Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

...... . (N l-o V ..0 o ...... u o Spa in 's Sito Pons was the 250cc class winner. Edd ie Lawson (1 ) beat Randy Mamola to w in the f inal 500cc Grand Prix of the season in Argentina. World Championship Road Race Series: Final round Lawson wins Argentine GP finale By Michael Scott BU ENOS AIR ES, ARGENTIN A, OCT. 4 Eddie L awson won the final G rand Prix of the season in Argentina. But t he ex-World Champion was thwarted by the new cham p in his bid to take second in the 1987 ti tle chase, after Wa yne Gardner offered only token resistance to Randy Mamola in th e Cal ifornia n 's c h a r g e th r o u g h to 18 seco n d place. _ Whether G ardner on th e Rothm ans H onda deliberately let th e Lucky Strike Yamaha rider through o r no t wi ll rem ain o ne of the mi nor mys ter ies of motorcycle racing. But th e resu lt meant Mamola led Lawso n 's Marlboro Yamaha by just one point in th e seaso n's fin al point ta lly. It was a ra ce that nearl v di dn 't happen, m arred by unbel ievab lv lackadaisical organi zatio n , and o n ly j ust escaping a rid ers' strike. T h e GP circ us wa s g lad to leave th e last tango in Buenos Aires, a n d h oped never to return. The last race in the longest-ever season - th e first in Arge nti na since th e Fa lklands War in 1982 - was an ins u lt to G P raci ng and a disma l end to a yea r that had begun so sublimely in J ap a n. T he first slap in the face wa s th e unprepared state o f th e Municipal Autodrome o f Buenos Aires. Built in 1952, the circu it has much to recomm end it, including a cho ice of different possible layouts and severa l corners interestingl y interru pt ed by a quick flick in th e opposi te direction . .. but th e track wa s dirty a n d slippery, a nd th e on ly p reparation had been to install a very narrow co nc rete ch ica ne , which was not finish ed by th e time practi ce was due to begi n. T he second ins ult was th e sta te o f the last loo p o f th e track, with fiss ur es unrepaired a nd a tree wh ere th ere should have been a run-o ff area. " It looked as th ough th ere'd been an ea rt hq ua ke," said FIM rid ers' represe nta ti ve Martin W imm er. And wh en th e riders as ked for more stra w bal es, th ey were told the re weren 't a ny. Th e third wa s th e a rroga n t response to th e rid ers' co m p la ints, and th eir refusal to tak e part in Thursday 's free practi ce. After m uch a rg u me nt , a co m p ro m ise was a ccep ted , c u tti n g o u t th e la s t loop . . . a nd team staff a nd mech an ics were left to hump bales abou t by themse lve s, whil e tra ck workers stood by. . T hen there was th e fact tha t th e org a n izer, R eyn al d o Cozzani , b lamed infighting between the FIM a nd IRT A (In terna tio na l Raci n g T eams Associa tio n ) for all th e problem s; the press office with o u t-oforder telex m achines a nd a n in operative FAX, a nd telep hone lin es so bad th at th e air ra ng with th e cri es of shou ti ng rep ort ers; non-exi stant cro wd .contro I - in sp ite of the h eavily arme d po lice - with spectators crossing th e tra ck un h indered during th e 500cc race, an d li ning th e finishing stra igh t; th e muffed 500cc race sta rt , wh ere th e green light went on while a hapless flag marsha ll was still sta n ding in front of th e grid; th e heft y bribes Du nl o p (am on g ot h ers ) had to pay to get equipme nt released from cu sto ms; the attempt to shortpa y so me of th e riders . . . But th e' bi ggest disse rvice to rac ing was to ope n up divisio ns n ot on ly bet ween IR T A a n d th e FIM (who had bo th fa iled signa lly in ensuri ng th e safe ty o f th e track and th e co mpetence of the organizers); but bet ween th e rid er s an d th e tea m man agers. The problem s began on Thursda y, sched uled for free training