Cycle News

VOL. 54 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 22, 2017 P111 top and that evening we had a grand tour around Bologna in a long procession of cars honking their horns and waving flags," Smart recounted. "We stopped for what was to be a minute outside the railway station, but thousands and thousands of people sur- rounded us and we just joined in the party. I was still in my leathers and so tired and jet lagged, but there was no way you were going to get any sleep at this party. It seemed an entire city came out to celebrate this glory for Ducati, Bologna and Italy." The race really blossomed in 1973. The two-stroke restrictions were lifted and the young Fin Jar- no Saarinen, fresh off his victory in the Daytona 200, took the win on his factory Yamaha 350 over an amazing field. A month later Saarinen and Italian Renzo Pasolini met with tragedy at Monza when the two died in a senseless pileup caused after track officials ignored warnings of oil on the circuit. A host of AMA riders competed in Imola in 1973. Yamaha factory teammates Kel Carruthers (also manager of the team) and Gary Fisher decided to go at the last minute. The 1974, the Imola 200 was a classic with Kenny Roberts making his first international race appear- ance. Agostini, like Saarinen the year before hot off a Daytona win, beat Roberts and the 120,000 Ital- ians went into a state of euphoria. They also would long remember their first glimpse of the fast-rising young American star who would go on to become three-time 500cc Grand Prix World Champion. Agostini's 1974 victory put the Imola 200 over the top. A year later the race reached its zenith when an estimated 140,000 spec- tators flooded through the gates of the circuit. American Steve Baker finished third to Johnny Cecotto and Patrick Pons. "It was my first experience with European racing," Baker said. "The Italians were so friendly and into racing. We stayed in this bed and breakfast and the owners allowed us to work on the bikes in the kitchen. The track was hilly and challenging, sort of like Laguna Seca on a larger scale. I remember being impressed at how well-groomed the place was and, of course, the crowd was 100 feet deep all the way around the track." Baker came back and won Imo- la in 1976 and combined with the Match Races and the Paul Ricard 200 in France (part of the short- lived AGV Formula 750 World Cup with Daytona and Imola) he came home with over $200,000 in earn- ings. Kenny Roberts finally took the victory at Imola in 1977 and would go on to join Cecotto as a three- time winner of the prestigious event. When Roberts made his international debut at Imola three years earlier he said the thing that really stuck in his mind was the mass of people, and Kel Car- ruthers telling him to ride through the crowd back to the pits at the end of the race and whatever he did, not to stop. "It was an eye-opener for me," Roberts said of Imola. "Up to that point my life pretty much consisted of trying to chase down some Har- ley at a dusty old flat, and here I was racing in front of what seemed like a million people who were all waving the entire way around the track, as Ago and I battled for the lead. It's something I'll never forget." Imola, while profitable for the U.S. riders, was not without trag- edy. American up-and-comer Pat Evans died as the results of injuries suffered in the 1978 edition. Even though the track was relatively safe by 1970s standards there were still very high-speed sections closely lined with Armco covered by just a thin layer of haybales. By 1979 the powers that be de- cided to move the Italian round of the World Formula 750 Series (of which the Imola 200 had become a part of) to Mugello, and the Imola 200 was not held. Mugello didn't have the atmosphere of Imola and the Italian fans didn't support the race. The 200 came back to Imola in 1980, and in spite of the fact that riders like Marco Lucchinelli, Kenny Roberts and Eddie Lawson were among the winners of the race in the '80s, the momentum was lost and the 200 never again gained the prestige it held a de- cade earlier. Lawson's win in 1985 marked the end of the classic Imola 200. Imola, like Daytona, is likely to never again gain the popularity it held during its zenith. In a simpler time when all it took was a dream and little extra money to bring the world's best riders together. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives

• Cover