Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) Eddie Lawson (1 ) leads Wayne Gardner in t he 500cc G.P .( Below) Ant on Mang (5) beat Carlos Lavado (3) in the 250cc G.P. (Above) Freddie Spencer won the 500cc Swedish Grand Prix and with the w in took the championship. (Below ) Mike Baldwin leads Christian Sarron. Road RaeingWorldChampionship Series: Round II Speneer'is 500ee World ~halDpion By Peter Clifford ANDERSTORP. SWEDEN . AUG. II Freddie Spencer on his Ro thm a ns Honda made his to ry by winnin g the 500cc Swedish Grand Prix at Anders to rp and in doing so cl inched a unique 500cc a n d 250cc Championship double. Eddie Law. . so n Iin ished second on the Marlboro Yamaha with H o nda Brita in 's R o n H asl a m third , -16' after Wayne Gardner ran out or gas with only two miles left to go in a seemingly-secure second p lace. ", Spencer wa nanrrall iju bila n non » the rostrum. "I cannot be~ieve it•. my dream has co me true l It s not Just down to me but to all th e guys who have supported me through the year with the 250 and the 500." . The race was lost and won In the tire choice made aft er an exploratory lap which showed th e circuit to be co ld and damp in a few patches but dryin g. Lawson-opted to go Ior a so ft- er rear. rearing that the hard compound tire would not heat up in the cold. Spencer and Erv Kanemoto were thinking along opposite lines, looking at the rays of sunshine trying to break through the clouds. They went Ior a harder front , choosing from the array or no less than 15 wheels and tires standing ready in th e pit, apart from the two on the bike. "When have we used that tire in th e cold?" asked Spencer. " At LeMans.' came Kanernoto's reply. "It's the one we usually use ." Spencer and Kanemoto between them had made the perfect choice and from a slightly-cautious first lap Spencer was soon passingeariy lead er Ron Haslam to take the lead. There is a crucial difference between the way th e tire companies work and while Dunlop technicians were advising Gardner and Haslam as to the tire choice the Michelin men leave it up to the teams. Kanernoto and Spencer are used to this and have three years ' experience to draw on. Lawson and Kel Carruthers have used Dunlops for the last two years and have now had.to learn about making choices between Michelin tires. In this case it lost them any chance of winning the race. Lawson was through to second behind Spencer by lap three. But although Lawson seemed to close on his arch-rival at first, the Yamaha started to slide wildly under acce leration a nd Lawson cou ld not accelerate fully through the corners. As he eased off. hewas slowly caught by Gardner, who had been eighth on the first lap but passed Haslam to take third on la p eight. Once through into second on lap 18, Gardner pulled away as Lawson had to accept that his Championship crown was disappearing. Spencer rode a faultless race as Gardner suffered the frustration of stopping on the last·_ l_ lap and promoting Frenchman Christian Sarron to fourth place, which gives him third in the Championship. Haslam moved to fourth and Marnola to fifth, pushing Gardner. who was once third, down to sixth. Mamola finished firth. "I don't like this race track and I was a second and a ha lf faster on myoid Suzuki two years ago. 1wasjustgoi ngas fa st as 1 wanted to on tha t motorcycle, 1 am not going to try and ride it over th e edge. It is just the same machine and the same tires as 1 have had all year and I know what happens if 1 try and beat the four cylinders . Wayne is riding real good at the moment and Ron as well but they have different tires. 1 am not saying that the Dunlops are better than the Michelins, I don't know . But they are different." Mamola finished ahead or Didier de Radigues , who complained that his engine was slow. Mike Baldwin was seventh after a Iine ride on a circuit he had not seen before. Having clinched the American Championship for the fourth consecutive year, he is now free to race at Misano and is now only four points behind Dutchman Boe t van Dulrnen, who is 10th in the Championship. even though Ba ldwin has missed three rounds because of his American commitmerits. Rob McElnea crashed the Skoal Bandit Suzuki on la p 22 and injured his ankle. Toni Mangand his Marlboro Honda made certain of seco nd place in the 250cc World Championship with a determined win over Carlos Lavado and Fausto R icci . The three ba ttled tooth-and-nail for most Of the race after fast-starting Alan Carter on his H onda was p ushed out of first place by Mang on the second lap. . Lavado made a slower start. Bu t before Mang, who had Ricci on h is . _ . _ "' •• ' _. . (Contin ued: to. pag.e.22.)

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