Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Seven riders raced for the lead in the 250cc Grand Prix before attrition cut the group down to three - Pons. Roth and Cornu. Campsa Honda's Sito Pons (1 ) passed HB's Reinhold Roth (5) on t he last lap to take the 250cc GP win. Jacques Cornu (3 ) finished third . . to sa ve hi s tires a nd h is physical co ndi tio n. Wh en Magee did ca tch th e Fren chman, he was promptly balked by so me back markers. a n d had LO do it again - but h e go t past with five la ps left, fou ght o ff a determined return at tac k, a nd secu red fourth by j ust over one tent h o f a seco nd . Mich ael Doohan was a lo ne fo r most of the race. but enjoyed it a nyway, "Tryi ng to keep th e sa me ga p a head o f Randy. I'd rather have had so meo ne to ra ce aga i ns t, tho ugh," he said . P lag ued by wh eelspin , he sa id: " It may have been a mi stake to race o n th e sa me tir e type 1 used in practi ce." What type had th at been? "Round a nd black, wit h Mi ch el in Radi a l wri tte n o n th e side." Eig h th -p lace d ' !\ta m o la , hi s 105degr ee fever ca lmed as best possib le, had spe nt th e first pa n di cing with H aslam a nd Chili, before th e Italian dropped back , hi s Pi rell is slid ing badl y, a nd H aslam managed 10 bu y himself a bit of a br eather. But Randy's da n der was up, even if hi s co nd itio n was down, a nd he returned to th e a ttack aga in; wh ereupon Haslam promptly lo st th e ba ck , th en th e front wh eels of hi s Suzuki. The bike a lmost high-sided h im , th rowing him high in th e a ir, a nd he ac tua lly la nded partly on Mama la 's Cagiva before regaining his own sea t. Both took to th e din, with Mamola gelling away from the fra cas with en o ugh advantage to finish 10 seco n ds a head of th e Brit. Chili was nimh, with Do m in iq ue Sarron's Elf H onda 10th ahead of McElnea's Cabi n H onda. T he two had traded bl ows th ro ughout the race, before McE ln ea lo st to u ch among the back markers, fu rther dis mayed by the return . o f an old as he. p us hes p rob le m ha rder . . . sh uddering for ks tha t flex u nder bra ki ng. The inj u red Mackenzie had hoped for a quiet race, but instead he ran off th e track twice and ran wide four tim es, as a resu lt of weak ness in hi s hand that pr evented hi m fro m braking properly. He fin ished 12th, and said: " I enjoyed it, but rem ind me no t 10 do it agai n." Bro ccoli was 13th on th e seco n d Cagiva, with Bu ck m aster 14th, a lon g wa y a hea d o f )5 th -p laced Mich ael Ru dr off , Thus Rainey ex tends h is cha m pi onship lead to 13 points, with 123 to Law son's 110. Thi rd -pl aced Sa rro n ha s 62, with Schwa n tz m ovin g up to fourth with 77, a nd Magee fifth with 70. 250cc Practice This was to be th e track wh ere th e Yarnaha s go; th eir reven ge . .. but obvious ly nobod y told Si to, a nd th e man wh o never worries a bo u t hi s practice time, on ly a bo u t ho w well hi s bike set ti ngs a re going, set th e fa stest time in th e fir st session, th en in the a fternoon went bet ter 10 record a n unassailable pole posit io n, hi s seco nd in success io n. The c ha m pio ns hip lea d er remai ned a p pa rent ly emotion less. Perhaps YZR-rider Luca Cadalora su m med it up best: " O n th is tra ck, yo u need everyt hi n g in eq ua l quan tit y - h andlin g , acc ele ra tio n, br ak es a nd good LOp sp eed . The tir es must work we ll, and th e rider must be very g ood. Thi s tr a ck test s everyth in g." Cadalora had been second, but slithe red off o n Saturda y aft ernoon, wh ile yet more Hon das - of Rein hold Ro th and Jacques Cornu pushed in a head. Rot h LOok h imself by su rprise. "The bike was slidi ng mo re, a nd 1 th ought it was beca use m y tires were not so good - then I saw th e lap times wer e co ming down. Po ns and Ro th wer e significantly faster than th e res t, with tim es bu nching up behind them. Final denizen of row one was agai n impertinent privateer Marti n Wim mer, who was m akin g distinctl y cheerfu l progress, a n d reveal ed that he was savi ng his bes t engine for race day . Then th in gs went wrong a nd he 100 crashed, break ing two bones in his right foot. Nothi ng daunted , he elected to swi tch the gear lever over to the left, a nd race a nyway. R ugg ia was si xth, a nd next -best Yamaha, stati ng bluntl y: " Yama ha no lon ger has the handl in g advan tage .