Iron Curtain Classics
IRON CURTAIN CLASSICS
East German & Czechoslovakian Grands Prix.
BY HEINZ SCHNEIDER
EAST GERMAN GRAND PRIX
OLD-TIME, rough road-racing was featured in the two world-championship events held behind the Iron Curtain at Sachsenring (East Germany) and Brno (Czechoslovakia) for classic capacities of 125, 250, 350 and 500cc solos. Both courses are made up of first-class roads by eastern standards, but would be regarded as secondary roads by a western motorist. While modern special tracks as Hockenheim or Assen give one a chance to throw the bike away on a wide grass verge when control is lost, all a rider can do on these historic roads is hope that he doesn't hit a ditch, lamp post, or house. For the hard-bitten Continental Circus man, however, these races provide an opportunity to pit experience, nerves and thoroughbred framework against the cultivated riding technique of short-circuit stars. To the minds of many riders, these two places, plus Belgian Spa and the British TT, are the only circuits on which to hold a Grand Prix.
Both big Hondas, ridden by Mike Hailwood, struck trouble on the 5.4-mile-long Sachsenring, and as gossip had it, valvegear trouble was responsible for his retirements in the 350 and 500cc classes. Giacomo Agostini on the MV-three won the 350 class, but bungled his chance to extend this lead over Jim Redman, out of action at least until the Finnish Grand Prix. Ago dropped his bike with little more than a lap to do in the 500cc event. Reasons were not given, but apparently he was enjoying his lead so much that he got a bit reckless.
With the super-stars retired, old Frantisek Stastny on his 440cc Jawa twin scored a surprise victory. Mike Hailwood on the Honda six scored an easy win over Phil Read's Yamaha in the 250cc class and Luigi Taveri (Honda five) got well ahead on points of his closest championship rival Bill Ivy, winning the 125cc race from Yoshimi Katayama and Ivy.
125cc RACE
Little Bill Ivy got ahead of the 40 starters in the opening event of smallest capacity bikes, closely followed by Suzuki’s Hugh Anderson, who had nipped through from second row, and the New Zealander's teammate, Frank Perris. Fastest practicer Luigi Taveri did not get his Honda five firing at the first attempt and set off in pursuit somewhere in the thick field of quick, private MZs. At Badberg curve, in the town of Hohenstein-Ernstthal, a mile from the start, Phil Read on the second Yamaha had come up to second place ahead of Anderson. A bunch of six riders came out of lap one, trying to knock each other out of the slipstreams. Bill Ivy still led, just ahead of Phil Read. Luigi Taveri had worked up to third spot and Suzuki’s brilliant Japanese rider, Yoshimi Katayama, led his teammates Anderson and Perris. MZ works rider Heinz Rosner came through sixth, with Fujii Toshio not far behind, the second rider from the far East being on his own with the sole Kawasaki twin. There is a rumor that this Japanese factory is preparing a 125cc four to be enItered in the near future. Surprise entry Ginger Molloy on the second works MZ — as a replacement to Derek Woodman, who is out of action for at least two months after he broke his thigh in Belgium — was spotted in eighth position.
Out of the second lap, Luigi Taveri led the two Yamaha riders by a couple of inches, having found a place to pass them out on the circuit. Katayama kept fourth position ahead of Ralph Bryans, in trouble with his Honda’s ignition, and Heinz Rosner. Ginger Molloy had dropped the MZ when it seized. He escaped with a few bruises on his arms.
Taveri extended his lead to the end of the 12 lap race, but from the fourth lap on, the silver helmet of Yoshimi Katayama, tucked deeply into the blue and silver fairing of his Suzuki twin, appeared ahead of the Yamahas in second place. Ralph Bryans stopped at the Honda pit to have the plugs of his five changed. Hugh Anderson turned in, his Suzuki having seized on one cylinder, and Heinz Rosner pushed his single to the paddock.
