Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Erik Kehoe celebrates the biggest win of his career. on one of th e hills and went even with th e Cagiva, but the World Champion h eld h is lin e in th e co rner a nd actually m ad e so me grou nd o n Van den Ber k in th e p ro cess. When th e three leaders a n d Moore made th eir way to the front stra ig h t directl y in front of th e maj ori ty of th e cro wd for lap six, Strijbos went inside-out and cu t sharply across th e tra ck in order to dive in sid e o f th e leader. Van de n Berk h eld his own lin e and when the two reached th e pre-finish lin e corner th ey coll ided and once again th e number one and number two riders in th e world were on the ground. And to add drama to the crash, Dymond was trailing so close that he too found thepileup and ran over Strijbos' downed bike. With the fans che erin g Dymond came out of the m ix-up first an d to ok over th e lead, while Moore also snuck by just before Van den Berk got himself organized. Strijbos reentered in sixth, d irectl y behind Kehoe, whose ch arge from m idpack to fifth had gone virtually unnot iced to that poin t. . Things settled down a t . th e h alfwa y point, as Dymond began to ease away from Moore. Van den Berk wa s . beginning to sho w th e effects of h is illness a n d slo we d consid erably. Strijbos an d Kehoe both worked by th e Yam aha on lap eig h t, and soon Keh oe was a ll th e wa y into third . The race now centered around Keh oe's attack on Moore, as both the Su zu ki rider a nd Dym ond kept up th e p ace well beyond th e 30 minute mark. There was speculation in the p its a ll weekend long th at th e Am er icans, acc usto med to 30 m inut e lon g Nat ional rnotos, would fa tigue in the h eat of th e 45 minute GP m ot e s. But most of th e Am er icans loo ked well as the ra ce wore on. Ju st o u ts i de o f th e top fiv e Tich enor was beginning to take chances in order to get around Ri ck y R yan and yet another Dutchman , P edro T r agt er. Ti ch en o r ga te d poorly an d wa s h aving a time of it early trying to make hi s way tow ards the front, but the Floridian lo ok ed stro nger than anyone lat e in th e moto and soon m oved into six th ' behind the slowing Van den Berk. H e got th e Euro with two laps to go. With Dymond stretching h is lead Mo ore b egan to lo se g ro u nd to Keh oe, a nd th e Su zu ki was soon a ttache d to Moore 's rear fender. Three laps fro m th e £lag , and Keh oe was the new number two , h aving got Moo re ' coming in to a tight le fthander. Moore would lo se a n o the r spo t to th e poi nts desperate Strijbos on his wa y to a well -earned fourth , an d he joined Dym ond an d Keh oe in saluting the exuberant crowd over ltalv's Mas si mo Co nt ini nail s t he holeshot . An est imated 1 0.0 0 0 s pectators watched. th e front stretch ta b letop with last lap a ir shows. At th e chec kers , th e top five were Dym ond, Kehoe, Strij bos, Moore, and Tichenor. Van den Berk was next, though h e nearl y lo st a sp o t to a line o f rid ers that included T ra g te r , Ryan , a n d late- charg er Andrews. In the pits both Dymond and Kehoe looked worn from th e race, but it was Van den Berk wh o wa s most affected by th e h ea t. The European riders seldo m co m pe te in su ch a cl im a te, an d th e pressure of th e points lead, combined with an in testinal £Iu, had just about wiped o ut the possible n ext World cha m p . Wh en th e pack left th e line for th e sta rt of th e secon d moto , Keh oe was again in the top th ree, and this time he planned to stay th ere. By th e time th e riders crossed th e bottom of th e valley to negotia te th e ba ck section, Keh oe was in th e lead with Van den Berk, Bayle, R yan, a nd Dym ond trailing. Str ijbos was all th e way back in 15th after a terrible start, wh ile Moore sa t 10th . But w he n Keh oe came aro u nd to co m p lete th e seco nd go-aro u n d, spots 10 th rough 12 read St rijbos, Dymond, and Moor e. The first moto winner had h it the ca n vas in the middl e o f th e leading tra ffic jam a nd lost several p osi tions while rem ounting. Moore wa s han gin g tough, wh il e Strijbos was maki ng the m ost wa ves with so me serious block passing. O n th e third lap, Bayle moved by Van den Berk while Warren jumped into th e thick of things, di spl acing Van den Berk th en getti ng p ast Ba yle. Kehoe was m o to ri n g o u t fro nt, a n d his lead at this point was 12 seco n ds. Strijbos rounded th e announcer 's to wer a ll th e way back in approximately 15th pl ace after another early fa ll, while Dym ond and Moore began to p ress th e top 10 riders, Andrews a nd T iche nor. T wo more circu its a nd Van den Berk continued to lose grou nd. Ryan took th e Yamaha in the ba ck section, while Sch mit push ed th e Euro out roun di ng an up h i ll h a i r p in. An drews was n ext to get by, then Dymond nearly landed o n Van den Berk on an uphill fall-away jump. The Du tch m an was obviously struggling in th e h ea t, and on the nex t lap T iche n or a n d Strijbos, mo unti n g yet a nother charge, went around. T hree laps and five more positions lat er , Va