Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

and he got by me. I th ought h is rea r ti re would go a way too ." T heir battle had take n th em 7.5 seco n ds clear o f H a slam in thi rd a nd a strugg lin g Kat ayama in fo u rth. " At th e begi n n ing m y th rottle was stickin g, my bra kes weren 't wor kin g and m y sh if ter was n ' t working . I cam e pas t the mech anics early in th e race a nd sh o wed them it wo uld be im possible to co nti n ue . I lost ten seco n ds in the first th ree laps a nd wen t stra ig h t in the fast co rner a nd Ken ny go t by me, " sai d Ka tayama . " Bu t th e problems starte d to dis appea r a nd I co u ld go a li tt le fa ster eac h lap ." Kat ayama wasn ' t th e o n ly o ne ha vin g pro blems wi th hi s mac h in er y. Most o f th e bikes wer e po p pi ng co m in g down the front stra ightaway: a sig n o f poor ca r buret io n . r,' At th e beginn i ng of th e race I was ca tch i n g Kenny and Freddie," sa id Ma m o la . " T h en mv bi ke started mis sing a n d th e o verflo w bott le fro m th e radia tor filled a nd sta rte d p u ki ng water u p under my bu bble a n d o nt o my faces hi eld . So I had to rid e ha rder in.th e co rners to make up for i t. It was missing do wn th e straights a n d I cou ld make it pop whenever I wa nted. I k n ow I co u ld ha ve ca ug h t Kat aa m a. " 'De fe n d i n g World Ch am p i o n Fra nc o Unc i ni was a lso hav ing p roblems with h is Suzu ki XR 45 m issing. T eam m anager Robert Ga ll ina said, " We do n 't kn o w w ha t it was. Ma ybe th e car bu retors were too big." !i'T h ree laps into the race th e lever cam e back o nto m y fingers ," sai d Lawson . " And it staye d th ere a ll th e wa y th rough th e race. It d idn 't ge t worse, so I co uld keep th e pace up o nce I kn ew i t wa sn 't going to go away entirely." ]Ro bert s was gr aduall y ga in ing some gro u nd o n Spe n cer, a n d Kat ayama and Haslam were separated from fifthp laced Mamol a. Throwing h is 268 lb. OW-70 a ro u n d th e co urse was beginning to wear o n Roberts and h e knew he co u ld n ' t keep it up for ever, an d slo we d th e p ace. At th e halfwa y p oint H asl am fell o n the far back sect ion o f the co u rse, injuring his h and. It was set in plaster , but h e was exp ected to mak e th e foll owing week's Au stri an GP. After two m ech ani cal DNF's in Italy a nd West Germany, it was the third n onfinish in a row for the H onda rider. T he biggest lead R obert s pull ed on Spe ncer was th ree seco nds a nd he los t half of th at with an off-track excursion at th e en d of the front stra ig h t while go ing aro un d a slow er rider. rR obert s said, " I went over th e wh i te li ne across the dirt an d ca me back o n to th e track a nd los t a bo ut a seco nd an d a half. Fred die sai d to me o n th e victo ry p odium, " Yo u kno w what I was thinking?" a nd I sa id , 'Yeah, I kn ow exa ctl y wh a t yo u were thinking,' since I'd don e the sa me thi n g whi le leadin g him i n Ita ly last month. " Kat ayama 's third was sec ure, for a lt houg h h e was 15 seconds beh ind th e leaders, h e had a t least th at m uc h sp ace o n Mam ol a . Mamola was eq ua ll y secure a nd more so wh en Roche d ro pped o u t o n th e 25 th lap wi th gearbox probl em