West German Grand Prix
WEST GERMAN GRAND PRIX
HEINZ J. SCHNEIDER
Even Though Paso Broke Something In Practice, and It Rained For A While, 100,000 Fans Saw Quite A Show.
THRILLS have come back to solo GP racing. The all-conquering works teams have pulled out, with the exception of MV, which is a lead pipe cinch for 350-cc class championship.
500-CC
The 500 race was a start-finish affair for Ago. Second finisher was Karl Hoppe, 46-year-old mayor of the small German town of Diekholzen, on Helmut Fath’s URS Four. Jack Findlay, riding a works Linto, had cannibalized an engine broken at Madrid in order to make the last practice round. Nonetheless, he finished 3rd, leading Continental Circus veteran Robin Fitton (Norton Manx), John Dodds (Linto), and Kel Carruthers (H-D-Aermacchi).
Hoppe slowly made up lost ground after a slow start. His URS began the race on three cylinders, but it gradually cleared its throat and began screaming. With Ago pulling away, a hard fight developed between Hoppe and Findlay for 2nd. Each one tried to show the other a slightly wrong line through the Hockenheim Motordrome, but neither could get clear of the other. With 10 laps to go, Hoppe used a lapped “Tail end Charlie” as a shield against Findlay and pulled a 200-yard lead.
Pagani, who held 2nd place in the early stages of the race, retired the other works Linto. The three Patons went the same way, while their frames, with a new third toptube, gave the bikes the handling they missed last year. Too, the Paton engines, although still with twovalve heads, have become quicker. John Dodds on his private Linto held on to 4th place, two laps behind Ago, and Gyula Marsovsky won a last minute scrap for 5th with Gilberto Milani on the fastest of the H-D-Aermacchis. Kel Carruthers, also on a H-D-Aermacchi, had been higher up in the beginning, but overshot the entrance to the ’drome once and never could make up for the lost places. Godfrey Nash on another Manx and Ron Chandler on a Seeley got the last points to be had. Wolf Braun’s König Four was a non-starter because of lower-end problems. The new Swedish design, the HM V-twin, did make the start but pitted each lap with ignition trouble. Another Swedish newcomer with two Husqvarna cylinders mounted on a common crankcase did not start.
350-CC
Rod Gould on the big Yamaha led Agostini off the grid in the 350-cc event, and even held him at bay for a lap-and-a-half, then pulled out with a sore crankshaft. By this time Bill Ivy's Jawa Four had worked up through the pack and trailed the leader Ago by 5 Sec.; the little Englishman kept well up with the world champion. In 3rd, Giu seppe Visenzi on a private Yamaha was challenged by Rosner's MZ. The threat didn't last, as the East German machine packed up. Karl Hoppe (Yamaha) watchfully trailed the Italian while Jack Findlay on his specially framed Yamaha began closing in. Franta Stastny also crept up from behind after a not-so-fast start. Hoppe got into a close contest with Findlay and held his own quite well against the younger and harder Aussie. Then Hoppe's Yamaha seized up at the far end of the course and rode back on the pfflion of an official's BMW. Taking advantage of retirements and slowing riders, the old fox Stastny made his way place-by-place to finish 3rd, lapped by the pride of Jawa’s racing department, Bill Ivy. Bill lost no more than 20 sec. to Agostini, and that with the brake linings gone from all four leading shoes of the front brake. There has been trouble with the alternator coil in the transistor ignition, and the Jawa designers spent the night before the race winding a new coil in their hotel room. Old Franta’s bike had a normal ignition as there were not enough electronic units around. The frame, so Ivy was quoted, is much better than that of the works Yamahas. And the engine, giving more than 70 bhp at 13,000 rpm, is really tailored for racing and quick repair in the paddock. It is actually four separate singles bolted to a common primary drive. When the team is in a hurry, they can replace each unit within 10 min.
Jack Findlay outrode Visenzi for 4th place, and Kel Carruthers took his works H-D-Aermacchi to 5th ahead of the two CZ riders, Bohumli Stasa and Karel Bojer. These two had stuck together all 23 laps, just like Franta Statsny and Gustav Havel when they rode the old four-stroke Jawas. Rhodesian Gordon Keith (Yamaha) and Dave Simmonds (Kawasaki) completed the points list.
