ugh fro m a poor sta rt to six th. 'Oth ers to go o u t of p rominent placings were Ma tt i T arkkonen and Will i \\' allinger with th rown cha ins. j ob e's missed gear put him l8thon la p o ne of th e seco n d moto as LaPorte led with Laqua ye soon d isplaci n g Bennie Wil ken , Gerts- Jan Van Doorn a nd Rahier, who co u ld n' t keep th e pa ce. Martens a nd Whatley wer e also soon through as Wat son went o u t whe n the bracket holdin g th e front brake ca ble bro ke and th e brake seized on. La Porte h ad a han d y lea d unt il h is front wheel began to br eak u p , a pro blem wh ich had a lrea dy side li ne d Drech sel . a n d a l ter 18 minut es, Laqua ve swep t pas t a nd a way. Ma rten s a lso d emot ed h is tea m leader, but n ow j o be w as w ith them and a t th e 25 minut e stage went seco nd. H e immediatel y began to take two seconds a lap o u t o f Laquaye 's 13 seco nd ad va n tage but eased his pace in th e cl o sing lap s. Th e e x-c h a m p io n ex p lai ned: " It too k a g rea t effort to co me th rou gh to secon d a nd on ce I wa s sa fe th er e I settled Cor it rather tha n r isk in g th rowin g 12 p oints a way."

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