Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

The team of Rolf Biland /Kurt Waltisberg won the Sidecar GP. A lex Criville rode his Rotax-powered Cobas to the w in in the 125cc GP . Criville leads Hans Spaa n in t he 125cc po int standings. 146 to 135. 18 straigh t. I think that wrenched my hand because aft er th at I co u ld n' t pu ll o n th e brakes hard eno ugh." Finishing behind Chili was 31yea r-o ld Fren chman, Adrien Morilla s, subb in g for the inj ured Dominique Sarron on th e Elf Honda . Morill as said he didn 't have time to get th e proper gearbox setting an d ran o u t o f stea m down th e back stretch. 'N inth -p laced McElnea had a sim ilar problem , hi s, h e beli eved , was due to th e lack of top speed on th e 1988 NSR-500 co m pared to th e newer machines. " It was boring," he said. " I just rod e arou n d th e track alone." Th at wa s a prob lem Rain e y wished he had , but by th e I Oth of 30 laps hi s ga p ove r Schwantz, who 'd p assed La wson for seco nd on ' th e n inth lap, was just over a seco nd . Lawson was in th e T ex an 's sha do w with Sarro n a clo se fourth. G ardner had m oved past Ma gee on th e ninth lap, but wa s eig h t seco nds behind the lead ers. Schwantz' s da y en ded on th e 13th lap wh en hi s en gine fir st stuc k a pi ston ring, th en sha ttered th e pi ston wh ile go ing down th e back stra ig h t. " I was just kind of following Eddie because he's 'ridden here for quite a few yea rs a nd I thought I co u ld lea rn som e thin g a n d 'sa ve m y tires," Schwan tz sa id . " I was ca tc h i n g Wa yne every lap. I wa s read y for a ra ce to th e end . I kn ew how fast th e H onda wa s down th e ba ck and Wayn e's Yamaha wasn 't that far off." On th e sa me lap th at Sch wa n tz dropped o u t, Lawson m oved up o n ' Rainey and a la p la ter, using a better drive O U I of th e South Curve an d his hors epower edge, drafted pa st Rainey a t th e end of th e back stra igh t. Rainey kn ew th ere was noth in g he co u ld do . :' 1 co u ld n' t draft him down th e stra ig h t," Rainey sa id. " After halfwa y I wa s pushing th e front end an d he wa s gellin g th rough th e middle a nd co m in g o ff th e co rners better th an me. It looked like he had more side grip." " When I wa s behind him I co u ld see he was going in to th e co rners a littl e eas ie r, " Law son sa id. " It rnusr 've been tire troubl e." Just past th e halfway mark Lawso n h ad buill up a .74 seco nd lead with Sarron n ow hounding Rainey a nd G ardner lea ving Magee to be go bbled up by Mackenzi e. Magee sai d th at he had a bra ke problem in th e first pa rt o f the race. " It was co mi ng back to the bars," he said, a nd then tire problems wit h a fro nt that went a way a nd a rear that sp u n o n th e r im. H e'd h ad th e sa me p ro b le m th e previ ou s w eek a t . Donington. Event ua lly , he said, " T h e brakes ca me back to abo u t half of wh at th ey were. But wi th the rear sp u n there was nothing I could do .·M aybe next week we'll see if we can get a sp are tire to spin." Mackenzie was also slowed by tire prob lems, but not as profoundly as Magee. The Scotsman said that he chose a hard front because he' d been having problems in practice. Tenth off th e start, Mac kenzie spent th e first five or six la p s scrubbing th e tires in . "After I passed Magee, " o n th e 19th lap, " I banged m y kn ee o n the cu rbstones in the lo ng right a nd for two laps I co u ld n' t co nce ntra te. I lo st a co u p le of seconds o n G ardner and co u ld n ' t get it ba ck. ' ! Mackenzie wou ld fin ish in fourth, six seconds behind Gardner who never threat en ed th e leaders. H e said th at he was still trying to get back to 100% form , but ad m itte d th at he's " not quite th ere yet. The machine is not quite like I want it. I'm improving a n d regaining m y co n fiden ce. I wa s adjustin g th e bike during th e rac e," he sa id. As th e ra ce entered its fin a l sta ges Sarron thought about making a run at th e leader s, but was slo wed by a mi sfire. " I co u ld slipstrea m Rainey on th e stra ig h t, but co u ld not clearly get past him," he said. " If I co u ld hav e overtaken th em , I would have. But I didn't want to get in Rainey's way by nagging him on th e brak es a t th e end of th e straigh t, sin ce we were a lread y braking hard. After that I had ignition o r ca rb u re tio n problems wh ich made