West German Gp

WEST GERMAN GP

HEINZ SCHNEIDER

SUNBURNED, LIKE LAST YEAR, some 180,000 spectators at Germany's new Hockenheim Motodrome saw only one of six winners in this year's second WorldChampionship meeting take his laurels virtually unchallenged. In his first outing on Honda's latest title-contender, a six of more than 250cc capacity, Mike Hailwood demoralized his Italian 350cc opposition — Giacomo Agostini on his second-best MVthree and Renzo Pasolini, the former Aermacchi teamster, who had munched up his new Benelli four's rear wheel rim in an effort to keep up with Agostini, hanging out left and right of the bike, to squeeze a bit more cornering power out of the light, well-handling frame.

The other five victors — Hans-Georg Anscheidt and his 50cc Suzuki twin with 12 speeds and 16 bhp, teammate Yoshimi Katayama in the 125cc class, Ralph Bryans who proved himself worthy of the 250cc Honda six he has switched to since Hondas have dropped the smaller classes this year, Giacomo Agostini on the big MV-three and Klaus Enders with his beautiful BMW sidecar — were not sure of prize-money and championship points before the checkered flag had fallen with the retirements of favorites adding spice to the racing.

50CC RACE

No matter what it means to the riders, German organizers insist on keeping things in numerical order, so meetings begin with the tiddlers and end up with the big solos.

Since all the opposition fades with Honda's retirement from this class, Suzukis and their three-man team should have paraded round the 4.22-mile flat circuit near Heidelberg. But Yoshimi Katayama's little twin did not last the first lap. His teammate and title defender, natural winner on his home circuit, Hans-Georg Anscheidt was challenged by British newcomer to the team, Stuart Graham, who first impressed the continental scene last year riding his AJS and Matchless. Graham's Suzuki, however, broke a piston at three quarters of the 15-lap distance after he had held the lead from Anscheidt.

German Rolf Schmalzle rode his private Kreidler to second place a lap behind the winner, lapping the Spanish Derbi opposition of Jose Busquets and Barry Smith.

Having won at 89.23 mph, Anscheidt now leads the title table with 16 points, after his other win at Barcelona a fort-

night before. His teammate, Katayama and Rolf Schmalzle share second place with six points apiece.

125CC RACE

Team Yamaha, with Bill Ivy and Phil Read, held the pole positions on the 125 grid of 35 riders, but when the flag fell, both the new 40 hp, nine-speed V-four two-strokes refused to fire. The Suzuki brigade of Anscheidt, Katayama and Graham disappeared around the first bend, apparently holding a secure lead, with the Yamaha opposition trapped in the middle of the field.

Out of lap one, Phil Read had pushed through to third place ahead of Graham. Ivy was seventh behind Dave Simmonds on a quick works Kawasaki and Friedhelm Kohlar on his private MZ.

The second lap saw Read lead the Suzukis with Ivy riding astern the opposition. From lap four on, the two Yamahas were ahead, first Phil, then Bill and again Phil leading. Graham was put back by engine trouble and several pit stops. Katayama, with not much success, screwed it on in an attempt to chase the Yamahas, leaving Anscheidt behind. It looked all set for the Yamaha team, when their hopes suddenly disappeared in a cloud of dust.

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Finishing lap nine of the total of 17, Read and Ivy were about to lap Friedheim Kohiar and Francesco Villa. In the same righthander where last year Read dropped his 250 Yamaha leading Flailwood by inches, Villa touched the Kohiar, both riders stepping off their bikes and fetch ing the Yamaha men off too. Unhurt, ex cept Villa, who broke a collar bone, none of them continued.

Until the dust had settled, there was a four-lap confusion. Then it was clear that Katayama led from Anscheidt, with Bisch off, third, Walter Villa, the second Italian on a Montesa, fourth, third Montesa rider Jose Busquets, fifth and Hungarian ex-MZ works rider Laszlo Szabo, sixth on his private aircooled model. Angel Roldan followed on a Spanish Derbi. Graham's Suzuki was out and Simmonds had re tired his Kawasaki.

In the closing stages, there was another reshuffle, when Bischoff's plug fouled in the last lap, forcing him to stop and lose four places to take seventh. Szabo beat the Spanish-Italian opposition to take third, and was the only successful member of the strong Hungarian team entered in West Germany for the first time, includ ing BMW RS sidecar driver Joszef Pet tenkoffer and soloist Gyorgy Kurucz, who can stay with the best privateers on his new Metisses.

