Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Chili leads Rudroff. Fior-mounted Marco Gentile and Buckmaster in the rain. Both Rudroff and Buckmaster rode aging three-cylinder RS Hondas. A sullen P.F. Chili (center) JOinS Michael Rudroff (left) and Simon 'Buckmaster (right) on the rostrum. Chili called the boycott "a disgrace." 12 Meantime, the riders took matters into their own hands. Led (albeit informally) by Lawson and Mamola, they withdrew from the track, saying they would be back in an hour LO see what conditions, were like. The other riders were on slicks, but Mamola had ruil the sighting lap on wet tires, and reported that the surface; already unpredictable in the dry, was so treacherous in the wet that he could barely lean a few inches from the vertical. The organizers tried various ploys, including showing the three-minute board, while the crowd booed and slow-clapped and a small core of privateers took their pJaces on the grid - but there was clearly not much chance of a race with no works riders, and all were forced to 'await their pleasure. When they did return, they ran a warm-up lap, after which all but a handful of privateers pulled straight into the pits, as pre-arranged by Lawson, Mamol.a, Schwantz, Mackenzie, McElnea and others. This signalled a fresh round of baying from the crOwd, but the riders said that the circuit was still wet, and was still unrideable. Another' 15 minutes passed, and, Lawson, Sito Pons and IRTA's Mike Trimby set off for a course inspection by car. They passed the track fit to race, and one-and-a-half hours late, the field finally lined up. By now, the remaining patches of blue sky were gone, and thunder was rumbling. Chili got a flier from the front row, chased by Schwantz, Haslam, Rainey and Sarron. By the end of the first lap, Sarron was in front from Schwantz, with Chili third, Rainey fourth, and Mamola fifth. Next time down the straight Schwantz and Rainey piled past him. At the end of lap two, it was Rainey, Sarron, Schwantz and Mamala with Mackenzie and Spencer disputing fourth and Chili dropping back into the clutches of Doohan, Haslam, Lawson and McElnea in the tight pursuit pack. Schwantz led lap three; Rainey lap four, with Schwantz and Sarron in tow and already opening up a gap, on Mackenzie, Mamola and Spencer, who were in turn fractionally aheaa of Lawson, Doohan and Haslam. There was obviously plenty of reshuffling left, and a gooa race in store ... but it barely lasted another lap before the rain began again, and the riders all spontaneously slowed. Almost simultaneously, the organiz- , ers put out the red flags. The restart was scheduled 15 minutes later to allow the fitment of wet tires, but before five of them had gone the works riders had decided that they would not risk their lives on a circuit that is dangerously unpredictable and terminally slippery. Thirteen riders lined up on the grid - among them HB teamsters Chili and Fred Merkel, although the latter had completed only two laps of the first leg before pitting with clutch trouble. "I'd have ridden anyway justfor the practice," he said; bu t instead pulled in to the pi ts after the warm-up, blaming a stuck power valve. The race, such as it was, saw Vittorio Scatola (Suzuki) lead into the· first bend, and fall straight off; then Gentile take up the running. By lap two, Chili was in the lead, and though he was pressed hard by Rudroff throughout, and found himself behind the Honda pri~ateer once or twice, the second leg was his by two seconds. Rudroff might have been closer but for a major slide two laps from the end; and on amalgamated times Buckmaster, third in the second leg, was awarded second place by .3 of a second. Gentile was fourth, his Fior sounding a~ sick as a dog for most of the race; with Austrian Josef Doppler (Honda) fifth, German Alois Meyer sixth. Only 10 people were classified as finishers in this traversty of a race. The fastest lap went to Lawson, a new record. • Afterwards, Lawson chaired a press conference, along with Sarron, Haslam, Schwantz, Mamola and Doohan. "Do we need a tragedy before we stop the race?" he replied angrily to questions. Mamola said: "I was under a lot of pressure to race from Cagiva, but in "the end people's lives are worth more." 250 Practice Rather surprisingly, there were less practice crashes in the highlycompetitive 250cc class, in spite of 42 entrants going for 36 places. Among those to tumble were onetime Misano winner Fausto Ricci (Aprilia), who broke his collar-bone, and Loris Reggiani (HB Honda), in the last lap of the last practice session, breaking two toes. ' It was yet more justification for the nickname Luckless Loris, for the Italian hero's revival had been continuing apace, and he led practice early on, ending up fifth-fastest, on the front row of the grid: .. but a dubious starter. Last