Report From Italy
REPORT FROM ITALY
CARLO PERELLI
ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP
For the fifth and final round, the Italian Senior Championship moved from the flat, tight-cornered Adriatic Coast circuits to Sanremo-Ospedaletti. This hilly 2.1-mile course is on the Ligure seacoast near the French border and Montecarlo.
First held in 1947, the Sanremo race boasts as winners Bandirola, Masetti, Duke, Liberati, Ambrosini, Lorenzetti, Ruffo, Provini, Ubbiali, Taveri, Torras, Read, and of course Agostini and Pasolini. But this year the top names were missing.
Agostini, who had sewn up the 500 title, and lost the 350 to Pasolini, was sidelined by Count Agusta, who feared an accident before the Isle of Man TT and other world championship rounds. Pasolini, after an operation on his right collarbone (broken in his West , German GP practice prang) was anxious to ride. An elastic bandage allows free movement of the arm, but the official Italian Federation doctor vetoed his desire. Onlookers with Paso were Spaggiari and Grassetti, recovering from their CerviaMilano Marittima collision.
Nevertheless, the races were exciting—especially the 250, in which Benelli fielded no less than three Fours in an attempt to place at least one ahead of Angelo Bergamonti (Aermacchi H-D). Walter Villa, Roberto Gallina and Eugenio Lazzarini were the riders. With Paso out, the Aermacchi rider had a chance to win the title, but he had to come in ahead of the other Italian riders.
The Benelli maneuver succeeded-by a fraction. Bergamonti and Spanish star Santiago Herrero, on the unorthodox light alloy, monocoque rotary valve Ossa Single, led for 17 of the 21 laps, scrapping furiously, with the three Benellis well behind. Bergamonti rode like a demon, wheel to wheel with Herrero, sometimes in front of him, skimming the stone walls at the sides of the track, braking as late as possible, and leaning at an incredible angle. His Spanish rival matched his moves. In addition, their mounts were better suited to this twisty circuit than the heavier Benellis.
But Walter Villa, fastest in practice, relentlessly sped through the field. With just four laps remaining, he reached the leading duo. In one of the hottest finishes of the year, Villa succeeded in overtaking Bergamonti (thus “winning” the title for Pasolini), but Herrero managed to win by inches.
Gallini, on another Benelli, finished 4th, and Lazzarini, on the third, held 5th until the last lap, when he hit a wall and was catapulted, luckily without injury, into a field. Benelli plans to send three 250 Fours to the TT, but not one 350. Hopes are on Pasolini to win the 250 world championship crown. Phil Read may be enlisted to ride another 250.
The 50 class produced the usual scrap—Parlotti (Tomos) vs. Lombardi (Guazzoni), with a brief intrusion by Lazzarini (Morbidelli) and Bertarelli (Minarelli). The latter two retired early with ignition troubles, and Parlotti pipped Lombardi on the line to win the championship.
In the 125, Ralph Bryans rode his carefully preserved Honda Five, which he enters only in selected, well paying events. In the early stages, he had difficulty catching Walter Villa, aboard one of his homemade rotary valve Singles, but Bryan’s superior mount finally carried him to a record speed win. Nevertheless, it was a good day for the Villas; the marque secured 2nd and 3rd places, with Walter Villa and Giuseppe Mandolini the riders. However, championship honors went to Aermacchi H-D rider Silvano Bertarelli, who placed 5th behind similarly mounted Hugenio Lazzarini.
In the 350, veteran Aermacchi works rider Gilberto Milani easily kept Giuseppe Visenzi (Yamaha TR2) at bay, while in the 500, nobody could hold back Angelo Bergamonti on the Paton Twin. Second place competitor Alberto Pagani (Linto) was hampered by a shoulder injury from his Cervia-Milano Marittima clash.
NEW BRAKE FROM FONTANA
Brake specialist Daniele Fontana recently introduced a giant front stopper—a full 250 mm in diameter. Following the successful layout of the classic 210-mm type, the almost 10-in. unit is cast electron, with iron liners, and has four leading shoes. The air intakes have been cut off, and there are peripheral air ducts in the middle of the hub to extract hot air from between the drums. Weight is 17.6 lb. (5 lb. more than the 210). The new brake will also be built in 195and 225-mm sizes.
125 WORKS AERMACCHI
The 125 works Aermacchi H-D was piloted to the Italian Senior Champion ship by Silvano Bertarelli, and also is raced by Australian Kel Carruthers. An unusual feature is the twistgrip-con trolled overdrive, which doubles the pedal-controlled five-speed gearbox, to provide a better choice of ratios for various circuits. Operation of the over drive is independent of the gearbox proper, so it can be ignored if not needed. The device is simple and effi cient, but requires very close attention.
NEW ITALIAN 50 RACERS
The new FIM formula for the 50-cc class (also adopted by the Italian Federation), which bans very complicated machines such as built by the Japanese until two or three years ago, has inspired various Italian factories to enter racing. Existing models have been extensively improved, and new ones are being developed. Both the modified and the new have been race tested during the Italian spring meetings, usually with satisfactory results. The next trials will be world championship rounds, or important international events.
