Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

race like thi s still m eans the bik e handles bett er th an last year." A loca l dr ess reh earsal for th e main event took p lace on Sa turday , w ith a round of the It ali an 500cc Ch ampi onsh ip , wo n from behi nd by Un.ci.n i to gi ve the new factory Su zu ki u s de bu t victory. Sadly, th ough, Franco was not to appear in the 200-mi ler. In fina l practice o n the morni ng of th e race, U nci ni fell off o n a pat ch of oil a t a bl ind uphi ll corner together with Lucch in ell i and th ree o th er riders. Marco was o n ly bruised , bu t U nci ni was foll ow ed into the barrier by th e bike and was lucky to esca pe with on ly a cracked verte bra . " If I hadn 't been wearing m y back protector , I wouldn 't be walkin g a ro u nd now ," Unci ni sai d a fterwa rd . . "I co u ld rid e th e bi ke, but I ca n ' t bend to ge t under th e scree n and th ere's no questi on I co u ld not go 200 mil es. Bett er I ge t rea dy for Spa in in three weeks." This left the two IOO-mile legs as a straight fight between th e Yamaha and Honda teams , but th ere was to be no stopping Lawson. Roch e made a dynami c start to lead th e first lap of th e fir st ra ce from Mam ola a nd Law son, with Kataya m a fourth ahead of a horde of Italian H onda s a nd Lucchinelli 12th , wh ile Cagiva tea m ma te Ferrari sto p pe d a t th e p it s at th e en d of th e first lap . Law son eased pas t Mamo la th rough the fas t sweepers after the pi t ch ica n e o n la p th ree, th en repea ted th e ma neu ver to pass teamma te Roch e nex t time aro u nd. Law son wa s not to be headed aga in th at afternoon. Ma m ol a had h is eye on seco nd p lace, thoug h, a nd takin g an extreme in side line at rn an v 'of the tighter bends to ma ke th e most of th e n imbler H onda 's bra ki ng su periori ty over th e Yama ha, ca ugh t u p with Roch e an d passed him going into a tight h airpin o n la p si x to ta ke o ver second, three seco nds beh ind Eddie. Lu cchin ell i was a lso m o vin g through the field to the deligh t o f th e local crowd - he lives j us t o u tside th e front gate o f th e Im ol a track and o n la p six too k over seven th a t the same co rn er by o u tbra kin g Ferretti 's H onda. T he field sp rea d o u t a nd the ra ce was in a settled pattern with Lawson extending his lead bv a seco nd a la p from the du eli ng Mamo la a nd Roch e, never m or e th an 100 meters apart . On lap IS, Mamol a made a mi stake going into th e hairpin and a lmos t ran o ff th e track, but Roch e co u ld o n ly dr aw level as Mamola recovered and accelerated a way up th e hill. Roch e see me d to be a wa iting th e co m p u lsory pit sto ps fo r refu elin g , which began on lap 19 with Lucchinell i an ea rly pit lane visitor o n th e thirsty Ca giva . Just as Lucch in elli rejoin ed , having lost o n ly on e p lace, his teammat e Ferrari decided to get back in th e race 20 laps down, whi ch he did by riding th e Cagi va a ro u n d slowly - madly bl ipping th e th rottl es and getting in everyo ne's wa y, th en squirting it. up th e stra ig h t.s and riding through th e corn ers upnght. Su ch strange behavi or a t fir st provided some welcome enterta in me nt in a n ot herwise dull race. On lap 23. Roche co u ld n 't resist slipping past Mamola a t a downhill turn , th en immediately pitting for fuel. H e rej oin ed in third pla ce well ah ead of Katayama , wh o had already stopped, but when Mamo la pitted the next lap for a lig htn in g refueli ng stop, h e got ba ck in the race two seconds a he ad of th e Frenchman . who at once speeded up . Sadly, lap 28 saw th e cro wd deprived of th e proba ble cliffhanger fini sh wh en Roch e's Yamaha cas t its ch ai n o ff just in front o f th e p its a nd he coas ted to a halt. Strict ly aga ins t th e ru les, hi s team rush ed o u t a nd fi tted a new chai n o u t o n the track past the pi ts, a nd Roch e co m pe ted for a