West German Gp
WEST GERMAN GP
Rain, Fog And Freezing Temperatures Are Usually Enough To Postpone A Race.
HEINZ SCHNEIDER
SOAKED TO THE SKIN and frozen to the backbone, winners and losers stepped from their machines. This year’s West German GP, first of the world championships, was run in the worst conditions imaginable. The Nurburg Ring’s tortuous 14.2 rough mountain miles took more learning than the two practice sessions allowed. Pelting rain and a London-type fog reduced visibility to 50 yards at times, making riders negotiate the 150-odd curves more by memory than by vision.
Temperatures just above the freezing point caused a run for waterproof jackets, winter gloves and sheet metal to make extensions for this year’s really slim fairings. Last week’s Austrian GP with its equally bad conditions was not forgotten. Ginger Molloy, about to beat the newly-formed Fath-Munch team with his Kawasaki, had to abandon the chase, because his fingers had frozen so stiff he couldn’t hang on to his bike.
The organizers didn’t trouble to make life easier, as practice times weren’t taken during Friday’s session, making it necessary to take all times Saturday morning. If a rider broke down, he had to wait until some friendly person came along to give him a ride back to the pits, because there was no pick-up van provided. Siegfried Schauzu, last year’s German champion and rider of the most expensive outfit in GP racing, had to wait five hours before he could get his special off the track. And, adding insult to injury, the organizers were about to eliminate him for not being at the final inspection!
Formula and Salon cars not only gobbled up a good percentage of the start gold (riders argued over the sums previously agreed upon), but they also took the lion’s share of the practice time% dumping rubber and oil all over the tarmac. Since the Ring is a car track, it has steel guard rails along the tricky spots. These “man-slicers” claimed the life of Rob Fitton, fastest of the Norton riders, during practice on Saturday.
While waiting for the start of the 50 race, a car went around the track and wired up the loudspeakers . . . just the thing to do at GP time. One may consider the “tiddlers” a waste of time, but chasing one of these 100-mph-plus Singles around three laps of the twisty circuit really takes a man.
World record breaker Rudi Kunz on his Kreidler made use of his superior knowledge of the track and led through the first lap, until world champion Angel Nieto took over on his Derbi, never to be challenged again. His teammate, Salvatore Canellas, crashed during the first few miles and eventually wound up 4th without the benefit of his windscreen. Italian fast starter and daredevil on the crude Yugoslavian Tomos, Gilberto Parlotti, tried hard to catch Kunz, but had to content himself with 3rd.
Morbidelli, the Italian newcomer factory to title racing, had a bike ridden by Eugenio Lazzarini place 5th, but an even stranger sight was one of the Honda 50 CR 110 models in 6th place. The purring four-stroke wasn’t even a winner when it was introduced in 1964! Last year’s title chasers, the Dutch Jamathi team, with riders Aalt Toersen and Martin Mywaart, did not shine due to insufficient knowledge of the course. The Dutch van Veen Kreidler team didn’t figure into the results either.
THE 350 CONTEST
Also squeezed in on Saturday afternoon was the 350 race, which was reduced from seven to six laps. It was a qualifying day, and some riders had done 12 laps in the morning. Phil Read, still not completely fit after his Rimini crash, was missing from the grid when he decided it was too wet and cold for racing.
Agostini, now in his seventh year of GP racing, and his sixth on MV, showed that it is not only the bike that makes him king. With his face covered with something quickly knitted from wool, plaster on his nose and a jacket over his leathers, he showed no sign of fatigue as he pulled out 40 sec. from the pack on Lap 1 and eventually stretched his lead to three minutes by the end of the race. This golden boy can look like a film star when he wants to, but he is a racer from flag to flag.
Veteran Jack Findlay, who was suffering from a toothache, ground to a halt with a broken rear wheel bearing, and Rod Gould, also on a Yamaha, retired after one lap.
The ambulances which permanently circled the circuit were barely visible in the mist, and the numbers of the leaders flashing from the Dunlop tower were invisible to the spectators. Bohumil Stasa, the young Czech on the complicated CZ four-stroke Four, was well in the running during the early laps, but crashed while braking for a turn.
Kel Carruthers pressed on, riding the Benelli that Renso Pasolini was to have ridden until he crashed while practicing, injuring himself too badly to ride.
Kent Andersson of Sweden (Yamaha) and Silvio Grassetti of Italy (Jawa) missed a chance for points at this first world championship event due to injuries they received the week before in Austria. Dieter Braun who would have ridden an MZ was put out by a crash during a practice.
Alan Barnett chased Carruthers over half the distance on his Seeley but was robbed of finishing by a defective spark plug. The new Norton Manx, built by John Tickle and ridden by Godfrey Nash, retired with faulty shocks. Young Charles Mortimer, who was raised on British short circuits, flew through the mist on his Yamaha and beat Karl Hoppe, the first native home, to the flag by over half a minute!