Guazzoni, a pioneer in this field and the only Italian firm which specializes in rotary valve models, has been the most successful. The 41by 37.5-mm bore and stroke, six-speed powerplant, fed by a 24-mm carburetor, churns out 12.5 bhp at 13,500 rpm. Soon its air-cooling system will be supplanted by water cooling. The Guazzoni is the only Italian 50 sold to privateers, and this year 50 units are under construction.
Arch rival of the Guazzoni in the spring meetings and winner of the Senior 50-cc Championship with rider Gilberto Parlotti, is the Tomos, built in Capodistria, very near Trieste, by the largest Yugoslavian motorized twowheeler manufacturer. Rather unorthodox, the Tomos has a pressed steel frame, a long (38by 43-mm) stroke, and a piston-port two-stroke engine. Though normally finned, both head and cylinder are water cooled. Fed by a
23mm carburetor, the engine develops 12 bhp at 12,000 rpm.
The Minarelli, produced by the largest Italian proprietary engine factory which is known for successful world record attempts, is a completely new rotary valve engine. The reed valve engine, built from series parts and used until last year with excellent results in Italy, has been abandoned in favor of the new layout, which provides more power. At Cervia, Bergamonti, first time out on the new Minarelli, climbed from last away to finish 3rd-and not a distant 3rd at that.
The machine features a 25-mm carburetor, horizontally split crankcase, dry clutch, battery ignition and needle bearings every where—even for each of the numerous gears of the six-speed gearbox. Top rpm is 14,000. Head and cylinder, both in light alloy, are amply finned, but water cooling may be added.
Finally, there is the Morbidelli, developed by technician-rider Franco Ringhini for a Pesaro-based woodworking machine factory. The Morbidelli is a water-cooled, rotary valve machine with square bore and stroke dimensions,
24mm carburetor, battery ignition and six-speed gearbox. Power is now 12 bhp at 13,000 rpm, with more to come.
(Continued on page 94)
Continued from page 93
500 MOTOCROSS GP
Adolf Weil had the most unlucky day of his life at the Italian 500 Motocross GP held at Lombardore, near Turin. Competitors had complained that the course was too dusty the day before the event, but rain and cold temperatures presented the scramblers with plenty of mud for the actual race.
Weil (Maico) led 28 top competitors from nine countries (world champion Paul Friedrichs was out of action following his Dutch GP accident) for most of the first heat, until a punctured rear tire dragged the German ace back to 17th. The second heat, with 18 starters, brought even more trouble to Weil. Again, he was in command of the race until a slide on a steep hill, where nearly everyone required help to reach the summit, resulted in his left handlebar breaking away.
Undaunted, he rode practically with one hand and, for two laps, succeeded in conserving 2nd place—a magnificent performance, considering the condition of the track and the abilities of his rivals. Then, his engine stalled. He pushed on and on, finally arriving at the finish line too late to place in the results, but to the accompaniment of much applause.
After Weil’s mishaps, Swedish Bengt Aberg (Husqvarna) won both heats and the event. English Dave Nicholls, fastest man in practice, finished 2nd in both heats to place 2nd overall, while his BSA teammates Hickman and Banks failed to place in the overall results. Hickman was stopped by water in the electrics in both heats, and Banks retired from the first heat with a locked gearbox and, escaping from a multiple pile-up soon after the start, carved his way through the field to finish 3rd in the second leg.
Third overall was Belgian Roger de Coster, winner of last year’s Italian 500 GP at Gallarate under similar infernal conditions. Having both single-pipe and twin-pipe CZs with him, he chose the old twin-pipe because of its greater pulling power from low rpm. Newcomer Czech Lisy Miroslav (CZ) was 4th, and 5th was young Italian Eugenio Perozzo (CZ), who is the first Italian to secure such a position in a 500 world championship event. There was just 10 finishers.
THE TOUR OF ITALY
With a mixed formula based on ISDT trials and hillclimb speed tests, plus a half hour of racing in the Imola autodrome, the Italian Federation organized the Tour of Italy for series machines. A seven-day affair, the total length of the event was 1120 miles. Of 147 entrants, 52 retired along the way.
Though the formula was designed to equalize all riders and machines, it was evident, particularly in the trials sections, that the lightweights and scooters benefited from the lower schedule speed.
A scooterist, Tullio Masserini, finished 1st overall. Masserini is one of the best Italian trialists; an ex-Gilera factory rider, he is a four-time gold medal winner at the ISDT. Matching his skill was his Lambretta 200, specially prepared by Innocenti. Second, and first of the 125 class, was another trialist, Demetrio Bonini (Morini). Bonini was a member of the Italian team which won the 1968 ISDT Silver Vase. Luigi Anelli (Morini) was 3rd, and winner of the 175 class.
First of the big guns and 8th overall was Dante Mattioli on the Moto Guzzi V7 750, a machine which, although handicapped by the regulations, made a fine showing, finishing also in 9th, 1 1th, 15th, 18th and other places, well ahead of all other Italian and foreign large displacement machines. Team honors went to the Morini 125. [Ö]
