Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

e I ",,--- C'J 00 ~ ....... ~ c<"':l ....... ~ C1.) ..0 0 ~ u 0 {>r· (Left) Randy Mamola (2) and Franco Uncini battled for much of the 50 0cc. GP, and when Uncini collided with leader Freddie Spencer, Mamola tool( the win. (Above left) Toni Mang, who took the 350cc World Championship, missed the 250cc title in spit e of winning the race. (Above) American Rich Schlacht er had troubles, finished 17th. World Roa~ Racing Championship Serle$~ Final Round Mamola COPS surprise GP win in Germany By Henny Ray Abrams HOCKENHEIM , WEST GERMANY, SEPT. 26 Randy Mamola, on an HB International sponsored 'factory Suzuki, capped a disappointing season with a stunning last minute ' victory in the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim when leader Freddie Spencer collided with newlycrowned World Champion Franco Uncini and fell three 500cc GP Although the title had been decided almosttwo~onthsearlier~theSOOcc race was sti]l the prerruer event. , Spencer said he was clocked at 177 turns from the end of th~ race. . mph and was the fastest in top speed Ma~ola w~g~d an epic race-l~ng and fastest qualifier. .. . . , duel WIthUnctrn a few seconds behmd.. Honda's Spencer. On the last lap, in . Wepu.taspeCl~lengmemFranco,~ a slow horseshoe corner in the "sta- . bike dunng t~sung on. T.~esday, dium" portion ofthe 4.1 mile long Roberto .. G~.llma, Un om steam thumb-shaped track, Mamola and leader:,sald, . a!ld we went 308 (1~~.S Uncini both caught Freddie, who led mph): . UnCI~ll was fourth qualifier from the fifth of the 18 laps. Mamola and riding WIth a broken foot. . went quickly under him, and as he Yamaha's best placed rider was did Spencer moved down the track, Team Marlboro/Agostini's Graeme leaving Uncini in a squeeze between Crosby, in ninth, who stayed on his them. Uncini hit Spencer, taking square-fourafteratestrideonRoberts' Freddie's front wheel out, sending ill-handling V-4. He had a four point them both down. Franco walked away, .. advantage on Spencer for second in as did Freddie, but Spencer blacked the points race, and wanted to replace out and was taken to the hospital the "s" on his fairing with that " 2." with a concussion and broken collar. The skIes. darkened as. the soos bone. He was released Monday and returned to the United States. .wen t tc? the .hne, but the ram held ~ff. When Mamola crossed the finish Lucchinelli got the ~o"eshot WIth line with his first G P win of the year, !"amola: Spen~er, Uncini and Crosby he looked back to see who was second. in pursUl~. Behm <;i ~em came another His teammate Virginia Ferrari was group WIt~ U!lclm s YO,unger team21 seconds back with Uncini's Team mate. Reggiani.Mamola s older teamGallina Su zuki teammate Loris mate, Ferrari, Middel burg and KataReggian i in third. The two 'o ~her facyama. 'tory H ondas of Takazumi Katayama " L ucky's" lead grew, the n shrank and on the seventh of 18 lap s Spencer and early leader Marco Lucch inelli fin ish ed out the top five. .zapped him for the lead. Uncin i and Yamaha's Kenny Roberts was on Mamola took turns towing each o ther hand, but recovering fro m a recent in th ird and fourth wit h " Croz" right knee opera tion and was spectating. there. . .. . Lucchinelli had started slowing on the fifth lap and started to drop back. ," My crankshaft was coming apart and the bike was vibrating badly. I set lap records on each of the first four laps, then Freddie set one on the fifth lap," said Marco. Indeed, Spencer had set a new lap record of 2:09.16 at an average of l lfi mph. He soon built a five second lead on a great duel between the Suzukis of Mamola and Uncini. Mamola was riding his race of the year, but Uncini .stuck to him like a summons. Uncini didn't look like a winner. Riding in pain with the broken foot, he'd had a special rear brake system built but his ' style,when he's on, is to go to the front and pull away, and he wasn't doing it. " L ucky." and "Croz" were fourth and fifth at this point. Katayama was slowed when his rear brake started sticking. Spencer's gap was a constant five to six seconds on the Suzukis, even though he was down on power. "Early in the race I followed Randy up the straightaway after the start/finish line and pulled out of his draft to pass him. But when I did it was kind of funny because I just pulled up next to him, but . couldn't get by ," said Spencer. His second in the standings looked like a good bet when Crosby fell late on the ISth lap of 18 laps. "The front end went away," said Crosby. "If I'd been riding the V-4 it. would have killed me." He took a precautionary ambulance ride to the hospitalvbut was OK and was released. . With three laps to go, Spencer's lead started to shrink when his engine slowed and his tires started to fade. "I .don't know what was wrong with the motor, it just started to feel sick," he said. His pit board warned that Mamola was five seconds behind, but in fact he was catching up quickly. "I was doing. 2:lOs and Freddie was doing 2:12s so I made up two seconds a lap," said Mamola. The ga p closed, and in the stadium horseshoe Mamola shot by underneath. " I saw Freddie go high so I just went by h im on the inside. He didn 't even kn ow I was' there. He must no t have gotten the righ t p it signals on the last few laps," Mamola added . As he went by on the inside, Spencer moved down and was h it by a charging Uncini, knocking h im down in a shower of sparks and sending him to the hay bales. . Uncini got up, tried to start the bike , then parked it and walked away . Spencer started to walk away but got dizzy and went to the hospital, not knowing for certain what had happened. "I saw Randy go by and couldn't believe it. Then the next thing I know somebody hits me. That's racing. I'm sure Franco feels bad, but it 's nobody's fault. It could happen to anyone. I didn't know they were there. I was looking back during mostofthe race, butdidn'ton the last few laps ," said Spencer. . "I looked back at the finish and said, 'Where is everybody?'" said Mamola. The next rider was his HB International teammate, Ferrari, 21 seconds back , giving the team its best finish of the year. " My plans for next year are to do the CP's again," said Mamola. An HB International Katana Superbike was shown earlier in tlie week at the Cologne (West Germany) show, indicating a new direction for the team. Rumors indicate there wit! also be rider changes on the team. 350cc GP The 3S0s ran their last GP of the season in a steady rain, which delayed the start so the teams could change tires. Fast qualifier Anton Mang held a five point lead on Belgian Didier e Radigues, on a Chevalier Yamaha and 12 on Jean-Francois Balde, who could theoretically still take the crown. Mang and Manfred H erweh , a German in his first GP, were all alone outfront while almost half the field dropped out. . Herweh took the race, not bad for a first try in the rain, by a scant .37 second over Mang. Mang, who took his fourth World Championship, nad over a minute on third place Frenchman Eric Saul, who finished fourth for the year. DeRadigues finished a lap down in 12th ;but took second in the overall standings to Balde, who finished ninth for the day. 250cc GP The 2S0's had \Vorld Champ ion Anton Mang looking at the eight point deficit he was giving to JeanLouis T o urn adre. It did no th ing to dam pen his enthusiasm, and the popu_ lar Bavarian lowered h is own track record by a second a half in qualifyin g. The racing, as usual, was close and hard-fought with little edge in machinery to anyon e. The first pa rt of the (Continued to page 43)

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