Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above ) Anton Mang led a West Ge rman sweep in t he 250cc race . (Below ) Spencerta lkswith Ho nda tuner Erv Kane moto; o ne dow n. one t o go. first push bu't it wa s bent out of sh ape and it took me so m e time to get used to tryin g to ride it aga in." Spencer was overta ken wi th fou r laps to go by Manfred H er weh , who had mad e a very slo w sta rt on th e Massa Real. H erweh wa s o n ly 20th o n th e first lap but two laps lat er he was 10th and clos ing fast o n a threeway battl e between Carlos Ca rdus, j ean Mich el Mattiol i a nd j ean Fora y. They chased Pi er Bolle a n d Fausto Ricci, who were hounding Spencer. Cardus in crea sed h is .speed a nd started to ca tch Bo lle a nd Ricci but then crashed unhurt on lap II. Two laps later, when Carter fell , R icci was still fifth a nd pulling away from Boll e, who had been caught by Herweh r who had increased his speed n oti ceabl y. As Carter sli p ped do wn behi nd Spencer, H erweh was ready to tail th e American. With 16 of the 24 lap s gone, Mang had a very convincing lead over Ro th , who was in an equally-secure second. Spencer was being sha d o wed by H erweh, Bo lle had caught the slowing Ricci, who was only just in front of Foray, Mattioli and Carter, who was trying to get back into the groove. As Ma ng raced on u ntro u bled , Spencer had several slides on th e works Honda a nd decided to ease the p ace to ma ke su re of th e few points h e n eeded . H erweh p assed a n d co nf ide n tly p u lled away, ending h is Silverstone jin x. Mattiol i got the best o f th e fift h-place battle and Bolle o n ly just bea t th e unlucky Carter to the line by a yard, bot h well in front of R icci. Fora y suffered the heartbreak o f havin g h is mach ine cu t out onto one cyli nder with five laps to go. A~strian August Aui ngerconfirmed h is rep u tation as a superb wetweather rider by winn in g the 20-lap 125cc race by a clea r mar g in a fter leading it almost from th e sta rt on h is Ha rald Bart ol -m odi fied MBA. jean Cla ude Seli ni was faste r away a n d led at th e en d of lap o ne, but Auin ger was a lrea dy fourth a n d h e pa ssed the Fr en ch man o n th e second lap. From th a t po int h e pulled o u t a lead a t two seco nds a lap until it reached 20 seconds a t h alf distance a nd he maintained that to th e flag . There wa s a good battle for second between Finn jussi H autani emi , Italian Fausto Gressini and Selini Ior the first half of th e ra ce, but th ey were ca ught by th e slo w-sta rt ing Cha mpions h ip leader P ier Paol o Bianchi, who worked his way steadi ly an d determi nedly through to take second on la p 12. Gressini , who is chasing Bianch i in the Championship, hu ng on to thi rd ahead of H a ur an ierni. Selini had dropped to a distant fifth but in th e last third of th e race he got a new lease on life. First he repassed th e Fin n and th en s'tatched third from G ressini in a dramatic las t-bend effort. R olf Bilan d lost th e chance of winni ng the Wo rld Cha m p ionsh ip wh en theSideca r ra ce wa s calle d o ff because o f th e amou nt of sta nding wa ter o n th e track. T he title will now be decid ed between Eg bert Streu er an d Bernard Schneiders in Sweden. " Fo r sure I should have raced fo r myself," sai d Bila nd. " Bu t the n it was the right decision n ot to race beca use we do n o t wa nt a no ther j oc k Taylor accident a nd for su re th e co n d it io ns were just the sa m e. I co u ld (A bove) Eddie Lawson (1 ) finally got by.Christian Sarron (6) . but saw his hopes of a championship severely crushed . (Below) Randy Mamola. have ra ced all right because I went out in th e war m -up session thi s morni ng and I was 10 seco nds fa ster th an a n yo n e else , but you cou ld n ot use si xth gea r safely and even in fifth , the rea r wheel wa s spi n n ing all th e time. It wou ld ha ve been da n gerous for everyone because even if yo u ca n dri ve safely it would no t have been p ossible to see in front beca