Round 12: Tykkimaen Moottoriradalla
FIM W
ORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 500cc MX SERIES
By Alex Hodgkinson
KO
UVOLA, RNLAND AUG.29
,
n d rea Bartolini cl inch ed the
World 500cc MX title, not only a
persona l first , but also the first
in the class for his nati ve Italy, but controvers y, once again, reigned.
The first moto a t Kouvola, ju s t 50
miles from the Finnish bo rder with Russ ia, was red-fla g ged w it h Bartman ' s
(Ba r tolini's) rival Pet er Johansson in
front - and the rerun was won by home
sta r Miska Aaltonen, wh o had been left
a t th e ga te a t th e first a ttem p t with a
defectiv e spark plu g.
.
Tension was natu rall y high for th e
mot o. If Bartol ini could finis h lop four,
with Jo ha nsson behind him, the ti tle
would be secure.
.. Amazingly, Ma ts Andreassen, on the
400cc RSC Honda, took a clear holeshot,
but he moved as ide for compatriot
Joha nsson ent ering tum three.
"Peter would ha ve go t me anyway
u p the next long climb, but I d idn't want
to get in his wa y," Andreasson said.
Ba rtolini was seventh, but officials
were a lrea dy looking for the red flag .
~ Eight riders, among them Joel Smets, sat
at the gate, seven of them insisting veheE mently that the gate had not fallen cor'" rectly.
'E.
'"
Othe rs told a d ifferen t tale. Willie
en Van Wessel, hold in g third behind the
two Swedes. asserted , "The gate
A
.8
dropped normally. They held us for the
maximum time, but we all saw yes terda y that the mech an ism is strange. First
it moves slight ly upward a n d then
drops ba ck. Th ey didn't w ait - that' s
their fault. "
Knowin g the tit le was in rea lity
already merel y a ma thematical possibility, Johansson jested, "Now the boat is
gone too ." The race program had been
s ta rted ea rly to give the teams a n
ou tside cha nce of ca tching the
even ing ferr ies - only a
handful would now do so.
One of the riders, Aaltonen, left a t th e ga te,
had not hit it. With the
rerun ordered as soon
as p o ss ibl e by Ju ry
. pre sid ent
Alban
[acquema i, Aaltonen 's
mechanic John Luotonen had to rapidly prepare the bik e, while officials took pr eciou s minutes
to "diligently" chec k the ga te
mechani sm . Aaltonen d idn't
ho leshot, but he only needed half a la p
(Above) Andrea Bartolin i and crew
celebrate h is. and Ita ly's •.first 500cc World
MX title.
(Right) Bart oli ni cli nc hed the series in
winning style. go ing 4-1 for the overall
_ _ _
victory in Finland. - • -
