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RACE WATCH

Fast Freddie tests Honda NSR500

Freddie Spencer moved a step closer to completing his grand prix comeback when he tested an HRC Rothmans NSR500 on the GP track in Kyalami, South Africa.

It is no secret that Spencer longs to be racing at the GP level once again. He has been competing in the AMA Superbike series on an outpowered Honda RC30, winning the 1991 season-ending race at Miami and the first Texas World round this season. Spencer made his return to interna tional competition at the Suzuka 8 Hour earlier this year, finishing an im pressive fourth, after qualifying third fastest under the critically watchful eye of the Japanese manufacturers.

At Kyalami, Spencer teamed once again with his friend and former tuner Erv Kanemoto. He rode the same NSR500 that Kanemoto tuned for

Wayne Gardner this year, the bike that Gardner had piloted to second place in the South African GP three days earli er. After a day spent getting used to the bike, Spencer reeled off a 1-minute, 40.1-second lap time on the slippery, dust-blown course. That time would have qualified Spencer third-fastest for the GP-impressive, conISDEring he had not been on a 500cc two-stroke since his ill-fated 1989 comeback attempt when he rode a Yamaha YZR500 for the Giacomo Agostini team.

Spencer raved about how good the new Honda was. "It is the finest piece of racing equipment I have ever rid den," he said. "That bike is in some respects much easier to ride than older two-strokes, and it brings the field closer together because it has attribut es that can make mediocre riders faster. But the advantage still goes to the guy who carries the most corner speed and gets on the throttle earlier."

•Spencer also talked about the dif ferent power characteristics of the current "droner-motor" NSR com pared to the Hondas he rode back in 1985 when he took the 250 and 500cc world roadracing titles.

"It's like no other two-stroke I have ever ridden," said Spencer. "In fact, it is more like my RC30 than it is like a two-stroke. It has a wide powerband and pulls hard all the way. But the line between being on the edge and being over the edge is finer on this bike. It can give you a false sense of security, because when it lets go, it lets go right away."

Kanemoto Was not overly surprised by Spencer's good showing, saying, "Freddie could always determine the limits of a motorcycle very quickly, then move on. I expected him to adapt to the NSR very quickly. After seeing him at Suzuka I knew he would have no trouble. This test was everything we could have hoped for."

Spencer was quick to return the compliment. "This test came about because of Erv and his beliefs in me," he said. "And it confirms that with the right team and equipment, I will be competitive at the top levels."

1~or now, Spencer is being thpiomat ic about his next career move. He ad mits that he has had "conversations" with Cagiva and with HRC, as well as one other Japanese manufacturer. In an ideal world, he would prefer to ride a factory Honda prepped by Kanemo to. If that is not possible, then he will race something else, because his goal is to get back to GPs for 1993.

"I want to be able to go back and change the way things ended," said Spencer. "That is a big part of my motivation. The South African test was a whole lot of fun for me, but it was also great confirmation that I am ready for this."

Rodney Smith top American at ISDE

Better known for his GP motocross title chases, American Rodney Smith surprised everyone at this year's Inter national Six Day Enduro in Australia. The TSDE rookie, riding a modified Suzuki RM250 in the 500cc class, fin ished an impressive fourth overall and second in the 500 class. Another ISDE rookie, Danny Hamel, the current AMA National Hare and Hound Champion, grabbed a coveted gold medal by placing his modified Kawasa ki KX500 14th in the 500 class.

Jimmy Lewis and his KX125 sur vived the six days of dust, mud, rain, hail, tight trails and killer downhills to secure a gold, placing a respectable fifth in the competitive 125cc class. Always the largest and most competi tive ISDE class, the 250cc division saw Suzuki-mounted Americans Steve Hatch and Randy Hawkins bring home the gold in 11th and 14th places, respectively.

David Rhodes, America's hope for a top-place finish in the 350cc four stroke class, crashed on Day One, in juring his thumb, which plagued him throughout the event. Even so, he fin ished fifth in the class, three positions ahead of former AMA Enduro Cham pion Kevin Hines on a Husqvarna.

The U.S. quest for a first-place fin ish in the six-man World Trophy Team competition failed once again as disaster struck on Day Three when team member Jon King's Suzuki ate its piston, dropping the team to 12th place, where it stayed. After battling all week, Italy beat out Sweden for the championship.

The four-man American Junior World Trophy Team (for riders under 23 years of age) tried to match the winning ways of America's 1991 team, but ended up third behind Swe den and Czechoslovakia.

Despite bad luck in the team compe tition, America came home with 10 gold, 13 silver and five bronze medals in individual competition.

GP motocross wrap-up

Donny Schmit became the third American to win the World 250cc Motocross Championship after 10-5DNF finishes at round 11 of the 12race series in Heinola, Finland. Danny LaPorte was the first Ameri can to earn the 250 crown in 1982. The second, Trampas Parker, the 1991 champion, didn't compete in Finland due to a leg injury sustained in the previous event in Sweden.

Schmit, from Bloomington, Min nesota, won 10 motos during the year and was the overall winner four times on his Chesterfield Yamaha.

Reigning World 500cc MX Cham pion, Belgian Georges Jobe, retained his title after finishing second to Brit Kurt Nicoll in all three motos of the Swiss GP at the series final in Roggenburg, Switzerland. With five championships to his credit-the 250 championship in 1980 and 1983, and the 500 crown in 1987, 1991 and 1 992-Jobe goes into the record books as only the fourth person to win that many motocross GP titles. Roger Dc Coster, Joel Robert and Eric Geboers are the other three. Nicoll ended up second for the year, while American Billy Liles will carry the number three plate next year.

In the World 125cc GP chase, South African Greg Albertijn's 6DNF-1O finishes in Suzuka, Japan, provided enough points to cinch his first world title.

America wins 12th MX des Nations

The world's yearly motocross team competition, the Motocross des Na tions, once again proved to be an American success story. With the US A's 11-year winning streak on the line, first-time MX des Nations com petitors Billy Liles (Honda CR500), Jeff Emig (Yamaha YZ12S) and Mike LaRocco (Kawasaki KX250), con quered Manjimup, Australia's sandy Cosy Creek track, beating the best rid ers the rest of the world has to offer.

Win number 12 didn't come easily, though. Liles and LaRocco finished second in their respective races, while Emig won the 125cc class. Belgium's team, led by five-time World Cham pion Georges Jobe, took the second slot, while Kurt Nicoll steered his British team to third. Jean Michel Bayle, multi-time World and Ameri can champion, shared 500cc moto wins with Nicoll, but so-so finishes by the rest of his French team result ed in a fourth-place finish.

The best individual performance was turned in by Belgium's Marnicq Bervoets, who rode his YZ250 to two moto wins.