Final results saw Yoshimi Katayama win from Anscheidt with 101.90 mph, thus taking the lead in the title table with 12 points from Yamaha's Bill Ivy who had set a new Hockenheim lap record of 106.55 mph, beating Luigi Taveri's figure of 103.7 mph. Lapped by the leaders, Szabo (MZ), Villa (Montesa ), Busquets (Montesa) came in. West German Herbert Mann, on a private MZ converted to water-cooling, was last man to take a point, ahead of Bischoff (MZ). Then the Bultacos of West German Horst Seel and works rider Ginger Molloy were flagged off, with Ginger two laps behind in a troubled last ride on the old Spanish single. For the French GP, Molloy announced new bikes with new wheels, new frame, modified tank-cwm-saddle-unit, modified teleforks and modified crankcase, but still no rotary valve. The 125 will get gears as primary drive, eliminating the eternal chain trouble Bultacos are plagued with, and the 250 will be equipped with bigger sprockets to keep the chain alive a bit longer.

250CC RACE

The favorites all struck trouble in the 250cc event, first Hailwood's Honda six fired on five cylinders from the start on, forcing him to retire after a lap. Then, fastest practicer Ivy zoomed past the stands in Read's slipstream, ending lap four of 23, like they had done before. A hundred yards on, Ivy went wide in the following righthander, and with silent engine, free-wheeled into the paddock. Gearbox trouble was the reason given, but on top of that, Bill was badly shaken by his crash the race before — the sixth one this season. In practice he dropped his 125, in Barcelona practice as well; before that, a 250 had thrown him in a Brands Hatch practice session, and a training ride in Japan also had ended on the concrete. The sixth one, which admiring teammate Phil Read had listed for me the day before, escapes my memory.

Phil, on the much-modified and better handling Yamaha, now led the field with no opposition from Ralph Bryans on the second Honda six, until in lap nine, his four demanded a new plug. The stop let Bryans take the lead by more than half a minute. Despite the Honda losing power and Phil gaining up to three seconds a lap on the leader, the Yamaha rider could not catch him. Bryans held a four-second lead through the last lap.

MZ got another third, with works rider Heinz Rosner a lap behind the winner, after ,a unique retirement of their number one, Derek Woodman. Having switched to another plug make — from a type with an "undulated" insulator to a cylindrical one — the plug lead of one cylinder vibrated off. And the short time it took to ride to the pit was enough to burn out the magneto.

After Molloy retired, Jack Findlay had his way free to fourth place, twice lapped, and Gyula Marsovszky, Bultaco, who has not had a good season so far, pushed in, keeping his fifth place.

A third Bultaco was ridden to sixth place by German Rolf Schmid. This young man is the son of former sidecar driver Otto Schmid — successful in the late forties and fifties on an NSU-single, a Norton and finally a BMW. Twist in the story: Otto Schmid's passenger, Otto Kolle, took over the outfit a couple of years ago, and now young Rolf does the passengering for Otto.

A may-be promising new design came in seventh: Old Fritz Klager, known when he rode a Sports-Max and the Horex "roarer," has developed a water-cooled two-stroke twin with five speeds and 40 bhp in its 250 version, and 50 hp as a 350 (apparently taken at the crank-shaft). Four bikes are running, a two-fifty and three 350s, which did not do well in practice. Five more will be built this summer.

From 20th place in the 35-man field, sole U.S. entry Andres Lascoutx, on his Yamaha production-racer, had worked his way up to seventh, when in lap 11, his engine holed a piston. Andres looked good in his third race on the continent, having ridden his bike to first 250-place in a 250/350 mixed race at Le Mans and then broke his frame at Austrian GP. Another continental-riding American, Andy Richman, has sold his Bultacos and is waiting for delivery of a 350cc Aermacchi.

With his win at 107.31 mph, Ralph Bryans jumped to the top of the title table, sharing 14 points with Read. Rosner and Spaniard Jose Mendrano, Montesa, share third place with four points. Jim Redman's lap record of 111.08 mph had been broken by Bill Ivy, who rode 111.49 mph before his gearbox put him out.

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350CC RACE

Untroubled by his opposition, Hailwood won the 350cc event on his new Honda six. Its power output so far has not been registered, as Honda mechanic Nobby Clarke told me without blushing. Although not pressed, Mike bettered his own race and lap records to 112.22 and 112.64 mph.

Both MZ, the 252 of Rosner and the 300 of Woodman were out after a lap. Fred Stevens retired his Paton with valvegear trouble. Paton sponsor Bill Hannah said he was going to spend more money to make the Italian bike as reliable as it is fast. Already it can hold off the Aermacchis and British singles, and in its 500cc version easily leads the private field.