s, a recurring trou ble with the H ondas. [Sp en cer 's Erv Kan emot o p repared NS-500F was ru n ning flawl essly a n d he p icked up the pace to pressure Ro berts. T h e m iddle laps were run at a co nser va tive pace, but with th e race wea rin g do w n, Sp encer mad e his bi d and went pas t fou r laps from th e end. He exp la i n ed, " I g o t by h im -between the tw o ri gh ts o n th e short stra ig h t just befor e the front strai gh t. In th e fir st h alf of the race he h ad better luck with lapped riders and I had better luck in th e second half.He went .. '. . one side of a lapped rider a nd- . .. on " . .. . - . I went aro u nd th e o ther side and I got past. " . R o berts wasn ' t backin g o ff and kept the Lo uisiana nat ive in h is sig h ts, ho pin g to make a last la p bid . Co min g down the mo re th a n half- mil e long front stretch . the tw o enco un tered m or e lapped riders as they ent ered turn one. Two, Jack Middel burg a n d Sergio Pellandini, didn 't mov e o ut of the wa y and it was up to th e leaders to pas s clea n ly. Nei th er did, but Spenc er ca me o u t o n to p . " I tri ed to get by J ack o n the in side and th e bike went sideways . I stra ig hten ed it o ut a n d got back o n th e th rottle," sa id Spen cer. Roberts agreed . " H e got su per side ways lapping Middelbu rg . Mi ddelburg wa s the pro blem, Pe llandi ni was no problem . Mid delbu rg kn ew we were back th ere because he 'd loo ked back a co u p le of corners before. And it took a little w hil e longer to get by hi m ." Never o ne to give u p, " Kin g Kenn y" kept th e pressure o n a nd it was a d rag race to th e finish li ne, whi ch Spen cer wo n by half a second. " I crossed th e che ckered line a n d I didn ' t know w here he was ," said Spe nce r. "The fin ish lin e isn ' t far from the fi nal turn so I kn ew h e co u ld n't draft m e if I was in fro nt o f h im ." Roberts was rid ing 110%an d ca me up wit h seco n d, but sa id , ''I' d rather rake a seco nd like th a t tha n j us t hav e a win handed to me. My wris ts go t reall y sore late in the race. O n this track yo u 're a ll over th e bike. " Wh en as ked by a journalist wha t he th ou ght he would have to do to mak e h is bik e fas ter, Ro berts sarcas ticall y repl ied, " T a ke one cylinde r off an d m ak e th e o th er th ree bigger," o bvio usly referring to th e three-cyli n der H onda s. T h ir d p laced Kat a yama sai d, " I en joyed th e race o n ce th e p roblems went away . I used a n ew bike wi th a much shorter wheel base and it worked fin e. " Marnola finish ed fourth o n th e ai ling ma chin e which rig hted i tself. " O n th e 16th lap it sto p ped mi ssing because I was ridin g it lik e a stree t bike," sai d Mamola. Teammate U nci ni to ok fifth about tw o seco n ds ah ea d o f Lawson who wa s al so enjoyin g th e race. "I had a blast. I wanted to keep going . After th e brake p roblem I was ri di ng a safe race. " But th e race, lik e three o f th e four befor e it, belonged to Spe ncer. Ro berts gave It hi s best and came up just sho rt , but lik e Spen cer sa id, ei the r o n e o f th em co u ld h ave won. " I' m beat," said Spencer wh ile coo li n g o ff in hi s mot or h om e with hi s fiancee Sari a t h is side . " I kn ew Kenny