Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126644
(Clockw ise from above) Eddie Lawson, Kenny Roberts and Randy Mamola take the winner's tour. Takazumi Katayama rode to fourth . Manfred Herweh lead s Didier De Radrigues in the 250cc battle for f irst. De Rad rigues was up front in the early stages. Mamola leads Lawson in their fight for second. but ultimately Lawson had the horsepower to ho ld it. was in the works. T he supporting ca st wa s L awson, n o w into fourth , Katay ama, a slowing H aslam , Uncini , Fontan , and a backpeda ll ing Lucchinell i. R o berts started to take off, " bu t the front en d went, possibly from the wind, in the fast first corner. It scared th e heck out of me. I slo wed down through th ere and wa s never o u t of co nt ro l." Still, h e kept up the pa ce, getting pi t sig na ls that info r med him he was stea di ly in cr ea sing th e g ap ov er Sp en cer. Th en the board read, " H e' s o ut. " 22 A lap before Spencer dropped out, he went from seco nd to fifth when h is NS500F H onda seized in turn one. " I kicked it u p an d it cranked back u p . But it seized co m in g o nto the front straigh t an d I coas ted into th e pits," a disa p pointed Spe ncer said. " It never did rea IIy run righ t th is wee ke nd. We stuc k a ring o n th e number tw o cylinder in practice. Bu t Kenny wa s going good. I wa s j ust try i ng to h an g in th ere." O nce tota lly rel iabl e, the H on das are sufferi ng a parts sho rtage a nd wear problem , wh ich, j ust h alf way th rough the g ri nd ing season, has becom e un ma nagea ble. According to a H onda spokes ma n , p lans for a new bi ke thi s year ha ve been scrapped sin ce th e H o nd a Raci n g Corporation wi n g o f th e factory hasn 't co me up with a nyth ing that wo rks bett er than th e cu rren t m od el. It is a mixed blessing for the Honda cam p since alt ho ug h th ey'd lik e mor e p ow er, they don 't want to hav e to sort ou t a n ew machine in th e mi ddl e of the season . The o n ly rider wh o m ight di sagree is H aslam , wh ose cra n ksha ft a lso broke, gi ving him h is fou rt h DNF in a ro w; however . o ne . was a crash in Spa in . The o n ly probl em Roberts wo u ld enco u nt er fo r the res t o f the race wo u ld be traffi c. " We lapped o ne g uy fo ur ti mes," sa id Ro berts. But , still, he co u ld stre tch hi s lead a t will , in stead settli ng int o a co m fo rta ble pace. Wh en he sa w th at Spe ncer was o u t, Ro bert s th ough t, " J ust keep it ru n n ing a nd keep it o n two wh eel s. We d id so me 19'sa t theenda nd it was easy to keep it i n th e 19'5 a nd 20's. Both Edd ie a n d I did 19's. We had the bikes geared to do IS's ." Lawson was ta ki ng his time, sta lking Ma mol a , wa iting for the right mom ent to pass . H e found it n ea r the ha lfway mark. " I p assed Rand y going up th e h ill. It wa s a co m bina tion of horsepower a nd draft . I kn ew I co u ld ca tch him a t a ny tim e. :\l y tires were better th an hi s a nd in th e big, fast righ t-hander I co u ld ge t o n th e gas harder th an him. After I went aro u n d Ra nd y I slo wed . T hey gave me ' p lus 5' or '6' o n him a n d I slo wed down," sa id Law son. On th e 20t h la p , Lawson held a 7.5seco nd advantage o n Mam ol a, bu t Mamo la cu t h is fas test lap o n that la p a nd shra n k the def icit. It wo u ld grow at the end, h owever, to II seco nds. Sta bilizing behi nd Mam ola was Kat a yam a wh o , a lo ne in fo urt h , was n' t bothered by th e U nci n i/ Fo n tan duel for fifth. Fontan kep t th e pressure o n , an d Unc i ni's rea r tire wa s slidi ng, but th e Ita lian staye d ahead by 1.85 seco nds a t th e flag . Lucch inell i was sevent h . ., • J I , II I f