Cycle World Race Watch
CYCLE WORLD RACE WATCH
Lawson’s triumphs, Spencer’s troubles
Freddie Spencer may have used up all his good luck last year when he wrestled the 500cc World Roadracing Championship away from Kenny Roberts. This year his luck has been nothing but sour.
Before the ’84 season started, roadrace wags had Spencer as the shoein for another title. They forgot about Eddie Lawson, last year’s fourth-place finisher.
So far this year Lawson has guided his OW Yamaha to wins in three of the four races, finished second in the other and holds a 20-point advantage over Trench Honda rider Raymond Roche. A down-on-luck Spencer is in third place, 30 points behind Lawson. As noted in previous Race Watch reports, Spencer's season started off badly in South Africa, where a practice crash sidelined him.
He won in Italy, but didn’t make the Spanish GP due to leg injuries suffered in a crash at the Transatlantic Match Races. In Austria, both Lawson and Spencer were on the track, with Lawson anxious to show that his point lead wasn’t totally due to Spencer’s bad fortunes. He romped to the win, almost a half-minute ahead of Spencer. Randy Mamola, riding a semi-works Honda, was running in second on the last lap but slowed dramatically—that he did so on team orders was later denied allowing Spencer to take over second.
With eight races still to go in the GP season, it’s too early to say that Lawson has things sewn up, but one thing is certain: Lor Spencer to catch up, he’ll have to put together a string of flawless rides. And hope that some of his bad luck rubs off on Lawson.
Harley/Honda war continues
Things are getting pretty lively on the Camel Pro series these days.
Team Honda’s Bubba Shobert pulled off a double when he won the fifth and sixth dirt-track races of the season, the back-to-back San Jose Short Track and Mile. The wins gave Honda a five-outof-six win record; and Shobert’s impressive performance on the mile track further cemented the opinion that the Japanese bikes were at last on equal performance terms with the HarleyDavidson XR750. In fact, Shobert later 'Said that the higher-revving, four-valve RS Hondas were pumping out more power than the Harleys he didn’t want to divulge just how much more but that the torquier, two-valve Harleys were easier to ride.
The Harley-Davidsons may have been «asier to ride, but they still needed a little outside assistance to win the next Camel Pro race, the Ascot Half-Mile. Harley fans’ spirits were raised when Scott Parker blasted his factory XR750 to the best qualifying time, but in the race it was Ricky Graham on a Honda -up front, with Parker in a close, but non-threatening, second.
At least until the race was redflagged with just three laps to go because of a crash. During the intermission, both Graham and Parker felt the race should be called official,
Çhat running a three-lap dash to determine the winner was unfair.
Yet, AMA officials decided to the crowd’s applause that the racers should line up single-file and race the remaining laps.
From his lead position, Graham managed to stay in front on the restart, but shot too high in turn two. Parker got in /ront of Graham, and, despite repeated pass attempts by Graham, Parker took the win by about a wheel-length.
Even without the victory, Graham took over the lead in the point standings, ahead of four other factory riders. Team Harley’s Randy Goss was in second, five points back, Parker was third, eight points back, and next came Team Honda riders Shobert and Doug Chandler, with 13and 17-point deficits.
Race Watch Calendar 1984