n den Berk rode into th e m ech ani cs' a rea with h is h elmet rest ing on th e cross bar. H e dropped hi s bike in the shade o f a ra ce sign and p assed o u t in th e m id st of th e European p ress a nd television came' ras, losing several m ore points to Strijbos in th e process. After the Cagiva fin all y finish ed th e second moto in sixth, th e points differential a t th e top o f the ch arts wa s down to 21 from the pre-race 36, Van den . Berk leading 335-314. With 40 points possible in Austria , it is still anyone's ball game, th ough th e smart money is obvi ously on the Yamaha. By th e 10th lap Keh oe 's leading measu red 25 seco n ds, and he was clearly on his way to the first G rand P rix wi n o f h is career. Wa rren 's seco nd p lace rid e was lost to the la techargin g Bayle, who h eld on to third in the p o int sta nd ings with h is imp ressive fi n is h . R yan a nd An drews were mixing up for fourth, th ough Dym ond was worki ng on both before taggi ng a wh eel a nd goi ng down again. Andrews wo u ld take over fourth for fou rt h overa ll , while Ryan dropp ed o u t o f the race co m p letely on th e white fla g lap. T ha t p u t Sch mi t into fifth, while Strijbos led Dym ond across the li ne in six th. T ich en or's eig h th was good for a fifth overa l in h is first -ever G P. Keh oe again showed h is app reci - . ation to th e fans wi th a serio us last lap high wire act over the jumps, and r epeated hi s exci te me n t 111 th e wi n ner's circle. " It's such a great feel ing to win th is ki nd o f race, especially h ere in Am eri ca in front o f suc h grea t fans, " said th e win ner. Mo ments lat er Keh oe showed great form with th e cham pagne bottle as ' h e popped th e co rk right into the middl e o f announcer Larry Ma iers' fo reh ead. 500 Suppbrt Ohio privateer H onda rider David H and bl asted into the turn o ne lead in th e first rnoto o f th e 500cc Support class, but a ha lf lap la ter and it was n e w ly cr o w ned 500cc Nation al , Champion Rick J oh nso n in the lead. J ohnson's appeara nce at Steel City was a treat for th e fa ns , most of whom di d no t ex pect to see a rider of suc h ca liber in the Su pport race . Makin g th e race even be tter was the fac t tha t Yamaha sen t team members Keith Bowen and Jeff Stanton in order to tune up for th e Natio nal season fin a le next week in Minneso ta. At a ny ra te, it was a ll J ohnson until th e h alfway p oint of th e first moto, wh en Bow en got beside th e leader o ver th e uphill step jump a nd took over th e top spot. The lead changed h ands severa l times from th ere before RJ p ut it away for good with two laps to' go. R ou n din g out th e top five' were Bo wen, Stanton , Kawas aki pilo t Tommy Watts, and H onda-mounted Andy Stacy. Besides J ohnson, n inth place fini sher Ra y So m mo was receiving th e loudest cheers as he took tape m ea sure leaps o ver th e tabletop on every lap , ge tti ng th e bik e co m p lete ly sideways more th an on ce. Wh en th e seco nd rn o t o pack ro u nded turn one, Bowen dro pped h is ride and was left in th e bac k of th e pack, and m ost of the spectators th o ugh t th at the race was over. Bu t Bo we n 's tea m m ate Sta nto n a n d ho m eto wn er Di ckie Bell ora im me di at el y p icked up th e slack a nd took off a fter J ohnson. Wh en Sta nto n ca u gh t up to th e leader on lap three. Joh nson lost h is rhy th m ro unding the mechan ics' area and wen t down, leav ing Stanton in the lead. Bu t J ohnson was back o n the gas quickl y an d in two la ps was righ t on Stan to n's roos t. Another lap and J oh nson o utgun ne d th e Yamaha upsta rt in the valley, leavin g h imself a few shots a t th e tab letop before th e race ended. Rounding o ut th e top five this .time were Stanton a nd Bowen , whose co meback was a lmos t as quick as it was im p ressiv e, 'Yatts a nd Stacy. • Resu lts 125 0 1 A : 1. Erik Kehoe (Suz) 2-1; 2. Mi cky Dymond (Han) 1-7; 3. Dave Stri jbos (Cag) 3-6; 4. Fred Andrews (Han) 9-4; 5. Ron Tichenor (Suz) 58; 6. 80b by Moo re (Hon) 4-11; 7. Je an Michel8ayle (Honl DNF-2; 8. Pedro Tragter (Han) 7·9 ; 9. Eddie Warren (Kaw) 17-3; 10. Donny Schm it (Suz) 155; 11. John Van den 8 erk (Vam) 6-DNF; 12. Corrado Madd ii (Hon) 13- 10; 13. Ricky Ryan (Hon) 8-DNF; 14. T. Scon 8 row n (Vem); 15 . Petr Kovar (Kaw ) 14-12 ; 16. Massimo Cont ini 10 · 0NF; 17. Peter Dirby (Han) 11-228; 18. Isao Ida (Hon) 10- 1114; 19. Robert Naugh ton (Hon) 18· 15; 20. Tom Carson (Hon) 21-16. 500 SUP: 1. Rick Johnson (Hon) 1-1; 2. Jeff Stanton (Vam) 3-2; 3. Keit h Bow en (Vam) 2·3; 4 . Tommy Wan s (Kaw) 4-4; 5. And y St acy (Hon) 55; 6. Ray Sommo (Han) 9-6; 7. John Ortner (Han) 7·8; 8. David Hand (Hon) 6-1 0; 9. Mi ke Harnd en • (KTM) 8- 12; 10. Jim Kapita n (Hon) 11- 13. WORLD CHAMPI ONSHIP' 125 PT STA NDINGS: 1. J ohn Van den 8erk (335 ); 2. Dave Strijbos (314); 3. J ean-M ichel Bayle (273 ); 4 . Corr ado Madd ii (225 ); 5. Massimo Contin i (10 2); 6. Pedro Trag' er (171); 7. Bobby Moor e (13 1); 8. Dietm ar Lacher (128); 9. Petr Kovar(1 20); 10. Al berto Barozzi (107). II

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