Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

" It cou ld've worked out eit her way. It j ust worked out that he got inmy way. He was on the inside and it was . a good line for him." ' . The big question that had been rais ed a bou t Rainey before the race was whether hi s tires would la st. The answer was obvio us.. "It was th e first tim e I'd raced on bo th tires, the front a nd rear," Rainey sai d. "T he rear worked goo d here, it went better over th e bumps th an an y of the ot hers . I was gett ing Eddie go ing into th e chicane, but he's sma rt enough to kno w that's where I'd try and pass him. " 250cc Qualifying 22 T rack fam ilia ri ty had more effect o n th e 250s th an o n th e 500s with Germans taking three of th e top five qualifying spo ts, including pol esitter Helmut Bradl on th e HB Honda. In earn ing hi s first pole position of his career, Bradl turned a tim e of 2:11.04 which was more than three seconds better than Carlos Lavado's record lap of 2:14.06 duri ng the race The 250cc GP was this close the whole way. Pons (1) takes the win over Roth (5 ). Shimizu (9) and Company. here in 1987. The top six ride rs were all in the 250cc cras h that I changed my line," a lot more sensitive and more lively Lawson had predicted t ha t 2:lIs with Wor ld Champ ion Sito th an the Honda. It shakes bad if I . Schwantz' practice pace was too fast Sarron said. "I had to brake into the Pons earning the .second spot with don 't stay on top of it. The Honda corner and waste time. I was very and the race times con firmed that. a 2: IU7 in the final sessio n after reacts a littl e slower. It turns slower. The pace was mid to high 2:03s with slow going in and cou ld catch him having been in the high 2:I Is for the The Suzuki transfers weight quicker. Schwantz tu rn ing the race 's fastest in 'the rest of the stadi um. He had first three. It d emands a lot more con. lap, a new lap reco rd of 2:02.68 on a little more acceleration and top The middle of the front row went centration." . th e third lap .. T he old record of speed. H e could pass me and I could to H ein Gericke Aprilia's Martin Filling out the second row was 2:05.50 belonged to Wayne Gardner; pull next to him, but not get by." Wimmer, his strongest q ual ifying Marlboro Yamah a Agos tini 's Schwantz had qualified at 2:02.62. . In the past, a number of riders have spo t of the seaso n, and j ust a .10 Spencer, wh o turned his best tim e By the sixth lap the lead trio had co mp lained about the unorthodoxy behind Pons. Wimmer had tested at of 2:05.79 in th e third session. He over five seconds on the Doohan of Sarron 's style, but the newcomer H ockenheim the week before the su ffered a gearbox failure o u t o n th e Sarron-Chili affa ir with th ose three Doohan was comfortable racing with Grand Prix and kn ew what to expect. course in the first ch icane half way eigh t seco nds clear of Fujiwara, now him. "The bik e seem s just about perfect, through th e fin al sessio n a nd didn 't alone and about a second in front " H e made me tr y a little bit but it is going to be a close race," ma ke it back to the pits until after harder," Doohan said. " He's riding of Dominique Sarron, Magee and th e West G erman Wimmer said. th e sessio n ended. Sp en cer never exceptionally well. Right before the Spencer. " Any of the H ondas cou ld be in with . stru ng togeth er a series of co nsistent Magee said later he was "taking straig h ts and com ing ou t of th e a chance, obvio usly Sit o, and I think laps, pulling in frequently after on ly ch icanes I think I had an advant age." it easy" and riding at 95 percen t for Didi er (de Radigues) could be a a few ho t laps. a good finish. H e would end up Marlboro's Mackenzie became (he , surprise o n the Aprilia." In hi s retu rn to racing after his sevent h. second of the front-runners to drop Lucky Strike Elf 's Ja cques Cornu inci de nt a t . Lagun a Seca, Luck y o ut when he high-sided exiting th e Spencer was running in 10th early was next to Wimmer on th e grid, Strike's Kevin Magee was 10th fa son with impaired vision. The former Sachs Curve. H e was tak en away o n two-tenths slo wer than th e West test, cras h ing in the fin al sessio n after World Champion had stopped o n a stretcher and later transported to German at 2:11.47 an d with no losin g 'the front end in th e hairpin a hospital with undisclosed injuries. the sighting lap to put a con tact len s co mp laints. sectio n of the stadi um. And ' next to go was Sch wan tz, his back in that had fall en o ut . With his. "T he bike is just abo u t perfect, " I was just going for a better lap eye dri ed o ut at th e race's start , he engine slowing down, then stop p ing fast, it handles well and th e 17-inch and I pushed the front end," he said had to wait about five or six laps on the 16th lap while in third and rear Dunlop is great," the Swiss rider later. " It pushed, I got it back, but waiting to make his mov e. until his vision cleared and he could said. not bein g strong eno ug h I cou ldn' t begin to move forwa rd. " I was just seeing what was go ing At th e far end of th e front row was hold onto it. T ha t's exactl y wh at I As early as the seventh lap, whi ch o n ahead of me when it starte d Bradl's teamm at e Reinhold Roth didn 't wan t to happen. " Magee Law son turned in a 2:03.33, Rainey slowing down," he said . with a best