Race Watch

RACE WATCH

Mamola Leads the Grand Prix, Glover's in Front in 500 MX, Penhall Wins World Speedway Qualifier and America Loses to England in the Match Races

MAMOLA LEADS GRAND PRIX POINTS

"I was sure I could smell smoke," said Kenny Roberts, "There were still three laps to go and I thought the rear tire was down to the cords. The bike began to move around on the straightaway." Kenny kept going to win the 500cc Italian Grand Prix and took the 15 points that put him on top of the World Championship table after three rounds.

With no 500cc race in Argentina, (where the 125, 250 and 350cc classes started their racing year), the first 500 race was in Austria at the 2.64-mi. Salz burgring, nestled in the Bavarian moun tains. Yamaha unveiled its masterpiece of winter development work in the form of a brand new, disc valve square Four with the same exhaust valves that had made the piston ported, across-the-frame Four powerful enough to win Kenny Roberts three World Championships.

Suzuki had not been silent during the winter but knowing that the disc valve square Four was the best machine in its class at the end of 1980 had been content to refine it rather than tamper with any thing new. The `81 machine was just what Randy Mamola had asked for. "In the past I have always had to alter bikes to fit me so when Suzuki asked Crosby and me what we wanted them to do to the bikes during the winter I asked them just to make the same thing smaller and to tailor it to me," said Mamola.

The new Suzuki RG500 Gamma is smaller, lighter, narrower and more powerful than its forerunner and, at an early season international meeting at Do nington Park in England, Mamola and teammate Graeme Crosby destroyed the opposition. The opposition included Roberts and Barry Sheene, both on the 1981 across the frame four cylinder power valve works Yamahas that were thought to be their bikes for the Grand Prix season. That was until Yamaha drew their trump card in Austria.

Things began to go wrong for Roberts when he dropped the new machine heav ily in practice. "The power characteris tics of the new engine are very different and the weight distribution is also new," said Roberts. "The bike felt as though it was trying to high side me coming out of the corners, but I pressed a bit harder and it did." Kenny was not seriously hurt. The bike was a bit of a mess but repairable. Mamola had also crashed in practice and took a good bit of skin off the fingers of his left hand, the resulting pain and swelling added to earlier injuries. (He al ways had a stiff and painful right wrist from a fall at a pre-GP season international).

When the race started Crosby lead from pole position but was soon passed by Mamola and Italian works Suzuki rider Marco Lucchinelli. Mamola was con centrating hard on his riding and ignoring the pain. Roberts knew his chances were over after a few laps. The rear suspension unit failed and he slipped down the field and retired. Lucchinelli was pressing Mamola hard but overdid it and crashed, unhurt, into the catch fence.

Mamola cruised on to a convincing vic tory backed up by Crosby and Japanese Suzuki test rider and occasional Grand Prix campaigner Hiroyuki Kawasaki. They made it a clean sweep for the

Suzuki RG Gamma but oven with the victory trophy and the championship points firmly in his grasp Mamola had seen enough of the new disc valve Ya maha to know that, with Kenny Roberts aboard, it was going to be a formidable weapon to war against for the rest of the season.

The following weekend the circus moved to the Hockenheimring in West Germany, a 4.21-mi. circuit with a dra matic stadium area in which most of the knee scraping action takes place. Prac tice was inconclusive and the race quickly became a three-cornered fight between Roberts, Mamola and Luc chinelli. Crosby, again fastest in practice, was forced to drop back with gear change trouble. The leading three swapped places throughout the 80-mi. race and Mamola knew it would all hang on the last lap and one corner in particular. "I knew I had a one-shot chance to win the race," Mamola said. "I had to pass Kenny going into the right hander that enters the stadium on the last lap."

That place was Mamola's last chance because the Yamaha was faster down the straight than the Suzuki. But Kenny was having a lot of trouble controlling his bike under braking and the corner in question is at the end of the last straight, with only two more tight corners before the finish.>

Mamola recounted the last lap, “I drafted Lucchinelli who was second behind Kenny and was going to pull out and pass both of them at the end of the straight. But Marco pulled out as well and it fouled things up for me. I had missed my chance and though I got past Lucchinelli, there was no way to overtake Kenny before the finish.”

