Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

'ga s his works Honda, sp inning the ba ck wheel out of control, throwing his feet off the pegs, and sending the front wh eel s k i m m i n g off the ground. If nothing else , it wa s effective and at the en d o f th e lfi- lap, 31-mile ra ce, he h ad a 13-second cushion on the battle for seco n d which went right down to th e line. Marshall pulled even with Roberts in th e Russell Bend just before the start o f th e final straightaway, but the "King" nipped him at th e line b y inches . '~ I had some speed on him and ca me o ut o f that fin al turn under th e bubble. I stuck it in fourth gear and went for it," said Marshall. " I didn 't hav e mu ch troubl e with him," Roberts began. " I was h olding him up for the o th ers a n d didn 't want to push too hard. 1 had to push it a litt le on th e la st lap a n d g ot it a littl e sid eways . T he bike is th at mu ch harder to ride th an in th e dry." Putting in his best finish o f th e series was Sheene, som e 22 seconds ba ck but with a 12'second cu sh io n o n Lawson . Mamola was just behind and Wood and Heuwen added p o ints for the Brits. The second race was a virtua l repl ay of th e first with Has lam riding a t .ro cket pace to a clear and un contest ed victory. By th e fifth of the 16 la p s, Roberts and Marshall h ad ren ewed th eir fight for second with Mamola running fourth a hea d of Sheen e, Salle, and a ca u tio us L aws on . " I' ve r idden a bo u t three tim es it! th e rain , but n ever that thing. 1 was being real ca u tio us a n d n ot trying to m ak e a n y' mi stakes," th e Marlbo ro Yamaha team m ember sa id. Regardless of hi s ca u tio n , L aw son was making th e most o f h is experi en ce a n d moving up through th e field , H e passed Salle on the tenth lap and then, much to the cro wd 's dismay, got by Sheene on th e 14th la p , putting Americans in second, fou rth and fifth . As had become the fashion , the rest of th e team was 10-1 1- 12 a n d wh en th e scores were counted at th e e n d of th e da y it was GB a hea d of the USA, 161-133. . With Honda relu ctant to re lea se both Has lam and hi s ma chines, h is go-for-it 'style surp ri sed man y. But for H a slam , it was an other da y o n th e job. " I broke away ea r ly from the p ack before they got going a n d co u ld bu ild up a lea d . I've ridden h ere a lot in th e rain. It was a bit ex ci tin g o u t th er e. 1 was really surprised h ow th e NS went in th e wet. I'd onl y done a wet rain test for Michelin before this. I'm doing well in the GPs a n d th ey really didn ' t want to releas e the bikes, " said Haslam. H e added that he wa s using the spare parts alloted to h im for Hockenheirnand would be sh o rt for the West German GP. Brands Hatch _ The circus packed up its tents a fter Sneuerton and moved south to Kent, just outside southeast London, for the final two races of the series at Brands Hatch. To have anything but inclement weather would be an anomaly and no one was surprised by the smoky clouds and drizz le. With Bal d win out for th e ser ies fina le and Aldana and Cooley cooling it , motivation was hard to come by for the GP regu lars, Roberts , Mamola and Lawson . But Roberts was still determined to win even in the face of the 28 point deficit. " We ca n win thi s thing, dam mit," a determined Roberts told his team - m ates Sunday night. " Yo u guys will be ba ck next year, but for m e it's my , la st chance." Showing his de terminatio n, the tea m captain took off from th e clutch start j u st beh in d Marshall, now back on the two -s tro ke, w i th H a s la m , Sheene, Ma mola and Lawson topping the field . Going up Hai lwood Hi ll for the first time, it was clea r that both Roberts and Lawson were in for a long day as their front wheels wanted to go skyclimbing as they