Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) Bernie Schreiber took a second in Austria and trails Eddy Lejeune by 1 0 points. (Above right) Tapani Pikkarainen was a surprise winner in the Finnish GP. (Below) Graham Noyce (4) leads Haken Carlqvist. World Championship 500cc MX Series: Round 5 Surprise • • WInner In Finnish GP By Neil Webster R U SK E A S A N T A . FINLAN D, JUNE5 Veteran GP rid er Tapani P ik karain en of Finland p roduced th e sh ock of the seaso n when he won h is home co u ntry's 14- 500cc MX GP ' to th e deli ght of the 15,000 fans crowded around the sun ny Ruskea san ta tr ack north o f H el sin ki. P ikkarainen led th e fir st rnot o from sta rt to fin ish a nd so me how found th e strength to take fourth in th e seco n d m o ta to tak e th e ov e ra ll victory. Th e 3 1-year-o ld H onda rid er was so ex ha usted after h is fir st ride th a t h e had to be li fted from h is mach ine to attend th e a ward presentation. Bu t ur ged o n by h is supporters he pus hed h im self to the limits o nce mor e. To add to Finnish delight , th eir yo ung works Ya ma ha rider jukka Si ntonen c ha sed P ik ka rai nen a ll th e way in th e first mot o to take second. A -na gg i ng groi n strain collected in Swede n th e previ ou s week made it hard for Sintonen to keep up th e p ace th e secon d tim e o u t, however, a nd h e sli pp ed ba ck to seven th a fter a fall. " I co uld n 't use m y left leg in co rners in th e secon d race," sai d 25-year-old Si ntone n, wh o had to h ave painkill in g injections in the inter va l. .~'T h en I put it do wn in a left -handel' after th e double-jump a nd j ust fell o ver." Frenc h man j ea n- j acq ues Brun o was n ex t o n th e sce ne and wa s lu ck y to avoid the fallen Finn , miraculously j umping h is Suzuki over th e downed Yam ah a , just clipping its back wheel. In the fig ht fo r the Worl d Cham p ionshi p point lead, it was H onda 's Andre Malher be wfio got the best o f h is close riva ls, team mate G raham No yce a nd Yamaha's H aka n Ca rlqvist. Ma lher be had a race-lo ng battle with Car lqvis t in t he second moto, holdin g o n to ta ke the wi n a nd a five point lead in th e series, but h e didn 't ha ve it all his o wn wa y. Third into th e first turn of rnot o o ne , former World Champion Malherbe was forced to br ak e ha rd as Sin to nen cu t in tight. His H onda just dug into th e sa n d, du mping th e Bel gi an in th e m iddle o f th e pack. Luck y to ge t out o f i t unhurt, Malherbe restarted th e race th ird from the back a nd showed h is real class by fig h ti ng th rough to fift h a t th e close, desp it e th e su per-fast sa ndy trac k being notoriously bard to pass on Noyce had a below-key day that saw h im drop to second in the point standings. Steady in the first moto to take fourth, Noy ce was almost brought off on th e start straight in th e second leg when Swedish Husqvarna rider Le if Persson skidded sid eways from th e co ncrete start gate pad. " I was lucky to stay on the bike and from th en on I j us t had to go as hard as I co ul d," sai d Noyce. Sixteenth after th e fir st lap, Noyce progressed steadily up to the top ten until h e ca m e up a gai nst England's Laurence Spence, having his first ride on a Kawasaki following the co llap se of his Maico factory deal. For six laps Spence held off Noyce before the former World Champion forced past on the quick back straight. Dave Thorpe and Sintonen were Noyce's next victim s but that was as fa r as he got, although th e retirement of Swede Conny Carlson left h im in si x th pl a ce a t the close. Am er ican G ary Semics was having tro u bles with th e ca r bu re tio n of h is well -w orn privateer produ ction Honda, but still managed to add a nother point to his tally with a tenth in the fir st rnoto. Another plucky ride in the seco n d moto saw him just miss o u t on the points with an II th place fini sh. Results OVERAll: 1. Tapani Pikkarainen (Hon) 1-4 ; 2. Andre Malherbe (Hon) 5·1 ; 3. Hakan Carlq.iot(Vam) 4-2; 4. Jukka Simonen (Vam)2· 7; 5. Graham Novee (Hon) 3-6; 6. Harry E.e", (Suz) NP-3; 7. Jean Jacques Bruno (Suz) 8·5 ; 8. Lei' Persson (Hus) 6NP; 9. Jaak Verwaayen (Hon) 7·NP; 10. Da.. Thorpe (Hon) NP-8. NP INDICATES FINISH OUT OF TOP TEN POINT STANDINGS: 1. MalhertJe(110t 2. Noyce 11 05); 3. Carlqvi,. (99); 4. Simonen (49); 5. 