Report From Italy
REPORT FROM ITALY
CARLO PERELLI
SEASON OPENING IN ITALY
THE ITALIAN ROAD RACE season opened as usual on March 19th with the international Modena meeting held over the twisting 3.8 km autodrome with fine weather and an attendance of 25,000.
In the 125 race Walter Villa led comfortably from start to finish on a singlecylinder rotary valve Mondial. He also broke the lap record set up last year by Ralph Bryans on a Honda four.
Francesco Villa on another Mondial and Giovanni Lombardi on the single-cylinder rotary valve Montesa had a fine scrap for second place, but in the closing stages, the Spanish machine rider was slowed down by faulty ignition. He could, however, retain third position from oncoming Giuseppe Visenzi on another Montesa. As known, both Mondial and Montesa (mechanically very similar) have been developed by ridertechnician Francesco Villa, who can be quite satisfied by this first 1967 outing.
The best foreign opposition soon faded. Ginger Molloy, on a works Bultaco. suffered a "locked" engine when in fourth position. Derek Woodman on a works MZ was stopped by ignition troubles while running fifth. Ralph Bryans on a Honda four, very last away, retired with a badly misfiring engine.
On returning to racing after last year's withdrawal early in the season, Morini scored a brilliant success in the 250 race with Silvio Grassetti. The fabulous "lunger" from Bologna led from start to finish.
The Morini challengers had no luck. Walter Villa on the new, and very fast Montesa twin, after a very slow start, stepped up to second place, seeming to gain also on Grassetti, but retired soon after with ignition troubles. Renzo Pasolini on the Benelli four (sixteen valves), also a slow starter, suffered a complete engine blow-up. owing to his forceful style when he had reached fourth place. Ralph Bryans on a Honda twin, well placed in the beginning, soon dropped it and was fortunate to escape without injuries.
After Villa's retirement, Ginger Molloy, on a works Bultaco, kept easily in second place ahead of the works Aermacchi duo of Gilberto Milani and Alberto Pagani. In the closing stages, Milani was slowed by a broken gearchange pedal and finished eighth.
Very interesting was the scrap between Derek Woodman on the works MZ twin and Paolo Campanelli on a private Aermacchi. On braking and initial acceleration, the Aermacchi was clearly superior; but on the sfraights, the nearly 20 bhp more of the MZ enabled Woodman to pass Campanelli again and this happened also on the finishing line!
In the opening lap of the 500 race Giacomo Agostini on the renewed MV three led comfortably from Pasolini on the new 491cc four-cylinder, sixteen-valve, 70 bhp, seven-speed Benelli, but soon after, the world champion was slowed by faulty running of his engine. He stopped at the pits a first time to have the contact breaker checked, a second time to change a plug and a third time to clean a dirty carburetor jet, the real cause of the trouble. He lost three laps, and although afterwards boosting the new record lap. he only finished ninth.
Pasolini thus won easily from Bergamonti on the Paton twin, Williams on the Arter Matchless, Campanelli on the Seeley Matchless, and Findlay on the Mclntyre Matchless. Gilberto Milani on the works 350 Aermacchi, owing to a slipping clutch in the closing stages, lost a couple of positions to finish sixth ahead of Gallina on one of the new-single cylinder "desmo" Ducati 350s. These new models from Bologna, available "over the counter," are practically "Mach" jobs with a desmo head, and come in two versions: 250cc (35 bhp) and 350cc (41 bph).
NEW 250 MONTESA GP RACER
The new 250cc rotary-valve Montesa twin made a brilliant debut early in February at Alicante in Spain, with Busquet fighting for the lead with Pasolini ( Benelli 4), until stopped by a broken chain.
The light alloy, chrome-bored cylinders are horizontal and water-cooled, while the heads are air-cooled. Primary drive is by central gears, which also actuate the oil pump and the contact breakers, both housed above the light alloy crankcase. The dry type multidisc clutch is on the left. Bore and stroke are 54 x 54, maximum power output is 34 to 35 bhp at 9,800 rpm, carburetors of 30mm diameter each; the eight-speed gearbox is pedal controlled from the right.
The double cradle tubular frame has Ceriani suspension; the wheels are both shod with 3.00-18 tires and Fontana (front) and Oldani (rear) brakes.
FOREIGN ENGINES-ITALIAN STYLE
The Italjet firm of San Lazzaro di Savena (Bologna) has started deliveries, both in Italy and abroad, of two attractive sporting machines fitted with foreign engines and "styled" by the enthusiastic Italjet boss, ex-rider Leopoldo Tartarini.
One model, called "Grifón," is powered by the 650cc Bonneville Triumph engine; has double cradle tubular frame; 18-inch wheels; double front brake and weighs 350 pounds, quite less than the original Triumph. Handling and road holding are reported to be excellent, as is braking. This model was first exhibited at the 1965 Milan Show but has since been considerably restyled. The first series of 50 units has been practically sold out, especially to foreign customers. Italjet is also selling machines without engines.
The other model, called Tarbo Sport is fitted with the CZ 125 9-bhp two-stroke engine, also has 18-inch tires; brakes are 180mm front and 160mm rear. Th fuel tank holds 4 gallons; weight is 220 pounds. The Tarbo Sport can also be fitted with the Jawa 350 twin power unit.
SENSATIONAL NEWS FROM PES ARO
Benelli have on development a 350 GP six-cylinder twin ohc and a 650cc roadster twin with five-speed gearbox and electric starter. This latter will be soon readied while the first will take some more time to be finished. Also planned is a roadster four of large capacity!
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. . . AND ARCORE
Gilera will soon enter the large capacity machine field with a chain-driven dohc 500 twin roadster featuring five-speed gearbox and electric starter. Italy's now looking like becoming the "big 'uns" homeland!
CZECH JOBS DEBUT AT MODENA
Modena recorded the debut of two new Czech racing models which, although plagued by ignition troubles, showed some promise. First is the "over the counter" 250 Jawa based on the 250 and 400cc scrambles models featuring the familiar "banana" frame. The orthodox two-stroke engine of 70 x 64 is reported to develop 3 1 bhp at 7,250 rpm and is fitted with a 32mm carburetor and a five-speed gearbox in unit. Tires are 2.75-18 front and 3.00-18 rear; weight has been kept down to 227 pounds.
The second model, also with the name Jawa on the tank, is a GP racer with a rotary valve twin-cylinder engine of 250 and 350cc housed in the same tubular frame used for the 350 and 450 dohc twin. No data has yet been released.
