ClassicRacer 65
Left: Ya mahapeep-show
intotheworksvanfor
Suzukiworksriders
BarrySheeneandTe pi
Länsivuori.YoungItalianArmandoTo raccowasriding
thenewmono-shockfour-cylinderwithan
extrasmallshock-absorberontheleft
side.BothMVridersstillhad
someproblemswiththe
stabilityofthenewbike.Above: Japanesetest-riderforYamahaHideo
Kanayachattingaboutthewetcircuitconditions
inpracticewithhismechanicandteamboss
Namurasan.Hideodidagreatjobbywinning
both3 50 and 50 0racesatSalzburg.Brit Pete McKinleyfinishedafine sixthafter
he waspassed by Frenchman PatrickPons
on aYamaha-4and tough Scot AlexGeorge
scored his first season points with aninth
place finish.
But it wasasingular performanceat that
1975 FrenchGPthat standsout most
(away, that is,from thesuperstars of the
500cc class) –and that wasthe twowins
that came fromthe 250ccand 350cc races
courtesyofa19-year-old kidfrom Venezuela
calledJohnny Cecotto. Impressivestuff and
evenmore impressivewas the fact that this
wasCecotto’s firstGrand Prix. If you’re going
to do it...
From the warm and sunny springinthesouthofFrancethe GP ‘circus’traveled to the
freezing cold andwet Austrian mountains at
theSalzburgring.
Sheene waslucky that therewas a
fiveweek gap between thetwo opening
roundsofthe 1975 GrandsPrix year.Much
to the astonishmentof the CadwellPark
crowd,Sheene wasonthe grid of theMCN
Superbikeroundatthe Lincolnshire circuit,
conveniently held between the GP outings.
Barryused the domestic competition as
ayardsticktest to see if he couldrace again.
After 10 laps of theLincolnshire circuitBarry
pulled into the pits and declaredthat he was
ready forthe world championship, before
promptlyheading offtoAustria.Philand
Madeleine
Readintheir
battledress.062 1975ClassicGP_SEP.indd 65 27/07/201715:57:59