One week later was the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Lucchinelli headed the practice leaderboard by a mere 0.02 sec. from Mamola, with Roberts 0.10 sec. behind. Kenny was still experiencing handling problems with the Yamaha and it was clearly to be a hard race, especially with Lucchinelli riding in front of his own crowd. As the time for the 500 race approached, the track was wet from sporadic rain and overcast skies threatened more. Returning from the warm-up lap, Roberts elected to change from intermediate tires to full wets on the grid. Mamola was in bigger trouble: the bike had seized as he returned to the grid, but had then freed. The mechanics were helpless to effect any kind of repair and just had to cross their fingers and hope that the bike would run.

Mamola’s teammate, Crosby, shot away from the start line first and the pack followed in a cloud of spray. Crosby was near to falling at the second chicane on the slippery surface and it was Roberts who led at the end of the first lap. The worst fears of the Suzuki team came true: Mamola cruised back into the pits, his bike having seized again. Lucchinelli was also in trouble with his machine running intermittently on three cylinders. Roberts gradually increased his advantage over Crosby and Sheene, who were fighting for second, and won easily. As the track began to dry, Roberts feared that his rear tire would give out, but in fact there was rubber enough for a few laps more when the team checked it after the race.

Roberts was back on top of the championship table as the 500 class lined up for the fourth race in so many weekends at the 3.62-mi. Paul Ricard circuit in Southern France. The 1-mi. straight was expected to give Roberts an advantage on the super-fast, square Four Yamaha. For the first time Yamaha had produced a second square Four for Barry Sheene, who had been steadily amassing points on his older, across-the-frame Four. From the start it looked as if it would be a Yamahadominated race. Roberts and Sheene shot away from the line and changed places as they pulled away from Mamola and Crosby. Only Lucchinelli could stay with them, as both Mamola’s and Crosby’s machines were badly overjetted and could hardly pull away from the slower corners. All was not well with the two works Yamahas, though. Kenny for one had tire problems: “The rear end begin to slide badly as I accelerated onto the straight. I thought maybe it hadn’t really got it warm enough, and decided to wait for it. But in fact it was already wrecked, and when Lucchinelli tried to get away from us, there was nothing I could do.” Sheene was having similar problems with his Michelins and as the Goodyear-shod Roberts slipped back, Mamola and Crosby, both using Dunlops, began to learn to live with their troubles and overhauled the works Yamahas.

Lucchinelli, himself using Michelins, was well in front at the finish and in the closing laps, Mamola and Crosby grabbed second and third, with Sheene fourth and Roberts fifth. At the end of the race, Mamola moved back to the front of the championship table with 39 points to Roberts’ 36. But with seven rounds to go, the championship is still wide open.

Grand Prix racing isn’t only about the 500cc class. And Eddie Lawson and Richard Schlachter made their Grand Prix debuts in the 250cc race at Hockenheim. Lawson retired with a broken main bearing in his works Kawasaki, but Schlachter acquitted himself exceptionally well by finishing sixth on his Kevin Camerontuned TZ250 Yamaha. Lawson crashed at Monza and found his machine too slow at Paul Ricard but Schlachter has landed on his feet in Grand Prix racing. At Paul Ricard he stood in second place on the grid between the works Kawasakis of World Champion Anton Mang, and JeanFrancois Balde: a tremendous achievement on a production TZ250. Frustratingly, his throttle slide stuck open and Schlachter was forced to retire after a couple of laps.

At the Spanish Grand Prix, around the^ twisty 2.11 mi. Jarama circuit near" Madrid, Schlachter set the 250cc race alight with a shattering ride from being last off the line to finish fourth over 3J laps. Richard is determined that he will win a Grand Prix before long, and he^ looks well capable of it. He will be only the fourth American to do so, and seem£ destined to join Mamola and Roberts at the very top of Grand Prix racing.

—Peter Clifford

GLOVER LEADS AT 500cc MX

Former three-time AMA 125cc National Motocross Champion Broc Glover switched to the 500cc class and surprised everyone with convincing wins dt all four motos in the first two races of the season. The factory Yamaha rider hasn’t been without any opposition, however.^ After running away with the first moto win at the first race on a hilly sand track at Southwick, Massachusetts, Glover found himself trading the lead back and fortlf almost the entire second moto with teammate Mike Bell. A faded rear shock put Bell on his head and Glover into the winner’s circle. The next week at the hardpacked and dusty Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania, course it was reigning 500cc National Champion Chuck Sun who held off Glover most of the first moto before Glover was finally able to work his way past the Hon* da star and rack up another win. Team Kawasaki's Goat Breker placed second overall for the day ahead of Sun who turned in a relatively poor seventh place showing the second moto.

