Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

----~ Mamola's strategy was devised early. "When it didn't start I knew I'd cruise. If I'd have gotten started I'd have cruised, but at a faster pace." Besides the start, Mamola was hampered by the sore ankle, which he had wrapped. With Spencer lapping in the low 29s, he quickly built up a gap that was over eight seconds on the eighth lap. Gardner was past Lawson on the same lap with Roche fourth ahead of the trio of McElnea, de Radigues, and Sarron. The next lap and Gardner was ahead for good having turned the race's fast lap of 1.:29.35, averaging 82.98 mph. "I passed Eddie twice," Gardner said afterwards. "I passed him going into the bowl on the brakes and he got me back. And the next time was at the end of the straight. The bikes seemed pretty equal. I was having trouble getting the power on, but so was he." "I could get out of the corners real nice, but going up the hill I had a problem. The shock went away about the fifth or sixth lap. Whatever I made up he could take it back with no problem," Lawson explained. About this time Spencer's wrist began tightening up. He'd taken the precaution of cutting his leathers at the forearm to lessen the affect of his arm swelling up and had gotten a cortisone shot while home at Shreveport last week. "Ever since I got here I've been taking it easy," Spencer said. "I didn't want to strain it. It was fine for two or three laps. I thought that at this pace it wouldn't be a problem." The 10th lap was a 1:29.46 with Gardner pulling away from Lawson, but Roche staying close. "I couldn't draft Roche," Lawson said. "I had to outbrake him going into turn one." Roche saw it differently. "I would always be passed on the straightaways, not the corners. In practice we went very fast with the special motor. In the race, it wouldn't accelerate in the final corner before the straight so there was no drive. Here you use first, second, and third and it's impossible to accelerate as well as the four-cylinder. " On lap IS, Spencer pulled in. "I couldn't grip the bar. There's only one place that you really put presure on your hand and that's braking for the downhill left-hander. I went in one lap and my hand locked up. I was using my whole hand to brake and I just couldn't hold on. I went 33 and still couldn't hold on." His prognosis for the season was more encouraging. "It's my first race and I was winning. I felt good, the bike was working, and I'm in good shape. I'm going to go home and fix this. I'm not going to let it stop me." A lap before Spencer went out, de Radigues was out after high-siding in the same downhill left-hander Spencer spoke of. The NS500 caught fire, but was quickly extinguished, and .de Radigues, who'd crashed in the same place in practice, broke his collarbone. He expects to be back for the next race at Moma in two weeks. Halfway into the race the pace was low 1:30s with Gardner holding a 4.7-second lead over Lawson. Lawson had eight seconds on Roche who was finding Baldwin catching up while McElnea held fifth. Sarron led Mamola for sixth, but soon let the Lucky Strike rider by. '" can only hold onto the bars at about 50% strength," Sarron said. He'd broken a bone in his left hand when a float bowl stuck on his Gauloises Blondes Yamaha while doing a promotional appearance at a private track outside of Paris. "When I accelerate and it wants to shake and do wheelies I can barely hang on. The front tire is always in the air because it's so bumpy. Sometimes it feels like I'm going to lose the handlebars. What can I do? Go slowly." Baldwin took third on the 22nd lap, Roche moving to fourth, McEInea Wth, with Mamola leading Sarron. Once in tra((jc, Lawson was catching Gardner, dropping the gap to 3.25 seconds on the 26th lap, the same lap that Mamola gOt past Roche for fourth. Two laps later Lawson had it down to three seconds. The pate picked up and by the 32nd lap the gap was back neaf four seconds. Baldwin had about three seconds on teammate Mamola with Roche leading Sarron and McElnea. Sarron would finish just O.09-seconds ahead of Roche. McElnea was seventh, ahead of the wildly popular Spaniard Garriga on the factory Cagiva. The last lap was nerve-wracking for Gardner. His lead dwindled to two seconds with a suspected