Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126920
Despite an injured shoulder, Marlboro Yamaha's Eddie Lawson took the lead after two laps in the French Grand Prix and finished over 12 seconds ahead of Team Lucky Strike Roberts' Randy Mamola. ner on the Rothmans Honda and despite his injured shoulder, a legacy of his Laguna Seca crash, was never threatened. By halfway through the21-lap race, Lawson had a 12-second advantage and was able to take things a little easier. "The shoulder hun but it didn't slow me down much; halfway through it went numb and I couLdn't feel a thing.l had to use my leg muscles and my right arm more so they got a little tired but it was no big problem. The bike was fantastic though, fast and strong. We must have had a few miles an hour on the others and that made things a bit eas- ier." Christian Serron 131, Wayne Gardner 141, Mike Baldwin 1111 and Rob McEln_191 argue over second place .arly in the 500cc GP. World Championship Road Race series: Round 8 Lawson wins French Grand Prix By Peter Clifford PAUL RICARD, FRANCE, JULY 20 Eddie Lawson dominated the French Grand Prix from start to finish on his Marlboro Yamaha and extended his championship lead to 13 points over second-place finisher Randy Mamola on the Lucky Strike Yamaha. In brilliant sun- I shine, Lawson took the lead from fast-starting Wayne Gard- Mamola rode a brilliant race after being last off the line because the mechanics had to change the dutch plates after the warm-op lap. The work was done on the back of the grid and as the fairing was replaced the Lights changed for the stan of the race. Mamola lost Pt;Thaps 10 se<;Onds before he was underway and then made up ground quickly. "I was so mad I didn't have any trouble passing the slower guys," Mamola said. "I just got past them everywhere. There was no way I would have let them stan without me. II they'd have looked like they were going I was just going to lie down on the track in front of the grid." Ron Haslam made a great start but with.only three-cylinder power in the Elf he was soon passed and at the end of the long backstraight on lap one a group of five peeled 0(( into the right hander together. Gardner led but only just from Roche, McElnea, Lawson and Haslam with McElnea losing places as he ran wide. Much to the delight of the French crowd, Roche led across the line at the end of lap one from Gardner but Lawson was already on their heels in third and dove past both Hondas early on the second lap. Roche hung on to second with Gardner third 1 f J I. ahead of McEInea and Haslam, who was losing ground to the V-fours, Sarron had moved up to sixth on the second lap after a mediocre start and Baldwin was not far behind. Mamola was still back in 11th place but had passed some 16 riders in two laps. Roche crashed on lap three trying to hold 0(( Gardner. That left the Australian second ahead of McElnea, but there were three more Yamahas about to arrive on the scene. Sarron and Baldwin, riding wheel-to-wheel, were closing in on McElnea and both passed him on lap seven. On the same lap Mamola pushed Haslam out of sixth. Lawson had a 7.5-second lead and was elCtending it at the rate of' a second a lap as the battle for second intensified. Gardner was caught by Baldwin, Sarron and McElnea. Laps eight and nine were incredible with the four swapping places at every turn. McElnea found his bike too slow down the backstraight and was trying to make up the difference going into the ultra-high-speed kink at the end. On lap 10 he over-did it and went 0(( onto the din. The back of the bike fishtailed wildly but he managed to regain the tarmac, though back in sixth place behind Mamola. By lap II Baldwin and Sarron dropped Gardner who was caught and passed by Mamola. The Californian dosed relentlessly on the two battling Yamahas in front and took second on lap 14. Baldwin seemed then to have the measure of Sarron and though he could not keep track of Mamola, managed to get away from the Frenchman until lap 17 when Sarron closed once more. He tailed Baldwin right up to the last lap. Sarron had made a mistake halfway through the race, "My rear suspension got soft as it warmed up and I adjusted the pre-load to make it better but I turned the knob the wrong way. I got it sorted out but had dropped back and then bad to catch up again." Sarron finally passed Baldwin at the end of the Mistral straight on the last lap and though tbe American looked at repassing him at the last corner he thought better of it. McElnea tried to close on Gardner at tbe end of the race, but found the top speed of the Honda too much to cope with and after his narrow escape earlier in the race he was disinclined to try anything risky. Gardner was naturally disappointed to see Mamola getting away in the race for second in the Championship but said there was nothing he could do. "At first the bike was great and I could stay with Eddie but then tbe rear tire started to spin and I wasn't getting the drive out of the comers. The trouble is then that the type of power the bike delivers is too sharp and it makes the slide hard to control. When the tire is working well it is no problem but when it starts to slide you just have to back off. The bike was pretty equal with the Yamaha on the straight, maybe a bit faster on top end but slower on acceleration. It depended who was slipstrearning whom." Haslam took a lonely seventh ahead of Didier de Radigues and the first Suzuki home was ridden by Dave Petersen who got the better of a lengthy battle with Paul Lewis. Carlos Lavado stretched his 250cc championship advantage on his HB Yarnaha thanks to a great ride, though he had a mediocre start and ran 0(( the track once as he battled his way through. Sito Pons finished second on the Campsa Honda just beating Dominique Sarron on his Rothmans Honda after the pair had a start-tofinish battle. While the two Hondas led 0(( the line the battle for second developed