Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

in g pulled th rough from th e ba ck o f the field. With Spencer 10 seconds a head of La wson af ter 19 laps a nd Sa rron a lo ne ly third , Gardn er passed Roche to tak e fourth, leaving de Radig ues to fend o rr Ba ld win for sixth . The battle betwee n the pair of them lasted fo r th e rest o f th e 3i laps with th e Bel gian gelling the verdict by 1.5 seconds. De Rad ig ues' teammate Christian le L iard crashed on lap 29, letti ng H asla m claim eighth. Lawson n a rurall v was not th rill ed wi th fini sh in g second but to ld the massed press afterwards " T h ere was n oth in g much wrong , it was just -me." Law son lat er a d m itted th at h e ha d err ed in front tire select io n , p icki ng a harder compou nd th at didn 't wo rk whe n th e last-m in u te rai n shower cooled o ff th e track ; th e fro nt end cha ttered so badl y that Lawson a t o ne p oint ra n o rr th e tra ck . H is best race time was a full seco nd slo wer th an h is qua lif ying time. Spe ncer had littl e ti me to reflec t o n victo ry beG1USe with in 30 minutes he wa s si tti ng o n th e RS250 rea dy fo r a no the r 3 1 la ps aro u nd th e tigh t, tw ist y a nd u ndulat in g circ u i t. " I wa s g lad not to ha ve to ba tt le all th e way for the 500," said Spenc er , "because I wasn 't su re I co u ld sta n d desper at e 'bra kin g with m y th um b th e way it was. In fact it was th e 250 tha t ca u sed the tr oub le becau se th e steer i ng damper got backed o rr a nd for th e first few laps it was pretty lig h t. Then o n e la p I got a bit o f a back en d slide a n d th e handl ebars reall y ga ve th e h and a shove. I felt th e thumb go pop . a n d th en I tightened down the steering da mper to max ." Spencer had already made his break from t he pa ck a n d o nce more wa s pu lling away a t abou t a second every two la p s. Carlos La vado sett led in to chase him wi th Martin Wim mer th ird o n a simi la r works-issu e Yamaha . They had not had a n easy firs t few la p s, th ough , because th e pa ir o f th em had to dea l with th e H onda s o f la st vea r's Italia n GP winner Fausto R icd a nd Britain 's Ala n Carter as well as th e Yama ha o f yo u ng Belgian Stefa n Mert en s a nd th e two loca l Coba s hopes, Ca rlos Ca rdus who had led last year's race a nd Luis Reyes. W hen the two fa ster Yama ha men go t a way, th ose five entered' into a demonic battle for fourth. T he fir st to go wa s Ca rd us o n la p five but th en th e g ro up wa s joined by th e slow sta rt ing Toni Mang o n a noth er H on- da. H alfwa y th rough the race Spence r's Ho nda sta rte d to so u nd sick . At first i t just misfired a t to p revs bu t th e ex ha us t sp li t got bigger an d as it vis ibly burned th e paint a nd stickers o rr th e bo tto m of th e fairi ng the bike got louder and slower. " It was just like the 500 at Dayton a, " said Spencer la ter. By lap 18 Spe n cer's lead had