Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1499289
Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives CNIIARCHIVES P138 Motor Company." Despite the language barrier, the affable Italian made a good impression on his American team. Pasolini was assigned H-D race mechanic Ray Bokelman for the Ontario race; the two connected so well that Denzer, Zylstra and other H-D employees added a taste of Italy to Ray's surname, dubbing him "Boka- lini!" "For the rest of his life, 'Bo - kalini' was our name for Ray," Denzer says. Cycle News' account of the race (held in two heats) tells a harrowing story of an almost Jekyll-to-Hyde-like mutation. In heat number two, "Renzo Pasolini undergoes an amazing transformation. Until now, he has been riding smoothly and inauspiciously. Now he begins to really push. Tires chattering, leaned over at crazy angles, he begins to charge…" Despite the big Harley "miss- ing badly on the front straight," Pasolini battles teammate Mark Brelsford and eventually garners a third overall on the day, behind Kawasaki rider Paul Smart and Suzuki's Geoff Perry. The details of what would take place eight months later at Monza were fuzzy even back in 1973 and 50 years of specula- tion have done little to provide clarity. All agree, however, that there was oil on the track, dribbled from a machine in the 350cc race which ran prior to the 250cc event. Dave Friedman, a longtime race photographer, was at Monza that day. "There were riders arguing with the organizers, threaten- ing to not race if that oil wasn't cleaned up," he says. "Finally, they did clean it, but it was a half-ass job." End of story—except for the fact that a post-race inspection also revealed that the liquid- cooled two-stroke engine in Pasolini's Harley-Davidson had seized. So, a locked-up engine was most certainly the cause of Pasolini's crash, right? "Maybe," says Don Emde, another former Daytona winner and a racer who has taken a keen interest in the events of that day. "It depends on when it seized. Did the piston seizure cause the crash? Or is it possible that the motorcycle seized afterwards, which can also happen. If a machine lands on its right side, the throttle can get stuck in the ground, sometimes revving it into wide-open, which can certainly cause an engine seizure. "When you throw [all of that] into the mix, it takes on the con- troversy like the 'Grassy Knoll' theory from the Kennedy assas- sination." What is known is that Pasolini led the pack into a very fast right hand bend, dubbed "il Curvone." Suddenly, the rear end of the motorcycle skids and Pasolini is pitched into the Armco guardrail. His airborne motorcycle strikes Saarinen and soon there are nu- merous other riders down. Scat- tered hay, debris and even fire add chaos to the horrific scene. Both riders are killed instantly. "I was waiting to see Pasolini, Saarinen and all of the others," Friedman says. "But the only rider who came through at the end of the first lap was Dieter Braun, and I knew something was wrong. "They didn't even officially stop the race. The rest of the riders just eventually pulled into the pits." Pasolini was laid to rest in the Monumental Cemetery in Rimini, his tomb not far from famed Ital - ian filmmaker Federico Felini. A sculpture atop the vault depicts, "the leaves of a young growing plant and the flame of passion in single image that recalls a motorcycle trophy," according to Rastelli. "I was very young at the time, but I recall endless lines of mo - torcyclists at his funeral. There were more than 20,000 people." In his honor, the original Rimini Motoclub was renamed, "Motoclub Renzo Pasolini." "In addition to sporting ac - tivities, we introduce children to motorcycle sport, with training on minibikes," Rastelli says. "Some of the young riders are eventually taught racing skills. Our gradu - ates include Marco Simoncelli, Manuel Poggiali and Enea Bas- tianini and many others. "Explaining the enthusiasm and esteem for Renzo is not easy. He could lead and often win races on equipment that was often inferior to his compet - itors…like David versus Goliath. "We teach our riders that with that kind of tenacity and talent, they too can be winners. That is Renzo's legacy." CN