Report From Italy
REPORT FROM ITALY
CARLO PERELLI
SEASON OPENER IN ITALY
A dramatic Ago-Paso-Read fight highlighted the first of the Italian spring meetings, the first big event of the 1970 European season, held at the Rimini circuit in drizzle and extreme cold. The battle exploded in the 350, which was the only race in which the three aces contended.
Giacomo Agostini rode the MV Three (which, with new heads and detail improvements, now develops 64 bhp at slightly over 13,000 rpm), Renzo Pasolini the Benelli Four (also with new heads, a slightly lower frame and churning out 65 bhp at 14,000 rpm) and Phil Read the Yamaha Twin.
The English ace shot into the lead, surprising his rivals who had been much faster in practice. But the Italians soon counterattacked violently, and in a couple of laps they were breathing down his neck. The passionate crowd was on tip-toes, shouting and waving.
Unfortunately, ignition troubles caused by the rain (a common problem) soon put an end to Ago’s efforts and brought disappointment to his fans. Paso continued to press Read.
The Yamaha champion, asking too much from his anchors and the wet surface, fell while braking at the end of the finishing straight and, after a very long slide, hit the strawbales. Taken unconscious to the hospital, Read was found to have suffered a broken left wrist, plus concussions and bruises, which will keep him out of action for over a month. It was a nasty accident, and everybody was relieved when the hospital released news about the English rider’s condition.
Passing miraculously between the sliding Yamaha and Read, Paso went on to win easily, securing a brilliant season beginning.
For the runner-up position there was a fine scrap between Gallina (Aermacchi) and Bertarelli (Yamaha), with the place going to the Italian machine rider, while such excellent works riders as Grassetti (Jawa Four), Spaggiari (Ducati), Medrano (Bultaco) and Bergamonti (Aermacchi) retired with ignition troubles after lively showings.
The 500 promised a certain interest, not so much for the untouchable Ago (again on a Three with new heads and detail refinements, 83 bhp at 12,500 rpm), but for the European debut of the Hl-R Kawasakis, straddled by Italian veteran Campanelli, Italian 125 Champion Bertarelli and 125 World Champion Simmonds, against the revamped Lintos (with Pagani’s featuring electronic ignition, developed by the Italian Dansi factory), Patons (described in Report from Italy, May ’70), plus the particularly menacing 450 double ignition Ducati, second fastest in practice, ridden by Spaggiari.
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Ago enjoyed the runaway win at a lower speed than in the 350, while the Kawasakis, besides not being at their ease-on the tight corners of the circuit and especially in the rain, also suffered some bad luck.
Campanelli, after leading for nearly one lap and holding the runner-up position for a short while, had to stop to change a plug; although he remounted swiftly, he could manage no better than 6th place. Bertarelli retired early from mid field because of water in the electrics. He was followed by Simmonds who crashed, taking down another Kawasaki, a hopped up Mach III engine in a Norton Manx frame, ridden by Italian veteran Loro Vasco.
Second place was then held in succession by Spaggiari (until forced to retire with a broken sparkplug insulator, a very rare case indeed!), by Trabalzini (until slowed down by battery troubles on his Paton) and finally by Pagani, who held on to it until the finish line.
Surprise winner of the 125 was Gilberto Parlotti, a 250 Benelli works rider last year. This time he straddled a private Aermacchi and led from start to finish, keeping at bay even the Varese factory riders Bergamonti, who retired from 2nd place with a fouled plug, and Italian 125 champion Bertarelli, who secured the runner-up position after Spanish champion Medrano (Bultaco) crashed, without injury. Incidentally, the 1970 works Aermacchi, with improved breathing, revs up to 11,000 rpm with a substantial power gain. It also has a sturdier clutch, which soon will be taken out of the crankcase to run dry, while the gearbox will get a sixth cog.
World champions Nieto (Derbi Twin) and Simmonds (Kawasaki) were late starters, as were Lombardi and Ringhini on the promising new Guazzoni and Borbidelli rotary valve Twin. On the other hand, Mandolini, on the new air-cooled Villa, fastest in practice, crashed in the first lap.
Lombardi and Nieto were soon out with electric troubles, but Ringhini came up to 3rd place on his immaculately prepared mount before crashing. Finally Simmonds, with his howling Twin uneasy on the Italian circuit, came up to finish 3rd.
