Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Eddie Lawson took his first win of the season after early leader Wayne Gardner 's eng ine went sou r. , Ra ndy Mamola used new aerodynamic design to increase top speed and help collect second place. World Championship Road Race Series: Round 3 La'wson, MalJ10la 1-2 at HockenheilJ1ring By Michael Scott H O CKENH EIM . W. GERMAN Y, MAY 17 Eddie Lawson inherited first place In the West German G P at the daunting Hockenheimring circuit, after Wayne Gardner's Ro th m an s Honda went sour, and the rangy Ca l i for n ia n was d eli gh ted with th e gift of his fir st win . o f t h e season. "I'll take it," ' th e World Cha mpion Marlboro Ya maha rider said. "There was no o ther way I was go ing to be a b le to ca tc h th at H on da." Co m pa triot Rand y Mamol a on the Lucky Stri ke Yamaha was seco nd , movi ng back into th e World Championsh ip point sta ndi n gs lead, with Brit Ron Ha slam a nd th e Elf H onda thi rd , af~er C hrist ian Sar ron ha d retired h IS C au loise Xamaha wit h clu tch troub le a t ha lf-d istance. J ap an 's T ada hiko Taira was fou rt h and Marlb o ro Yam a ha team ma te R ob McEl n ea fi fth , w hile Itali an Pi er Ch ili rode brill ia nt ly on his three-cyli nder NS500 Honda to p ush fell ow HB ri der Nia ll Mackenzie 's V4-NSR into sevent h . But the rac e wa s run withou t Freddi e Spe ncer a nd Mike Bal d win , both injured in practi ce. Spen cer 's injury was a rea l freak: hi s kn ee badl y gas hed by hi s own knee protector withou t even crash ing and before timed p ractice had begun. H e flew h om e to Sh reveport, Louisiana, for treatment, in a desperate bid to ge t fit for Monza th e n ext wee kend. Baldw in 's cras h was much m ore serio us, a nd he was badl y hurt . It ha p pened in th e third session, when h is Lucky St ri ke Ya maha seized just after one of the fastest parts o f this sca ry circu i t, w h ere s peed trap figures of m ore tha n 175 mph had been reco rded. The 32-year-o ld from Darien , Connecti cu t, was hel icoptered to a hospital with a badl y broken right hand , left a n kle, and su spected co m p ression fractures to three vertebrae. H e is expected to be o u t of ac tion for at least six weeks. The 250cc ra ce went to Anton Mang , th e West Germ an fo rm er ch am p io n 's 34th GP wi n. H e led home Swiss J acques Cornu o n an identica l Honda NS R , closel y fo llowed by a fie ld o f wa lki ng wounded a fter co nsidera ble ca rnage in practice. T h ird-placed Reinhol d Roth o n a Honda had a broken co llarbone , fo urth -pl aced Ca rlos Card us on a H onda a broken knee, arid Si to Pons, who was seventh o n a H ond a , a pa ir of freshl y-sprain ed wrists. But 250cc points leader a nd race fa vorite Martin Wimmer was too badly hurt to race: hi s' rig h t leg brok en . An exerting 125cc r ace was won by Italian Fau sto Gresini on a G arelli from MBA-mounted August Auinger and G arecci rider Bruno Casanova. German Gerhard Waibel narrowly defeated Spaniard Jorge Martinez a n d Krauser teamm ate Stefan Doerflinger; wh ile Brits Steve Webster a nd T ony H ewitt a nd their Krauser j us t h eld o ff cha m p io ns Egb ert Streuer a n d Bernhard Schnieders' Yamaha to win th eir seco nd success ive Sidecar race. H ockenheim is unique, with part of th e track. twis ting back a nd forth bet ween Wa gn eri an gra n ds ta nd s, and th e remainder running hard and ver y fast (b u t for two ch icane s) through dense a n d deserted pine forests. This creates unpredictable and va ria b le a tmos p he ric conditions, ri ch in oxygen in th e forests but not in the stad iu m. As a result, jetting is very hard to get right; and si nce the fa st sec tio ns a n d tall gearing (100 mph in fir st !) put th e engines under load for long periods of time, seizure is an ever-p resent spectre. The injured Baldwin was o n e o f m any vi ctims. Take th e Marlboro- Yamaha team. Rob McElnea : "We only had one da y o f dry practi ce, so we were trying h ard to get it right th e firs t time. But both T aira and I seized, wh ile Eddie didn't, a nd wewere all running the same jetting. Baffling. " N ob od y e lse cras hed badl y, th ough, a nd th e o n ly o ther injury wa s th e o ne w hich o nce a gain d el a yed Spe ncer's lon g a wa i ted return. After test ing successfu lly earlier in th e week, Freddie wa s dragging hi s knee in untimed practice when eithe r his p rotecti ve kn eepad sha tte red or it was ch am fered to a sha rp cu tt ing edge (th ere were two versions ). The next time his knee to uc h ed down, th e p ad turned in his leathers a nd gas he d hi s kn ee deeply, damaging the ligam ents a nd leaving shards of plasti c in th e wound. Spencer faced th e press in a cast from ankle to thigh, before jetting home for treatment. "Don't co u n t me out yet," he sa id. 'T il do every th in g I ca n to be back next weekend. I just want to go rac in g aga in." Whi le others struggled with their mix ture settings, Wayne Gardner found th e combination, and en ded u p 0.33 seconds faster tha n Ron H aslam 's identical NS R V4.Honda, at 2:06.70. On ra ce eve, he ex uded con fide n ce. "I wa s balked twi ce on my fast lap," he sa id. "I want to try and do th e same as Spain, where I ca rr ied on pushing hard to beat Lawson by as much as possible. I want to mak e him think th e Honda is unbeatabl e." Wh en .asked about Sp encer, h e said: " I' m sick o f hearing hi s name. Wh y don't yo u co nce n tra te on th e people who ar e racing." The spee d tra p su gges ted that th e . Yamaha' s spee d disadvantage was not as much as expected. Mackenzi e's' NSR H onda clocked 175 mph, Lawso n's Yam ah a 282 ; with Chili 's a mazing NS V3 a t 173. Law son had a different story. " It's really fru strating to wat ch th ose Hon das dr ive a way , a nd there's nothi ng yo u can do abou t it. We need more power, but I guess we'll ha ve to wai t until . next year. Kel (Ca rru thers) ca n on ly do fi ne-tuni ng, no t cas t new cylinders, an d I don 't ex pect any th ing from th e factory this seaso n." Law son, alo ng with Ta ira and Marn ola, did h ave th e benefit o f new slim me r an d cleaner fairings, th at went a lo ng wi th sma lle r radia tors. T he speed trap showed n o adva ntage over th e "big -m outh " bi kes, but Mamol a exp la ined: " It means I ca n pull si xth gear a lmos t 10 mph fast er th an McElnea 's. I'm still using all the revs, but the benefit co mes in

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