wouldn 't give up. It was th e hardest race th a t I can rem em ber running. I think th e bikes were a lmost eq ua l and wh at H onda has don e this year is increase reli abil it y. Once the y impro ved the reliab ility they co u ld work o n th e engine. And I can tell if one engine is faster th a n a n o th er by th e gea ri ng." Looki ng o n to th e Aus tria n G P, th e h alfwa y p oint in th e seaso n, Spencer sa id , " I' ve been o n a ll of th e tracks th a t a re left this yea r an d I lik e the m . Sa lzbu rg is o ne o f m y fa vorite tra cks, a nd I li ke Spa a nd Si lvers tone. Yugoslavia's ver y bumpy, like thi s track. " Spencer took a lo n g swig from a glass of ice d tea a nd su m med it up when he reitera ted, " I kn ow th a t Kenny won ' t g ive up. Today was th e hardest race I can rem ember, but it was satisfying ra cing against Ken ny." . Results 500cc: 1. Freddie Spencer(Hon); 2. Kenn y Rabens (Yam) ; 3. Takazumi Katayama (Han ); 4 . Randy Mamola (Suz); 5. Frencc.Uncini (Suz); 6. Eddie Lawson (Yam); 7. Mark Fontan (Yam); 8 . Jack Middal· burg (Han); 9 . Sergio Pellandini (Suz); 10 . Boet Van Dulmen (Suz). 500cc POINT STANDINGS, 1. Spencer (68); 2. •• • • • •• - ~ . - • - "=' •• _ . . • n 8 ~ H B S uzuki 's Randy Mamola fin ished fourth after engine problems t h at slowed him in t h e early part of t h e rac e went away, Eddie Lawson, who f inished sixth, gets o n the binders as he slows his Team Marlboro Yamaha for one of Jarama's many turns. The Star Spangled Banner gets the undivided attention of runner-up Roberts, winner Spencer, and third place finisher Takazumi Katayama . Rob ert s (47 ); 3. Mamol a (29 ); 4 . Kata yam a (28); 5. Fonta n (26); 6 . (TI E) Lucchi ne ll i / Unci ni 125); 8 . ITIE) Haslam /Lawson (20); 10 . Roch e 113). 25Occ : 1. Herve Guilleux (Kaw); 2. Chr ist ian serron (Yam ); 3 . Ma rt in W immer (Yaml: 4 . Si t o Pons (Rot ); 5. Theirr v Espie (Yam ); 6. Jean F. Balde(Yam) ; 7. Carlos Laveda (Yam) ; 8 . Donnie Robinson (Yam); 9. Carlos Card us (Rot); 10. Ivan Palanese (Yam). 250cc POINT STANDINGS : 1. Lavado 138); 2. de Radigues (32) ; 3 . Guilleux (30); 4 . Fernandez 125); 5 . (TIE) Balde/Cornu (24 ); 7. W immer (21) ; B. Espie 120); 9. (TIE) Sarron/Rapicault (16) . 125cc: 1. Angel Nieto (Gar) ; 2. Eugenio lazzarini (Gar); 3 . Pier P. Bianchi (San); 4 . Maruic io V itali (MBA); 5. 8runo Kneubuhler (MBA); 6. Hans Uller (M8A); 7. Stefeno Cerecchi (MBA); 8. Willi Perez - ~ • • ~- - ... . .. _ . .. .. . I • • • • •• ~ .... .I . . . ... . (M BA ); 9 . Henk Kess el (M BA ): 10 . Ricardo Torme (M BA). 125cc POINT STANDINGS: 1. Nie to 145); 2. Lazzar in i (36 ): 3. (TIEl Tor mo/ Vi t ali /K ne ub uhle r (24); 6. Bianchi (20 ); 7. Gianols (10); 8. (TIE) Gre si ni /Mull er (9); 10 . W ickstrom (8 ). 50cc: 1. Eugenio lazzwarini (Gar); 2. Stefan Doerflinger (Kre); 3. Jo rge Ma rt inezAspar IB ul) ; 4. Claudio Lusuardi (Vii); 5 . Gerg Bauer (lie); 6. George Looyeste in (Kre ); 7 . Hans Spasn IHS); a. Daniel Ma ..os (Bul); 9. Hagen Klein (Kre(; 10 . Rud ols Kunz (Kre ). 50cc POINT STANDINGS: 1. Lauerini (54); 2 . Doerflinger 142); 3. Looyestein 128); 4 . Klein (21) ; 5. Lusuardi (20) ; 6 . 8auer (16); 7 . Spaan (15) ; 8 . Emmerich (14) ; 9. Asper (10) ; 10. KunzJ7~ . . ... _ 25 -..

• Cover