Report From Italy
REPORT FROM ITALY
CARLO PERELLI
A EXPECTED the the winner of the 18th "Valli Bergarnasche" came from the strong German contingent. Zündapp (last year’s winner) entered 10 machines divided in 50, 75. 100 and 125cc classes, Hercules (the Sachs-owned factory) entered 9 machines in 50, 98 and 175 classes. East Germany with their international six days trial winning 50 and 75cc Simson and 125. 175 and 250 MZ. All, of course twostroke machines. There were also two 730cc five-speed BMW twins which did not stand a chance due to the ridiculous time schedule that favored the smaller machines. They could only hope for some slight advantage in case of wet weather because of their superior traction. However the weather stayed perfectly dry and not even the 50cc riders had to foot in the more difficult sections.
No other country offered such a formidable challenge. The Italian industry has practically stopped taking active interest in trials. England, Spain and Czechoslovakia
were represented by good machinery such as Greeves, Bultaco, Jawa and CZ but all in the 125 and 250cc classes, also severely handicapped by the schedule in comparison to the 50. 75 and lOOcc mounts.
The name of the winner (if not the
country of origin) was a real surprise. Instead of one of the more experienced Zündapp or MZ riders, first man home was 23-year-old Heinz Brinkman on a 50cc Hercules. A newcomer to trials riding, this was his first major win. At any
rate, he did it in a great way: his su-
premacy was practically absolute and he was the only one to finish with no marks lost.
The “Valli Bergamasche,” considered tougher than other events, including the ISDT, is run in three days, each day divided in two stages. Brinkmann gained the lead in the first stage and no one could hold him after that. Only a crash or mechanical trouble could have put him out but he continued to show’ perfect riding skill while his 8 bhp, six-speed, Sachs 50cc-engined Hercules never faltered. Second place man, the German Gunter Sengfelder, rode a 50cc machine, the 8 bhp. five-speed Zündapp. He gained his position early in the trial and defended it brilliantly until the end, losing three marks. Two other Hercules riders, Rolf Witthof (lOOcc model) and Hans Trinker (50cc model) filled the next two places, both with four marks lost, hut Witthof was the best on bonus points gained in the special tests. Under the favorable weather conditions, it confirmed the small machine’s supremacy which lately has shown more improvement than the bigger models (while the speed .schedule has remained the same). With 8 bhp, a five-or six-speed gearbox, low weight, excellent handling, agility, these Zündappor Sach-engined 50cc
mounts are quite a match for any other bike in the most difficult sections! And the 75 (10 bhp) and the lOOcc (11 bhp) are also quite at ease against the bigger models. Best of the mediumweight class was East German Peter Uhlig (MZ 175), fifth with 9 marks lost, followed by Lorenz Muller (Hercules 175) with 13 marks lost, same point loss as Dutchman Eritz Shelling (Greeves Challenger 250) and Italian Carlo Moscheni (Moto Guzzi 250), but Muller won on bonus points.
The “Valli Bergamasche” also confirmed the two-stroke supremacy against the fourstroke, already quite noticeable in the scrambles field. Out of the 124 starters of 10 countries, 72 rode two-stroke machines and 52 rode four-stroke machines. Of the 58 finishers, only 17 four-strokes survived! In the manufacturers’ team contest, first was Greeves (Smith, Sharp, Selling) with 109 marks lost. Second CZ, 145 marks lost, third KTM from Austria with their Sachs-engined 50cc models. 176 marks lost, fourth Jawa 187 marks lost. Zündapp was 5th having lost one of its teamster in the first day; the same destiny was suffered by MZ which placed sixth. •
