Belgian Gp

BELGIAN GP

HEINZ SCHNEIDER

MIKE HAILWOOD suffered defeat twice in his two starts on the 8.74-mile highspeed circuit of Spa where the Belgian Grand Prix is held a week after the Dutch TT. Bill Ivy, with the Yamaha four, beat him in the 250cc race, after Phil Read had retired. In the 500, title defender Giacomo Agostini with the MV three pulled away from Mike's Honda 500cc four, taking lap and race records as well. Hans Georg Anscheidt made sure of this year's tiddler title, winning the 50cc race after an inter-Suzuki duel with Yoshimi Katayama, and Klaus Enders, with his beautiful red and white BMW outfit, netted the sidecar crown after a hard fought win over Georg Auerbacher. The 125 and 350cc classes were not on the Belgian program, the or ganizers being careful with rider's money, as only 60,000 spectators flocked to the engine-wrecking course in the Ardennen mountains - and that was a lot for Spa; other classics draw 200,000 and more to the gates.

50cc RACE

The smallest class opened the game, and fastest practicer, Yoshimi Katayama, flung his 16 bhp Suzuki twin first down the starting straight and up the hill. Team sters Ancheidt and Stuart Graham follow ed, but at the end of the first lap of five they were 20 seconds behind the leader. Angel Nieto with the Derbi held up what might be called competition, having lost 50 seconds a lap to Katayama. Title de fender Anscheidt began closing the gap to Yoshima, and at the end of lap four he caught Katayama's slipstream. In the steep uphill-section to Burnenville he pull ed ahead to win with less than a second between him and Katayama, having push ed the race record up to 97.6 mph. Fast est lap and the honor to be first fifty rider to have lapped the Spa circuit at over the ton went to Katayama, who had done 100.2 mph in the early stages. All three Suzukis this time came home. Stuart Gra ham's, however, sounded tired and crossed the line 40 seconds behind Anscheidt, still faster than the existing race record put up by Luigi Taveri in 1965. Angel Nieto took his Derbi to fourth ahead of Dutch rider A. Toersten on an old Kreidler, and Paul Lodewijcks, also from Holland, who rides a quick, Dutch-built Jamathi special.

250cc RACE

Despite the hot, humid weather which must be better for breeding alligators than for racing motorcycles - and which made the racer's pretty girls take off most of their fairings - the Yamaha two-strokes lived up to their practice promises. Both fours of approximately 60 bhp under Phil Read and Bill Ivy flashed away from the Honda sixes of the Hailwood-Bryans team. Phil's engine fired first, but Bill Ivy's bike got to the left-right curve which ends the starting line and the descent, beginning the descent to Burnenville, in first posi tion, Derek Woodman on the MZ, Ralph Bryans with the Honda and Ginger Molloy

with the first works Bultaco, pursued Phil Read, whose freshly painted helmet glittered in the sun.

Mike Hailwood, very slow at the start, had to find his way through the thick first half of the 21 strong field.

First report from the track, two miles out at the les combes lefthander, mentions Phil Read having taken the lead and Hailwood lying third behind Ivy. At Burnenville, the highest point of the circuit, positions remained the same.

From Masta straight, out on the circuit, connecting the very fast righthander of Malmedy with the acute one of Stavelot — the course is a triangle of national roads which are used for ordinary traffic when there is no racing — Ralph Bryans and Ginger Molloy were reported to be fourth and fifth.

Phil Read ended the first lap half a second ahead of his teammate, and nearly five seconds ahead of Mike Hailwood. Bryans held a secure fourth ahead of the MZ team. Derek Woodman at the time led Heinz Rosner by a margin of five seconds. Dave Simmonds with the fast, air cooled works Kawasaki — originally a road going production model converted for road racing — held off Ginger Molloy and Eric Hinton on another Kawasaki.

Four laps of the nine the two-fifties had to do and Phil extended his lead over Bill Ivy; then his four went silent out on the course, making its rider walk home quite a few miles. Ivy took command.