The factory open class bikes are very interesting this season, and with the except tion of Suzuki’s RN 465-81, all are right at the 500cc limit of maximum displacement and employ four-speed gearboxes. Yamaha’s 495cc OW is the technological leader with its new five-point linkage rear suspension design and a motor designed for watercooling and employing Powei;

Valve exhaust port and YE1S induction system. Early pre-season testing in Europe found the heavier watercooling system wasn’t needed. On rough tracks both Glover and Bell complain of shock fade with their Yamaha-built monoshocks.

Goat Breker’s Kawasaki KX 499 SR is ►the cleanest-looking of the works bikes, and probably the lightest thanks to such goodies as a hydraulic operated front disc brake. The bike employs the revised UniTrak system which has a full-frame-width rocker arm assembly similar to Suzuki’s Full-Floater, while the shock chores on all the American Team Kawasakis are handled by either Kayaba or the new Fox Factory Twin-Clicker units.

In the 250cc National class Rhinestone Cowboy Kent Howerton of Team Suzuki continues to dominate with just two race meetings left. That isn’t to say the winning has been easy for Howerton who continues to find himself engaged in knock-down, drag-out battles with Yamaha’s Bob Hannah in at least one moto each weekend. At Mt. Morris the two actually succeeded in knocking each other down in a clump of bikes and bodies during their weekly fight for the lead. Hannah recovered first to get away out front, but Howerton quickly reeled him back in to repass and capture the overall win for the fourth race in a row. Hannah is as fast as Howerton at times, but lacks the smoothness, consistency and confidence to take the title away from Howerton. Honda’s Donnie Hansen holds down third in the points standings ahead of Kawasaki's Warren Reid and top non-factory rider in the series, Moto-X Fox rider David Bailey.

—Jim Gianatsis

PENHALL TOPS SPEEDWAY QUALIFIER

Eighteen of America’s top speedway riders met on the floor of the Los Angeles Coliseum to select four qualifiers for the World Championship final.

Far and away the top rider of the night was current National Champ Bruce Penball, who won all five of his races to earn a perfect 15-point total. Only Dennis Sígalos ever led Penhall, and then it was only for a lap before Penhall got under-> neath and was first onto the backstraight from the second corner of the 427-yard track.

After being passed by Penhall, Sígalos dropped to third with a holed piston on the last lap. He’d won his first event, and following the mechanical gremlins, he raced his back-up bike to win his three remaining heats, totaling 13 points.

Kelly Moran also compiled a 13-point score, winning three times and placing second twice, once to Penhall and once to Sígalos. In a run-off held after the end of the regulation events, Sígalos beat Moran out of the gate and ran away with it, taking the second-place prize money.

The battle for the last qualifying spot was the highlight of evening in terms of excitement and intensity. Four riders — Scott Autrey, Shawn Moran, Dennis Pyeatt and Alan Christian—ended the night tied at 10 points. Of the four, Christian was the only U.S.-based rider. All of the other top riders of the night compete in the prestigous British League, facing the world’s best several times a week.

In the run-off for fourth, Autrey drew the outside starting position, which had produced only four winners all evening. But the veteran rider got the jump off ths line and led to the finish, securing the last berth.

“I was really happy to get it over with,” said Penhall later. “It’s tough when they only take the top four. In the next two rounds they take 10 or 11, so they should be a little easier.”

The second goal of the evening was to qualify the specially-constructed Coliseum track to host the 1982 World Championship Final, which would mark the first time that event has been staged outside of Europe in its 45-year history.

Federation Internationale Motocicliste (FIM) officials were on hand to observe the race, and a special three-race series involving top international riders who will “judge” the track and report to the FIM, was held.

In the international race series, the crowd was on its feet as former American champ Mike Bast won two of three in front of Australia’s Billy Sanders, England’s John Davis and Poland’s Zenon Plech.

—Dale Brown/Cycle News

BRITS SMOKE YANKS IN MATCH RACES

After two convincing American victories in the last two Transatlantic Trophy meetings, the visitors to Britain were confidant of continued success before the three round, six race series started at Brands Hatch, in Kent, England.

Their buoyant mood was unaffected by the absence of Kenny Roberts who was testing his Grand Prix machines at the Salzburgring in Austria. The USA was also missing Mike Baldwin and Dave Aldana who were committed to Honda’s endurance program and were at the Le Mans 24-hour race in France that weekend.

The first race reinforced American feelings: Randy Mamola led from the line on his RG500 Suzuki. England’s captain, Graham Wood, locked on behind Mamola, hoping to repeat his 1980 result when, at the close of the season he had won two races on one weekend, beating Mamola on both occasions. This time, however, Wood was overexuberant and crashed in spectacular style.