250-CC
Quarter-liter racing seemed to be an MZ exclusive at first, with Heinz Rosner the likely winner. Pasolini broke his collarbone, so the only Benelli Four was out, and the only man to keep up with the Zschopau Twins was Rod Gould on his Daytona Yamaha. The win was so sure that the custom of flying the winner’s flag and playing his anthem had been dropped for all six races. The FIM banner was the one shown and some unknown trumpet signal was played. It all looked a little too German and a bit ridiculous.
Braun, Mohringer, Rosner (all MZ) and Gould (Yamaha) were the first four off the line in the 36-strong field. However, in those first laps Gould somehow lost several places. But by the third lap, Gould took the lead as Rosner’s MZ lost its fire. Szabo (MZ) soon got by the slower Yamaha, and Santaigo Herrero (Ossa) also squeezed past, leaving Gould in 3rd. But the Ossa Single retired shortly afterward. Braun left too, so a three-cornered fight developed between Mohringer, Szabo and Gould. One lap later,'Gould withdrew his Yamaha, clearing the way for MZ and a GP double. But Mohringer, having fallen from his MZ in last year’s GP, bungled the chance again when he tried to outride Szabo in the slow left-hander. This incident almost fetched off Szabo, too, so Kent Andersson (Yamaha) saw his chance and grabbed the lead. After three driving laps Szabo regained the lead, only to have his engine go sour. At this time, Lother John’s pit crew motioned their rider to really charge; he did to the tune of 4 sec. per lap. As they swept into the last lap, John was in tussling distance of Andersson, but he discreetly stuck to 2nd place to avoid any situation which might fare poorly for both. Young German rider Klaus Huber made it a Yamaha trio. Frank Perris (Suzuki) was 4th, former Bultaco rider Toni Grubner (Yamaha) 5th and Angelo Bergamonti (H-D-Aermacchi) was 6th.
125-CC
Former MZ rider from the Neckermann stable, Dieter Braun made the best start on his new ex-works Anscheidt Suzuki. He was closely followed by Heinz Rosner (MZ) while Dave Simmonds (Kawasaki) was caught in mid-pack by a slow start. By the second lap, however, Simmonds had feverishly worked his way up to 3rd. By virtue of outbraking the MZ rider, Simmonds got by Rosner in hot pursuit of Braun. Simmonds courageously outbraked Braun five laps later but could not lose the German Suzuki rider from his tail. Dieter even managed to pass Simmonds for a short while, but Simmonds again prevailed. Rosner’s engine let go with only a quarter-mile to go, while the other factory MZedders, Szabo and Mohringer, had gone out earlier with mechanical ills. This let Austrian Heinz Kriwanek on a Rotax and Lother John (Yamaha) finish 3rd and 4th.
50-CC
Gilberto Parlotti (Tomos) jumped to an early lead. He was soon caught by Toersen and de Vries on the fast Dutch Kriedlcrs. Barry Smith, on a works Derbi, moved up to 3rd in one more lap, and this is how the race finished. Santiago Herrero, the dashing Spaniard, fell off his Derbi just after passing Tomos rider Janko Stefe for 4th. After a very bad start in last position, Assen winner Paul Lodewijks made phenomenal progress on his Dutch-built Jamathi. Mechanical problems forced him into the pits just as he began to pressure Barry Smith for 3rd. Rudolf Kunz likewise was forced to retire, yielding 4th spot to Wolfgang Reinhard (Kriedler). Gilberto Parlotti finished 5th.
SIDECARS
Helmut Fath led the sidecars off the grid and ’round the first lap. With the pits in sight, his Four developed a misfire. Fath pitted and left the race to Klaus Enders and George Auerbacher. But two laps from the end of the race Fath reentered, checking his repaired engine and setting a new lap record. Enders had a carbureted engine in a Busch-built frame, but fuel injection is clearly inevitable for sidecar racing; the G-loads, sometimes reaching l .5 G, are so severe that float bowls are useless. On the fifth lap Auerbacher retired with driveline problems. Enders from then on could roll off and take it easy for his first GP win since 1967. Second place went to German newcomer Franz Lmnarz. In a last mile’s dash he took Assi Butscher by surprise and shoved him back into 3rd. Ending a race-long battle to his favor, Helmut Lunemann got his home-built BMW into 4th, ahead of the Castella brothers.
An MV Four, converted to 500 cc by Heinz Schwingen and dropped into a sidecar frame, could not qualify. The four Dellorto carburetors were in a dither at every corner and the production gearbox could not have been more ill-suited. A member of the team demonstrated tuning abilities by walking around the outfit and slicing off exhaust pipes inch-by-inch with his hacksaw. [Q]
