Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above, left) Eddie Lawson ran away with both legs of the Im ola 200. (Above, right) Randy Mamola leads Raymond Roche in one leg . (Below) Roche (3 ) leads off t he start, followed by Mamola (4), Lawson, Biliotti (10), Katayama (6) and the pack . Imola 200 Lawson cruises to win By Alan Cathcart IMOLA. IT ALY . APR. 13-11 " I was jus t riding aro u n d trying to stay ou t o f trou ble and pick up a few do ll a rs for Ago . 1 figure he needs the dough. 1 o n ly h ad to ride a t 80% to win - this bike is so much bett er than last year's, th ere's no co m pa riso n, and riding on these M ichel ins makes all th e differen ce." So said 500cc Wo rld 12 Champion, Eddi e Lawson . sa tisfied with a job well -do ne a fte r stroking to a n uncha llenged victory in both legs o f th e I mol a 200. In do in g so, th e Californian sco red hi s own firs t-ever win in th e self-styled " Da yto na o f Europe," a nd th e fourth in a row for tea m m anager Giacomo Agostin i's Marl bo ro-backed Yama ha team . Fellow Am eri can Ra ndy Ma mo la was seco n d after two exc iting du els with La wson 's tea m mat e Ra ymond Roch e, whi ch provided the on ly lively moments in a n o therw ide lackl uster event as neither rider looked to be in th e sa me race as La wson. Facto ry H onda ri der T akazurni Kat ayama sta rted hi s 1985 sea so n in fine stvle wi th th ird overa ll - bot h he and Ma mol a rode NS500 trip les. Roch e set a ne w lap record for th e j ust over three-mi le Im ol a track d ur ing his seco nd hea t duel wit h Marn o la , ' brea king Ken n y Ro bert s' pre- vious mark by a q uarter of a seco nd. After hi s well publicized co nt ractu al wrangl es wit h Agostin i, Imol a was to be Law so n 's only non -cha m p io ns h ip race in 1985. H ow ever, accordi ng to th e World Cham pion, he may sti ll ride at Lagun a Seca in J ul y as well. Th e problem see ms to center aro und no t o nly wh at bike Edd ie shou ld ride a nd in wh a t co lors, but wheth er th e co n trovers ia l deal wher eb y he has to sha re hi s negotia ted start mo ney with th e It ali an tea m manager on 50/ 50 basis sho u ld app ly in th e U.S. It cert a in ly did for lrn ol a , a nd th ough he was professional. eno ugh no t to let it get i n th e wa y of h is raci ng , Law son lost few chances to mak e a wisecrack or sa rcas tic rem ar k a t Ago 's expense . T h o ugh La wso n may dutifully cla im everyth ing in th e ga rden to be lovely, a n o utsider would not ice th ere's no love lost betw een manager and rid er. Money ta lks a nd so meti mes every whis per tell s a sto ry. By co ntras t, Fr en ch team m ate Roch e was loo kin g to Im ol a to gi ve h im som e usefu l racing mil es u nder a h is belt a n d eras e th e mem ory o f h is doub le get-off in the first G P of th e yea r in South Afri ca. Co mpared to thei r Kyal a rni GP speci fica tions, both V-4 Yamahas ha d bee n sligh tly detuned to last o u t the longer race di stan ce as well as to o ffer greater flex ibi lity, acco rd ing to Lawso n , arou nd th e h ill y, twi sty Ital ian tra ck a t th e expen se of top spe ed. "T he bik e's j ust a litt le so fter a ll arou nd ," sa id La wso n , havin g h is first 200-m ile ra ce at Imol a sinc e p laci ng thi rd to Ro berts in th e 1983 race. \ P rin cipal co m pe titio n for th e two Yarn ahas ca me fro m th e H onda NS500 tripl es of factory rid ers Ma m ol a a nd Ka ta yama , spon so red by the Sout h