tim e of 2:11.53 from th e add ed that he didn't re-injure the left had begun pr essing for th e lead , By now Lawson and Rainey were third session . a nkle th at was broken at the U.S. GP. tryin g his fellow Cal ifornian in th e close to 20 seconds clear of thi rd Four of th e top five rid ers were Next to Magee on th e third row placed Sarro n, wh o'd moved past Sachs Curve hairpin. Lawson sh ut H onda-m ounted, Wimmer's Aprilia were Yama ha's Fujiwara, Rob McEIth e door o n him bu t two laps lat er Doohan th e lap afte r Schwantz th e lon e exceptio n. n ea , r id in g in Bubba Sho bert's retir ed. Ch ili was ano ther 20 seconds Rain ey was in th e lead, a lead that Ma rlb o ro Yamah a Ag ost ini 's a bsence on the Cab in Racing Honda, wo uld last for two laps. If an y of the behind wi t h Fuj iwara leadin g Luca Cada lora was six th fastest, the Elf H onda 's Dom in ique Sarron and top three had an ad vantage over the Spen cer , Magee, and Dom in ique first among a num ber of frus tra ted Cagi va's Ra ndy Mamo la who was others it wasn't apparent, a ltho ug h Sar ron . But the ord er behind the - Yama ha riders. No ne were ab le to hopi ng th at th e new fram e he's the Suzuki was a little down on leaders changed in the last few laps mat ch the top speed of th e H on das expected to get for th e Yugoslavian accelerat io n. and fuel consump tio n was th e reaand all were at a loss for solutions. GP in two weeks time, had arrived " I had to be wi th th em off th e son. First Sarron , th en Sp encer, ra n " I made my best tim e chasing SiLO . sooner. co r ners o r th ey' d get away." o ut of gas. Pons and getting a good tow from With 43 riders qualifying, it was Schwa ntz would say later. " It was " I made a littl e gap o n Doohan the H onda," Cadalora said. " My the largest 500cc field of th e year. The o n th e last lap and I was ta king it overr evving a bit and sp inn ing a bit, engine was revving way in to the red top 36 made the grid wi th a cu t-off but I th ink everyone was." easy to secure my pos itio n whe n I then so we thought th at gearing up time of 2:15.76 for the fin al rider. ran ou t of gas," Sarro n said. "The " Eddie wou ld pass me easier," for the aftern oo n m igh t give some 500cc Grand Prix Rainey said lat er. " H is was better on last straigh t before th e stadium I was extra speed. It was too mu ch and the top, but I was getting a better dr ive Brill iant su nshi ne a nd cloudless go ing 60 mph. My last lap was 16 engine would .not pull th e gearing o u t o f th e ch ica ne ' a nd I cou ld seconds slower than my avera ge" skies greeted the 500cc riders at th e a t a ll. We have to go back to wh at o u tb ra ke him going into th e sta rt of th e 19-1a p , 80.2-mi le race; Wi th Sarrou' s fu el sta rva tio n , we had this morning and make do chicane." dela yed an hour by th e 250cc cras h Doohan was a safe third, his best with that. " fin ish ever. Law son agreed with wha t Rainey and its ensu ing clean -up. J ean-Phillipe R uggia, 12th fastest said. "Mine was faster than his ," he Coming into th e stadium th e first " I thought he had run out of fuel on th e Gaul ciises Yama ha, said: so I slackened off in the first chica ne tim e Lawson led the 36-rid er field began. "But I had a tough tim e going " T he Hockenheim circu it is very fast trail ed b y ' Rain ey, Doohan, around th e corners. It would hav e and he came past me," Doohan said. and the bike lacks th e top end speed After that Sarron's problems became Schwantz, Ch ili, Fujiwara, Christian been better to get my suspension that is required here. For me, I' ll be better. That was my fault. I think more acute allowing Chili to also Sarron, Ha slam, Magee and Spencer. happy to finish in the top 10 and Schwantz took over third on the if the gu y in front has a backdraft pass, taking fourth place. Sarron was hold my second place in the it's easy for him to be pulled back." . fifth , wi th Fuj iwara sixth. second lap and soo n thereafter a cham p ionsh ip ." number of groups began to form. J ust past the halfway mark the . "I'm just glad I had a fast bike Eighteenth fastest .was Ducados leaders had close to 10 seconds o n o n a fast circuit, " Dooh an added. Out front it was Lawson , Rainey, Yama ha's J uan Garriga, who echoed Schwantz, followed by Doohan, Spencer's Ma rl boro Yamaha Doo han, who was fig hting off SarRuggia 's comments: "The only way ron at every turn wi th Chili dropChristian Sarron, and Chili, who in bega n to sputter and m isfire .on the to get a fast lap is to ta il a H onda ; turn were trailed by Fuj iwara, Domip ing sli~htly off the pace . Sarron felt final la p when he ran out of gas also , I have no idea why we are so slow. that their bi kes were even ly matched, nique Sarron, Magee, and Spe ncer. dropping from seventh to ninth. When I get into fifth and sixth it although the Frenchman said he was Haslam was the race's first casuOut fro nt, the race came dow n to goes completely dead." losing time in the infield. the last lap and the lapped rider that alty, droppin~ o ut on the fourth la p 250cc Grand Prix "T here was so much cement a t the when the cha m began jumping over Lawson encountered. beginning of the stadium from the the teeth on his rear sprocket. . " Wayne rode good," Lawson sai d. After the accident in th e 250cc race,

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