Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) Freddie Spencer (4) leads Ron Haslam (5) in the early stages of the 500cc Italian Grand Prix wh ile Randy Mamola (2) follows in th ird. (Below) Eddie lawson f in ished seco nd to Spencer after a slow start. World Championship Road Race Series: Round 4 Spencer wins twice in Italy By Henny Ray Abrams MUGELLO , 'TALY , MAY 26 When Ro th m an s Honda 's Freddie Sp encer de cided to go after both th e 250 an d 500cc World Cha mpionship ti tle s, i t was only a ' m atter of time before h e wo uld beco m e the first road racer sin ce Fin land 's World Champion jarno Saarin en wo n bo th classes in th e sa me da y at Au stria 's Salz burg 22 in May o f 1973, to do th e double, At the 63rd Gran Prem ia delle Nazio ni (G ra nd P rix of h al y) h is lime had co me . Spencer, on Er v Kanernot oprepared wo rks bikes, won th e 500cc G P by n in e seconds over Marlbo ro Yamaha 's Wor ld Ch ampio n Eddi e Lawson with Rothman Honda Brila in 's Wayne G ardner th ird a nd Ro thma n H onda 's Ra nd y Mam o la four th . Th en , alter a victory lap in a car, ca me from n in e seco n ds back to pass Vene motos Yamaha's Ca rlos Lavado a t th e two- th irds mark of th e 250cc GP and wi n w ith a th ree-seco n d cus hion . R o th m a n H on da I ta ly's Fausto R icci was th ird , T he wi n in rhe 250cc ra ce PUI h im in to th e Wo rld Ch ampionship poi nts lead with 44 to Ma rlbo ro H onda 's Amon Mang's 38, while th e 500cc win so lid ified his lead , 54 10 47 o ver Lawso n. Fin ish in g behi nd Mam o la in th e 500cc ra ce was . Ja st wee k's wi nner So nauto Ga uloises ' C h ristia n Sarron with Ron H asla m sixth and America n Mike Bald win the F irst privat eer in elevent h aftera trou blesom e weekend, From th e beg inn in g of th e fir st limed qual ifying session IwO th ings were apparent : O ne was th at Spencer's H o nda NS R5 00 was clear ly th e Ias test machine a nd , IWO, tire choice, especia lly th e from , wo u ld be a deterrninin g fa cto r in lasting th e race, Th e 3.25 mil e, l -l-tu rn serpen ti ne Mugello tr ack was bru ta l to th ose dow n o n power. Spe ncer was clocked at 172.97 mi les-per-hou r a t th e en d o f th e fro m stra ig h taway wi th Sa rron 's Ya maha OW-8 1 second fast est a t 169,05. Lawso n was five m ph behi nd Spencer at 167.78, wi th Roth m an H onda's Ta kazumi Kat a ya ma having the fast est o f th e three-cylinder ~S500s , clocking 167. 36, Nimh on' th e spe ed cha rt a t 165.71 was Marnola. " F re d d ie 's bik e h a s so m u ch torqu e, " Mamo la explai ned. " I ' Il gel behind h im in a co rn er a nd I'll be righ t behi nd h im and com ing o u t he' ll just p u ll a wa y. I gea r m y bik e so , ca n dra ft a n d p u ll o ut and pass th e Yamah as . Some guysjus. gear theirs to draft." Among those victi m ized by from . en d woes wer e L awson, G ardn er, Roch e, Ka ta ya ma , a nd Bald win . All but Lawso n wen t down. H e managed 10 sa ve h is slide, but ca me far enough o rr th e seal to break a ch u n k OUI of th e Kel Ca rrut hers-prepared Yama ha's wi ndscreen , Roch e fell in from of Law son in th e second session, a fte r tu rn ing in th e seco nd fastest lime o f the day, badly sk i n ni ng rhe toes on h is right foo t, " 1 j u st mi ssed hi m ," Law son sa id . " I t was in th e firs t righ t u p the hi ll in rh e back (Arra bia ta I). H e we nt in high a nd he was goi ng 100 fa st. H e tr ied to br in g il back in a nd pull ed th e from end under. H e'd been draf ting me and t h e lap before wa s h is fast on e,' , ' At first, Roch e decided n ot 10 race, bUI later chan ged hi s mi nd, Bal dw in was fo rced 10 use a d ifferent fro m lire on hi s Bruce Mausprepared H on da th a n he wou ld have l i ked b eca u se o f a s hon age at Mich el in. " T h ey don 't make eno ug h tires," Ba ldwi n said . " T h