Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

....... ..... .... 0.. -< Former World Champion Franco Uncini rides for the Gallina Team. sponsored by HB on a new Suzuki with an aluminum-spar frame , Freddie Spencer. shown on his NSR500 (above) and NS250R (below) at Daytona. was fastest in the first day of qua lifying in South Africa . 14, bank h e got to test th e bikes wi th Spen cer in Au stra lia a t th e end o f '84. H a vin g wo n four Grands Pr ix a nd finishing seco nd and third in th e Cham pions h ips on th e 250cc and 350cc Cheva lhers, de Radigues had a fru strat ing '84 season on th e 500cc H onda with new Fren ch -bu ilt chassis parts. H e o n ly sco red in fo ur ra ces a lt houg h he led the So u th Afr ican GP fora while before fin ish ing fourth. H e h as th e tal ent to be World Cha m p ion bu t p roba bly needs another year 's experie nce in the 500cc class . Also look in g for ex pe rien ce is Wayn e G ardner, but th e 25-year-old who fin ish ed sevent h after on ly half a season in '84 ha s alreadv sta ted that he is look in g for a thi rd 'or fourth in th e cham p ions hip prior to winning th e titl e in '86. You ca n not arg ue with a co n fide nt man an d certai n ly Gardner wa s impressive in h is first year, ca p p ing it with a third in Sweden and sevent h in th e cham p io ns h ip . H e has a lready won most o f the series he has attempted while riding for Honda Britain a nd last season claimed th e British 500cc a nd Formula One tit les before £lying home to Aus tra lia 10 win the Swa n n Int ern atio nal Series. Less o utspoke n is R on H aslam , th e 28-yea r- old who h a s fini shed eig h th and fifth in h is two cham p io nshi p years as a member o f the H onda team . H e still ha s to wi n a Grand Pr ix and has foun d th a t h is different riding sty le ca uses problems e w ith th e tires a nd suspens io n co mpa red wi th hi s team m ates. T h us slig h tly overs ha do wed by Roch e an d Mam ol a la st year, he on ly need s to find a fraction extra"to be a real threat . Although '83 a nd '84 wer e very much battl es between H onda an d Yamaha , Su zuki do mi na ted i n '8 1 a nd '82. Th is"season cou ld see a reviva l o f th eir fortunes as there are two experienced teams runn in g works Suzu ki engi nes . 1982 World Cha mpi on Franco Unci n i will agai n head th e Gall ina T ea m and the Ital ian engi neers have been dev elop ing the bea u tifu lly-cra fted tw in -spa r fra me under th e gui da nce of Ga lli na and exBirnota man Ma ssim o Ta m buri n i. Suzu ki have co me up wi th a more pow erful vers io n o f the i r lon g-runn in g sq ua re-fo ur ro ta ry va lve en gine. Unci ni has been joined by Span iard Sito Pons, th e ex-250cc star who won th e Spani sh Gra nd Pr ix o n th e Ko bas last season . Pons rep laces Swiss . Serg io Pell andini wh o will race th e new jorg Muller ro ta ry-valve 250cc Pa ri si enn e with j a cqu es Co r n u . Th ere is a lso Brit ish H eron Suzuki tea m rid er Rob McElnea , who mad e a su per b Cha m pions h ip de bu t last sea so n , qu alifyin g fourth in Austria a nd third in Germam·. H e fin ish ed fifth a t the first but r-u off in the seco nd when h is in experi en ce let him go too fast 10 0 soo n. H e will be rid ing a new versi on o f th sla b-sided H eronProj ect 500 th a-t' was both tested a nd raced succe ssfu lly in '84 . T ha t fram e was made from aluminum sheet and honeycom b co m p os i te but sinc e th en a ca rbo nfiber version has been buill. Th e team al so ge ts th e lat est Suzuki engine, reported ly with a new vari ation on th e elect ro n ica lly co n tro lled exh aus t cham ber th at has been tested but little used ove r th e last two years. T here seems lilli e chan ce o f a ny non-works riders hav in g a major effect on th e resu lt of the 500cc Champion shi p . Dutchma n Boet va n Dul men was eig h th last sea so n o n a Suzu ki a nd m igh t well ga in a simi lar position this yea r o n h is new o ver-the-c o un ter RS500 Hon da . In a wet race, tho ugh , he cou ld well win a n d perh aps be th e fir st to break th e Am eri can stra ng leho ld . Ba ld win is al so racing as a priva teer a nd will be hard -p ressed to co mpete agai ns t th e super ior machi ner y and backing o f th e works tea ms. The fou r-times .S. Ch ampi on h ad a dem onstratio n of j ust how fast th e top G P m en a n d mach ines cu rrent ly are w hen h e finish ed