With the Benelli Four now outlawed by the International as well as by the Italian Federation, the 250 was a walkaway for Read, in spite of the surprising initial resistance by Ducati riders Orsenigo and Parlotti. Orsenigo then faded from the. scene for the usual trouble, while Parlotti conserved 2nd place. Some notable opponents had disappeared for unusual reasons. For example, Spanish champion Herrero on the unorthodox framed Ossa found himself with a throttle twist grip seized in the open position (just imagine what happened when the first bend approached!), Bergamonti stopped with a broken gear change pedal on his works Aermacchi, and Grassetti was taken down, without injury, by a broken rear spindle on his Yamaha.
SECOND ROUND TO AGO
The second round of the Ago-Paso match, fought March 22nd at Modena autodrome, was more thrilling than the first one at Rimini.
Ago showed a superior tactical sense, reminiscent of another famous M.V. teamster, nine times World Champion Ubbiali, and also enjoyed the superior acceleration of his M.V. Three against the rival’s Benelli Four. Acceleration is particularly important at Modena because the track includes a hairpin, which must be negotiated at extremely reduced speeds, and three other slow bends.
The M.V. star, who was being filmed during the race for his second movie “Flat Out,” chalked up a good lead right from the start, setting the record lap of the day at the second lap. Then he eased his pace slightly, enabling Paso to catch him, much to the excitement of the crowd. For 15 laps of the 2.2-mile circuit the two aces rode neck to neck, the echoes of their multi-cylinder engines combining with the 30,000 spectators’ shouts.
At the last lap, Paso overtook a slower rider. Ago couldn’t manage the same action and so remained some inches behind. The crowd, which generally is more in favor of Paso, literally exploded!
But, braking for the hairpin, Ago sided Paso at the inside, beating him at his specialty (hard braking) and, at the exit, the superior acceleration of his mount completed the trick.
Paso fought back in a desperate effort at the last bend and gained a few yards, but Ago crossed the finish line with 1/10th of a second advantage. His fans, depressed after the dull Rimini appearance and still under the shock of Paso’s short lead, went crazy. Ago and Paso lapped all the others, including Grassetti on the works Jawa Four. A late starter, he wasn’t able to lap anywhere near the Italian aces’ times and also had a hard time dislodging Bergamonti from 3rd place. Bergamonti rode the works Aermacchi which, this time, was no match for either the works Ducati desmo of Spaggiari (later to retire with a broken chain) or the Yamaha Twin.
Santiago Herrero led all the way in the 250 event with the unorthodox framed Ossa (air cooled version). After a very slow start, Visenzi, on a brand new Yamaha, came up to 2nd place and tried hard to challenge the Spanish champion. But he was handicapped by the slower acceleration of his five-speed Twin compared to that of his rival’s six-speed Single.
Also on a Yamaha, Grassetti made the fastest lap early in the race but then suffered some misfiring and had to be content with 3rd place again ahead of Bergamonti’s Aermacchi. The best Ducati, straddled by Parlotti, after a flashy appearance in second berth inhaled a pebble with disastrous results.
In the 125, with world champion Simmonds’ Kawasaki Twin out of action after a collision with an Italian rider during the warm-up, and the new air-cooled Villa running off-song, it was possible for Aermacchi to repeat the Rimini success. Parlotti was soon out with ignition troubles, and the new winner was Bergamonti, who forced Walter Villa into 2nd place, while Bertarelli had the best of Mortimer, also on a Villa for 3rd place. Ringhini, on the new Morbidelli, again suffered a slow start but worked up to finish 5th.
Besides Ago’s triumphal march in the 500 with the M.V. Three, another noteworthy performance was the fine 2nd place win by Bertarelli on the Kawasaki three-cylinder. The Japanese machine rider was overtaken in the early stages by Pagani on the Linto but was back in the runner-up position following Alberto’s retirement due to a broken key in the electronic ignition generator spindle.
Another fine show came from newcomer Gallina, 3rd on a 1969 Paton. Although new mounts appeared in the 50, there was a repeat of the 1969 theme of Guazzoni-Tomos, with the Yugoslavian mount, straddled by Parlotti, getting the best.