e front end was hed o u t in th e sl ow left-b an der a nd I'm gelli ng tired o f tearing up m y eq u ip menl. " Thesecond sessio n o n Fridav turned OUI 10 he th e fas tes t for severa'l riders , incl uding Sp en cer, wh o gain ed th e pol e positi on by sha tte ring hi s form er lap record of 2 mi nutes, 2.81 seco nds wi th a 2:01.48, averagi ng96 .586 m p h. ' '' Friday was better for us beca use th e trac k wasn 't as slick as tod ay . We were tryin g som e different stuff tod ay a nd ' th ink we'll do O K as long as it do esn 't rai n . ' do n' t like gelling wei," sa id Spencer. Lawson 's prog ress wa s stea dy, improvi ng to a best o f 2:02.11 in th e fin a l session, good fo r the middl e of the front row. '" kn ow I ca n g o qui ck er to morrow," Lawson began. '" wan ted 10 be co ns istent out th ere. , th ink tomor ro w I' ll push more at the en d th an at th e begin ning. Fr eddi e lik es to push hard a t th e beg inning. " With Spencer hol ding a co m mandi ng to p end edge, Lawso n was as ked h o w he expected to wi n . " G ood co n sisten t ha rd ridin g. The plan is to not let th em gel too far ah ead o f me so , ca n make a mov e at the en d. An d I' ll mak e a co nserva tive tire choice, p roba bly a lillie ha rder th a n Freddi e's. " Next 10 La wson o n the from row was Sarron, wi th Gardner on th e OUIside a fte r havin g crashe d h is number o ne mac hi ne. H a sla m ga l the ho leshot with Spen cer seco nd a head of Ma mola , Sarron, th e Skoa l Ban d it Suzu ki of Rob MeE lnea . Ga rd ne r. Elf J ohnson 's Did ier de Rad ig ues, and La wson, " I t starts OK, " Lawso n said of his works Yam ah a , " bu t it wo n 't clea n OUI. It lakes till seco nd gear to clean OUI. , lo st five seconds rig ht th ere, then I rr ied to clear OUI. The Ii rst turn was craz y, A hu nch of th ese guys tha t q ua lify in th e bac k go in over the ir head s th en ge l o n th e brak es," La wson 's p rogression wa s stead y a nd o n th e fo urth lap he passed Sarro n for seco nd beh ind Spe ncer. As th e pas t a nd p resen t World Cha m p io ns bega n a race long d uel o f th eir ow n, a seco nd on e sta r ted wi th Haslam, Sarron, Mam ol a , and Gardner ridin g as a quartet a nd swappi ng positions all o ver th e track . H aslam was th e Iirst to drop back and as i t became a tri o, Sarron 's ho rsep o wer ad va ntage became o bvio us to th e 'th ree-cylinder H o nda rid ers, Spencer was cruisi ng ou t from. Hi s la p limes were simi la r to Lawso n 's in the 2:03.5 range, w ith hi s fast lap o f th e ra ce be ing a 2:02.22 o n the fifth la p , T h e adva ntage h e held over Lawson was a co n sisten t five 10 seven seco nds which he see med to be a ble to ho ld , or str etch , at wi ll. " After a few laps th e tires just .sta rted to spin. Eve rybody 's do tha t," sai d Spencer. '" j us t wa n led 10 keep tha t d is ta nc e o ver Eddie. It was verv warm an d ' wa n ted to have a lillie lire left to u se a t th e end if' needed it, The tra ck was so hal and greasy th at we were goi ng a seco nd slo wer th an in qua lif yin g. " Law son appeared 10 be closi ng whe n he turned h is Iast Ia p , a 2:02.77, o n the tenth o f 27 laps, T wo laps la ter, th ough, th e inierval was back to o ver seven seco n ds, " I d idn 't rea lly have a li re p roblem . I do n ' t kn o w w ha t 10 sa y," Lawson o ffere d , " I didn 't gel cl ose eno ug h to see h ow much m or e lap en d he had tha n me. We go t the h eal in g p roblem ' cured: it ra n abo u t 65 (deg rees centigrade ). T h e hack en d came arou nd a bit, hUI not th at bad . So me (la p ped ) g-uys in fro m of me go t th e blue nag 10 move o ver, bur thev didn' t 1lI0\'e." As Spe ncer a nd La ~'son made th eir o wn race, Gardner was lak ing comm and of th e race for third . H e too k .. - "I . ..

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