Bryans closed up to Mike Hailwood, who looked troubled, but in the fourth lap he stopped for work on the six cylinder engine, long enough to make the MZ people prepare a "third" sign for Woodman, but not long enough to let Derek pass.

News came from the loud speaker that rain was falling out on the course, while the paddock still melted in the sun. But rain was just practicing a bit, and Bill Ivy, storming through the light shower, was certain his radiator had burst.

Pushing in made Ralph Bryans leader of the championship table with 29 points, ahead of Phil Read and Mike Hailwood who shared 26. Winner Bill Ivy so far has collected 22 points and runs fourth, ahead of Derek Woodman who has 8.

500cc RACE

A rain warning was given before the big bikes set off, and later riders said that they were nearly drowned, only two miles from sunny finish area. From the drop of the flag Giacomo Agostini led, with an ever increasing distance to Mike Hailwood's Honda four, which, like the 250, had been reluctant to start. The MV-three rider carried off a race record with 124 mph and a lap record with 128, despite conditions. His win brought Giacomo on equal terms with Mike, both having 22 points gained in four meetings, with two wins, a second place and a retirement each.

A fine third place went to Fred Stevens on the green Hannah-Paton, which had a new main bearing after the Dutch but otherwise remained the same. The Italian built bike is supposed to get a new frame soon. For the first time the 500 lasted the distance of a world championship event, and Fred even managed to cover the full distance,that means he avoided being lapped by Agostini. Apparently the team had planned to do 14 laps instead of the 15, but two tours from the end, when Agostini, who had slowed down, was well "behind" the Paton rider, Fred checked his petrol left in the tank and decided to try and carry on. Only seconds before Agostini was flagged off he crossed the line to enter his last lap.

Putting up what would be called a good show if done by a top-fit rider Jack Findlay rode one of his finest races. The Australian's right foot still in plaster after his Isle of Man crash — at Assen he was seen cutting the bandages shorter and shorter with a set of pliers — Jack had a special start place outside the grid in front row. Paddling his Maclntyre Matchless into life on the downhill section he was last man away when the big single finally fired.

Eighty at the end of first lap, fifth ahead of Marsovszky at the end of second, Jack was expected to settle down. But he decreased the distance to fourth man Peter Williams, who had beaten him at Hockenheim and then attacked the British rider so furiously thát Peter overdid things and dropped his Matchless, retiring at the pits.

In spite of the heat most of the big singles lasted the race. Poor Mike Duff retired his Matchless from midfield position, and Ian Burne from South Africa, always fast at Spa, dropped out from a good place among the fastest singles when the ignition of his Norton went bad. To save the bike, including the rear tire, from being covered with oil he had attached a good handful of breathers to important parts of the engine, collecting them all in a plastic bottle strapped to the frame. A good idea, but on the other hand it puzzles me how, now and then, a Norton comes up which after a race looks absolutely oiltight without such exotic precautions.

SIDECAR RACE

Old hand in the three-wheeler game Pip Harris pipped them all off the line, with Georg Auerbacher, Heinz Luthringshauser, Josef Attenberger and Klaus Enders chasing after him. After two kilometers Georg had the lead, Enders was fourth still behind Luthringshauser. Siegfried Schauzu on "the" outfit came up from the 16strong field, passed Enders for a short time, but when these two were reported third and fourth ahead of Luthringshauser, Engers had regained his advantage. Enders used the long down hill sections to pass first Harris and then Auerbacher, who hung his blue outfit into the slipstream of the red and white one. Harris managed to hold off Schauzu for a lap, then the most expensive outfit on the tracks showed its potential and Siegfried beat the English veteran. That order remained to the end, Auerbacher dropping back from the eventual winner Enders who now is world champion, and Harris trying to pass Schauzu in his last, the eighth lap, without success. Enders' race record of 109.1 mph is nearly as fast as the lap record set up by late Florian Camathias in 1963. ■