Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Kev in Schwann (3 4) had the w in in the bag until his bike broke two laps f rom the end ; Rainey (3 ) won. Edd ie Lawson (1 ) held off Christian Sarron (4) for second; here they lead Freddie Spencer (19) . World Championship Road Race Series: Round 9 Dutch treat for Rainey By Mich ael Scott Phot os by Pat rick Gosling ASSEN. HOLLAND, J UN E 24 Lucky was the word for Wayne Rain ey's Dutch TT win - and it had nothing to do with the sponsors of the race or of his Team Rober ts Yamaha. The Californian's 10 third GP win this year ma y have been handed to him on I a p la te, but it was a gift worth havin g, exte nding hi s World Champi o nsh ip po ints lead ov er Eddi e Lawson to 16, a nd provi di ng a psycho logical boost in th e later stages o f the tit le Iigh t., But th e moral victory, if no th in g else, wen t to Kevin Schwa ntz, who led from the fourt h lap un til the 18th, a n d~ha d bro ken a determined cha llenge from Ra in ey when he also bro ke hi s Pepsi Suzuki. I "The re 's a ll kinds of wa ys o f wi n n ing - I guess th at's o ne o f th em ," sa id a delighted Ra iney after th e 20-la p race, run in front o f 140,000 su n-drenc hed fans lin ing th e h istori c Assen circuit in th e north o f Holland. " My bik e ran perfectl y fro m start to fini sh. I don 't think I'd have been a ble to ca tc h Kevin , alt hough I came pretty close. But you have to cross the line to win." As fo r Schwantz, th ere were no wor ds to exp ress th e disappointment o f h is seco nd eng ine fa ilure an d fifth non-finish o f the year. He started from po le position for the fifth time in su ccession, and ·was loo king at his third successive GP win when it is believed that either a p iston failed and /or a co n nec ting rod let go at th e end of the fast back sectio n. It left Lawson, a lrea dy tra iling a nd riding hi s slow-steering Ro th mans H onda in very " Steady Eddie" mode, to an un expected second pl ace. T he question wh y had he not been abl e to stay with the lead ers got a wry res ponse . " T hey were riding too I fast." G auloi ses Yam aha 's Christian Sa rro n was ih ird, a fte r leani ng heavil y o n Lawson, th en sett ling for a safe rostrum finish . , Rainey's Lucky Strike Yamaha teammate Kevin Magee, the effects . of his U.S. GP injury lin geri ng on, was fourth; fast-starter and front-row qualifier P ier-Francesco Chi li (H B Honda ) was fifth , a fter running with th e lead ers for a whil e (La wso n found his riding " made me scared" ); bu t on ly j ust fendi ng off a de termined late a ttack from Rothmans H on da 's Wayne Gard ner, in a typ icall y gri tty co me bac k fro m his U. S. G P injury. Wit h R o n H a sl a m seve n th; ano the r of Dr. Costa 's wal k ing wo u nded, Nia ll Mackenzi e, brought his Marlbor o Yam ah a home eig h th, defeating Mi chael Doohan, wh o was battling a lack o f kn owledge o f this difficult ci rcu it as well as a fai led cl u tch o n hi s Rothmans Honda. Bu t it was a nothe r di sast rou s day for Freddie Spencer. In th e to p 10 after the start , hi s Marlboro- Yamaha engine tigh ten ed up o n lap two. H e left th e track a nd rejo in ed in last p lace, "to get testing tim e on so me steeri ng mod ifica tions we'v e done." H e finished 13th .. . in the points, b ut o ne la p behind the leaders. Ma rnola , mea ntime, wo rking o n his Clow n Prin ce rep utatio n b y givi ng h is mu lt itude o f Assen fans so me warm -u p-lap wh eelies, looped hi s Cagiva. Hastil y repa ired , it took him to a fa ltering 11th. A fu ll program at this 59th Dutch IT saw a da y of ultra-close finishes a nd some fantastic racing, wi th o nly o ne unpl easant in cident ... a real freak accide nt wh en a 250 rid er 's clipo n hand lebar came off a t th e end o f the fro nt straigh t. Nigel Bosworth bailed o ut a nd es caped serio us in jury, but his Ap rilia continued' at speed through a fence, wh ere it hi t a sta ll -ho lder walking a lo ng a littl eused pa th to deposit h is tak in gs. H e was bad ly hu rt , with in juries incl udin g two brok en legs and a brok en pe lvis. , T he 250cc class p rov ided Reinhold Ro th wit h reven ge ove r Sito Pons for the Spania rd 's last-bend victory in Yugoslavia. T he Germ an led Po ns across th e line by four- I Oths, with th ird-placed J acques Cornu a sim ilar d istance behind. Fo urth for Carlos Cardus made it a clean sweep for H on da , but they had luck (a nd engi ne reliabi lity ) o n th eir side too. Marlboro Yamaha rider Luca Cadalora had been per siste nt ly cha lle nging Roth's lead , o nce or tw ice successfu lly, a lways with spiri t, u nt il h is YZR cla ttered to a sto p wi th an ailment sim ilar to tha t of Schwantz. . I T he 125cc race was a na il- biter, wi th the home cro wd cheering local hero Ha ns Spaan to th e echo in h is t i ta n i'c stru gg le to vi c to ry ove r Sp anish teen ager Alex Criville; they were scarcel y less vocal in the tootha nd-na il sideca r race, even th ough defending cha m p io n Steve Webst er sho wed hi s cla ss to beat Assen-based Dutchman Egb ert Str euer; whil e the 80cc race was in ma ny ways the bes t 'o f the day , with you ng Germ an Peter Oettl clever ly o u tfu m bling veteran multi-ch amp ion Stefan Doerflinger a nd seaso ne d Derbi ca mpaig ne r " C ha mp i" Herreros a fter a tense race- lo ng battle. The tiddler IT, th e seco nd-last GP ever for th e doomed sma llest GP cla ss, was delayed b y half-an -h ou r by a start-lin e p rotest

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