142) 6. Vroman. (401; 7. Pikkara inen (39); 8. (TIE) ; 8runoIThorpe 133t 10. Hud,on (21) . Eve", World Championship Observed Trials Series: Round 7 Lejeune • • WIns In Austria By Mike Rapley SEMME R IN G, AUSTRIA. J UNE 5 Honda 's Eddy Lej enue won th e Au strian round of the World Championship Trials Series and that vic tory co u ld well be th e poi nt of this year's titl e bid. as he no w holds a ten poi nt lead o ver America n Bernie Schrei ber , wh o was second aboard h is 5\\';\1. It was a t th is same eve nt t wo veal'S ago that th e turning p o int wen t I. _ against Lejeu ne. s i L98J he fa iled to sco re after a su perb ru n o f successes , a nd ultim atel y lost the crown to Gilles Bu rga t. Lejeun e won in co n vi nc ing style, leading rig h t from th e sta rt a nd it must h ave been in hi s mind that he co u ld n ' t a ffor d a catas trop he si m ila r to h is ri de two yea rs ago. H e had a mere seven-poi nt lead over Schreiber a t the sta rt, a nd a t a ny sign of weakness, th e ever -wa tch fu l Am eri can would pounce. But Eddy never made that mistake a nd n ow lea ves Schreiber with all th e work to d o. Winner of last week 's French round, Th ierry Mi chaud ca me home th ird, just beating his great riva l Burgat on th e greatest number of cleans. In fact . it was a day for France a n d SWM , for three of th e to p ten riders were French, a n d with five of th e Ital ian bikes in the points, they sh owed once again that there are few better bikes for World Championship events. Two riders who have scored in all th e previ ous six rounds this year failed to make th e points on Sunday. Philippe Berlatier fini shed 14th after a n unsettling day prior to the trial when he su ffered three punctures in hi s ca r 's tires a nd a lso had trouble at th e customs post, while SSDT winner Toni Gorget, third in the points at the sta rt, cras hed on the 15th section, damaging knee ligaments which forced him to retire. Afterthe openi ng lap of 16 sections, Lejeune h ad an easy lead with) I lost, wh il e in joint seco n d pl ace were Schreiber, Burgat a n d Italian Danilo Galeazzi o n 17. Lejeune very nearly d oubl ed his sco re o n the seco n d lap by lo sin g 20, while Schreiber put in the best score o f the lap with a nother to ur o f ) 7, to close within three marks o f L ejeune as the y entered their fin al circ uit. But Lejeun e wa s n ot in a ny mood to be beaten, a nd after a q u ic k look at th e res u lts sco re board, put in another good ride to co mple te th e tr ial seven marks a head o f th e Am er ican. The first four wer e so me way a head of the rest wi th eve ry body's favorit e jaime Su bira taking th e devel opment Fantic into a welcome return in th e points wi th a fifth place, whil e Galeazzi in sixth sh owed th at a t last he is beginn in g to sha ke off th e effects of breaking hi s leg last winter. Man uel Soler, winner o f th e Austrian round in 1981. fini sh ed eig h th, while Britain's onl y rider in th e ent ire ser ies a n d winner of th e recent Am erican round, j ohn Lampkin fini shed tenth to take th e fin al point. • Results 1. Eddy Lejeune (Hon) 43 ; 2. Bernie Sch re iber (SW M) 50; 3. Thiarry Michaud ISWM) 55; 4. Gille. Burget (Fan . 55 ; 5. Ja i me Subira (FanI73; 6. peone Gale azzi (SW M) 74; 7. Bernard Cordonnier (SW M I 75 ; 8 . Manuel So ler (M er) 79; 9. Fred M ichaud ISW M) 79 ; 10. John Lampkin (Fan) 82 . POINT STANDINGS : 1. Lajeune (84 t 2. Schre iber (74); 3. 8urgal (57); 4 . M ichaud (53); 5. Gorgol (50 t 6. Ber •• li.r ~ 30~; '7.. umpkin (29). • •• • • •

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