th ird to Ro bert s a nd Ma m ol a in bo th legs o f th e Lagun a Seca In terna rio nal last seas on . The 250cc class is ver y different, th ough , and the div iding line betw een works rid er an d privat eer much lesswell -defin ed . Yam aha has lost th e Kenn y Roberts team o f Wayn e Rainey a nd Alan Ca rte r because Marl boro pulled o u t th eir sponsorsh ip money. H av in g won the la st th ree 250cc titl es, Yamaha has done i ts best to hang o n to th e clas s by m aking so me specia l works en gi nes for '83 cha m p ion Carlos La vad o an d West Germ an Marrin Wimmer. T hese a re ba sed on th e 56 x 50.6m m parallel twin en gin es th at have been th e main stay fo r mo st co m pe titors in recent years, bu t with more pow er. Wimmer tested th e new bike in j apan over th e wi n ter a n d is hopeful that it is good enoug h to sta ve o ff th e in crea sin gl ydetermi ne d o pposi tio n. Th e great est threat s co me from th e Rotax and H onda pow erplants, For th e fir st tim e H onda is runnin g a work s two- stro ke team. According 10 a p ress relea se from team sponso r Rothman s, Freddi e Spen cer 's works bike is deri ved from th e RS250 racer tha t a ny o ne ca n buy - a 249cc water coo led V-tw in with a co m bi na tio n o f H onda 's ATAC exha us t sys tem wi th reed-v al ve induction, housed in a n twin -tube a l u m in u m fram e. And specu la tio n a mong th ose wh o managed to ca tch a g lim p se of th e engine despite measures by H onda to keep Spencer's 250 from a ny scr u tiny was that th e to p en d was different th an stoc k, o n the sa me cra n kcases as th e for- sal e RS250R V-twin . , .'... I\t a ny rat e, th e H onda works racer. is far su pe rio r to th e bu y-it -yourself model s, and a fte r Da ytona Spen cer said th at h e'd race th e en tire 250cc World Cha m p io ns h ip series in a n effo rt to wi n both th e 500cc a nd 250cc titl es. If h e does it , he' Il win H onda' s firs t 250cc cha m p io ns h ip si nce Mike Hailwood won in 196i . j o in in g Spe nce r o n works Honda s is four-t im es Worl d Ch am pi on T on i i\lan g of West G erman y. H e rides th e H o nda for th e first time in hi s ow n priva tely run team a nd will be ba cked up by j a panese T era n Fukuda a nd Fausto R icci , wi n ner of his 1984 hom e co u n try G P in Ital y. T h ough th e H o nda is some th ing o f a n unkn own quantit y, the Rot ax p ow er ed Ma ssa Real o f Ma n fr ed H er weh is a well -m easured threat . H e fi nished second to Sarron la st seaso n a nd won four Gra nd s Prix. one more th an hi s next o p po nen t. Ma n y said he had th e fas test machi ne in the class a nd that o n ly cra shes in Aust ria a nd Britai n stop ped h im from winning th e title. T h e West Germa n might be a good bet for the cha m p ion sh ip bu t in a class where th e win ne r o f a ny race co u ld be o ne o f 20 o r mor e rid ers o n th e g rid , seeing th e futu re is quite impo ssib le. So meone wh o mi ght well upset thin gs in th e 250cc cl ass is Angel N ieto, wh o rides th e new 250 G arelli with Maur izio Vit ali . T he Spaniard h as won th e last four 125cc tit les a s p an of hi s 13-championship tot al a nd hi s move u p in capacity leaves th e 125s wide o pe n . The 80cc class shou ld a lso be h eat in g up i n it s second yea r a nd Stefan Dor£linger m a y no t find it ea sy to stay ah ead o n th e Krauser . Th at sa me sponsor - Krauser w ill be a maj or feature o f th e sideca r clas s yet aga in a nd deposed cham pi ons Rolf Biland an d Kurt Walt isperg a re due to use hi s new engine, wh ich uses so me pans from th e longserving Yamaha powerp la n t but is designed to be m or e reli able and p ow erfu l. If it su ffers from a ny teething troubl es Egbert Stre ue r a nd Bern ard Sch ni ede rs will be lik el y to retain th eir titl es even if Alain Michel, Werner Schwarzel , Derek j ones a n d th eir crews hav e o ther ideas . Don ' t bother to co mp are th ese observati ons wit h what actua lly happens through th e sea son . There is no script for the 12 ra ces that an yon e ca n p review and even th e most well- thoughto u t team p lan s ca n be to rn up a t th e fir st G rand Prix. Redra wing th e map as th e war unfo ld s is th e test of good rid ers a nd team mana gers, a nd tr ying to ta ke a look over th eir shou lders as th ey do it is wh a t mak es following th e cha mpions hip tra il so Iasci na ti~ . •

• Cover