time they raced at Misano, he gave the Aprilia it's first and only GP win. This is an unusual track, suiting some people, yet consignirtg other usually fast men to the lower orders (like Garriga, on row three). It's also a place where some can display breath-taking skill - most especially Reggiani,-producing smooth twowheel drifts out of the last bend after braking into it with the bike still Jeant hard over. It may be no coincidence, however, that this was where he crashed. It was no surprise that the other Yamahas were fighting out the top places; nor that Cadalora ended up .1 ahead of Ruggia, with a time that would have put him on row three of the 500 grid. The real surprise was that Martin Wimmer's private Aprilia V-twin was in between the two, in second place, a time he set 'in a hectic final session, running more than a second faster than his previous best. In fact, the GeJ"man former works ,Yamaha ride! would have been on pole but for a late effort by Cadalora. "I was not even using my best bike," said Wimmer. "My other one has a new rear suspension unit that may make it even faster. We've been gradually sorting out ,the Aprilia, and I've had some help here from my friends at Michelin," he added. "The only problem is that it takes me time to work up to that speed. In the race there isn't any time." Cadalora's late improvement came from a last-minute carburetor adjustment that improved acceleration. His main concern was tire wear in the race. "It'll be possible to go that fast early in the race, but in the second half we'll have to slow down, because this track is very hard on tires," he said. Third-placed Ruggia was scraping his elbow again at some points, and a 10th ahead of Carlos Cardus's top Honda, now using a new and harder 17-inch rear Dunlop. Reggiani was alongside, if he was passed' fit by the docLOr. , Sito Pons led row two, as usual scorning practice heroics. Or perhaps not - perhaps he really had given his best, for he is not a fan of the Santamonica circuit. "I never do well here, but l've ended up in .my usual practice position, and I believe I can be in the top three," he said. Two more Hondas were on the second row - Reinhold Roth and Jacques Cornu, with Didier de Radigues between them in eighth on the works Aprilia. There is little love lost between the full works team and Wimmer's factory-supported effort, and the relationship got even worse here, although there was less than a full second's difference. Cornu, fastest in morning warmup on race day, was also using the new 17-inch rear Dunlop, and blamed the previous version for his crash at Jerez. , Garriga led row three, and was troubled by the return of his "head problems" that had given him a slow start to the season. Alongside, Marcellino Lucchi's private Aprilia; the erratic but hard-charging Helmut Bradl's NSR; Renzo Colleoni on another private Aprilia, then Alberto Puig on the top TZ Yamaha. Shimizu led row four, worst of the works Hondas, narrowly ahead of Ivan Palazzese's second works Aprilia. Virginio Ferrari' (GazzamgaHonda) again failed to qualify. 250 Grand Prix At least the enthusiastic crowd did see one decent race - although the absence of Reggiani was a blow to his legion of fans. Ruggia was also a doubtful starter, after breaking a' toe in a collision with Cardus in the morning warm-up session for which each blamed the other. But he made it to the line, as did Cardus, although somewhat knocked about. Wimmer led from the start,. with de Radigues in a short-lived second, Ruggia and Pons in hot pursuit. By the time they reached the final bend, Ruggia was in front, then Wimmer, de Radigues, Pons, Cardus, Shimizu and Cadalora. But Cadalora was not' distined to complete the lap, crashing amid the groans of the grandstand crowds. Ruggia seemed set for a breakaway, but it was not to be; Cardus, with Pons in pursuit, had caught him by lap five, and had taken the lead seventh time around. This trio remained glued together, mainly in that order, while behind them Cornu and Roth were delayed in making their way past Wimmer. By lap ll, Cornu had caught the 'lelldiug trio; meanwhile Garriga, 10th after .the start, had fought through hard and fast. His arrival 'in sixth on lap nine inspired Roth to greater efforts, -and the pair of them also closed up on the leaders. Thus by half distance there were six bikes only inches apart up front; although Roth could hold ,Garriga back no longer by lap, 17, and once overtaken the German lost touch. Now Garriga was picking his way through, past Cornu on lap 19, then up into third on lap 20 after a minor reshuffle saw Pons take the lead for the first time, with Ruggia Second, Cardus now fourth, then Cornu. The complexion of the race ch~nged now as Pons upped the pace, and only Ruggia and Garriga

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