headed for Druids Bend. Marshall had pu lled an advantage on Haslam as he went by Roberts on the second of 14 laps with the Suzukis o f Sheene and Mamola 'n ex t a n d H euwen moving up to pest er Lawson . At the halfway flags , H aslam was six seconds cle ar of Marshall and n egotiating his Honda o n th e parts of th e course that were drying as the rain a ba ted. Marshall had close to half a minute on Mamola with Sheene clos e a nd Ro ber ts dropping -o f f the pace. Lawson was trying to d eal with an er ratic Mark Salle who was all ov er th e co u rse on his square-four Suzuki . " T h a t guy in front of m e wa s wi ld . He h ad hi s fo ot off the pegs in every co rner and 1 just want ed to get a way from him ," said Lawson . " I could hold m y own better coming o nt o th e front straigh t, but 1 cou ldn't get on th e power," said Roberts . " Ei the r I'd bog theengine or sp in the tire a n d ei th er wa y they'd pull me . 1 was in between th e powerband on th e cor ne rs a n d 1 had a problem w h en the tra ck dri ed out because 1 was us ing rain tir es," Hasl am wa sn't to be outdoneand cru ised in with 18 seconds in hand on Mar shall. Mam ol a wa s a cr ed i ta b le third, thirty seco n d s beh ind with a n eq ua l a m o u nt on Lawson who once a ga i n bested Sheene . Wood and Heuwen were n ext a cross a n d th e series was virtu a lly co nc ed ed to the UK . _ The rain not on ly hurt th e racing, but it also hurt attendan ce. Wi th an estim a ted crowd of 20,000 add ed to the previous 15,000 for Snetterton and 10,000 for Duhon P ark , the figures weren't entirely en couraging, but t eam man ager Gavin Trippe wasn't discouraged . " It 's 'u n for t u n a te sin ce we h ad th e best team we co u ld g et. It 's hard to g et motiv ated with this wea th er. It's been th e pits . But if we'd have held it at Easter, it wou ld h ave been wors e. The who le northern hemisphere has' been getting bad weat her. Who'd have though t th e San J ose Mi le would be rain ed out? This isn't a good cro wd for Brands, but there will _ be a series next year. 1 think some of the riders have gotten dis couraged by the weath er and resu lts. Ba ldw in had to be go od for 48 points and looking at it that way, we co u ld have won it with fo ur guys. Wes got de-t uned whe n he hit that o il at Oulton and this w hole t hing is won in the mid- . field. Yo u've got to hand it to Kenny , Ra ndy and Eddie. T hey're still giving it their best. Yo u can't say enough about them. With thei r G P commit- ments, they still came out," said Trippe. • T he supporting ra ces had partially d ried the track for the final match of the series and Haslam took advan rage of it to vau lt into the lead o n the secon d lap. R o ber ts was up front again with Marshall , Wood , Lawson, Mamola, Salle and Sheene running .single-fi le. ' The British side was in their element an d as R o bert s dropped slightly off the pace, it was Haslam, Marshall . ..... , ., , ~ SUZUKI ~ PRICE BLOW UP 'SA LE NEVER BEFORE AND NEVER AGAIN WILL PRICES BET"IS LOW! AND MANYWITH FAST ~ONEY* REBATE. Some examples of the savings: 1981 PE175 1982 RM125 1982 RS175 1982 DR250 • $999.00** $899.00** $999.00 $1299.00 1982 DR500 $1499.00 1982 SP500 $1499.00 1982 SP250 $1199.00 1982 GS450E $1599.00 1982 GS550L 1982 GS650G ' 1982 GSS50M $1899.00** $2149.00** $1999.00 Many more to cho ose fro m at similar savings. Beat the new 45 % ta rrif f increase. ; . Stop by and see The Senation of Suzuk i at one of t he o ldest Suzuki DealersIn the Country ***************** ** Includes Fast Money Rebate * Call for Deta ils. Fast Money Good Ti ll 5 /31 /83 ***************** . IS· tJ Knk "'0 "'" MOTORCYCLES, IN C The Sensation 0 UIUIa. 417 E. Garvey Ave., Monterey Park, CA 91754 (213) 280-8244. (213) 283-4277 .22 .

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