fuel starvation problem. "I thought it wouldn't happen - my first win. It only happened on the straight." Of Spencer's exit, Gardn'er said, "I saw some white Rothmans leather j·ust ahead of me and I thought 'This is going to be interesting.' Then he pulled off. I don't think tires would've been a problem. Freddie was using a 2031 K and I was using a G. It's more of an endurance tire." Roberts, beside watching his own team, had a clock on Gardner. "When he needed to, he pulled out a 29. He seemed under control." "I should've used a harder front tire. It felt soft. I was struggling an he was just riding around:' Lawson explained. "It's like I've been saying all week, we don't have the carburetion or suspension right yet." "It feels good to have finished third," said Baldwin. "I didn't know I was third. I saw the guys up front and decided to pick them up. I wasn't worried about tire wear because I'd . get it up on the center of the tire coming out of the corners and would light it up. I knew that I had an advantage because of the way the bike was set up. The japanese engineers didn't want me to, but after the morning practice session I knew it would work. "I can't believe how good the bike was, it was so relaxing io ride it that I feel' could do another 100 laps," said Baldwin. "It was a slice of deja vu for Baldwin, who had another third at jarama back in 1979 when riding a private Suzuki before the Kawasaki leg-breaking crash that brought an end to his first G P career. "About IS laps from the end , started feeling better, riding better, sliding more," Mamola said after the race. "I was prepared for the race mind wise, but I was still a little cloudy. I had to go out and beat guys that were 100% fit. At the end of the race I couldn't get the bike back over on the right-handers because my ankle hurt so bad. When I left here last night I couldn't even push the minibike." With the win, Gardner gave notice that he'd be a factor in this year's championship. Eddie Lawson said "If Wayne stays on the bike he'll be a factor,. I'm juSt going to beas consistent as possible. I think there's one guy right now and it's Freddie. Freddie goes fast at all of them. Other guys go fast here and there." Spencer said, "The number one guy, of course, is Eddie. He know his limits. When it comes down to it the same guy will be' there. " And Gardner saw it this way. "I only try to compare myself to Freddie . in lap times. To me, he's my he.ro these days because he's so good, fast and safe. I want to beat that someone special. I think Eddie's going brilliantly. He's someone I'd like to beat. r. ~ e (.0 00 0') ....... ....... . C'l >- ~ ~ Randy Mamola leads Team Roberts Lucky Strike teammate Mike Baldwin; Baldwin got by to take third with Mamola finishing fourth. If he can get it going it's going to be a long season." Spencer will have to have something soned out with his forearm before the Italian GP at Moma, which stans after only a single weekend's break. "I think that it can be put right with a conizone injection," said Spencer after the race, relaxing in his new $300,000 motorhome. "I injured my wrist five years ago and that may have something to do with it. What happens is the forearm muscle pumps up so tight that it cuts off the circulation and then I canot brake or even hang onto the handlebars. It happened in practice and I just tried to do the least number of laps possible. In the race it was bad after six laps and' had to slow down. I was standing on the back brake trying to get the bike stopped but it was just about impossible, my times went up to I:33, four seconds off my earlier pace and I was still in trouble because I nearly ran of( the track once. I realized that I was just going to get slower and slower and I would never score any points so I pulled in. This is my 20th season of racing and it is real hard on your forearms. Kenny had the same sort of problem but I'm not that upset because the bike was great. It started quickly because I've been training to get it off the line and my body was all in great shape except one part." The top seven qualifiers il1 the 250cc field were on the same second with Wimmer tops at I:31.15-. His teammate 500cc japanese Champion Tadahiko Taira, was .02 seconds back at I:31.17 with Lavado third and