With new plugs Ralph Bryans got his Honda chiming again and within seven laps, worked his way up from last position to sixth, to grab at least one championship point. The order of top runners, Taveri, Katayama, Ivy, Read and Perris, did not change during the closing stages. MZ privateers Jochen Leitert, Hartmut Bischoff, Klaus Enderlein, Jürgen Lenk, Friedhelm Kohlar and Günther Bartusch got the places outside the leader board on their air-cooled singles, which MZ had sold as production racers. Taveri’s 96.58 mph average for the race and 97.76 mph for fastest lap were records.
350cc RACE
To give riders a long enough break, capacities were well mixed, and 30 350cc bikes lined up for 18 laps. Mike Hailwood had qualified 2.5 seconds a lap better than his rival Agostini. He got his Honda firing first, but the MV accelerated away from the Japanese bike on the short straight which leads from the starting line to a fast right-hander.
It looked as if all the other riders had stopped for tea when young Giacomo and Hailwood, in the MV’s slip-stream, came around again. More than a quarter-mile behind Gustav Havel and Frantisek Stastny, the inseparable Czechs, on their Jawa twins led Italian H-D Aermacchi riders Renzo Pasolini, Gilberto Milani and Alberto Pagani. Behind these red bikes with horizontal push-rod engines, Dan Shorey, Jack Ahearn, Kelvin Carruthers, Malcolm Stanton, Stuart Morin, Ron Chandler and Swede, Agne Carlsson, all in one group, fought for eighth place on their Nortons and AJSs. Milani dropped back during the second lap, and when Dan Shorey and Jack Ahearn began to attack the Italian on lap five, the H-D Aermacchi rider slid off in a down-hill righthander, suffering severe damages to his spine.
Agostini and Hailwood had some job to do in their usual lapping business in the seventh lap. Mike found a quicker way through the bunch, passed Pagani and drew away from Ago, doing a Sachsenring lap at three minutes flat for the first time. But then the Honda started sounding rough, and in the 11th lap the four stopped not far from the pits, allowing Agostini a trouble-free ride to victory. Stastny snatched second place from his teammate Havel, the second Jawa slowing down during the final laps and making the flag with the last revs. Renzo Pasolini came in fourth, and Alberto Pagani took his H-D Aermacchi to fifth spot, his engine having recovered during the final three laps, helping him to repass Ahearn and Boczek, who had led him for two tours. Ahearn came in sixth, Dan Shorey, on another Norton, seventh, and Boczek, lapped twice, managed to cross the line in eighth position, his CZ having gone sick. Australian Kel Carruthers (Norton) beat Joe Dunphy, who is good in England but not too impressive in this, one of his rare Continental outings.
250cc RACE
Most meteoric career for seasons is now being made by 24-year-old Stuart Graham, who first impressed spectators in this year’s West German Grand Prix, then took second place to Agostini’ in rained-off Belgian Grand Prix, on his 500cc Matchless. For the East German event, Honda gave him a 250cc six just to learn how to ride the bike and get acquainted with circuits, not to press on hard. And, as was heard, there should always be a bike for him, even when Jim Redman will be back in the team. Yamaha, by the way, was also keen on the promising young rider.
Stuart had qualified second to Hailwood, but in the race he did not look as smooth as he does on his own singles. He finished fourth behind Mike, Phil Read, and Mike Duff, who rode his private Yamaha twin, the air-cooled model of 1964. Apparently young Stuart had been credited with a Hailwood lap, Mike having ridden the bike in practice to sort out snags.
The race came out to be a start-finish affair for Hailwood, who was first followed by Heinz Rosner on the only works MZ, having made a quick start in his home country. At the end of the first lap, however, Phil Read had taken his Yamaha ahead of the East German two-stroke, and stayed in second place for the rest of the 15-lap race. Rosner held third position ahead of Stuart Graham for twothirds of the distance. Then Mike Duff moved up from behind, first passing Stuart, then attacking Rosner. Duff and Rosner had a terrific dice for third during the last five laps, which Rosner lost on the last five miles when he came off at Badberg. Before he could remount Graham came by, relegating him to fifth spot.
Frantisek Stastny, doing three races in one day like Hailwood, came home sixth, and, lapped twice, Hartmut Bischoff became seventh on a home-prepared MZ, a production model converted to rotary valve. Bill Ivy, fourth qualifier, had retired his Yamaha with engine trouble.