Randy then came under attack from England’s team captain, Barry Sheene, but the young Californian maintained his lightening pace and Sheene soon faded with rear tire problems, eventually dropping back to finish seventh. Hardest rid-> ing man in the race was Richard Schlachter who shot through the field from a poor start to finish second. He took \vith him the U.S. captain, Dale Singleton, making it an American one-twothree. Britain packed the midfield places though, giving the U.S. only a two-point •lead for the race.

A disappointing absentee from the first race was Freddie Spencer whose production RG500 Mark VI could not be repaired in time after it broke a main bearing in practice. He fared little better in the second race when a main bearing -oil seal blew and he became the first retirement.

Mamola’s RG was in better shape and was a good deal faster, being one of the ■Í980 Grand Prix 500s. The 1981 machines were not being used for the Easter series but were being saved for the World .Championship Grand Prix season ahead.

Mamola again dominated the second race with Schlachter second, although this time the rider from Connecticut tame under severe pressure from Britain’s Dave Potter. Sheene retired from the race when his right clip-on snapped off and he was lucky not to have crashed. This time Britain came out on top with enough points to give them a first round lead of 139 to 132.

“No problem,” said Mamola, after the meeting. But for once the British were «well organized with the Americans suffering from hastily prepared machinery. Wes Cooley was riding a 7 50 Yamaha borrowed from English sponsor, George Beale, and Freddie Spencer had never ridden an RG500 Suzuki before.

The British were fed up with being defeated by a group of riders coming from afar, some to see the circuits for the first time, and yet to be beaten as home circuit specialists. For once, the easy-going British temperament was ruffled and the popular English tuner-sponsor, Ted Broad, was brought in as team manager and coaxed his team into concerted effort.

As the 16 riders lined up for the third race at Mallory Park on Sunday, Mamola had the added incentive of knowing that he was on course for the £10,000 bonus offered by the series sponsor, Marlboro, to the rider who might win all six races. As off-chance as such a thing might be, Marlboro had bought an insurance policy to cover such an eventuality.

Mamola’s chances of the cash bonus, and America’s chances of redressing their points deficit, disappeared as the riders left the grid. Britain’s John Newbold collided with Mamola. The clash of fairings could easily have proved fatal for Mamola for, though he saw something fall from his bike, it wasn’t until he ar-> rived at the end of the 130 mph straight leading to the Esses that he grabbed fresh air and realized that his front brake lever was missing. Lesser men than Mamola would have crashed but he managed to get the bike round the first bend and then cruised to the pits.

The race turned out to be a feast for four-stroke fans, who saw Ron Haslam on the works Formula One Honda win from John Newbold on his Yoshimura FI Suzuki. Schlachter was brilliant again, finishing third.

There was no stopping Mamola in the second race of the day: he demonstrated his superiority by leading throughout. Freddie Spencer began to hit form and added a second place to his fourth in the first race. But again Britain had grabbed the bulk of the midfield places and with Nicky Richichi crashing for the second time in the weekend (he had also fallen at Brands Hatch) the points margin was extended.

On Easter Monday, the circus moved north to Oulton Park and any chance the visiting team might have had to level the score collapsed when their top scorers, Mamola and Schlachter, crashed without serious injury. Mamola fell in the first race as he touched Dale Singleton’s rear wheel. Schlachter was forced to drop his machine to avoid the fallen Suzuki star.

America’s problems were compounded when Spencer retired while hounding Britain’s Roger Marshall for the lead. Singleton was left to take hold of the Stars and Stripes and fly it among the Union Jacks of Sheene, Potter, Wood and Newbold. The next American home was in 10th place and the USA had lost the series even before the last race began.

With their machines damaged beyond instant repair, Mamola and Schlachter were absent from the last race. Singleton and Spencer had their backs to the wall and did a superb job of holding off the jubilant British. Only Potter could get past them and he had to oust Singleton who seemed determined to win his first race in Britain.

It was not to be, for Potter crossed the line first, followed by Singleton and then Spencer. Again, Britain packed the midfield with the next Americans being John Long and Wes Cooley in eighth and ninth respectively.

Dale Singleton’s impressive Oulton Park performances added to his earlier consistency and put him on top of the American scoring list. When Kenny Roberts heard of his country’s defeat, he left the British press in no doubt that he intended to return in 1982 and lead an American team to victory once again, g]

— Peter Clifford