Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Edd ie Lawson (1 ) won the Swedish GP when Wayne Rainey (3) crashed. Christian Sarron (4) finished second. nearly two years of 500cc Grand Prix competition and it couldn 't have come at a worse time. " It 's not over yet, " the bitterly disappointed Team Lucky Strike Roberts rider said after the race. " An yth ing can happen at this point. 1 just have to hope something happens to him so I can get back in it. Rainey blamed the crash on his pit signals which , beginning with the fifth la p from the end of the race , were signalled as "5.5" then counting down to "2.5." He said that when he went into th e right-hand South Curve that leads onto the Runway Straigh t he broke concentration, confused by the signals and crashed. Repl ays on television showed that just past mid-corner he grabbed a handful of throttle, the rear tir e broke loose, and he was high-sided. The 28-year-old Californian had led until th e 14th of 30 laps on th e 2.51 mile airport circuit, when he was passed at th e end of the 800-meter Runway Straight by th e Rothmans H onda World Champion. Rainey hung tight, however, hoping for a last lap push that n ever ca me . Instead, with Rainey's crash Fren chman Christian Sarron inherited second on the Gauloises Blondes Yamaha and Rothmans Honda 's Australian Wayne Gardner moved into third. Lawson averaged 96.89 mph for the 75.15 mile race and his margin of victory over Sarron was 5.56 seconds. The crowd was announced as 41,000 people. "T he heat was on," Lawson said, following his fourth victory of the year. "Every time I came around it was ' P lus 0.' "I didn' t know Wayne had falle n u ntil I came around for the nex t lap and saw 'WR our on my board. I co u ldn't believe it. I just sh ut the th ro ttle," Lawson added. Lawson, who takes the points lead for the firs t time this year, ' lea ds Rainey 194 to 180.5. Sarron is third with 144.5 followed by Team Pepsi Suzu ki's Kevin Schwantz, 22 behind. Schwantz was running a close third today to Rainey and Lawson when he broke a piston on the 13th lap. . ft Lawson's pit board gives him t he word that Rainey is ou t of t he race. The w in moves Lawson into t he po ints lead over Rainey, 194 t o 1 8 0. 5. World Championship Road Race Series: Round 13 Lawson wins, takes over points lead in Sweden By Henny Ray Abrams ANDERSTORP, SWE DEN, AUG. 13 Wayne Rainey fell off the top of the world when he crashed while running a close second to .race-winner Eddie Lawson with two an d a half laps to go in the Swedish T'T at Anderstorp, handing 16 Lawson a nearly msur~o u ntable 13.5 pomt lead 10 the World Championship 500cc title fight with two races to go . It was Ra in ey's first crash in his . Marlboro Yamaha Team Agostini's Niall Mackenzie finished fourth, with front tire trouble, ahead of Ra in ey 's teammate Kevin Magee who, for the second week in a row, spun his rear tire on the rim. Team Pepsi Suzuki's Ron Haslam was sixth, hi s best finish of the year despite battling long-healing hand injuries. The Swedish 1T has long been o ne of th e least favorite among the teams and riders and many beli eved that the 1988 race would be the last. However , the teams returned in 1989 after a number of safety improvements, including a co m p lete repaving, were made to the track in southcentra l Sweden. Unfortunately, the facilities are among the worst on the schedule and the 1990 race is, again, in doubt. . The repaving caused its own set of problems for the teams. Since the track was so new the stones in the tarmac hadn't been worn down at all and front tire wear, especially in the long, loopi ng right-hand Carousel Curve, was most riders' main co ncern. It became more prob lema tic by the onset o f typi call y unpredictable Swedish weather. Wit h on ly 10 mi nutes of dry practice during the fou r qualifying sessions, a front tire choice was a gamble. Despite hav ing clinched the World Championship the p revious week in England, Spaniard Sito Pons didn't let up and raced to his seventh win of the year in the 250cc class. The Campsa Honda rider moved into th e lead on the II th of 25 laps, lost it briefly, then took the point for good with eight laps to go. He crossed the line 1.65 seconds ahead of Reinho ld Roth with jacques Cornu third, another .49 back, and Carlos Cardus fourth. "This weekend it was easy for me to lose concentration," Pons said. " After winning the World Championship it wou ld be easier to relax and go to the beach." Pons averaged 92.48 mph for the 25-lap race which he took 40:37.68 minutes to finish. Although Pons has already clinched the title, th e battle for the nu mber- two plate closed up in Sweden, with Cornu now leading Roth 165 to 160 and two rounds to go. The 125cc race went to Marlboro JJ Cobas's Alex Criville who pulled away early from a fight for second among Dutchman Hans Spaan, japanese rider Kohji Takada, and World Champion jorge Martinez. At the end of th e 23-lap race, Spaan was 2.77 seconds behind Criville, but .24 second ahead of Takada whose margin over Martinez was identical. With only one round of the series remaining, the 19-year-old Criville leads Spaan by II points, 146 to 135. Should he hang on and win the title h~'d be the youngest World Champion ever. The Swiss team of former World Champions Ro lf Biland and Kurt Waltisperg overcame a bad start to work their way up to the front past the two-thirds mark and win the Sidecar class by .58 second over Alain Miche l and j ea n- Miche l Frese. World . Ch am p ions Steve Webster and Tony Hewitt, who whe n lead ing early in the race look ed like they might clinch th e 1989 title, faded to thi rd. T he ir o nly co mpeti tion for th e cro wn, Eg bert Streuer and G ilbert De H aas finis hed fou rt h and now trail the Wo rld Cham pions 130 to 116 with one race remaini ng. 500 Practice The first time th e riders got to try the new ly repaved track was in unofficial practice on Thursday morn in g. The track stayed dry for

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