d ro p ped from n in e 10 four seco nds o ver Lavado a nd Wim mer. who were chasing h im together. Merten s crashed ou t of th e follow in g group a n d su sta ined a broken kneecap wh en R icci ran ov er h im . In the co n fus io n Man g got a way , follow ed at a dista nce by Ca rter. On la p 2 1 both Lavado a nd Wim m er p assed Spencer a nd he co u ld o n ly hope tha t th e V-twi n kep t going as tie dropped dow n th rough th e field. H e fin ish ed ni nth h av in g been passed by fifth -place Reinho ld R oth, who ca me through well after a slow sta rt a nd wa s fo ll o wed by Ma urizio Vita li o n the V-twin G arelli and August Aun ger o n the Bartol. That gro up a lso ca ug h t Reyes in th e closing stages a nd R icci reti red wi th out a ny brak es. W i m m er look ed to ha ve th e measure o f Lavado as th e ra ce ra n towards After winn ing the 500cc race ha ndi ly, Freddie Spencer and h is works RS250RW led the 250cc race until an exhaust p ipe broke; note the hole burned in the fa iring by hot exhaust le a ki n g from the broken p ipe, its close, bu t then fork o il sta rt ed to leak from th e pre-load adj us ter at th e top o f o ne leg a nd with a smeared visor h e had to let the Venezuelan ex-c ham p io n go. Aft er being second-fas test in practice fo r the 125cc race Aug us t Auinger led o rr the line on h is Ba rt ol tu n ed l\I BA b u t cra sh ed h alfwa y arou n d th e first lap. T ha t gave th e lea d to Italian Fa us to Gresini o n h is .G a rell i, wh o quick ly pulled o ut a n ad va ntage ove r seco nd man Domeni coBrigaglia o n th e M BA a nd J ean C laude Se lli n i o n his MBA . Pol e posit ion man Pier Pa o lo Bian chi o n th e works M BA wa s a slow sta rter a n d o n ly la y 10th o n th e fir st lap. H e worked hi s way th rough to tak e seco nd o n lap eight a nd th en g ra d ua lly reel ed in Gresini to take th e lead o n th e 23rd of Ihe26-lap ra ce. H e fini sh ed a co nv i nc ing winner. T he 80cc race was a rea l thriller wi th fou r riders batt ling a lmost eve ry . in ch o f th e wa y with severa l co ll isions en ro u te. J or ge 'Aspar' Martin ez event ua ll y wo n o n th e Derbi m uc h to th e de light o f th e pa rtisa n crowd bu t he had to fig ht ha rd to fend orr second finisher Stefan Do rflin ger, th e World Cha mpion o n th e Krauser. Derbi teamma te Manuel Herr eros also got involved in the bau le when Martin ez slo wed th e pa ce so tha t he co u ld ca tch up. H er rer o s spent th e tail end o f th e race in a fairing-ba nging ba ttl e wi t h H a n s Spaan on h is Huvo Casa l for th ir d p lace . • Results 500cc: 1. F. Spen c er (Hon) 56 m inutes. 4 .78 se co nds. 8 1.4 2 mph: 2. E. Lawson (Yam) 56 :18.09 ; 3 . C. Sarron (Yam) 56 :33.36; 4 . W . Gardn er (Ha n) 56 :34.36 ; 5 . R. Roch e (Yam ) 57 :16 .73 ; 6 . O. de Radigu es (Han) 57:2 1.76; 7. M . Baldwi n (Han) 57 :23 .2 0; B. R. Hasl am (Han ) 56:1 1.0 6; 9 . A . Pons (Suz) 56:42.84; 10 . F. 8 ili ott ; (Han) 56:52.3 2. 