To Mike Hailwood went new race and lap records at 103.82 and 105.65 mph.
500cc RACE
It was determined riding, a reliable 440cc Jawa engine, and luck he had never had at Sachsenring that helped our old Czechoslovakian friend, Frantisek Stastny to win the 500cc race. From the start, Giacomo Agostini had led the event, challenged hard by Mike Hailwood for the first four laps. Then the Honda was reported to have stopped out on the circuit, engine still running. A bit later Mike rode to his pit, the engine sounding as peculiar as the 350 had done before. A slipped valve gear was thought to have caused the trouble.
Having lapped the whole field and having only a lap to go, Agostini suddenly fell off in a 120 mph left-hander near the memorial for English racer Jimmy Guthrie (who had crashed fatally at the same place in the 1939 German Grand Prix, leading the race comfortably like Giacomo). Young Ago wrecked the MV, but escaped with a bruised right hand and a good punch on his nose. Reason for the crash was not given, and there was no mechanical failure on the bike, nor did the rider have to change his line to avoid a lapped competitor.
After a slow start, Franta Stastny was tenth at the end of the first lap, then steadily made his way through a group of privates formed by Swiss Gyula Marsovszky, who had his first start in East Germany, and Englander Ron Chandler, both on Matchless; Aussies Kel Carruthers, Jack Ahearn and Malcolm Stanton, all on Nortons; Fred Stevens, on a Matchless Métissé, and New Zealander John Dodds on another Norton, all of them fighting hard for fourth place behind the blue McIntyre Matchless of Jack Findlay. Jack, an old hand in Continental racing, had gained a considerable lead on the other privateers; he is scoring some good results this season.
Franta soon passed the privates. At this time, Malcolm Stanton had forced ahead of his rivals, only to lose his rear chain at the starting line. Fred Stevens dropped out with a broken con-rod in the new Matchless engine, Carruthers retired with the rear swinging fork pivot broken, and Ian Burne dropped his Norton, bending everything except rear wheel and suspension units, yet escaping unhurt.
Lewis Young gave up fighting his brand new Kirby-owned Metisse, also chromium plated, but with an old engine. The common Metisse-trouble: oil coming out of the breather and settling down on the rear wheel.
When Agostini went out, the otherwise excellent organization of Sachsenring became confused. Someone simply forgot to readjust the lap-counter, and consequently, old Franta was flagged off one lap early. The crowd of 200,000 went wild, which didn't help things, for when the flag is down, the race is over, no matter how many laps have been covered. Franta, who apparently hadn’t noticed Agostini’s crash, rolled to his pit, enjoying what he thought to be second place. But just to make sure his crew sent him off to complete the 20-lap distance. One by one the other riders followed suit, without positions changing. The winning average of 98.80 mph would just have won him the normal 125cc race. Jack Findlay got second, Jack Ahearn, third, with Ron Chandler, Gyula Marsovszky and John Dodds closing the leader board. Joe Dunphy, Dan Shorey and Billie Nelson finished in the same lap as the winner.
Once one has managed to get into East Germany, the meeting is fun to watch, as it is run by enthusiastic organizers and watched by an expert crowd. But getting there sometimes is hard work, nobody apparently knowing who has to issue the necessary papers. In the case of West German riders, it was politics; they were kept out by their own federation, which still does not grant starting permissions for meetings in the Eastern part. ■ (Continued on following page)
CZECHOSLOVAKIAN GRAND PRIX
A WEEK after the East German Grand Prix, the international wagon train of Continental riders moved south some 300 kilometers to Brno for the Czechoslovakian round. Rain, strong wind and altogether miserable weather could not keep Mike Hailwood from achieving one of the greatest successes in his career: winning three races out of three starts in a world championship event, coming in first on his 250, 350 and 500cc Hondas, and cinching the 250cc championship. Luigi Taveri made it an all-Honda-day, taking 125cc honors.