accelerati on difficult to co ntro l and I decided to keep third place. " Rainey had been patient, wat ching Lawson ca refu ll y and waiting to set up a last lap maneuver. H e'd noticed that th e H onda rider was running a wide line through th e ca ro use l, pushing th e front a n d slo wing ' hi s driv e o n the left d own th e pit stra igh t. "My o n ly cha nce wa s to run with him up th e right and stu ff him in th e left," Rainey said. " I didn 't want to sh ow him wh ere I cou ld pa ss." Even if he had passed him th ere" Law son would probabl y ha ve been ab le to pass back down th e back stra ig h t, but Rainey never got th e cha nce . With six laps to go Rainey's pit crew began si g n a ling h alf lap s, a lthough this wa s something th ey'd never d iscussed with him a nd it wa s . so methi ng h e h adn 't a ntici p a ted. Th e boa rd fi rst read " 5.5" th en co u nt ed do wn p ro gressively to th e last o ne he saw which wa s "2 .5." In fact , the boa rd shou ld ha ve rea d "3 " beca use th ere were three laps 10 go a nd Ra in ey's cre w appeared to hav e mi s-counted from' th e start. In an y case, it was co nf u sing a nd not th e so rt of thi ng to imp rovise during a Grand Prix. " I didn 't kn o w if that .5 was my gap to Ch risti an (in third ) or what it wa s," he la ter said. " W hen I saw it , I went i nto the right thinking ' Wh a t does 2.5 mean?' It broke my' concentra tion. T h e nex t thing I knew I went down. We just weren 't ready again. We just screwed up and it cost us." After R a in ey crashed, Lawson re laxed, although he 'd anticipa ted a la te ra ce push and was ready to co u n ter. " I thought he was going to try a last lap pass," Lawson said. " J'd have done a 'Freddie' on him or something ," he added, referring to Spencer's bo ld last corner move over Ken n y Roberts in 1983 that drove Roberts off the tra ck a nd h elped Spen cer to th e title. Lawson was asked if he'd play it sa fe in th e fina l two races. " We' Il try to do our best," h e answered. " If it look s like it 's safe to win we'll go . for it. " 250 Race P lagued in qualifying by th e same weather miseries as the 500s, the 250s made th e best of their dry time with Spaniard Carlos Cardus tak ing the p ol e on his R epsol Honda. If anyone thought it a fluke he proved them wrong when he took over th e lead on th e third la p follow ed by Yamaha's T oshihiko Honma, HB Honda 's Reinhold Roth, H ein Gericke's Aprilia 's Martin Wimmer, World Champi on Pons, Lucky Strike Elf's J acques Corn u , and Aprilia's Didier de Radigues. By th e sixth of 25 lap s, th e top nine riders were splitting into two groups with Roth leadin g Cardus, Pons, Honma and Cornu in the first and th e trail ing pack led by Wimmer with de Radigues, H elmut Bradl and Cadalora followi ng. Five laps later a fami liar pattern began to emerge with th e Honda riders u sing their superior power ad va n ta ge to separa te themselves from th e pa ck. P o n s led R o th , Cardus and Cornu with th e trai ling group of Bradl, Ajinomoto Honda 's Ma sahi ro Shimizu , Honma , de Radi gues, Wimmer a nd Cad a lora tw o seco n ds ba ck. Roth bri efly took over the lead with 10 la ps to go, but Pons was qu ickly in front , never to be headed . His margin of victory would be 1.65 seco n ds with Roth seco n d th e rest o f th e wa y. " At first I was three secon ds behind Ca rd us a nd Roth ," Pons sa id , " And it wa s hard for me to co nce n tra te, It was onl y at th e end that I got it back. But it was easier for me because I think I had th e best machine." lf not th e best machine, cert a in ly th e best set up, something th at Roth ad mi tted. "The re wa s too little dry practice a nd I chose too h ar d a rear tire. I was su re I co u ld win th e race bu t Si to was ge tt in g a much better drive ou t of th e corn ers th an I. H e had a so fter tire th at I never th ought wou ld last th e ra ce." Card us a nd Cornu battled to th e end, until Cardus, a close third, had a m omentous slide on th e la st lap letting th e Swiss rider pull a way. " I had quite a bad start, but it was not so important," Cornu said. "The main problem was that Po n s and Ro th 's bikes were really fas ter even on tailing." T he order behind th e leading quartet was constantly changing, esp eciall y over the last seven la p s. Shimizu had worked his way up to sixth, behind Bradl, but cra shed on th e 19th la p in a