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I
World Championship Road Race Series:
Final Round
Kenny's race,
Freddie's' title at lmola
By Hanny Ray Abrams
IMOLA, ITALY, SEPT. 4
It was, arguably, the most competitive and
exciting season in the 34-year history of
Grand Prix road racing and when it was over
it was hard to believe that there would be
winners and losers. But when
the checkered flag fell on the
San Marino GP at Imola,
Honda's Freddie Spencer, 21,
14
of Shreveport, Louisiana, had
become the youngest rider (0 win the
most coveted prize in motorcycle racing wilh a calculated second-place
finish to Marlboro Yamaha's former
World Champion Kenny Roberts,
who finished second in the 12-race
series by only two points.
- The conditions for a Robells cham-
pionship were simple: He had to win
and Spencer had lO finish lhird or
worse. Thal means lhal Roberts needed help LO lake the title. He couldn'l
control his own destiny and, in the
end. the help, in the form of either
teammate Eddie Lawson or HB SuzukI's Randy Mamola, looking LO play
the spoiler role, never materialized.
Lawson was third. six seconds behind
Spencer. with Spencer's Honda teammate Marco Lucchinelli, probably in
his swan song on his home track,
fourth, and Macaala-ufth.
The World Championship was the
first ever for Honda in the 500ccclass,
although Mike Hailwood had given
them the manufaaurer's title in 1966
when they won all but the sidecar
manufacturer's titles. (Honda also
won this year's manufacturer's title, a
cherished prize in Japan.) And the
man most responsible for the Hbnda
S500s continued well-being is
Spencer's friend/mentor/mechanic
Erv Kanemoto. Erv's record speaks
for itself: The machine won six Faces,
finished second three times. fourth
once when an expansion chamber
broke after being cracked, and .DNF
once with a crank haft failure on the
difficult Salzburgring in Austria: And
his abililY lO help Freddie maintain
his equanimily againsl the formidable compelition of the Roberts"Kel
Carruthers- Yamaha team cannOt be
measured. Asked LO comment Olil Erv,
Spencer invariably comes up ,with
the arne answer, .. Erv's great.'~
The motor homes. transporters,
hospitality caravans and assorted
other vehicles arrived about a week
before the race LO set up and allow the
teamsa chance LO getan early edge on
the track with early-in-the-week qualifying sessions. One of those sessions
proved disastrous for Honda when
__ their number two rider, Takazumi