Long up-hill and down-hill straights allow lap records close to 100 mph and favor fast factory bikes. Tight hairpins at the back of the circuit and medium fast bends, plus a handful of full throttle curves (40 curves altogether on the 8.88mile-long tortuous mountain circuit) require excellent riding and are a rigorous test of frames and suspension. Weather conditions prevented lap records from being broken, but 100,000 spectators, many of them from nearby Austria, enjoyed a day of close racing under most difficult conditions.
125cc RACE
Wind had dried the roads from the overnight rain. The surface is rough asphalt and, when dry and clean, gives good wheel grip. Night workers cleaned the course before Friday’s first practice got underway, as dust and mud from the field made the surface slippery. One had the impression that organizers were doing their best to make a good job of the meeting, although improvements still are possible. The paddock is a swamp when it rains, and it is a bit annoying to be left without a press stand in bad conditions and have one’s “bureau” blown from the pits onto the track mid-race, which gives riders a proper thrill.
Nine factory bikes lined up for their eight lap heat, but only five came back from the first lap without trouble. Bill Ivy (Yamaha) made the best start, Luigi Taveri flung his Honda across Hugh Anderson’s line to get into the Yamaha’s slip-stream, and Yoshimi Katayama got away in fourth place.
Phil Read’s Yamaha quit the fastest; the twin fired on the left cylinder only. Not much better off, though farther out on the circuit, Bill Ivy, Frank Perris and Yoshimi Katayama had their bikes put against the trees, changing plugs.
Taveri and Anderson led lap one, with only inches between the bikes. Then Ralph Bryans, on the second Honda, and Heinz Rosner, on the MZ, came through. Fujii Toshio on the Kawasaki twin completed the works club. Privateers were led by East Germans Friedhelm Kohlar and Klaus Enderlein, Hungarian ex-works rider Laslo Szabo and East German Roland Rensch, all on private air-cooled MZs. West German Walter Scheimann kept ahead of Italian privateer Guiseppe Visenzi. Bill Ivy came through in 27th position, Katayama stopped at the pits for more plugs and Frank Perris, yet, was last of 33.
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Anderson led Taveri out of lap two. Toshio moved up to fourth place when Rosner retired his MZ single with engine trouble. Ivy already had moved up to eighth place, Katayama was 13th and Perris 15th. The race was made for Taveri after three laps when Hugh Anderson had to call at his pit for plugs, his Suzuki running rich. This let Ralph Bryans nip through to second spot, before Hugh got his twin screaming again. Setting the fastest lap and setting the only new lap record of the day, Bill Ivy did 90 mph to catch up to Anderson’s troubled Suzuki, finally passing the New Zealander to take third. Perris moved up to fifth, and when Toshio retired his Kawasaki in last lap Kohlar, Enderlein and Szabo came in sixth to eighth. Walter Scheimann (spurred on by a wasp that had crept into his leathers) beat Renz and Szech Bohumil Stasa on a CZ in a last lap effort, leaving his race-long rival, Visenzi behind.
The Uruguayan team, first announced in 1963, which had been in the programs of some races this year, finally managed to qualify two riders, Aldobrando Tassoni and Gaston Biscia, both on Tohatsus. Only Tassoni finished, in 21st place.
In world-championship statistics, Taveri now leads with 36 points, clear of his closest rival. Bill Ivy, who has 24. Bryans moved up to third with 17 points, now ahead of Phil Read who has 14.
350cc RACE
Jawas had tried a new air-cooled twostroke twin in the 350 practice, part of their change from four-strokes to the models which are supposed to be nearer to production bikes. The engines were fitted into the new frames introduced last season. The new motors did not work up to expectations, so the team reverted to the four-stroke models in the race. Only one of the new bikes was raced, but without any luck.