37 la ps. 78.26 miles; record lap Spen ce r 1:28. 9 9. 83.20 mph ; old record K. Rober ts 1:29. 57. 8 2.72 mp h (1983 ). 500cc POINTS : t . Eddie Lawson. 27; 2 . Fredd ie Sp e nce r, 27 ; 3. Wayne Ga rdner. 1B; 4 . Christian Sarr on . 15; 5. Ron Haslam . 11; 6 . Didier de Radigu es. 9; 7 . Randy Mam ola . 6; 8 . Mike Bald w in. 6; 9 . Raymo nd Roche. 6; 10 . Sito Pons. 5 . 250: 1. C. Lavado (Yam) 48:09 .59 .79.4 3 mph; 2. M . Wimmer (Yam) 48 :13 .40; 3. A . M ang (Hon) 48:24.9 5; 4 . A . Carter (Honl 4 8 :3 5 .57 ; 5. R. Roth (Rom) 4 8:39 .8 5; 6 . M . vuau (Gar) 48 :4 0 .12; 7 . L M . Rey es (Cob) 48:40.61 ; 8 . A. A uin ger (Ebb} 4 8 :4 B.98 ; 9. F. Spencer (Han) 48: 52 .58; 10 . J .F. Bald e (per) 49:04 .77 . When Spencer slowed. Carlos Lavado (3) and Martin Wimmer (7) battled for the 250cc w in on their Yamahas, Lavado won that race. 31 laps. 65 .52 m il es ; record lap Spenc er 1:32.05 . BO.4 4 mph ; old record J .F. Balde 1:3 3.24 . 7 9.4 6 mph (1983) . 250cc POINTS: 1. Carlos Lava do(Yam) 23; 2. Ton i M an g (Hon) 22; 3. M art in W immer (Vam) 18; 4 . Fre ddie Spencer (Hon) 17; 5. M ar io Rademeyer (Ya m) 10 ; 6 . A lan Carte r (Han) B; 7. Carlos Cardus (Cob) 5; 8 . J ean Fran cois Balde (Per) 5; 9. Lou is M . Reyes (Cob) 4; 10. (TIE) St eph an e M ert en s (Yam )/ Au g ust Au inger (Bar) 3. 125 cc: 1. P. P. Bianchi (M BA) 45 :35.'15,75.79 mph ; 2. F. Gr esin i (Gar) 45 : 48.0 1; 3 . D. Brigaglia (M BA) 46:0 3 .13 ; 4 . E.. Gian ol a (Gar) 46:22 .21 ; 5. J .C. Sell in i (M BA) 4 6 :2 9 .29; 6 . B. Kn eubuhl er (LCR) 46:31 .2 1; 7. J . W ickstr om (Tunt) 46:32 .73 ; 8 . M . Lei t ner (M BA) 46:40.31 ; 9 . T. Feuz (MB A )4 6:43 .25 ; 10 . A . Sanchez (M BA) 46:5 1.1 O. 28 laps . 59 .18 m iles;recor d lap Bianchi 1:3 5.5 5. 77.4 9 mph ; old rec ord E. Lazzarin i 1:37 .5 9. 75 .92 mph (9 18 2). 8Occ: 1. J . Martinez (De r) 37 :5 5.9 3. 71.57 mph; 2. S. Dorflinger (Kreu ) 38 :00 .83 ; 3 . M Herrero s (De r) 38:08.95 ; 4 . G. Kalk a (See I) 38:48.59; 5 . T. Timer (HC) 39:01 .63; 6 . G. W aibe l (SR) 39 :10 .55 ; 7 . P. Rimmelzw aan (Har m) 39 :34 .89 . 22 laps. 46 .5 m iles ; reco rd lap M artinez 1:40 .00. 74.04 mph ; old reco rd R. Torm a 1:44. 8 7, 70 .65 m ph (1984) . 500cc QUA LIFYING: 1. E. Lawson (Yam) 1:2B.60; 2 . F. Spencer (Han) 1:2B.63; 3 . W. Gardner (Han) 1:2B.70 ; 4 . R. M cEln ea (Su z) 1:30. 13; 5. R. Has la m (Han ) 1:30 .17; 6 . R. M amo la (Han) 1: 30 .39 ; 7 . T. Kat ayam a (Han) 1:30. 5 1; 8. R. Roche (Yam) 1:30. 70; 9 . C. Sarron (Ya m) 1:30 .8 5; 10 . A. Pon s (Suz ) 1:3 1.0 9 . 25 0cc QUALIFYING : 1. F. Spenc er (Han ) 1:30 .6 2; 2 . M . W immer (Yam) 1:3 1.65; 3. C. Levedo (Yam) 1 :3 1.7 6; 4 . C. Cardus (Cob) 1 :32. 3 7; 5 . R. Roth (Rom ) 1:32.50; 6. A . M an g (Ha n) 1:32 .51 ; 7. J .M . M att ioli (Yam) 1:32 .66; 8 . A . Auonger(EBB) 1:3 2.B5; 9 . J.F . Balde (Per)l :3 2.98; 10. N. Mackanz ie (Arm) 1:33 .03 . 17

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