van den Broeckhad lost his drive on lap two.
The Gremlinswere no less prevalentfor
race two with Spence’srecentshoulderinjury
causinghim grief throughthe arduousrace
and Hoopermanagingto drop his Maico
and bendhis brakelever on lap three,then
his chainadjustersnappedalmostat the
finishof race two whichendedhis day
disappointinglyout of the points.
Whenall wassaid and donethe day
belongedto threeriders–Lackey,Thorpe
and Vromans–who dominatedthe top end.
Interviewedafter the race VromansadmittedThorpe had the samelines on the
trackas himselfand in an attemptto pass
the youngBritishrider the Belgianmadea
bad choiceand lost groundin race one. He
addedabetter startwas requiredfor heat
two and believed it wasstill possiblefor him
to be world championif he had someluck in
the next two GPs...thoughhe didn’tsound
confidentit wouldhappen.
Thorpe two wasphilosophicalabouthis
chancesand whenVromansand Lackey
forcedtheir waypast him in heat two showed
the maturityto stayinasafe third place,The programmeof events happening
at Farleigh Castlecircuitthat far
off weekend in July showsapacked
weekend of entertainmentfor ridiculously
low prices.
Take the Saturdayfor instance,with
two practicesessionsand two qualifying
sessionsstarting at noonand goingon
until 5pm,admissionfor adultswas50p
with kids free. The racingwouldbe almost
as goodas the followingday’sGP.
On GP daythere wasa9am start, with
threepracticesessions,then abreak for
lunchwith drum majorettesleadingout
the paradeof internationalriders.
To warm the crowdsup –and there
were crowds–aMaico Trophyrace took
placethen the first leg of the GP.As
ridersand mechanicssorted their GP
bikes the Kawasaki Invitationrace kept
the spectatorsatfever pitch,whichonly
heightenedthe anticipationand had the
crowdkeen for the actionof the second
heat.Beforethat thoughthe Royal
Marinesshowed the world how amarine
doesaparachutedrop.Thenfinallyit was
there,the secondheat!An invitationrace
roundedoff the actionthen therewas
the prize-givingas the dayendedand the
crowdwent homeentertained.
But whatof the supporting races?
Wasthe actiontame?No, far from it as
another19-year-oldset to carve his name
in the recordbooks–JeremyWhatley–
dominatedall threeraces.In the Maico
race he pulledsuchacommandinglead
that by half wayhewas eightsecondsin
the lead and had doubledthat distance
by the end. He didn’tquite have it all his
own wayinthe Kawasaki race as Steve
Beamishwassoclose theyswappedthe
lead throughoutthe race and even, on
the fifth lap, whenthe pair tangledand
fell, remountedand carried on theywere
so far in front no one couldcatchthem
and againWhatleytook the flag.The
final invitationrace looked to be arepeat
but Beamishfell and lost 10 placesas a
result,placeshe couldn’tget backand
Whatleyemergedwinneragain.Amatterof support
confidenthe waslearning for the future.In
his post race interviewheisquotedas
saying he wasonNoyce’srear mudguard
and realisedhis fellowcountrymanwasnot
at his best thanksto his injuryand Thorpe
managedto reel him in.
Not that the 19-year-oldwasinjuryfree
either,asaroughlandingdamagedhis back
and he racedin quiteabit of pain.As the GP
ridersleft Farleigh Castleit wasdeservedly
Brad Lackey who wascrowned‘Kingof
the Castle’with Britain’sDaveThorpe the
crownprince.BelgianJaakvan
Velthovenhadto
settleforsixthin
theBritishGP.31
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