· · Perha ps no t, in view o f th e fi nd ings o f Juan Garriga, p lace d a lo ngside b u t over a tenth slower. He said th at in tors io na l sti ffness tests, th e chassis of the new V-twi n 250 was sigriifica n tly weaker tha n la st year's chassis. . He had a lte red h is bike in ways he wo u ld not revea l in de ta il, to mak e it mor e l ike last year's bike upon whi ch he had been a ble to reveal suc h a rt istry. Next ca me th e st iff a nd sore Loris Reggian i, a hea d o f H elmut Bradl , a lmost half -a-second faster th an row three leader Didier de Radigues, report ing co n tin ued a nd encouraging improveme nt within th e factory tea m, iron ica lly a fter the death o f tea mma te Pal azzese. Carlos Card us was next , th e u n us ua lly h ig h lyp laced Dan iel Am atriain o n th e Team Ka taya ma NSR, with a nother interloper in th e sha pe o f J eanFran co is Bal d e o n hi s sta ndard Yamaha a lo ngside. Misfortunat e fact ory H onda man Masahi ro Shimizu qualified wa y down in 25th, th en pu lled ou t o f th e race .. . a traffi c acc ide nt h ad . left h im with wh ip las h neck a n d sp ine injuries. America n Andy Leisner look ed set LO qualify for a second ra ce on his T eam Ka taya ma RS250 un til a cras h put him out with a broken fi nger. Less th an four seconds co vered front row to rear, a tim e difference th at m eant the lead ers should be co m ing up to lap th e tai l-en ders j us t two laps fro m th e end. T h a t was exactly wh at hap pened , a nd it turned a n exciting race into a masterpiece. 250cc Race Pons made a flying start in the blazing sunshi ne, but by the en d of la p one, de Radigues' purple Aprilia flashed across th e lin e side-bv-side wi th Roth 's yellow HB Honda : with Pons, Co rn u, Regg ian i, Brad (H B H on das) a nd L uca Cadalora (Ma rlboro Ya maha ) p iled up be hi nd him.. Th is seven-bi ke group soon drew away fro m the rest, in a hecti c baili e that co u ld o n ly end in tro ub le. This left Roth a nd Pons do m ina tin g th e grou p for a nother three la ps: th en ca rne a dr a sti c thinning out. Fir st de Rad igu es slowed sud de n ly, to coast back 10 the p its a t th e end o f nine laps, th e Aprili a gea rbo x shedding o il a ll o ver hi s boot. Th en o n ly a few bends la ter Brad and Ca da lo ra ca me down together , eac h blaming the o ther. T h is left just three to bailie it out, a nd Roth mad e most o f th e runn in g, _ w ith Co rn u rem ainin g in third th roughout. Pons moved into the lead wi th th ree laps \0 go, but Roth fou ght back. Then o ne lap lat er Roth was in front whe n th ey ran in to a grou p o f tai l-enders. H e fou nd hi s way th rough th em whil e Pons a nd Co rn u were delayed . a nd th e Germ an started hi s last lap wit h a lmost a oneseco nd lead. Nobod y beli eved Pons co u ld mak e tha t up, lea st o f a ll Roth, a lthoug h he still rode carefu lly to protect his in sid e line into th e bends. Pons, however, ro de like a dem on, a nd a lmost within sig h t o f th e flag was in a p ositi on to a ttack. " I used a tight lin e, because 1 never expected h im to try on the ou tsid e. Instead , he ca me past, a nd hi s bike had enoug h more power than mine fo r him to win the ra ce," said a rueful Ro th , w ho wept on the slowing-down lap, and hung his head as he pu lled in. Pons won by j ust over a tenth of a seco nd, a nd admi tted afterwards: "'I didn 't th ink I'd be ab le to do it, bu t I knew I was ge tti ng a better drive o nto the straight th a n Reinhold, and I just had to ge t myself into a position to use it" . Corn u was j ust over a second down in th ird p lace. Ruggi a battled h is way through to fourth from a poor sta rt, de layed for a lon g tim e by Card us. Ru ggia wo u ld fly past in the twists; th en

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