I
t's been 40 years and some
change since three Americans
occupied all steps of a MotoGP,
or back then 500cc World Cham
-
pionship Road Race, podium. It
happened for the first time in the
championship on April 24, 1983.
The race was the Italian GP at
Monza, and the grid was filled with
Yankees, including Randy Mamola,
Eddie Lawson, Freddie Spencer and
Kenny Roberts. All were hoping to
dethrone the current number-one
plate holder Franco Uncini of Italy.
But when you have racers such
as Mamola, Lawson, Spencer and
Roberts on the entry list, an all-
American podium doesn't seem all
that far-fetched, even with Uncini,
Ron Haslam, Raymond Roche,
Marco Lucchinelli and Takazumi
Katayama in the race.
The Italian GP was filled with
drama as Roberts, who, before the
season announced that this would
CNIIARCHIVES
P128
BY KIT PALMER
THREE
AMERICANS,
THREE DIFFERENT
BRANDS AND
ONE NATIONAL
ANTHEM
THE FIRST ALL-AMERICAN
500CC
GP PODIUM
Freddie Spencer,
Randy Mamola
and Eddie Lawson
made up the first
all-Yankee 500cc
GP podium at
the Grand Prix of
Italy at Monza
40 years ago.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
HENNY RAY ABRAMS
