Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

The w inner's rostrum- or is it? (Fro m left to right) John Kocinski, Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson celebrate. We still don't know who won . - > Schwantz picked this section out as a lurking menace; Magee was even more graphic. " If a rider hit a pit board, it'd take his head off." In fact , a 125 rider did so, with no more dire consequences than a broken board; but the bottom of th e Spa pits remains not only one of ihe most dangerous places in racing, but also quite definitely th e most exciting. The Eau Rouge complex is al so a good spot to see who's fast at Spa. A clean run through this famous twisting d ip just after th e pits is ess ential , foll owed by full-bore acceleration over a brow to the next left , where th e bikes sq uirm and wriggle. Nobody looked as quick as Schwantz and Rainey , nor as casual as the former, but Doohan continues to impress with the unworried way he hurls the Honda around at this scary circu it. His bogus time pushed Christian Sarron down to fourth, but he was content to be up front, while Lawson may have been more disturbed than he would admit only just to have scraped onto the front row, although there was little more than a 10th of a second between these th ree. He'd been expecting much better, but had again been in and out of the pits trying to get the best possible steering out of the bike, before settling on a 17-inch wheel and falling back on spoken confidence in the Honda's unrivalled top-end surge. , It was Magee, with a time only 400ths slower, who nearly deposed Lawson, in a last-session spurt that came orily just in time to restore some of his usual cheery mood. He doesn't like. Spa, having crashed here last year, and his confidence was further undermined by the pesky presence of Kocinski, Spa newcomer operating from th e Team Roberts pit, who was learning fast and challenging hard. On the second day, however, Magee got in the groove in th e morning, and finally started to fly at the end of th e last session, knocking Kocinski back into his place, if only temporarily. At least his physical condition was less of a problem on a circuit with fewer and faster corners than Assen. Chili's H onda was just another 500ths down; then Kocinski was eighth, a nd making a big irnpression. He was riding the hybri d '88/ '89 factory Yamaha used in Australia by Michael Dow so n , further modified, in Team Yamaha livery and race-wrenched by his Ll.Scumer Bud Aksland, running out of the Team Roberts pi ts. Far from merely being unfazed by the track, Kocinski actually loved it. "It's bitchin'," the pale 21-year-old said. " It reminds me of Sears Point. That's also go t a lot of up and downhills and fast bends. And it 's dangerous. But I try never to look off the track - I don't in tend to go there." Although Magee slipped out of his net, Kocinski 's other target was to outqualify Spencer, and he did so by 300ths. Freddie was hoping for the best at Spa; but it didn 't show in hi s results, still the slowest of th e fullworks V4s ridden by th e hale and hearty. Behind him, a cautious Wa yne Gardner led row three, nursing his leg inj ury a nd keeping a war y eye on the guard-rail. " If it rains tomorrow ," he said, "I might not race." Alongside was Niall Mackenzie, still on extra seat padding to straighten his broken knee , and fully half-a-second faster than Ron H aslam, whose latest geometry changes - basically raking the front to slow th e Suzuki's steering - were to his liking. In fact, he was now able to lea n th e thing so fa r that he grounded the fairing on a fast left-hander and crashed, dis locating both thumbs and incurring some bone fractures that ruled him out of the race. Then Rob McE lnea, whose lo ngrequested short ('88 -spec) swing-arm had a t last arrived, but too late for him to test it, but who nonetheless wheeled the '88 Cabin Honda round faster than Gardner had the year before, and Randy Mamola, with his usual fistful of Cagiva bad luck. 500cc Race A wet start to the morning saw an extended 25-minute morning warmup in all classes , to give teams a cha nce to test rain tires. By race time, th e showers had lifted and the track was dry, but the weather was still iffy when the 500s lined up for the first time, all on slick tires. ' Lawson led away and up the hill, but Rainey