Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ .. ~ i-= , i, Runner-up Bob Hannah (left) battled with American GP contender Rick Ryan until he made this pass in the second moto. Doo rn but found it d ifficul t to get aro u nd th e Dutchma n . J ohnson worked on van Doorn for over a lap an d go t by, but the Cagiva rider repassed him o nce before finally giv ing up hi s position. It then took Johnson anothe r lap to overhau l Dymond. Wh ile all this was happening Van den. Berk had mo ved into fifth with H annah quick ly closing fro m the sixth posi tion. On lap six J ohnson sudde nly had the lead wh en Herring went straigh t at the bottom of th e Screw-U sectio n, a steep dow nhill wi th a ISO-degree turn a t the bottom th at shoots th e riders straigh t back up th e hill , a rid went off the trac k. < " It was diffi cult to ride because I co uld n' t ge t a ~ood grip," said Herring, who sp li t th e skin between his thumb and finger wide open in . a practi ce cras h. " I hi t a bump so hard my hand came off the bars." t Mea nwhile, H annah had caught an d passed Van den Berk , making the order J oh nso n, Dymond, van Doorn , H a nnah and Van den Berk. The top five settled in for a while at the halfway point, while behind them Yamaha-supported American Doug Dubach led a tigh t, race-lo ng ba ttle with Denmark 's Sore n Mortensen, Sweden's Peter J ohansson a nd America n Suzuki rider Don ny Schmit. As J ohnson mo ved ou t to an 18second lead, H annah began to charge and caugh t van Doorn, the n went after Dymond. After dogging th e Yam aha pilo t for a couple of laps Hannah mad e hi s move a nd went into second, bu t J o hnso n was 21 seconds a head . Dymo nd sta yed with Han na h fo r a couple of la ps before dro pping off th e pace, but h is ba ttle with H a n na h gave him a go od mar gin over van Doorn that he would keep to the finis h. H annah 's charge stopped when h e reached second since J ohnso n was too Tar go ne. "T here was no reason to try and . catch him," Hannah said. " I wanted to save myself for th e second moto, There's no one in th e world who can ca tch him ; you have to be the re fro m the sta rt. " Overall winner Rick Johnson (18) chases third-place f inisher Micky Dymond into Gravity Cavity during fi~st-m~to action . Pekka Vehkonen (2) led Rob Herring (5), Gert Jim van Doorn (24), Dymond (38) and John Van den Berk at the start of the first moto until he crashed on the first lap. Vehkonen finished fourth in moto two. With th e top five finishing order set at J ohnson, H an nah , Dymond, van Doorn and Van den Berk, the battle to wa tch was for six th. Dubach always ma naged to stay j ust a head of some wil d passin g behind him, and when it was all over Schmit finally claimed seventh over J oha nsso n a nd Mortensen . West Germany's Rol an d Diepo ld ro unded out the top 10. "There was no time to relax; it seemed there was a differen t person behind me all the tim e," Dubach said. "T he re was a different name on th e p it board every hip ." Smith pulled off early in th e race after falling in a n off-camber turn. " I' ve been wea k beca use of an ear infection," Smith said. "I was rid ing o kay until I fell , th en I felt ch illed like I had a fever so I pulle d off to save myself for th e second rno to." R ick Ryan, who cras hed several tim es in th e first moto, came u p wi th the ho lesh ot to star t off moto two followed by Vehkonen, Johnson, L arry Brooks, Bel g i u m 's P et er Dirkx, Dymond, Diepold and H annah. Van Doom a nd Smi th ca me aroun d last aft er cras h ing, a nd Smith soon pulled off. "Van den Ber k clipped a rider who took me do wn, and someone clipped my helm et," said a d isappointed a nd sor e Smith. J ohnson quickly passed Vehkonen on the first la p and aft er a brief battle with R ya n took th e lead a t th e beginning o f lap two. Dym o n d moved in o n Vehkonen and th e tw o battled for a lap before Dym ond mo tor ed by a nd set aft er Ryan. while Hannah move d u p to fifth ahea d of Van den Berk a nd Brooks. Wh en Dymond took second from R yan o n lap five, J ohnson was already ou t fro nt by 12 seconds. After. a slow sta rt Hannah was o n th e move a nd ca ug h t Vehkonen , wh o soo n ca me under fire from Van den Berk . R yan was the n ext to fall to H a n n a h ' s cha rge w he n h e was passed as they lea ped o ut of Gravit y Ca vity. The two almost touc hed in th e air , but Hannah landed first and beat Rya n to the next turn. " Whoa, a little bi t close," said Hannah of th e pass. " I hit the brakes so I cou ld sta y on th e ground and go by hi m , bu t he .al most la nded o n me." " I heard him and moved over a littl e bit; he was rid in g good," said Rya n. Out front J oh nso n began to g ive the crowd a sho w wi th acroba tics off th e jumps as he maintained a constan t 15-second cushio n on Dymo nd, wh o was slow ly losing gro und to Hannah. Vehk onen broke away from Van den Berk and reeled in Ryan . " I just settl ed into fo urt h a nd went too slow," said Ryan . " It was hard to get go ing again." • H annah fina lly caught and passed Dymond o n lap 14, but J ohnson was o ut of reac h a nd cru ised to the finis h nea rly 20 seconds ahead of Hannah. Dym ond dropped off the pace but placed thi rd well a head of Veh ko nen . 7

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