Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Defending 260cc World Champion, Heinz Kin igadner (1 ) went 6-6 for t he day and gained on series points leader, Jacky Vimond, 227-205. Kell er by the finish ." Barnett came in for fifth ahead of Kinigadner , Johnson , van Doorn , Vimond an d Denmark 's Soren Morten sen. " It wa s a tough g ruelin g race for me ," said Hannah . " I ca me o u t of th e sta rt around 10th a nd I a te a lo t of rocks a long th e wa y. I hea rd th e fa ns behind m e th e wh o le way; th e closer to the front I got, the lo uder th ey gol. " " I wa s much too nervous," said Vimond. " I saw Kin igadner co m ing and I told m yself to p ick it u p, bUI I wa s riding bad a nd I made a m istake. H e went past me (o n lap 15 ): ' " I made IDth a nd for Amer ica that 's ver y good," sa id Soren Mortensen o f Denmark. " Abou t three laps from th e end I wa s exha us ted - I could n 't believe it. I think it wa s because of th e big bumps, high speed and the humid weather . I'm not used to the h umidity." KTM' s Arno Drech sel made a charge toward the top 10 mid -race bu t later dropped OUI. " My shou lder was injured la st week ," said Drechsel , "and it felt good for a while. Then it got worse and worse; I was in so much pain I had to sto p. I co u ld barely breat he or walk." While intermittent sprinkles were the norm during th e first moto, th e ' second moto began under a more persistent rain . O 'Mara had a much better start this time. " I ca me off th e line irst, bu t the fir st co rner sure was airy. I saw a guy (Carso n) going bout 80 mph on the outside, and I ad the inside. I had to gel on the inders, and he had th e momentum o come out with the lead. I followed im to Gravity Cavity (a drop into a eep valley ), then got him. From here on I just hammered it ." After one complete circuit, O 'Mara ad pulled only a bike length or two lear of the second-place man , Kell er, hiIe Myerscough was another two econds back in third ahead of Ba reu, Carson, Bowen , former 125cc ' o rl d Champion Michele Ri na ld i, renchman Patrick Fura and Kinigader. H a n n a h had tangled with one o f he Eu ropea n s, who turned o ut to be imond. "We crashed and fell to et he r," sai d Vimond. "I sti ll wa s ery ne rvous." Hannah and Vimond emounted near the back of the pack. " I had a much better start this ime,' said Honda-mounted Kell er. 'and I caught up to a nd was staying it h O 'Mara . But he's such a good ider and has better equipment. so he gan to inch away. And while it's no xcuse, I was sweating so much that my goggles were filled with sweat and with the rain I couldn 't see. " O 'Mara wa s five seco nds clear o f Kell er by lap five, with Barnett. Myerscough , Bow en . Johnson, Kin iga d ner, va n Doorn , Hannah , Husqvarna 's Jorgen N il sson a nd Carson foll owing. Two laps later . Kell er was being pressured by Barnett. "We h ad a good bailie for a bo u t two la p s." sa id Kell er. " then Barnett took off o n m e." That m ad e th e o rder O 'M ara , Barnett a nd Kell er, with M yerscough a n d Bowen - a fter a tussle o f th eir o wn - ha ving troubles. With th e two OUI of th e p icture, J ohnson found h im self all al one in fourth, wi th H an nah a ll th e wa y to fifth after d ispensing wi th Kin igadner. " T he ov erflow tubes o n the ca rb go t plugged ," sai d Myerscough , who pulled off th e track for repairs. " II wa.s starvi~ g for gas. By th e time I got gomg again I wa s o ver a lap down ." Bo wen 's problem fo rced him to retire, "The swin ga rm pivot bolt backed out about an inch and a ha lf " said Bowen . " a ll o wing the swin ga rm to flex . It was almost li ke having a flat tire. I slid down, hit a rock and bent the bars all up. so I just pulled off. " At about th e sa me time, Vimond also gave up. " I tried to come back af ter I cra sh ed with Hannah ," said Vimond , "and I got up to 15th. But I kept making more mistakes - m y head was nOI in th e right place - a nd I stopped. I musr 've been crazy to sto p, but I did. " O n lap eight, O 'Mara had six seconds o n Barnett, with Keller, J ohnson, Hannah, Kinigadner, van Doom, Nilsson and Rinaldi stru ng out behind. In the fin al eig h t laps, O 'Mara stretche d out his lead - see m in g ly a t will - and won over Barnett by 35 seconds. Johnson squeezed past Keller with one lap left a n d sto le third , while Hannah 's drive ended in fifth . While far off th e pace, Kinigadner, van Doorn, Belgian Ma rc Velkeneers, Swede Nilsson and R inal d i rounded out th e top 10. Onl y 19 of the 31 starters fini shed the moto. '" wa s slouching