The Suzuka Gp
THE SUZUKA GP
RACE WATCH
RON LAWSON
Japan celebrates the start of the roadrace GP season as only Japan can
KEN FRANKEL
THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS AN unimportant roadrace GP; just ask any would-be champion who missed the title by a handful of points. There are important GPs and more-important GPs. And then there is the most-important GP, which, this year, might have been the Japanese GP held on the famed Suzuka Circuit.
To the racers, the Japanese GP was vital because it was the first GP of 1987, potentially setting the stage for the rest of the season. For the factories, it was a preview, a measurement of how much return they had earned from between-season development work. And for the nation of Japan, it was the first GP to be held in their land in over 20 years, a ceremonial coming of age, if you will, in international motosports.
And the nation responded as only Japan could: with a frenzied level of spectator interest, a festive atmosphere, near-perfect course preparation, excellent paddock facilities and accomodations, and, of course, the funding of the event. Sponsorship for riders reached an all-time high at Suzuka, with 21 riders on works bikes. So, after a 20-year lapse, the Japanese felt they had once again been recognized by the FIM—and the racers—as being worthy to host the opening GP of the year.
The Japanese had hosted five GP events in the past, between 1963 and 1967. Japanese riders had won 29 GP races between 1949 and 1986. compared with America’s 78 victories and Italy's astounding 381. Following the earlier success of Takazumi Katayama in Europe, all Japan was ready to cheer for the new national hero, and lap-record holder at Suzuka, Tadahiko Taira of Giacomo Agostini’s Marlboro-sponsored Yamaha team.
But, to the dismay of the crowd, Taira’s 500cc lap record of 1986—2 minutes, 20.218 seconds —was quickly broken by Honda-mounted Scotsman Niall Mackenzie with a qualification lap of 2.14.433. And even though Taira himself lowered his personal best to 2.15.396 under pressure, he was still only fifth on the start grid behind Mackenzie, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Gardner, and fellow countryman Shunji Yatsushiro.
And Freddie Spencer? After coming to Suzuka and practicing in pain, he was out of the race on medical advice, due to the Daytona practice crash that left him with an injured right shoulder just three weeks prior to Suzuka. Spencer's season would not begin until the Spanish GP at the end of April.
Despite all the pre-race anticipation, though, the race itself turned out to be somewhat disappointing for anyone expecting a season-opening preview of things to come. The culprit was the weather, which was cool and dry for practice, but cold and wet for the race. Randy Mamola was the runaway winner on his Team Lucky Strike Roberts Yamaha, putting on a spectacular show of sliding and derring-do on the drenched course. And overall, the event was a graphic display of riding ability and survival under horrible conditions. But it was practice that provided the only truly meaningful glimpse of the season to come.
One of the most important of those glimpses was the battle of power and handling between the championship YZR500 Yamaha and Honda's newgeneration NSR500, as redesigned through Wayne Gardner’s 1986-season feedback. All last year, the Yamaha had been easier to ride, especially in its steering and quick, power-to-the-ground exits from tight corners, as well as with its higher and more quickly attained top speed. The racers, the press and the spectators all agreed last year: The Yamaha was the better machine.
And that made Eddie Lawson uncomfortable. Lawson said he feared that Honda was not going to sit still for that kind of single-sided domination, and he was right. For as the bikes did their practice laps at Suzuka, it quickly became apparent that Honda had done its homework well. The new NSR500 had improved steering, a stronger frame, a more-forward engine placement, more mid-range power and more top speed.
It was the latter which really had the Lawson team depressed. Even Randy Mamola, from his wet winner’s podium, loudly announced that Yamaha would have to go back to the Iwata factory’s race department during the next month in quest of more top speed if they were to have a chance during the 15 remaining races in the season.
Mamola’s race wasn't won on top speed, but on his uncanny knack for pushing the front end on the Dunlop rain tires and riding with his knee to the ground in the wet. At the first corner, Jim Doyle, Mamola’s manager, declared “I don’t even want to watch this.”