use o f th e spra y a nd if someo ne else had sp un in th e track th e first thing you would know a bo u t it would be the crash . I decided th at a lthough I wanted to race for m y cha nces of winning th e cham p io ns hi p a nd a ll th e top people fro m Ro th mans in Switzerland had flow n over to see me co m pe te, I wo ul d go along with th e maj ority. When I saw that th e others were sure it was too da ngerous I voted with them." Steve Webs ter agreed th a t it was very dangerous .bu t did not agr ee about th e way th e decision was made. " Not everyo ne got the chance to have their say a nd that is not fa ir. It was too dangerous, though, worse than th e morning session a n d I decided then that if thi ngs wer e as bad I would not ride. Everyone shou ld hav e been given the chance to do a few la ps and ma ke up their own mi nds. I went ' ro u n d in a car a n d as far as I was co n cern ed it was too bad , the sta nding p uddles o f water would just make th e outfi t aquapla ne . Mainl y I feel sorry for th e ma rs ha ls who stood o ut all tha t tim e wa itin g to see w hat was going to hap pen a nd fo r the spectators who p a id to ge t in and di dn ' t see a Sid ecar race." Vernon Cooper a lso had so meth in g to say , ha vin g been replaced as clerk of the course by Co lli n Armes. " If I was sti ll cle rk of th e co u rse it wou ld h ave been ru n . Some drivers just had it stopped beca use a British driverhadthe chan ce of winn ing ." • Results 500: 1. Freddie Spencer (Hon)49 minutes. 20:17 seconds. 99 .67 mp h; 2. Eddie Lawson (Yam) 49 :28.49 ; 3. Chr;stian Sarron (Yam) 49:52.65; 4. D idier de Radi gu8s (Hon) 50:27 .38 ; 5. Rand y Mam ola (Hon) 50 :36 .28 ; 6 . Raymond Roche (Yaml 50 :38.89; 7. Beet van Dulman (Hon); 8. R. 8 umett (Hent 9. N. Robinson (Suz); 10. Paul Lewis (Suz). DISTAN CE; 28 laps. 8 1.96 mHes FASTEST LAP: Spe ncer, 1:43 .53. 101.77 mph 500 QUAUFYING : 1. F. Spencer (1 min.. 28.42 sees); 2. E. Lawson (1:29.35); 3. C. Sarro n (1:29 .42); 4 . R. Mamola (1:29.42); 5. W . Gardner (1 :30 .33t 6. R. Roche (1:30 .58); 7. R. Marshall (1:3 1.79); 8 . R. Haslam (1;3 2.20); 9. D. de Radig ues (1:3 2.26); 10. R. MeElnea (1:32.44 ). 500 POINTS; 1. Spencer . 126; 2. Lawson. 106 ; 3. Sarron . 72 ; 4 . Wa yne Gardner (Hon) 61; 5. Ron Haslam (Hon) 57; 6. Randy Mamola (Hon) 56; 7. de Rad;gues. 42 ; 8. Roche: 39; 9. Rob McEln.a (Suzl 19; 10. van Dulmen, 18. 25 0: 1. An ton Mang (Hon) 43 :33.62. 96 .75 mph; 2. Re;nhold Roth (Yam) 43 :51 .59; 3. Manfred Herweh (M- R) 43 :59 .57; 4. Freddia Spencer (Hon) 44:07.68 ; 5. J .M . Matt ioli (Yam) 44 :13.59; 6. P. 80lle (Par) 44 :16.39; 7. Alan Can er (Hon) 44 :16.40; 8. F. Ricci (Hon) 44 :25 .0 1; 9. J . Cornu (Hen) 45 :05 .04; 10 . Joey Dunlop (Hon) 45 :07 .23. DISTANCE: 24 laps. 70 .25 miles FASTEST LAP: Herweh. 1:4 6.78. 98.68 mph 250 QUALIFYING; 1. C. Lavado (1 min.. 37 :78 sees ), 2. F. SPencer (1:33.9 1); 3. P. 80ll e (1:34 .04 ); 4 . M. Harweh (1 :34 .25t. 5. A. Mang (1:34 .651; 6. G. Noel (1:34. 94 ); 7. S. M in ich (1;35.06); 8. J- M . Ma t· tioli (1:35.29t 9. R. Freymond (1:35.32); ro. J · F. 8alde (1:35.37). 250 POINTS: 1. Spencer . 127; 2. Mang . 97; 3. Ma n in Wim mer (Yam) 69; 4 . Carlos Laveda (Yam) 67; 5. Ricci. 35; 6. Loris Reggian i (Apr) 34; 7. (TIE) Cane r/Roth . 24; 9. Herweh. 23; 10. Cornu. 19. 125: 1. A. Au inger (M8A) 38 :58.34. 90 .12 mph; 2. P.P. 8 ;anch i (M8AI39:24 .84; 3.J.C. SeHni (M8A) 39 :31 .05;4. F. Gress in ; (Gar) 39 :31 .08; 5.J. Heun tani em ; (M BA ) 39 :41.23; 6. D. 8r igagl ia (M8A) 39 :47.40 ; 7. W. Perez Arg (Zan) 39 :48 .04; 8. O. Uegeoi. (M 8 A) 40:09 .66; 9. W . Hupper ich (Seel) 40:1 7.14; 10. M . McGarrity (M BA) 40 :17 .67 . DISTANCE: 20 laps. 58.54 mile. FASTEST lAP: Au ingar. 1:53 .95.92.47 mph 125 POINTS: 1. 8 ianch i. 87; 2. Grassin;; 84; 3 . (TIE) E. Gianola (Gar)/ Auingar. 57; 5. 8 . Kneu buhler (LCR) 50; 6. SeHni. 36 ; 7. 8r igagl ia; 35; 8. L Piatroniro (M 8A) 24; 9. (TIE) Liegaois /Hautaniemi. 17. 19

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