Mike Hailwood led the field from start to finish of the 1 1 lap race in light rain. Agostini on the MV-three, his right arm still bandaged and his nose covered with yellow tape, got second place, five minutes ahead of Heinz Rosner on the 251cc MZ, who had moved up from the back of the field, beating Stastny, Renzo Pasolini and Alberto Pagani, both on works supported Aermacchis, Frantisek Boczek on the 292 CZ and Rudi Thalhammer on his new H-D Aermacchi, which has quite a history: \
As his Jawa-engined special had beçn damaged for good in his Dutch crash, Rudi had looked for a new 350 bike. His compatriot Eddie Lenz just had bought an H-D Aermacchi, raced it once in a German meeting at Nuremberg and then tried to take it to Austria, apparently without telling the customs much about it. They found out, however, and not only snatched this bike, but the Matchless and the van as well, keeping the vehicles in custody. To pay bail, Eddie sold the H-D Aermacchi to Thalhammer, both riders now regarding themselves as “sponsored by the Austrian republic” until the future of bikes is clear. On the new bike, Rudi finished half a minute ahead of all the other privates on their British singles. Grassetti retired his Bianchi twin with a faulty battery.
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Mike Hailwood now is not far from winning the title, having collected 32 points with four wins, six ahead of Agostini. Pasolini holds third place with 11 points; Stastny is fourth with ten.
250cc RACE
There is an incredible shortage of works engines with five meetings still to do. Mike Hailwood blew up his Honda six in Saturday’s practice and had to take Stuart Graham’s bike. So, no ride for Stu. Bill Ivy had damaged his motor at Sachsenring and Yamaha had no replacement. Phil Read and the Yamaha mechanics spent the practice sessions sorting out the four’s road holding, changing shock absorbers and moving the suspension units from one of the three fixing points to another without much success. It is time
that the factory turns out another model with better weight distribution.
MZ had to rely on Rosner as its only works rider, for they want to wait for Walter Kaaden’s approval of a new man to be given a bike. Ginger Molloy was not offered another ride.
Rain had stopped again when Phil Read shot off the line, Hailwood sitting in his slip-stream. All the Honda rider had to do was be patient and wait for the last of the nine laps, then match the Honda’s better road-holding against the Yamaha’s power. Mike gained 50 yards on the reigning champion to take his second victory of the day. Heinz Rosner held third place through the race and Mike Duff, on his private Yamaha, steadily lay fourth, the old air-cooled twin going well after brake trouble had been sorted out in practice. The only hard racing in this heat was for fifth place, where Gyula Marsovszky (Bultaco) Frantisek Stastny (Jawa two-stroke), Ginger Molloy (works Bultaco) and Jack Findlay (Bultaco) finished in this order, having swapped places all through the race.
Mike Hailwood leads the title race with 56 points to Phil Read’s poor 28. Jim Redman still is third with 20 points, Derek Woodman, fourth with 18.
500cc RACE
The meeting looked like a washout. When the big bikes were wheeled to the grid, a cloudburst flooded the track and paddock. Nobody could see. Nevertheless, the 15-lap race got underway, and it was another start-to-finish lead for Mike Hail-
wood, with Agostini coming home second on a spare three, the old four again proving slower in practice. All through the weather-beaten race. Jack Findlay and Gyula Marsovszky, on Matchlesses, diced for third spot, the Swiss finally winning from the Australian by some 20 yards. Fred Stevens, on his own bike with a Derek-Woodman-engine, fell off in the second lap. He had not ridden the Métissé, as the bike needs a steering damper and modifications to the breathing system. Lewis Young, on the second Metisse, had his trouble cured, the breather now emerging from a hump in the oil-tank. Jack Ahearn had a steady ride to fifth place and Australian Eric Hinton came in sixth after Eddi Lenz had retired his Matchless. John Cooper, whose Norton had been slow during the race, got the engine running well in the closing laps to repass Billie Nelson. Lewis Young came in ninth, ahead of John Dodds and Gustav Havel.
Both Jawa twins had been plagued with ignition trouble in the rain; poor Franta Stastny had to retire on his home circuit. A Swede, Bo Granath, a good rider in the rain, finished 12th ahead of Dan Shorey and Walter Scheimann.
Agostini’s second place puts him farther ahead of Jim Redman in championship statistics. He now has 26 points, Jim has eight less, Gyula Marsovszky is third with 13 points and Stastny, fourth, with 12. Reigning champion Mike Hailwood is as far down as eighth — with only eight points, earned in the Czech win. ■