Parisienne Honda's jacques Cornu fourth. Sito Pons, riding a Honda for Campsa, the Spanish oil company, filled out the front row. Wimmer's biggest concern for the race was not the pace, but the start. "The new Yamaha is a 90° V-twin with two cranks that fire at the same time. It weighs 90 kilos (198 Ibs.) and the 500 weighs about 120 kilos (264 Ibs.) and we have the same compression ratio. If you don't get all of your weight on the back at the exact instant that you drop the clutch the rear wheel locks up. I'm about 90% there, bu t if it doesn't fire the field is gone." The start was a disaster with a multi-rider pile-up that sidelined four rid~rs including Taira with a broken bone in his leg. Fortunately for Lavado,. the race was red-flagged and delayed half an hour. Lavado had crashed late on the first lap. Lavado got the holeshot on the restart with Pons second, Mang third and Cornu founh. Wimmer's fears were realized with a back-of-the-pack stan. "In the first three laps I lost eight seconds," Wimmer said. Mang took over the lead on the sixth lap, circulating in a trio with Lavado and Pons. Cornu was founh, Fausto Ricci a close fifth and on the seventh of 31 laps Wimmer sixth. The pace was high I :32s, more than 1.5 seconds of( the qualifying pace wtih Wimmer lapping in the low I :32s and closing in. At the halfway point he was 3. 7-seconds behind Mang with Lavado and Pons between them. Lavado was biding his time. On the 21st lap he made his move, dropping a second off the lap time and taking the lead. When they began hitting traHic three laps later the race was over. Lavado became uncatchable and Wimmer, although right on Pons' tail, couldn't pass. "We have two type of engines: one has a power valve and one doesn't. I chose the one without. It runs cleaner when you're riding all alone, but with other riders in front of you, if you go off your line, you lose power." Former World Champion Lavado pulled away for the win, another former World Champion, Mang, held off Pons for second, and Wimmer, who thrilled the crowd with his charge, was founh. Parisienne's Cornu beat teammate Pierre Bolle for fifth. Last year there was much grumbling around the pits that Honda had changed the 250cc class for the worse by coming in with a one-off factory bike. But with Spencer vacating the class, and tne improvement of both the Honda and Yamaha machinery, the class looks to regain its claim to the most exciting class in Grand Prix racing. • Results 500<:c: 1. Wayna Gardner (Hon) 56:01.87: 2. Eddie Lawson (Yam) 56:03.94: 3. Mike 8aldwin (Yam) 56: 19.04; 4. Randy Mamola (Yam) 56:30.03; 5. Christian Sarron (Yam) 56:31.84; 6. Raymond Rocha (Honl 56:31.93; 7. Rob McElnea (Yam) 56:32.34; 8. Juan Garriga (Cog) 57:15.86; 9. Fabio 8iliotti (Han) 57: 16.04: 10. Ron Haslam IElf) 36 laps. TIME OF RACE: 56 minutes. 1.87 seconds. DISTANCE: 37 laps, 76.15 miles. AVERAGE SPEED: 81.595 mph. FASTEST LAP: Gardner 1:29.35 82.975 mph; record: Spencer 1:28.99 83.200 mph in 1985. 25OCc: 1. Carlos La.ado (Yam): 2. Toni Mang (Hon); 3. Sito Pons (Hon); 4. Martin Wimmer (Yam); 5. Jacqaues Cornu (Hon); 6. Pierre Bolle (Per); 7. Donnie McL~d (Arm); 8. Jean Francois Baade (Han); 9. Fausto Ricci (HanI; 10. Alan Carter (Cob). TIME OF RACE: 47 minutes. 52.61 seconds DISTANCE: 31 laps, 63.8 miles AVERAGE SPEED: 80.068 mph RECORD LAP: Wimmar 1:31.0581.426 mph; old record: Freddie Spencer (Han) 1:32.05 80.440 mph in 1985. 125cc: 1. Fauslo Gresini (Gar); 2. Domenico Srigaglia (Duel; 3. Ezio Gianola (M8A); 4. Luca Cadalora (Gar); 5. JohnnyWtckstrom (Tun); 6. Willi Perez (ARG); 7. Pier Paoli> Bianchi (Elit); 8. Andres Sanchez (MBA); 9. Jussi Hautaniemi (M8At, 10. Hakon Olsson (Star). TIME OF RACE: 45 minutes. 30.63 seconds DISTANCE: 28 laps, 59.18 milas AVERAGE SPEED: 76.022 mph RECORD LAP: Gresini 1:35.47 77.656 mph; old record 8ianchi (MBA) 1:35.55 77.490 mph in 1985. 8Occ: 1. Jorge Martinez (Der); 2. Angel Nieto (Der); 3. Menuel Herreros (Oer); 4. Pier Paolo Bianchi (Seel); 5.lan McConnachie (Kra); 6. Juan 80lart (Aut); 7. Garhard Waibel (Real); 8. Hubert Abold (5001); 9. Statvan Dorflingar (Kra): 10. Domingo Gil (Aut). TIME OF RACE: 37 minut.., 1.75 seconds DISTANCE: 22 IaPH. 46.5 mileB AVERAGE SPEED: 73.413 mph 25

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