Report From Italy
REPORT FROM ITALY
CARLO PERELLI
THE ITALIAN RACING SEASON was traditionally opened on a festive day in Italy by the Senior Championship event -with international "status" - on the winding Modena autodrome. And also traditional were a very dull sky, wet track and bitter cold, but fortunately the rain remained in the clouds.
Highlights of the 125cc race were the clean yet powerful winning ride of Italian Giuseppe Mandolini and the fantastic performance set up by Spanish Champion Ramon Torras. Mandolini was riding the works rotary valve, 8-speed mechanically lubricated Mondial with water cooled horizontal single cylinder and air cooled head. Torras rode the single cylinder water cooled 6-speed works Bultaco. Mandolini gained the lead at once in close company with teammate Francesco Villa, ahead of world champion Luigi Taveri (Honda twin) and Italian champion Bruno Spaggiari, now returned to Ducati and riding a "desmodromic" twin, very light in a completely new frame.
Torras, last but one away due to a reluctant engine, was second by mid-race behind Mandolini. He didn't seem able to catch Mandolini, however, and then his engine seized solid right into a bend when he was well cranked over (and only by a real miracle did he manage to keep himself and the bike upright!). So Mandolini won easily over Taveri, Spaggiari and Visenzi.
Villa also retired (broken gearbox) and Remo Venturi, third member of the Mondial works team, was forced out by ignition troubles. Poor Venturi, 1964 Italian Champion with the 500cc Bianchi twin, has been left without "big 'uns" since Bianchi closed down early this year. Now Comm. Morini has promised him a 250 single for the next races. In the 250 race Provini was debuting the 1965 version of the four cylinder DOHC Benelli, now featuring a double disc front brake, hydraulically operated from a handlebar lever.
Comm. Alfonso Morini, abandoned by young Italian Champion Giacomo Agostini (now in the MV camp), after many withdrawal statements couldn't resist the temptation to field at least one rider, and chose Bruno Spaggiari (another one, Silvio Grassetti, he sent to the States for the Daytona meeting and moreover he has now also promised a bike to Venturi). Not a bad program for one who wanted to withdraw from racing.
Shortly before racing began Provini changed the front brake lining, so in the early laps during the bedding-down process he couldn't get all the necessary action from his front stopper and this caused him some hectic moments. Spaggiari led for a few laps but then Provini took over and gradually widened the gap in spite of the generous Spaggiari efforts, who in his first ride on the Morini was brave enough to finish second, less than ten seconds behind-
Third in the early stages was Kamon Torras with the new water-cooled Bultaco 250cc, but then he overdid things (as it frequently happens to him) and crashed heavily, fortunately with no serious damage. So Gilberto Milani and Renzo Pasolini, the two Aermacchi works riders, plus the world champion Luigi Taveri (Honda twin) moved on to fight for third place. Then Gilberto Milani crashed, soon imitated by Pasolini (the latter with a punctured tire) so Taveri continued unchallenged until the end as a comfortable third. Luckily both Pasolini and Milani escaped unhurt.
Giacomo Agostini made a good debut in the 500 class with the MV four but right at the last lap, in trying to overtake another rider at the serpentine after the finishing straight he went wide and crashed in the muddy meadow. His until-then immaculate performance could have received a serious setback but he was able to pick up his big bike and start it again, crossing the finish line first, with a muddy and battered bike and a muddy leather suit as well, with a scandalously large tear in a certain place! Count Agusta, the terrible MV boss, will certainly have something to say about this mishap which could have cost him a win! Second from start to finish was Mandolini on one of those fabulous single cylinder DOHC Moto Guzzi winners of the 1957 World Championship. He could save this bike from scrap at Mandello del Lario by bringing it to more and more successful performances, especially on winding courses like at Modena. A real pity Moto Guzzi doesn't build these singles for private owners. Third and fourth, two other 350cc bike riders, Gilberto Milani and Renzo Pasolini, after they had crushed Jack Findlay's opposition. Milani and Pasolini rode Aermacchis of course, Findlay the Mclntyre G-50 Matchless. The Australian rider then dropped back to ninth, beaten to the line by another Aermacchi rider, Santarelli.
No records were broken at all, owing not only to the wet track but also to the more and more deteriorating surface of the track. The autodrome is in fact a military zone and is frequently used for tank training. •