for two classes, 500 and 250. Bu t because of th e sta te of th e track , th e riders declined to turn a wh eel until matters were improved. Mo dificatio ns were promised , a n d everyone went shopping in Buenos Aires inst ead. The next morni n g a depu tation of rid ers i ncl udi ng W i mm er a n d G ardner inspected the track. " Ma n y things prom ised had not been ca rr ied o u t," said Wimmer. Eventuall y aft er a ride rs ' suggestion th a t th e G P sho u ld go a hea d as a vo lu ntary n on c h a m p io n s h ip e ve n t h ad been rej ected , th e FIM proposed a co m p romise, leav in g o u t th e controv ersia l broken -up lo op and th e su bsequem ch ica ne. The 500cc class rid ers tri ed th e sh orter track, but fo und it dirty and slippery, with two da ngerous points where th e ARMCO was too clos e for co m fort . Reactions were m ixe d, from Mamo la 's uncompromising: " Le t's go home right now;" to Law son's a n d Gardner 's: " We've rac ed on m ore da ngerous tracks in Europe. Let 's race, bu t m ak e su re we never come here again ." After th is, on what shou ld have been th e seco nd day of racing, th e top 10 riders in eac h class vo ted 103 (with seven ab sentions) to pack u p and go home. .. ~ This e mp ha tic d eci si on was prom p tly overr u led by th eir team managers, a fact th a t m ade IRT A rid ers' representative Randy Marn ol a irate. " Com p ro m isin g here will put raci ng back five years," he said. But with seco nd place in th e championship series to go for, h e had to' go a head a n d ride. No t so for 250cc Cham p ion Anton Mang , who made hi s p rotest by run ni n g o n ly one p racti ce session , th en pulling i n after co m p leti ng just one slo w lap of th e race in last p osition. rJ Yet wh o co u ld blame the m anagers? T heir sponsors sell a lot of cigarettes in La tin Am erica , an d, as Marl b o ro Yam ah a m ana ger Kel Car ru the rs sa id , " We h a ve to remember where we are. Ten or 15 yea rs ago, after a Form u la .Two ca r race, a ll the vehicles were impounded a nd never left Argentina." Gardner was th e fastest through out 500cc class p ractice, h ol d ing his H onda NS R in sustained corn er-exi t slides, bu t for a sh ort time in th e fin a l sessio n whe n Mamol a was to p. " I co u ld have decid ed not to race, " said Gardner. "I don 't need to, and in fact m y sto mach isn' t too good. Bu t I want to go o ut wi th a win . It al so gives me a ch an ce to try out a few th in gs that I h aven ' t da red to do duri ng th e season. " H e declin ed to elabora te on whether he was talking about en gine or frame m od ifications. Marnola 's progress wa s a story in itself. T he L ucky Strike team 's la test Dunl op tir es sent to Bra zil had been lost withou t tra ce; a fresh ba tch made in Birm in gha m were hel d up in Buen os Ai res customs u nti l $5000 grea sed th e palms of police and airport staff, a nd they arrived on Sa turday m orning, in time to boost Marn ola 's co n fidenc e a nd red uce h is lap tim es. O n day one , h e said : "I j ust h ave to follow Eddie," bu t on day two he said: "Now I kn ow I ca n beat him." They were the onl y two riders to get below I ;22, but third-placed Lawson remained sanguine. " I di d 22 laps together, and m y 15th was m y best . The o th er guys just did individual fast la ps. That's easy to do . I need to wi n th is o ne; an d for Randyto co me in th ird to ge t second overa ll ; and I kn ow I can do th e first p art." Three peop le all co n fide n t o f wi n n ing. N ia ll Mackenzi e joined th em o n th e fro nt ro w, rid ing the abse n t Freddie Spe ncer's fast H onda NS R agai n (eq u ip ped with th e cylinder and carburetor co m bi na tio n Fred di e had asked for af ter Brno , to shift the torq ue curve u p th e rev ra nge); and

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