Another new racebike that attracted almost as much attention as the Yamaha and the Honda was the Suzuki RGV500 V-Four XR72. The new machine was hardly trouble-free at Suzuka—water in the electrical system caused headaches for English Superbike Champion Kenny Irons and former Japanese champion Masaru Mizutani. Face was saved, however, when Takumi Ito managed to get the RGV into the top three by the end of the race. His finish came courtesy of Mike Baldwin and Ron Haslam, who took turns crashing out of contention. And the Suzuki again proved itself three weeks later when Mizutani won a Japanese national. The bike is still under development by Suzuki and the Heron Suzuki Great Britain team, and seems certain to show increasing potential throughout the season.
The other expected battle was in the tire department, with Michelins, the current hallmarks of motorcycle roadracing, going sidewall-to-sidewall with the new Sumitomo/Dunlop R&D gumballs. While almost everyone was using Michelin radiais, the Kenny Roberts team of Randy Mamola and Mike Baldwin was on new Dunlops. Roberts’ bikes had bias and radial front tires available, depending on track conditions—bias if cool and radial if hot—both of which were developed by Dunlop England. But the really big news was the new Sumitomo/Dunlop rear radial, which was rumored to have helped Mamola lap the Yamaha test course two seconds faster than anything else. Reportedly, Taira also had set a Yamaha test-course lap record with the Dunlop rear tire.
This Roberts-Dunlop connection was the result of Roberts cashing in on his long-time relationship with Dunlop. He wanted to provide his team riders with the advantage they would need to defeat the other Yamaha factory bikes. But this turned out to be a battle that awaits another day, probably in Jerez, Spain, because the race-day rain at Suzuki forced everyone to switch to untested rain tires. And in those conditions, the old tried-and-true Dunlops were the best.
And as it turned out, those rain tires were the determining factor at Suzuka. Mamola and his Dunlops took the lead halfway though the opening lap and never looked back. Eddie Lawson had massive tire trouble on the first lap, running off the track, bumping a guard rail and finally returning to the pits for different rubber. By the eighth lap, he had pulled out of the race. And by lap 14, many of the top riders had fallen as the rain began to pour heavier and heavier. Wayne Gardner was one of the few riders who seemed able to stay upright, but he couldn’t match Mamola’s pace. By the end of the race, the only true world-championship contenders who survived to finish in the top 10 were Mamola in first, Gardner in second, Ron Haslam in fifth and Taira in seventh.
As for the rest of the season, it is shaping up to be one of the toughest and most competitive in GP history, as seemingly more riders than ever before are on top factory equipment. Young riders are coming on stronger than ever, while many of the proven winners, like Lawson and Spencer, will have to work their way up after scoring no points at Suzuka. In their favor, the season is going to be very long, with more races than in any year in recent history.
Yamaha not only has two-time World Champion Lawson from Marlboro Team Agostini, and Mamola and Baldwin of Team Luckv
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Strike Roberts, but also a strong back-up team with Rob McElnea, Christian Sarron and Tadahiko Taira going for the gold and silver.
Honda will also be at the front of the line for victory circle champagne with Wayne Gardner of the Rothmans team, Niall Mackenzie riding for HB, and Honda Racing’s own Freddie Spencer at the top. Honda’s second-string troops include Ron Haslam, Shunji Yatsushiro, Pier Francesco Chili and Roger Burnett.
None of these contenders can be counted out, but there are six riders among the names on those two lists who stand the very best chance of taking the championship. Certainly, no one knows exactly how the bikes will develop during the course of the season, but at the present time it looks as though Honda is the bestprepared. It's going to be a long season, with the points leader changing most likely after each round. And the championship probably won't be decided until the last race or two of the season.
But if you’re a gambling man, and your bookie is crying for an up-front bet on who the next 500 world champion will be, based on nothing but the first GP, we’ll pass a secret along—as long as you promise not to tell.
The insiders are going for Gardner in the stretch.
