Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ CIl ~ ~ III « >« a:: e >z z w J: Q Z ~ « O"l Z 00 ~ w w J: (J J: (J ~ >- >- III CIl :: 0 ~ 0 ~ J: ... Randy Mamola elected to ride the NS600 triple instead of the NSR600. World Champion Freddie Spencer won easily in Yugoslavia qualifying fastest and running away on the NSR600 Honda. World Championship Road Race Series: Round 7 Spencer on top in Yugoslavian GP By Ian Norris RIJEKA, YUGOSLAVIA, JUNE 17 Head and shoulders above any other rider/ machine combination on the track, World Champion Freddie Spencer and the factory Honda V-4 dominated the Yugoslavian GP at Rijeka La further CUt back on Eddie Lawson's point lead. A fourth place finish behind the Hondas of 12 Spencer, Randy Mamola and Raymond Roche gave Yamaha's Lawson only eight points, leaving Spencer just 17 points behind with five races to go. The only World Championship road race still staged in an Eastern bloc country, the Yugoslavian GP is run on a modern, safe track built in the hills overlooking Rijeka, one of the country's main ports. It is the racing circus' only exposure to communism during the year, and it never fails to shatter a few illusions. The supermarkets may be dull and sparsely stocked by American standards, but when it comes to wheels, the Yugoslavians don't do too badly, with big BMWs, Kawasakis and Suzukis figuring prominently among the machines brought to the circuit by the 60,000 strong crowd. There was free practice before the official sessions got going, and Spencer's lead over the rest of the field was soon evident. Whatever it was that wasn't right with the V-4 in Austria and Germany has now been sorted out, and Freddie showed his satisfaction with it by setting unof[icia I times a second or two ahead of anyone else. IL was the same story in the official sessions, although Lawson managed to keep within a half a second of Spencer's times. Spencer was using the V-4 exclusively this weekend, avoiding the chopping and changing between machines which had been a feature of practice in France. After his flirtation with the four cylinder in France, Mamola had decided to stick to the three for this weekend, finding that 40-minute practice sessions were not the ideal opportunity to get to know an entirely new machine and log a competitive grid time. Engl:ind's Ron Haslam was the man who got the chance to ride the Honda V-4 this weekend, but he too couldn't get to grips with it in the' limited time available and decided to stick with the three he knows for the' race. Honda is probably nOl so worried about the V-4 now that Spencer has got it going to his liking, but the way in which they have tried to get it accepted by Mamola and Haslam in less than ideal conditions gives the impression that they are keen to get race miles on it. If Takazumi Katayama had been fit he would probably be riding a V-4 to give the Honda engineers extra feedback, but after he fell·in practice during his tentative comeback in France, there must be a question mark over whether he will ride again this season. Frenchman Roche, like Mamola, is not a factory Honda rider, but as the need to take points away from Yamaha increases, the difference between factory and favored privateer diminishes. So Roche was again working from pits next to the factory bikes with factory engineering advice and engines. On the Suzuki front, it was more a question of who was not in Yugoslavia than who was. Franco Uncini, Rob McElnea and Boel van Dulmen were absent as a result of their crashes in France. Uncini is slated to return at Assen, van Dulmen might, but McElnea, who was thought to have been only slightly injured after his fall in France, has damaged cartilages and will be out for some six weeks. The depleted Suzuki rans were therefore headed by former World Champion Barry Sheene, who managed seventh fastest time. Sheene, who has been written off on more than one occasion as being over the hill, is finding a new sparkle this year, and his privateer team is backing him excellently. In the Marlboro Yamaha camp, Kel Carruthers was working hard during the free practice sessions to get rid of the carburetion problem which had dogged both team bikes in France. He finally succeeded, but it became clear as the sessions went on that Lawson and teammate Virginio Ferrari had another, more serious, problem with their tires. Rijeka is an abrasive track, and heat is always a problem down on the Adriatic coast. The combination of the two was an obstacle which Dunlop, who provides the team's tires, could not surmount. With every lap of practice which passed it became clear that the compounds available were nOl suited to the track. Far away from their home base, in a country with less than advanced air freight facilities, there was nothing Dunlop could do. As he went to the line, Lawson was praying for a place in the top five. It was an extra pressure which Lawson could well have done without. Rijeka marks the start of the second half of the season, and it is a race which exerts a great deal of pressure on a championship leader, especially an American, for there is nowhere less like home than Yugoslavia. Cut of[ in a strange environment, the six races which constitute the latter half of the championship trail look as though they go on forever. Mamola, who was in the same position as Lawson in 1981, knows all about it: "The pressure is all on Eddie because he has everything to lose. Freddie's got it all going his way because he's got nOlhing to lose. What Eddie needs to do is.w forget about the championship; just go out to each GP and ride it as if it was one single race, with no points attached, no nothing. But that's easy to say and hard to do." The pressure on Lawson was nOl reduced when the flag dropped and he made another bad start like the one he had in France the week before. As the Hondas streaked ahead, he was again left in mid-field with the difficult task of working his way through a group of riders which included more than a few private Hondas. Before the race he had said how many of the Honda privateers, no doubt eager to remain in the factory's good books, tried to make it as hard as possible for a red and white Yamaha to get past - now he was going to have to do just that. At the head of the pack, it was Mamola who was first into the first corner, out-dragging Haslam for once. At the end of the first lap it was Mamola first, Haslam second, Roche third, and Spencer fourth. Lawson had caught all the Honda privateers unaware on the way round and was seventh, but there was still Sheene and Didier De Radigues between him and the Honda quartet. Spencer had no problems getting past the three men ahead of him and was soon in the lead, with Mamola settling into second spot. Lawson's tires had not gone away yet, so he was able to get ahead of Roche and Haslam to take over third place, but there was no way that he could make any impression on Mamola or Spencer. In past races we have seen a strict pecking order establish it!elf, with Spencer ahead, Lawson able to challenge him on occasions, Mamola behind Lawson, and Roche and Haslam as the followers. This time it was di£ferent; Mamola was in the Lawson position, a few seconds behind Spencer, and Lawson, sliding on every bend and unable to us.e his talents and his machine to the, utmost, was having trouble staying ahead of Roche, who had gotten past Haslam at the halfway mark and was riding with Lawson's Yamaha in his sights. With the race two-thirds over, at 21 laps, the gap between Spencer and Mamola was 7.87 seconds, with Lawson a further 12.83 seconds back. For the moment, it looked as though Lawson would at least salvage third place, but with four laps to go Lawson began to run into backmarker traffic and Roche was suddenly on his tail. Using the traffic intelligently, the French rider was able to get past Lawson, who really must have thought that the whole world was against him. For every gap which opened up for Roche, there was one which closed for Lawson and at 'the finish line he was over two and a half seconds behind Roche. Spencer sailed across the finish

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