Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126821
(A bove) 1983 World Champion Freddie Spencer and the NSR500 Honda won in Spa in . (Below) M ike Baldwin finished seventh. Spencer mnsin Spain By Peter Clifford ] ARAMA, SPAIN, MAY 4 Freddie Spencer won the Spanish 500cc G rand Prix but fo r the second ti me was foiled in his a ttem p t to win in both the 250cc and 500cc classes. This tim e it was the 250cc race tha t el uded him as th e little Honda went sick with a split exhaust pipe after he had dominated th e 500cc race with a 16 display of coo l a nd co n sis tent rid ing that left Eddi e Lawson 13 seco n ds behind a t th e Ilag. Spencer and Lawso n are now tied in po ints. Spencer had no easy time of it o n race da y, th ough, as he crashed th e Rothmans H onda in th e untirned pre-race warm up peri od a nd badl y spra ine d his thumb. T he fall was symptomatic of th e p roblem s th at co n tin ue to troubl e th e Honda Vfour. " T h e front end can tu ck under with n o warnin g ," sa id Spe ncer, " T ha t' s wh at ha p pen ed a nd th ere was n o cha nce of saving it. It ' s wha t last vea r's bike did o n lv th a t was a wh oi e lot worse, We've been workin g h ard on this on e a n d it 's getting better. We had th e prob lem in South Africa combined wi t h some cha tte r- ing and the front end slid aw ay o n me th en. Now th ey've m oved th e en gi ne forward and put more wei ght o n th e front a nd through practi ce things had got better and we th ought we had decided wh at tire to use but th en it went a nd let go o n me a nd I h ad to go ba ck to a different o ne for th e ra ce. I was very p leased with th e wa y th at worked o u t, th ough , a nd I wa s ver y co m fortable a t th e pace I ra n in th e race a nd o f co urse win ning mak es you forget the pa in ." While Spe nce r's th um b swe ll ed u p ' Erv Kanern ot o a nd the rest o f th e team p at ch ed up th e V-Io ur. After bein g del ayed fo r ha lf a n hour by a sudde n rain shower, th e race ' got goi ng o n a dry track u nd er th rea ten in g skies. . R on H a slam ma de hI S cus to ma ry Ii ght n ing ge ta way wh il e La ws.on stu m bled on so me slipper y sta rt 11Ile paint a nd . was in the middle o f th e pack , not far behind Spencer . wh ose (Above) 1984 World Champion Edd ie Lawson finished second. behind Spencer. (Below) Randy Mamola collided with Lawson. crashed. T ak azum i Kata yama wa s ha ving pa in ful thumb d id n o t h el p h im ge t hi s fir st GP ra ce o f th e season a fter o rr th e lin e. In second pl a ce Didi er de mi ssin g m ost o f last yea r due to a n Radigues on th e EH N S500 triple was 1983 injury an d not co m pe ting in i m me d ia tel y under pressure from Sou th Africa fo r po litical reasons. He Au stralian Wayn e Ga rdner o n a sim was riding hard a nd seeme d to be ila r Rothrnans H onda Bri tain maclosing o n La wson bu t the n crashed ch ine . unhurt o n th e brak es o n lap II , leavGa rdn er wa s in a hurry to ge t pa st in g de Rad igues fourth o nce mor e de Radigues a nd mak e a break for it , behind 'Sarron but co m ing under " I wa s tr yin g to get past him o n th e pressure from Britain 's Rob McElnea brakes but he wou ld not give a n inch . on th e Skoal Bandit Suzuki. I tri ed too hard and ran off onto th e After find ing th e works Suzuki d irt, " G ardn er sa id later. H e regained ' engine di sast rousl y slo w in South th e track a t th e tail end o f th e field Afri ca , McElnea 's team had received while Spencer h ad ca rved his way some more parts a nd in forma tion th rough th e pack a nd took second o n fro m th e factory to help th em devel op la p five. A lap later h e made hi s move m ore p ower in time for th e Spanish to pass H aslam. " Spe ncer ca me underGP. It wa s pa ying orr and with some n eath m e at the end of the straight. hard riding,McElnea qualified fo urth It's a double-apex right bander and behind Lawson. Spencer and Gardner. th ere is o n ly one fast line there, he H e was ex pe r ie nci n g a front-end took it a nd pushed me out wide. I just h andling p robl em a n d although co u ld n' t get around a nd went into steepe n in g th e head an gl e by a radith e dirt. " H e a lso g()t back o n th e ca l 2° in practi ce see me d to have track but Mamola had n ot been so helped thin gs out, he found himself lu ck y wh en th e same thing happened in big troubl e during the race. "The between him a nd Lawson . " H e j ust front just wouldn't grip . At first I took th e lin e a nd I tried to brak e and took thing s easy to get th e tire warm ge t back behindh im but yo u' re alread y p roperl y bu t then I sta rted to go cranked o ver th ere a nd brak in g a ny harder a nd chase de Radigues. It j us t way a nd th er e was j us t n o wa y, down let go co mplete ly in th e end ." :\Ic EII wen t." nea wa s lu ck y to escape with a g razT hree H on das had got d irty in th e in g a fter a hig h -speed fall o n lap 17at first si x laps but a t leas t H a slam a nd the same down-hill left-ba nder that Gard ner wer e ba ck in th e hunt aga in ca ug h t Mike Bal dw in out d uring a s Spe ncer sta rte d to open o u t a slig h t practice. gap o ver Lawson , wh o had passed de Baldwin wa s not to be caugh t o ut Ra d igues to ta ke second by la p seve n . agai n as h e took up th e cha llenge of T he Ca lifornia n 's Marl bo ro Yama ha chas ing de Radig ues, h avin g ca ug h t was fo llo wed bv T a kazum i Kat a varn a him a lo ng with Ra ym ond Roche, o n yet a no the r Rothmans H ond~ a nd wh o had mad e a poor start o n the th e Sonauto Gauloi ses Yamaha of second Marlboro Yamaha. G ard ne r C h ristia n Sarron wh o wa s th en up to .•• also ca ug h t this g roup o n lap 18. havfo urt h. •• • • -