Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Ra ndy Mamola battling not only wit h Ron Haslam's Pepsi Suzuki but also a high fever to tak e sevent h , his best result so far in a bad year on the Cagiva. H aslam was eigh th . Freddie Spen cer, meanwhile, added more shro uds of eni gma to hi s alread y blurry'p u blic image, pulling o u t of th e race o n lap one after " my eng i ne quit. " L ater, Marlboro Yam ah a m ech ani cs co u ld find nothing wro ng with it , but sus pected a blocked breather tube. S ito P ons sco re d yet a no ther victo ry in the 250cc class, closing a huge gap behind second-p lace fin ish er Reinhold Roth on the last lap a n d swee pi ng p ast in th e final corner. J acques Cornu was third, in a n all- Honda ros trum. The 80cc race was won by talented young German Peter Oettl and hi s Krauser with Derbi's Manuel Herreros seco nd and Stefan Dorflinger thi rd. 500cc practice The Big Three raced for the lead in Vugo. with Schwa!1tz (34) passing Lawson (1) and Rainey (3) to w in . Cag iva 's Randy Mamola (1 2) posted his best result of the season, defeating Ron Haslam (8) for seventh place. World Championship Road Race Series: Round 8 It.'s Schwantz again in Yugoslavia By Michael Scott . Photos by Patrick Gosling RIJEKA, YUGOSLAVIA Pepsi Suzuki 's Kevin Schwantz became the firs t rider in 1989 to win three CPs, and the first to take two in succession, wi th a h a r d- fought and nar ro w 'vi c to r y over Wayne Rainey's L ucky Strike Yamaha in the Yugoslavian G P . It was the ho ttest race of the year ; in more ways than one a nd was th~ fourth time thi s seaso n the same trio of Amer ican riders· th e so-ca lled Big T hree of 1989 - have stood o n the ros tru m together. Ro th ma ns H onda 's Eddie Lawson was th ird, but so me way back, aft er a lu cky escape th at sa w him tak e th e ' Iead from fast-starter Rainey just befo re half-distance, on ly io a void cras hi ng narrowl y after losing th e fro nt wh eel on the very nex t ben d. He saved th e bik e with h is kn ee, but took to the dirt a nyway, staying o n board by a miracle to rejoin so me five seconds adrift. " I' d rather hav e beat en Rainey, but third 's better than th e guard rail ," the defending World Ch ampion sa id. , Kevin Mag ee, o n th e second Lucky Strike Yamaha , wa s a fig hting fourth, aft er hi s ow n drama early in th e race, runni ng off th e track on the second lap , then fighting hi s way back from ninth to ca tch Christian Sarro n's Gaul oises Yamaha in the closin g stages, a nd force his way past with five laps to go. Mich ael Doohan stru ggled with wh eelspin to take a lone sixth o n the sec o nd R othman s H onda , with Rij eka is a peculiarly techn ical circ u i t, with few stra ig h ts, and strings of co rne r co mbina tio ns wh ere lin e a nd gea ring are cru cia l to a fast la p tim e. In other words, a real rid er's circu it. No surprise th at th e Big Three dominated , with Schwantz sell ing pole posit ion tim e on th e first day , a nd Rainey a nd Law son working hard to catch up. Rainey was best a t it, selli ng quickest times in the last two sessio ns, a nd ending up less th an a 10th slower th an Sch wantz, with all the fast men goi ng o ne-anda-ha lf seconds faster than last yea r. Schwa n tz was his ebull ient self, sayi ng he'd prefer a nother runaw ay win to battling it out with th e others. " I enjoy racing with th em , but it seem s to su it me better to be o n my o wn and jus t wa tching my pit board," he said. . But Rainey was not too co nfident . His corner exit slides were sp ectacul arl y ski llf ul, but au gured badly for th e rate of wea r of hi s Dunlops in th e race; while Sch wa n tz a nd his Suzuki look ed nimble by com parison, slid ing very lill ie. Rainey had a new frame here; or, to be exact, an o ld fram e mad e for pre-season tests by Yamaha , th en furth er modified a t T eam Rob erts' Dutch HQ. , Steering head an gl e and swingarm piv o t positi on were cha nged. " It steers quicker, and it' s more stable, but it uses the tir es harder ," said Rainey. " Bu t I'll race it. We need to , keep developing, so I must make a comm itme nt a nd stay with it. " L aws on wa s working h ard throughout practi ce, trying to solve hi s H onda 's relu ctance to hold a tight line, a nd drawing co mfort from Rainey's pl ight. "T ires will be real crucia l a t th e end of th e race," he sa id, " And he seems to be sliding around p retty good." But Lawson denied he was conce ntrating on ly on racing th e cha m pions h ip leader. " I' ll be go ing fo r th e win; " : qe affirmed. Less ex pected was th e fourthfastest tim e of Kevin Mag ee, even by himself, a nd especially since his painful leg had now been joined by a wrenched elb ow. " It happen ed in Austria. Normall y, you put in 60 or 70-p er cent of th e stee ring effort through your legs, but I can't do that, so I'm using my a rms more. Here, it also makes th e front wheel break traction easier." In the circumstances, his sub- l :30 tim e was especia lly impressive. Another unfamiliar face joined him on the front row. Randy Marnola li kes Rij eka because of the emphasis o n riding skill rather than power. "I'm still down on speed 165 mph co mpared with 1'79 mph, but I'm making it up by' riding

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