no ther lap just as hi s teamm at e took th e checkered flag: thi s res u lted in Roch e bei ng classed as a finish er a nd an y rid ers pl aced behi nd h im wer e dissu ad ed from pro testing by th e un lik eli hood o f a n Agostini tea m rid er being di squal ifi ed fro m a race in Ita ly! There was no clo ud over Law son 's wi n by a m assive 34 seco nds fro m Ma rno la by just riding a ro u nd a nd staying o u t o f troubl e - like th e ma n said. T he ra ces were spli t by a 250cc ita lia n tit le ro u nd won by Faust o R icci 's factory H onda from Maurizio Vi ta li o n th e increasingly co m pe titive ultralow V-tw in C a relli. Fast qual ifier Loris Reggiani slid off th e impressive new April ia o n the fir st lap , a fa te a lso su ffered by World Ch ampion An gel Nieto o n th e o ther Carelli . When th e riders ca me O ut for the seco nd leg of the 200 , Eddie Lawson sta rted as he left off by taking a n immediate lead from whi ch h e was nev er h eaded. Behind, it wa s the Raymond and Randy Show a ll over aga i n. as the two co n stantly trad ed p ositions eac h lap all aro u nd th e track. In do ing so , the y gradua ll y pu lled awa y from Kat ayama in fourth, until th e Japanese rider mad e a n un sche d u led ea rly p it stop on lap 12 a nd lo st a la p whil e a loose steering dam p er was repa ired on hi s NS500 H on da . L uc ch ine ll i was a nothe r ea rly p it visitor with ign it ion troubl e o n th e Ca giva a nd eve ru ua lly ca lled i t a day with a n engine tha t wa s do w n o n power. T his time Ferrari was riding a m or e serio us ra ce in a co m pe titive sixth o n h is back u p bi ke ahea d o f th e d ue ll ing Ital ia n H onda'S o f Bil iotti a nd Errico . After 15 lap s, th e race sett led do wn with Law so n 15 seco nds a hea d a nd as befo re, lapp in g a seco nd a la p faster th an th e rest. Roch e an d Marnola we re still trad in g second with th e Yamah a refu el in g first o n lap 22, a nd Mam ol a making a no th er ver y fas t stop in o n ly 3.4 seconds two la ps la ter to ge t a firm er h old o n seco nd . Lawso n mad e h is o wn sto p in ca refu l, co n trolle d fash io n o n lap 25 a nd rejoined still well in th e lead , whi ch he held to th e end. Roche mad e a big effort and ca ug h t Mam o la on lap 25, setting a new lap reco rd in the process before losing a nd regainin g seco nd on the next lap. On e la p from th e en d, Randy to ok o ve r seco n d pla ce und er braking go i n g int o th e fin al co rner w ith lapped rid er s in th e way. R och e m ad e a maj or effo rt to retak e th e Honda o n th e way o u t a nd was rew arded with a massi ve slide wh ich a ll but hi ghsided him. Someh ow th e Fren ch rid er stav ed a board to fin ish a chastened third, but well down overa ll a fter hi s fir st-l eg mi sfortune. " T h a t was like a vacation from the World Ch am pi onship, " sa id a delighted Law son. " I fig ure Ago paid for half of it , so ma ybe I shou ldn' t co m p la i n . Now I c!ln go h ome aft er o u r two da ys of tire testing a t Mu gell o a nd tak e a break from racing before Spain. I have a brand n ew house to move into wi th a 3,000 sq ua re foot ga rageI want to ge t set up, wh ich w ill keep me bu sy until th e next CP. Did I have a ny worrying moments o u t there tod ay? Onl y wh en Ago took m e down p it la ne to the start on th e ba ck o f the paddock bike. I guess 50cc is a li ttle too mu ch for him to handle th ese day s - we wer e wobb ling all over the road . I twas ki nd of a re lief to get o n m y racer and go for i t after that." • Resu lts 1. Eddie Lawson (Yam) 1- ' ; 2. Randy M amola (Hon) 2-2 ; 3 . Taka zumi Kataya m a ( H c~)O) 3 -6 ; 4 . Fabio Bilicttl (Hon) 4-4; 5 . Armand o Ernco ($ uz) 6 . V. 5 -5 ; Gib er ti n i IS uz) 7 -7; 7 . M . Po oo (Suz)9 ·10; 8. M . Marchesan i (Suz) 12 ·12; 9. M . Fischer (Suz) 10 - 13; 10 . Raym ond Roch e (YamI 2 2 -3 . 13

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