Cycle News

Cycle News 2023 Issue 17 May 2

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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VOLUME ISSUE MAY , P129 be his last, was leading the race's late stages with Spencer trailing the Yamaha rider close behind. Spencer had pulled clear of Ma- mola while Haslam was nursing a progressively ill-running Honda, hoping and praying it would hold on just long enough to keep Law - son at bay. Four laps from the end, Rob- erts went down while trying to avoid a backmarker, handing Spencer the lead. Roberts slid into the dirt but managed to keep his Yamaha Marlboro OW-70 running and get rolling again to salvage fourth place, now run - ning behind Spencer, Mamola and Haslam. Lawson was right there holding down fifth. "It happened right in front of me," said Spencer of Roberts' crash. "He just ran out of race track and did a San Jose slide into the sand holding onto the bike. I saw him start to get up right out of the corner of my eye as I went past him." Spencer went on to win the race on his new three-cylinder NS500, with Suzuki RG500- mounted Mamola taking third. Heading into the last lap, it appeared Haslam's bike would hang on just long enough to prevent the American sweep, but the race was three-quarters of a lap too long for his Honda. The crankshaft bearing finally let go, preventing Haslam from cross - ing the finish line. Roberts then had third in the bag until his bike came to a sputtering stop having run out of fuel. Lawson was happy to inherit third. Luckily for him, his Yamaha held together, and the all-American podium was complete for the first time ever. Uncini was fourth, and Kata - yama rounded out the top five. "I really felt proud up there when they were playing the na - tional anthem," Lawson said. "It was crazy up there; the crowd of photographers and people were mobbing us." Lawson then asked Spencer: "Is it always like this?" Spencer answered: "Only in Italy." It was Lawson's best GP finish at the time. But all the talk after the race, it seemed, wasn't so much that Americans swept a 500cc GP po - dium for the first time as it was about Spencer having won three straight GPs to start the season as a rookie. When asked if he knew if anyone had ever won the sea - son's first three races, he replied, "I think Kenny did it when he won his first World Champion- ship, and someone told me Barry [Sheene] did it when he won a World Championship." Little did he know at the time that he would go on to win the 1983 title and become the young - est rider to ever do so at the age of 21 until Valentino Rossi came along and then Marc Marquez. Maybe not so surprising that just a few weeks after the Italian Grand Prix, an all-Yank podium happened again, this time at the Austrian Grand Prix with winner Roberts, Lawson and Mamola. Spencer DNF'd with an engine failure. American riders swept the podium in the 500cc Grand Prix World Championship five times that year. At the end of the season, the top four riders in the series were Americans, with Spencer taking the title ahead of Roberts, Mamola and Lawson. How times have changed. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives "I really felt proud up there when they were playing the national anthem," Lawson said. "It was crazy up there; the crowd of photographers and people were mobbing us." An all-American podium happened again just a few weeks later at the Austrian Grand Prix, this time Cycle News acknowledged the accomplished on the cover.

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