One by one, the quick British singles of Derek Minier, John Blanchard, etc., stopped at the pits or were pushed in. With no challenge from third man Renzo Pasolini on the Benelli four, Giacomo Agostini took his MV to third place. Alberto Pagani, already lapped twice, came in fóurth ahead of Australian Kelvin Carruthers, on a Rickman-framed MetisseAermacchi, who had beaten Gilberto Milani on a works-supported single. First Norton rider, John Coopfer, finished out of the leader board in seventh place, beating Aermacchi rider Guiseppe Visenzi and Nortonists Rob Fitton, whose bikes are tremendously fast, and Dan Shorey. German Georg Heukerott brought a private Honda to 11th place.

SIDECARS

They did it again — let the sidecars go before the big solos. Although the track has improved — grass begins to grow along the curves, keeping the sand off — the three-wheelers still munch up the verge at the exit of the bends. Clearing the mess takes much time, and you never can be sure that you won't hit an unforeseen patch of mishap when you hasten round in the first lap of the following solo event.

Following champion Scheidegger's death and ex-champion Max Deubel's retirement, the scene is open for new faces on the winner's rostrum. Max should have made a comeback on a brand new kneeler, sponsored by a small tire-remolder, Peters Pneu Renova. Built on the Scheidegger line, it had been made at a cost of more than $10,000, and was built by master frame builder Busch from Frankfurt, who also engineered the Hahn-Scheidegger model and the fast outfit of Klaus Enders. There had been no contract between Deubel and his sponsors, and after Scheidegger's death, he told them that he did not want to ride the outfit. Now the most modern, and presumably best potential sidecar sits in a garage and its owner is too disappointed to let anyone have it.

Helmuth Fath got his four running and showed its potential for the first time. Judging from the fact that Hockenheim is just a few miles from his home, and he was able to tune the engine to perfection, I would say it ran as good as it will all

this season. But that bolt in the gearbox stopped him. Klaus Enders, who already made his impression when his outfit was new last year, managed to win from Georg Auerbacher, breaking Scheidegger's race and lap record with 96.87 resp. 99.54 mph.

The British opposition of Colin Seeley and Pip Harris faded out with engine trouble and Chris Vincent was a nonstarter, having arrived late with an engine just rebuilt in Munich, with no chance to fit it in the frame in time for final qualification. Tony Wakefield snatched third place from. Siegfried Schauzu, proud owner of the only BMW works engine around this year. He is the third man to watch this season, having driven himself to fame with a second place behind Scheidegger on his old push-rod BMW in the rainbound German GP in 1965 at Nürburgring. Barry Dungworth got fifth place and Johann Attenberger, who has not a kneeler but an indescribable thing on which he lies flat with his legs stretched behind, collected the last point.

At the moment, Georg Auerbacher and Klaus Enders lead the title hunt with 14 points each. Schauzu has seven, Wakefield, four, Kolle, 3 and Harald Wohlfahrt, on his old ex-Helmut Fath outfit, two from a Spanish GP placing.

500CC RACE

From the drop of the flag, Mike Hailwood pulled away from his 34 rivals in the big solo class, until his Honda four stopped. Thirty-five riders were the limit, and the organizers took the 35 fastest qualifiers to the grid. One of the nonqualifiers was ex-MV rider and former Norton works man John Hartle on his two Métissés. John rode well in the late fifties and then retired. So far, this year's, comeback has not been marked with success.

Giacomo Agostini took control six laps from the end of the 30-lapper, to make a short pit stop two laps from the end, carefully refueling the MV-three. In spite of his stop, he broke Jim Redman's lap and race record with 117.19 and 112.34 mph.

A three-cornered dice for second between Peter Williams on an Arter-Matchless, Jack Findlay on his light MaclntyreMatchless and John Cooper on a Norton, split up when Cooper retired. Williams won the Matchless battle with his brakes from the experienced Australian. Marsovszky retired as well, and, about to beat the singles group, Fred Stevens had to leave his Paton at the pits with an exhaust broken off.

Robin Fitton on his fast Norton Special came in fourth, Billie Nelson on another Norton, fifth and Griff Jenkins on a third one was sixth. The 500cc event, like the 350, is the first this season and the title placings are the same as the race results. Chris Conn brought his Norton in seventh, Mike Duff beat Helmut Allner who works in the BMW development department and therefore rides the only BMW in the solo class, a precious short-stroke RS. Walter Scheimann had to be content with tenth place on his old Norton.