Afri can Ro th m ans ciga re tte co mp any in a battle o f th e tobacco gi a nts. Interesting ly, th e It a lian H o nda 250 team is sp onsored by Ro th man s. but th e sq ua d of three H onda l ta lia RS500 ri ders led by GP rider Fabio Bilio tti, supported by yo u ngs ters Arm a ndo Erri co a n d Ma ssim o Messer e, a re bac ked by Marl bo ro ! Is th is a case of hav ing th e best of both worlds? Ma m ol a was seco n d fastest to Lawso n i n qualifyin g, but bem oaned th e H onda triple's lack o f acce lera tio n a nd to p spee d co m pa red to th e V-4 Ya ma h as: " T he o n ly th ing m y bik e d o es bett er th an th eirs is bra ke harder," sa id Mamola . " And vo u do n 't win a 200-mile race just by o u tbrakin g th e next g u y. I w ish to heck I had a H o nda V-4 here, but I ha ve n o idea wh en I' ll get o ne, if ever." Marn ol a 's tea m n ow in cludes th e ultra -ex peri en ced Nobby Cl ark o n the mech an ic roster, ren ew ing his associa tio n with H onda factory eq u ipment. To gen eral su rprise, Cl ark 's 1984 em p loyer was back in bu siness. The It ali an Cagiva team wh ose comic o pera in -ou t- in -out roa d raci ng involvem ent has even the most experien ced of G P o bservers bew ildered . T h is wee k's id ea was to enter both prodiga l so ns, Marco Lu cch in elli a nd Virgin io Ferrari , on 1984 specifica tio n C9 sq ua re-fo urs a t Imol a , pe nd ing develo p ment of a new Yam aha-style V-4 engine. T his. in sp ite of last week 's idea which was to allow Am erican J im my Ada mo, who's been flyin g the Cagiva flag i n the USA success fu lly with a n o lder 500cc GP bike, to run in th e ea rly G Ps. Ada mo was a t I rno la with mentor R en o Leoni , bu t sa dly Cagiva wa s unable to p ro vide him with a bik e (in sp ite o f having four machines on hand ), a nd he spe nt the weeken d as a sp ectator. T he fin a l m aj or en try was a singl e '85 factory Suzu ki for th e Ga ll ina tea m' s lead rider. Fra nco U ncin i, th e sa me bike he rod e in so u th Africa , bUI wi th some - tho ug h not a ll - of i ts ha ndli ng problems rem edied. Spa n ish tea mm a te Siro Po ns had the o ther bike in Spain fo r a loca l cha m p io n sh ip race. Agai nst these factory machi nes were ranged the u su al selection o f European pri vat eers, mostl y mo un ted on G P 500 tw o-s trokes. In con tra st to previ ous Imo la 200s for th e first time in a decad e th ere wasn 't a singl e Yamaha TZ700/ 750 ent ered. T he on ly four-s trok es were a co u p le of reliable bu t o u tclassed Du car is, The Imol a 200 has become a no n-cham p ionsh ip G ra nd Prix. Q ual ifyin g saw Lawson on pole i n 1:55.71 , co m p ared to Kenny Ro bert s' '84 record o f I:55.25, a q u arter seco n d a hea d o f Mamol a a nd a massive two seco nds exact ly ahead of Ka ta ya ma in th ir d . Roch e a nd U nci n i were next, . four seconds adrift, wit h Biliotti leading the non-facto ry bik es a nd Lucchi ne lli eigh th, th ough th e best Ferrari co u ld man age on the o ther Cagiva was a lowl y 17th . Lawson gave th e most cred it for his performance to th e Mi ch elin tires he was racin g on in Europe for th e fir st tim e. " T hey' re so su pe rio r to the Dunl ops I raced on last year," he sa id. "T hey're tru e radial s, and we have a choice o f four co mpo u nds for th e rear a nd three for the fro nt. Even putt in g a harder tire on th an we wou ld norm all y so as to las t a long

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