Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above ) AMA Gra nd Na t io na l Ch amp ion Bu bba Shobert w ill ma ke hi s GP debut on a Camel -sponsored Ho nda N S R2 50 in the 250cc GP . '(Rig ht ) Multi-time Wo rld Champio n Gia co m o A g ost ini (ri ght) will be at Lag una; her e he c hats with f ell ow fo rm er World Champions Barry Sheene and Kel Carrut he rs . Schedule of events Thursday, April 7 9:00 a.m.to 5:45 p.m.. • • • • . • • • • . . • • • • •. . .. .. . • • • • • • . .. . • . ; ••• .• . • . .•••• •• •• • • .•• untimed practice Friday, April 8 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. .. • • • •• • • •. . . . • • • • • • . • . . . . . . '. • • • • • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . . . . timed practice Saturday, April 9 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. • •• • • • • •• • . • • • • • • • •• • • . . . •• • • • • • • • • • . • ' ,' •• ••• • . • . . • ~ •• • • . . . •timed practice . Sunday, April 10 9:30 a.m. • • • . . • . • • • • • • • • . . . . . • • • • • • : . • . . . . • • • • • • • . • . . . • • • • • • • • • . . . • • • • • •250cc warm·up session 10:00 a.m•• .. • • • • • •• ••..•• • • • •• • • • • ••.•.• •••••••... • • •• • • • • • •... •••••••• 500cc warm-up session 12:30 p.m. • • •• •. ••.•.•• ••• •• • • •...••••• "•• • •• •. •• • ••• •• • . •. •.• •• ••• •••. 32-lap, 7G-mile 250cc GP ,2:00 p.m. • •.•• ••••• . • .• .• • • • ••• ••• . .•• •• • • , •••••••••••• • • • • ..••••••••• •4O-lap, 88-mile 5OOcc: GP • Roth mans HOJ\1DA John Kocinski (left), Luca Cadal ora (above) and Dominique Sarron will do battle in the 250cc GP . sessio ns o n Thursda y will provide th e rid ers with a feel for th e new tra ck and a cha nce 10 reso lve geari ng and gearbox selecti ons. On Frida y, things get a lillie more serious with timed prac tice begin - , ning a t 9:00 a.rn ., again alternating, un til 3:30 p.m. With rain arid G P racin g sometim es go ing hand in hand, Friday's tim ed practi ce sessions co uld hold u p as being th e fastest, In J apan , for exa mple, th e 250cc cla ss go t dry weather on Frida y and never saw it again unti l race da y. Thus th e fastest guy on Friday sat on th e po le for th e GP. T he y say it never rai ns in California, but yo u ca n bet if it 's sunny o n Frida y, n o o ne wi ll be waiting a ro und for Saturday. These guys usually go fast early a nd stay that way, a nd pra ctice can be as exciting as the races . After all, 'being on th e pole is still a very presti gious thing to th e G P stars . On Sa turday things ge t ' reall y , .serious as fin al ti med practi ce starts a t 9:00 a.m . a nd run until 3:30 p .m . If th e weath er 's good, Sa turday will pro vid e lap tim es as good as, if not beuer th an race times. The co mp uters wi ll be in abundance on pi t road, a nd everybody wiII know wha t the o thers are doing as fa r as lap times go . By Satur day after noon the stars wiII know what co mbina tion of tires, gea rbox ratio s, a nd suspe nsio n settings they will need to wi n o n Sunday. On Sunday morning th ere's o ne last cha nce to get th in gs sorted ou t as th e warm-up sessio n for eac h class gets underwa y. The 250s face th eir wa rm-u p a t 9:30 a.m. with the 500s taking over a t 10:00. In J apan, this was the o ne of the few times th e 500 stars had th e cha nce to practice in th e dr y. At 12:30 p.m . th e 32-la p , 70-milc 250cc Grand Prix gets underway, and following a break , the 500s wi ll line up for th eir 40-lap , SS-mil e sho wdo wn . Let th e war begin ! •

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