a little bit in th e middle of the mo to ,' said a smi ling O 'Mara, "and I loo ked back a nd could see Barnett had closed in a co u p le of seconds. I felt as if I could move a h ead when I wanted, and I did. I put quite a few more seco nds on Ba rnett by th e finish . And I'll tell you, this feels awfully good. II 's a big, big boost for me." O 'Mara then joined teammate H a n nah in the w inner's circle, and th e Bob Hannah won the first moto, took f ifth the second t ime out to c la im second overall. He said he'll be back next year t o win. tw o of th em whooped it up with th e trophy girl. O 'Mara sprayed the crowd with ch a m pagne, whil e Hannah boosled th e girl high upon his sho u lders. " I came ou t of the crash with th e European (Virnond ) on th e first lap with a broken clutch lever," sa id H annah , " an d I rode th e rest of th e ra ce without a clutch. By th e time I got toward th e front . O'Show wa s too far go ne . I've been trying to win here for 10 yea rs ; I guess I'll hav e to co me back and tr y it again. " For Kell er - who had pl enty of su p po rt in the specta to r ranks - th e da y wa s still a bright o ne . " T h is was m y first time on a 250cc bike in a n ou tdoor race th is yea r," sa id Kell er , "a nd I reall y can 't co m p la in . I'm real satisfied with fourth o verall." Whi le Kinigadner wa s th e top European a n d moved closer 10 Vimond in th e points, h e was not without h is worries. " Vim o nd onl y has 22 points o n me, and th at 's not too much. I'm ver y nervous now ; I don 't know how , will do in th e Dutch GP next Sunday. I do not like the sand. " Italia n Rinaldi picked up six points for h is 10th in moto two , a n d is fifth in the points behind van Doorn. "After spend in g five years on th e 125, I found th e 250 10 be a lot differ ent. But ' keep try ing." 500cc Support Honda Support rider Mike Fisher was in a class of hi s own, pushing out to huge lead s and winning both motos. In th e first 30-minute moto , Husky's Andy Stacy followed leader Fisher, but en gi ne trouble sidelined Sta cy aft er two laps. Fisher, com ing off his third overall finish at th e Bu ch anan (M ich iga n) Nat ion al , posted th e win - by over 40 seconds - over Norwa lk (Con nectic u t) H onda 's David McLean, Honda Cana da ' s Mike Harnden a nd Robinson 's Cycle-backed Pau l Aus tin. Moto two wa s much th e sa me for Fisher; he h o lesho t and proceeded to pull out another lead o ver Stacy through th e first few ci rc u its. Wh en it was over, Stacy had th e runner-up SPOI o ver McLean, H onda rider Ron Dunfee and Yamaha Support rider Kevin Foley. " II wa s a good da y," sa id Californian Fisher. " I pick ed off a couple o f good starts a nd just pulled a way . I see m to be getting stronger a nd • stro nger as the sea son goes o n ." Results 250cc GP (1SI motol: 1. Bob Hannah IHon): 2. Johnny O'Ma,a (Hont, 3.JoJo KeUer(Hon l; 4. Brian Myerscough ISuz); 5. Mark Barnen (Kaw): 6. Heinz Kinigadner (KTM); 7. Rick Johnson (Yamt, 8. GenJan van Door n (Honl: 9. Jacky Vimond (Yam): 10. Soren Monen~n(Ka w); 11. Jorgen ~ ilsson (Hus); 12. Anders Encksson (Yam); 13 . Mickey Kessler (Hont, 14. Vann ig KerveUa (Hon); 15. Henk Van Mierlo(Hon); 16. Steve Burdett e {Yam,; 17 . Michele Rinaldi (Suz): 18. Tom Rice (Kaw); 19. Scooter Staf ford (Yamt, 20. Tom Carson (Hon). 250cc GP (2nd mot o): 1. O'M ara: 2. Barnen; 3. Johns on; 4. Kell er; 5. Hannah; 6. Heinz Kinigadner; 7 . van Doorn; 8. M arc Velkeneers (Ma i); 9. Nilsson; 10. Rinaldi; 11 . Bur dette; 1 2. Patr ick Fura (Hon); 13 . Carson; 14 . Klaus Kinigadner (KTM); 15. Kessler; 16. M yer scou gh: 17. Ted Van NeSl (Honl: 18. Pat 8asted (Yam): 19. Stafford; 20 . Kerv eUa. POINT STA NDINGS: 1. Vimond (22 7t, 2. Heinz Kinigadner (205); 3. Oreschel (1TI); 4 . van Doorn (17 61 5. Rin ald i (17 0 ): 6. Nilsson (150); 7. (TIE) : A nders Eriksson Nelken eers (9 6): 9. KerveUa (88 1 : 10. Fura (8 6). 500cc SUPPORT: 1. M ike Fisher (Honl 1· 1: 2. David M cLean (Honl 2 -3: 3. Kevin Foley (VamI 4-5 : 4 . M,ke Robonson (Kawl; 6·6: 5. Dave Eckhan (Kawl 8 -9; 6. M att Levy (HonllQ-8: 7 . Shane Drew (Honl 7 · 111 8. Andy Stacy IHus) 34-2: 9. Ph;Uip Carl in : (KTM) 12 -1 0: 10. M ike Harnden (Hon) 3-36: 11. Br uce Zim m erma n (Hon) 11 ·12; 12. Keit h M ann (Yam I 9 -12; 13. Ron Du nf ee (Hon) 21-4; 14. Ron Nye (Hon) 13- 13: 15. Paul Austin (Kawl 5-34; 16. Don Grah n (HonI 3 3- 7: 17. Steve Brown (Hon) 1515: 18. Brent M ace (Hon ) 16·16; 19. Rich Dam on (Hus) 17 -1 B: 20. James M ulhoUan (Hon) 14- 34 . 15

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