Czechoslovakian Gp Road Races
CZECHOSLOVAKIAN GP ROAD RACES
The Brno Circuit, Laid Out On Public Roads, Is The Setting For Wins By Carruthers, Agostini.
HEINZ SCHNEIDER
PRACTICE HAD BEEN terrible, the pouring rain making the paddock like a swamp and the track like a skating rink. The track, normally a public road, is slippery at any time because of the heavy truck traffic, and on hot days the asphalt begins to lift. This year's race was the first with world championship status since 1965 the year when the French/German sidecar team of Jaques Drion and Inge Stoll was killed in a crash.
SIDECARS CLASS
Reign i rig champion Klaus Enders, keen title chaser again this year, was nearly eliminated when he spun in one of the three villages and flung his passenger Wolfgang Kalauch into a curbstone. Wolfga ng. who was much happier than when he was on the Fat h/li RS tea ni last year. suffc red severe head injuries. It was lucky that Enders' passenger last year, Raif Englehardt, wasthere~toget her the~ scored a narrow win over title leader (;eorg Auerhacher.
SURPRISE WIN BY PARLOTTI
Biggest surprise at Brno was Gilberto Parlotti's win in the 1 25 race on his Morbidelli Twin. The Italian factory, which manufactures wood cutting tools, introduced its 50 here last year. This year it was represented at the Nurhur~ing with the I 25s, but it had no success. At Brno, the hike, which is built along the lines of the Suzuki, Kawasaki and Derhi Twins, was a real flier, and Parlotti, known for his fast starts, never saw his first GP win in danger. Dieter Braun was a quarter minute behind, but he too was able to smile, for he can only he beaten for the champion ship by Angel Nieto (Derhi). Nieto, with wins in Belgium and East Germany, retired early in the race. Last year's champ, l)ave Simmonds (Kawasaki), finally got his machinegoing after so much trouble early in the season and finished 3rd, hut he has not heenable to accumulate enough points to challenge Braun.
THE 250 RACE
Private competitors keep the 250 class alive, and nothing but a Yamaha is likely to see the winners' circle. Phil Read,a bit out of the title chase and not paid to his liking, was absent from the starting lineup. But Rod Gould, Kel Carruthers and Kent Andersson had their threecornered battle for the points race with young Finnish rider Jarno Saarinen keep ing up wit Ii them.
Rod Gould leads the points race at I he moment, hut after losing I hree races in the closing stages, last year's champ Kel (`arruthers has fitted a transistorized ignition which he hopes will cure his problems. His Yamaha has been slightly I aster than Rod's all year, hut keeps quiti irig in the closing stages ot the race.
Kel Won at Brno but was challenged by Kent \iiderssori, Who 15 riding the sister bike to Rod Gould's mount. Ihey are hot Ii semi-wor k~. sponsored and have Si \ )~` t.'(t gea r ho \ c
I \V.) minutes behind the leaders, seven men scrapped h)r 3rd place With Jarn() Saa rule n I a king the ho nors ahead ot Theo Butt and ho (;r~tnit ii.
THE 50-CC CLASS
The l)utch are gaining in the So class, wti ich is proving to be a ii end-of-theseason teaser. J a in at lii, slow in t he opening meet ungs, scored t heir t hird consecutive win wit h Aalt `Foersen riding. It might have been tour wiiis in tour weeks L)ut Aalt threw his hike a wa v at Assen on the slowest curve and broke he brake lever.
Angel N ieto ( Der hi ), who a I most has the 50 title in his hands, tried hard to catch the l'lying Dutchman, hut his handlebar broke off and he retired. Seco tid place was taken by privateer Rudi Kunz, who works for Kreidler hut rides as a private entry. lie beat l)erbi rider Salvat ore (`anellas and ga i ned his best finish of the year.
AGOSTINI TAKES 350
With the 500-cc bikes dropped from the program, the biggest solo class was the 350. Hopes were pinned on the Jawa Four, on which Silvio Grassetti had finished 2nd in Yugoslavia. But at Brno he was a hit late at the start, apparently wanting to clear out the engine, as must often he done on a two-stroke. Anyway, he dropped the hike when returning to the grid and flooded the track with petroil. The start was delayed and his tank was damaged so badly that he could not race. The Jawa was on homeground, and it is now doubtful that Grassetti will get another chance. Ginger Molloy rode one of the Jawas for the first time and finished well down in the held, lie is to
rideoneat Monza in September.
Last year the Jawa people lost Bill Ivy, then sought to hire Jack Finlay, who crashed and broke his collarbone during his first test ride! Kel (`arruthers and Charles Mortimer don't seem too inter ested in riding the unpredictable hike, even though it is very fast. A great pity for the enthusiastic Jawa people.
In the race, Agostini hurried off to yet another win and pulled away from Pasolinis Benelli to win by over half a nh n u t e.
Works and private riders battled for 3rd: this time it was Kent Andersson and Kel (`arruthers on their Yamahas. Through the hilly sections in the hack part of the course. Kel out rode the Swede whose motor was faster than Kel's, but less than half a mile from the end, Kel's ignition played out again and he coasted into 4th place. Dieter Braun was a minute behind him on a 300-cc MZ.