closed again on th e twists at the top, and moved past into th e fast double-lefts at the bottom. In the next tighter bends before rejoining the p ublic roads section, Schwantz flicked the nimble Suzuki through inside the ponderous H onda, and at the end of the first lap it was Rainey, Schwantz and Lawson. Lawson used his p'?wer to regain the lead u p the htll, but Ra m ey outbraked him at the top. Schwantz was crawling all over bo th of them, switching lines as he ,loo ked for a gap, and losing more time than he gamed. The order at the end of lap two was as before. '. . except that Kocinski was now ahead of Spencer. Next time, the leaders were packed together, Rainey in front, but about Kocinski proved that he can ride a 500. In his 500cc GP debut, Kocinski finished either third or fifth, depending on wh ich results yo u look at. to lose the lead to Lawson up the hill. In the next lon g right-hand bend, Schwantz slipped by him, then Sarron also, dropping the championship leader to fourth. He fought back, but was in trouble - hi s gear lever was sticking; so it was Schwantz in the lead at th e end of lap four. H e wa s still th er e as th ey ap proached the final bend, LaSource hairpin, for th e fifth time, when he was the fir st to notice drops of rain. He lift ed his hand from the bars, unseen by Lawson and Sarron, wh o slip ped by him, but Rainey held sta tio n behind Schwantz, a nd the two of them some wha t dubiously 'toured around at reduced speed as Lawson a nd Sarron dr ew ah ead. Parts of th e long tra ck were dry, but wet pavement - and trouble - lay ah ead. They hit it just aft er Sarron had moved past Lawson as the y ran back down the hill. The Frenchman fell a t once, rolling spectacularly alongside his cart wheeling blue Yamaha, but, escaping unhurt. Now Lawson go t the message, and backed off, hallexpecting to be overtaken. " When they didn't come by, I realized they 'd also slowed down. " At this point, the red flag was already out; and crossed flags were shown around the circuit, and the field toured back to the pi ts as the short sharp shower moved across the vall ey. Lap four positions set the grid for heat two - with Kocinski fifth, and thus on row one, eigh t seconds adrift of Lawson, but three ahead of Chili, Spencer, Doohan, McElnea, Mackenzi e et al. Gardner wa s a non-finisher, after a brake disc disintegrated on th e notorious Blanchimont. It put holes in his fairing, and caused him to tak e to th e escape road at th e bus-stop chicane. i Mamola was also out, having pitted at the start of lap five with his Cagiva's primary drive gears disintegrating. But he was allowed to take place in the restart - the first of a number of anomalies in a day that grew steadily more bizarre. The track was predominately dry again for heat two , and slick tires were again the choice. Sarron took his p lace on the grid on his spare bike, also Mamol a, a t the bac k. Some ' 20 min utes had elapsed since the race stoppage. Lawson jetted away from the start, with Kocinski, Schwantz and Mackenzie in pursuit. By the end of lap one the Big Three were back in front, Lawson leading Schwantz and Rainey - Kocinski in fourth, then Magee and Chili. Once more, Schwantz flicked his Suzuki underneath Lawson in th e twists, and there followed some fine duelling betw een the dominant trio. On lap three, Schwantz led Lawson by half-a-second, with Rainey a similar distance behind. They wer e almost side-by-side up the hill, th en Rainey led , th en Sch wa n tz, a nd then Lawson aga in - but before the lap was over the raindro ps began, the hands went up, and the racewas over; th e red flag th is time definitel y co mi ng in rapid response to ac tio n by th e riders. Kocinski was fo urt h this time, narrowl y a head of Chili , Mag ee, Doohan, Sarron , Ma ck enzie a nd McElnea. Mamola had fought hi s wa y from the back of the grid to 12th , beh ind Spencer , who actuall y fail ed to com plete lap four with yet a no the r cr ankshaft failure, but wa s s ti ll classifi ed as a finish er. Doohan's group didn 't see the flag at first, and he was still racing when h e tangled with Kocinski, ' ea ch afterwards blaming the other for the crash. Doohan was thrown clear as the Honda and the Yamaha locked together, sti ll upright - but brilliant though he is, Kocinski W

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