hairpin left not long aft er th e sta rt straight. Both Honma and CadaIora were thought to be responsible, bu t both denied it. With two lap s to go Cadalora moved into six th behind Brad l, inheriting fifth when Bradl crashed on the final lap. " T h e bike handled well and the tires were good, bu tit was just too slow a nd down the back straight on every lap th e others would get away," Cadalora said. W ith Brad l' s fall , Honma inher-. ited sixth with the factory Aprilia o f de Radigues in seventh one spot better than Wimmer's production bike. De R a d ig u es agreed wi th Cadalora that the Hondas were just too fast . " In the first h alf o f the race the factory Hondas kep t passing me on the straights and slowing me u p in the corners," he said. Once they had a ll passed me I could stay with them with no problem, but the bike was too slow to get in front." • Results SOOcc: 1. Eddie Law son (Hon); 2. Chr isti an Sarro n (Yam); 3. Wayn e Gardn er (Hon); 4 . Niall Mackenzie (ya m); 5. Kevin M agee (Yam); 6. Ron Haslam (Suz); 7. Pier- Fran cesco Chi li (Han); 8. Ad rien Mor ill as (Han); 9. Rob McEln ea (Han); 10. Tadahi ko Taira (Yam); 11. Alessandro Valesi (Yam); 12. Si mon Buckm aster (Hon); 13. Fabio Bil ictti (Hon); 14 . Bruno Kne ubuehler (Hon); 15. J uan Lopez Mella (Han). RACE OISTANCE; 30 laps. 75 .15 miles . AVERAGE SPEED: 96 .89 mph . FA STEST LAP; Chri stian Sarron. 1:3 1.99. 98.03 mph. 250cc : 1. Sito Pons (Han); 2. Reinho ld Rot h (Han); 3. J acques Cornu (Han); 4 . Carlos Cardus (Han); 5. Lues Cadalor a (Yam); 6. Tosh ih iko Honm a (Yam); 7. Didier de Radigue s (Apr ); 8. Ma rt in W imm er (Apr ); 9. Al exandr e Barro s (Yam); 10. Ju an Garr iga .(Yam); 11 . J oc h en Schm id (Han) ; 12 . W il co Zeele nbe rg (Han ); 13 . Har ald Eckl (A pr); 14 . Andr eas Prein ing (Apr); 15. Alain Bron ec (Apr). RACE OISTANCE: 25 laps. 62 .63 mil es. AV ERAGE SPEED: 92 .48 mph. FASTEST LAP: Carl os Card us. 1:35.20. 94 .50 mph. 125 cc: 1. Alex Crivill e (Cob); 2. Hans Spaan (Han); 3. Kohji Takada (Han); 4. Jorg e Man in ez (Der); 5. Fausto Gresin i (Apr ); 6. Stefan Prein (Hon); 7. All an Scott (Han); 8. Flemm ing Kistrup (Han); 9. Huben Abold (Kra); 10. J ohnny Wic kstroem (Han); 11. Dirk Raudies (Han); 12. M ike Leitner (Han) ; 13 . Stu an Edw ard s (ERM ); 14 . Herri Torroniegu i (Hon); 15. Tar u Rinn e (Hon). RACE DISTANCE; 23 laps. 57.62 miles. AVERAGE SPEED; 86 .56 mph. FASTEST LAP: Alex Crlvilt e, 1:42.77. 87.54 mph. SIOECARS : 1. 8 il and /Walti sperg (LCR); 2 . M ich el/Frese (LCR); 3. Webster/H ew itt (Kra); 4. Str euer/de Haas (LCR);.5. Abbott /Sm ith (Yam); 6. 8r in dley/Roe (Yam); 7. Egloff / Egloff (Yam); 8. Steinh ausen /H ill er (Sch); 9. Kumagaya/ Coombes (W in); 10. Stoelzle/Stoelzle (LCR). RACE DISTANCE; 23 laps. 57 .62 miles. AVERAGE SPEEO: 91 .04 mph. FASTEST LAP: M ich el/Frese. 1;37.5 1, 92 .26 mph. . 500cc WO RLO CHAMPI ONSHIP POINT STANO· INGS; 1. Eddie Laws on (194); 2. W ayne Rain ey (180 .5); 3. Christian Sarro n (144.5) ; 4. Kevin Schwantz (122.5); 5. Kevin Ma gee (119 .5); 6. Pier Francesco Chili (1 11); 7. Niall Mackenzie (86); 8. M ichael Ooahan (68 ); 9. Ron Hasla m (67); 10. W ayne Gardn er (58 ); 11. Rob McEln ea (44 .5); 12. . Simon Buckmast er (41 .5); 13. Domin iqu e Sarron (39); 14 . Al essand ro Valesi (35); 15. Fr eddi e Spencer (33 .5). 25 0cc WORLO CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANO· INGS: 1. Sito Pons (236); 2. J acques Cornu (165); 3. Reinh old Roth (160); 4 . Carlo s Cardu s (143 ); 5. .Jean-Phil lppe Ruggia (110); 6. Luca Cadalor a (97); 7. Jua n Garr iga 184); 8. Ma sahiro Shim izu (82); 9. Helmut Bradl (69); 10. Manin Wi mm er (61). 125cc WORLO CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STAND· INGS: 1. Alex Cr ivill e (146); 2. Hans Spaan (135); 3. Ezio Gianola (12 8); 4 . Fausto Gresin i (100 ); 5. Hisashi Unemoto (93 ); 6. (TIE) Julian M irall es/ Kohji Takada (90); 8. St efan Prein (77); 9. Jorg e Man in . z (59); 10. Adolf Stadl er (47). SIO ECA R WOR LD CHA M PIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS: 1. Web ster/ H. w itt (130); 2. Streuer/ Schnied ers-Haas (116); 3 . Biland /Walt isperg (105); 4 . Michel/Frese (96 1 5. Stoelzle/Stoelzle ; (63); 6. Kumano /Fahrni (58); 7. (TIE) Egloff /Egloff · Simm ons/Brind ley/ Rose (56); 9. Stein haus en / Hille r (50): 10. Jones/Brow n (37).

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