250 CLASS
Life wasn’t any easier for the racers on Sunday morning. The start of the 250 was postponed, and Phil Read organized a group of riders to inspect the track to decide whether to ride at all. Then, many-time world sidecar champ Max Deubel, acting as the organizers’ representative, toured the ring and decided to start the race.
Off they went, but the retirements came quickly. Wilhelm Atterer, a German privateer on a homebuilt disc-valve Twin led the first lap, but didn’t come around again. Rod Gould dropped out while running in 3rd place and Santiago Herrero, on the single-cylinder Ossa, stopped before the end of the first lap while leading Phil Read.
Borje Jansson narrowly led Kel Carruthers and Phil Read over the line at the end of the first lap, and they were followed by Charles Mortimer and Klaus Huber, all on Yamahas. Far back and not on the leader board, the lone American rider, Marty Lunde, was having a three-cornered fight with exworks Honda rider Tommy Robb (Bultaco) and the new GP rider for MZ, Gunther Bartusch. Former MZ works rider Heinz Rosner retired.
Phil Read finally went out with gearbox trouble and Jansson was thrown off his Yamaha. Undisturbed by the atrocious riding conditions, hard riding Kel Carruthers increased his lead and bagged his first points to defend his 1969 title.
Klaus Huber and Charles Mortimer rode the last lap separated by only yards as the fog became thicker and thicker. Klaus got 2nd by a bike length, with Yamahas taking the first eight places.
125 FOR AERMACCHI
The bridesmaids finally had their chance in the 125 race, after world champion Dave Simmonds’ Kawasaki stopped in the rain and second fastest man Dieter Braun retired. Walter Scheimann, the seasoned Continental Circus ace, led the first lap with his Villa, which is now more a Scheimann special. Hungarian privateer Laszlo Szabo on his MZ, who has also been searching for that elusive GP win during his long career, followed in 2nd position. Scheimann dropped his machine on a patch of oil and rubber left by the cars, which is surely one of the greatest disappointments an aging GP rider can experience. But the gremlins got to Laszlo, too, as a plug fouled a mere half a lap from the end, robbing him and MZ of a long overdue victory.
Out of the mist, Australian Johnny Dodds, a 500 rider, came into the win on his second-string model, an Aermacchi two-stroke Single. Heinz Kriwanek, the Austrian with his backyard Rotax special, finished 2nd, with German champion Walter Sommer taking 3rd on a Yamaha.
AGO WINS 500
It was a banger’s procession, led by Agostini’s MV Three and the expensive Lintos far behind or sidelined with mechanical problems. Alan Barnett held 2nd from flag to flag on a Seeley and was followed home by Tommy Robb, also on a Seeley.
The German Munch-URS team, backed by American money, failed to live up to expectations. Karl Hoppe, the experienced 48-year-old, managed a 4th, but only on the long straights could he pull away from Ginger Molloy’s 360 Bultaco Single. Ginger decided not to ride his Kawasaki Three, because he reckoned the speed of his Bultaco would be enough for the twisty circuit.
Swiss Walter Rungg, holder of the European hillclimb title, followed Ginger with an Aermacchi, but he was chased the entire distance by Finnish rider Martti Pesonen on a Yamaha which is said to displace 354cc. One wonders where such pistons are available!
German multi-champion Ernst Hiller (a BMW rider of the late Fifties) surprised everyone by coming out of long years of retirement with a brand new Kawasaki and finishing 8th, ahead of Billie Nelson’s Paton and a Drixl-Honda, ridden by Australian Terry Dennehy. Nine different makes of bikes filled the first 10 places, followed by the Lintos of Gyula Marsovszky and Heinz Rosenbusch.
SIDECAR CLASS
Georg Auerbacher’s 1970 shortstroke engine blew in the first practice session, and since there is only one engine like it in existence, Georg had to run last year’s motor. His outfit broke its frame in the race, but Georg held on to win the event when his competition was hit even harder.
Helmut Fath, on his Munch-URS special, was sidelined by a bad coil, but the outfit was really not his best. A beautiful racer is being built for him by Swiss CAT maker Rudi Kurth, but no one knows when it will be raced. The Munch-Fath teams seem to have split up after rows on bad preparation.
Last year’s title holder, Klaus Enders, was put out by a faulty magneto, and the special engine of Siegfried Schauzu seized directly on the line, just one lap short of the end. It is a four-valve engine, now with only one carburetor per cylinder and a central bearing for the crankshaft.
So, Heinz Luthringshausen finished 2nd, with little-known Richard Wegener following in 3rd spot. Tony Wakefield, one of the Pip Harris group from England, had his first GP success with a 4th.
Driving an ultra-low CAT with a Swedish Crescent motor, Rudi Kurth was put out on the last lap with a blown engine. This lightweight design (one of the few outfits that can do without a steering damper) deserves a top line engine tuner. It will be a winner before long. m
