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/126654
ot") 00 O"l (Above) King Kenny Roberts dominated the British GP. cloaing up in the points rece. (Above right) Robert. even showed del_min.tion after the rece. (Right) New 2&OCC World Ch.mp Cerlo. Lev.do celebrete•. World ChamR.ionshiR. Road Race Series: Round 10 Roberts, Spencer, Mamola & lawson 1-2-3-4 in British GP By Henny Ray Abrams SILVERSTONE, ENGLAND, JULY 30 Marlboro Yamaha's Kenny Roberts cut Freddie Spencer's lead to just two points with a win in the Marlboro British Grand Prix at Silverstone while Honda's Spencer finished second in the rainP lagued event. . The 500cc race w~s. run 10 two legs after a hornhc crash 20 claimed the lives of two riders on the fifth lap of the race, and Olympic scoring was used. The racing continued after an hour delay and, as he did in the first leg, Roberts took an easy win in the second leg as well. Following Roberts in the first leg were Spencer, HB Suzuki's Randy Mamola, and Marlboro Yamaha's Eddie Lawson. In the second leg, which went for the remaining 23 laps, the order was reversed among the trailing three with Lawson riding superbly to second, MamoJa a steady third and Spencer a close fourth. When the aggregate times were tallied, Spencer had ~econd by only .09 second over Mamola and Lawson took fourth. Fifth went to SonauLOGauloises Yamaha rider Marc Fontan with Honda's Takazumi Katayama and Ron Haslam next best. Two World Championships were Venemotos Yamaha s 250cc ace Carlos Lavado becoming only the second South American-after fellow countryman johnny Cecotto-LO take a tille. Although he finished fourth in the 250cc race, the popular Venezuelan amassed enough points LO win his first title. The 250cc race was won by jacques Bolle with fellow Frenchmen Thierry Espie second and Christian Sarron third. Angel Nieto, the ageless Spaniard, won both a thrilling race and the 125cc World Championship here. The 36-year-old Barcelona residem took his 12th title (second only to Giacomo Agostini's 15) with a narrow win over Bruno Kneubuhler and Hans Muller, while Garelli teammate and titlecomender Eugenio Lazzarini had to sit out the race with a broken wrist from a practice accident. It was Nieto's sixth win in nine races this year. The Dutch team of Egbert Streuer and Bernard Schnieders dominated aJsodecidedatS~lverstonewith the sidecar race from the first lap on and LOok the win in their LCR Yamaha rig. Second wem LO the French Krauser LCR Yamaha entry of Alain Michel and Claude Michaud with the veteran British team of Derek jones and Brian Ayres third in the Seel LCR Yamaha chair. Former World Champion Rolf Biland and Kurt Waltisperg continue to lead the title chase. The GP week actually started on' the Monday before the race weekend when the facLOries rented the 2.93mile track, situated on an abandoned airfield. Roberts gave an early indication of his intentions by knocking 1.3 seconds off the lap record. Spence.r was over a second behind him and would spend the week trying LO catch up. Roberts also was fastest in every session of the timed practice sessions knocking off .8 second between the third and final session LO take the pole with a time of I:28 flat, averaging 119.74 mph. Spencer was tied with Mamola for second, almost 1.4 seconds back while Lawson was only .19 second off their pace with Foman fifth. "The bike is running so well now," Roberts began, "that we could change the shock, tire or gearing and still come up with' the best time. We're using the old bike because we had a problem in one corner with the new bike. And we're using an 18-inch from wheel." About the course, Roberts said, "The line you use here is exact; one (oot and you're in the grass. You aw't com prom ise. There are no signs, hlst racetrack." , Teammate Lawson agreed, addit9g that following Roberts around the track was the best way to learn it." e wem out together, but he got aw~ay from me. He gets off the brakes sooner and that's very importantlJere. He gets you going quicker, easier .. Spencer, who'd been having problems all week, knew that the od,ds were stacked against him. "Freddie's going to have LO work a Iitlle hard~r," Spencer's chief mechanic Erv KanemoLO said. Atypically brilliant sunshine had blessed the area in the days leading up LO race day, but on Sunday the clouds rolled in and the likelihood of rain was great. Haslam led the charge off the line and into Copse Corner with Spencer and Mamola chasing along with Roberts and Lawson. Gone were Roberts' and Lawson's starting problems. "Since you don't use low gear on this track, we basically put a starting gear in that's only good LO abl;>ut 20 mph," said Roberts. Mamola led the pack across the line for the first and second laps before Roberts took command on~p three. Spencer was third with Lawson giving America the top fo,ur ahead of a battle for fifth betwe~n Foman and Katayama. A light ra,in began to fall on the fifth lap and cilUtion was exercised by the pilots o(the slick-shod machines. Back in the pack, Irishman Norman Brown, 23, had apparently seized his Suzuki rounding SLOwe Corner and was coasting to a SLOp with his hand up in the air to signal his break-