trainingschedulewouldnot showbenefits
until mid-season.Early on he maintained
consistencywith steadysecondsand thirds
beforepickingup hisfirs twin at Austriaand
amassingenoughpointsto put him ahead
of the pack with 161, Vromansbeingclosest
with 151 as the ridersmade their wayto
Wiltshire.Yesitwas still technicallypossible
for Neil Hudsonto win the title, but he would
have to win everyround–both heats–with
Lackey and Vromanssufferingdisastersin
orderfor it to happen.
On the daythe actionat Farleigh Castle
wasthrillingand closebut disappointingfor
the UK squadin particular.
Tippedto takehisfirs tGPwin, 19-year-
old Thorpe set off infine style to takethe
firs theat win from Vromans,with Lackey
third.Buoyed by this successThorpe headed
for the front in heat two and looked to be
headingfor anotherwin beforethe Suzuki
duo of Lackey and Vromansgot into their
groove on lap six. Still, his secondplace
overall wasn’tbad and it put him top of the
Brits –with Noyce and Hudsonfourth and
fifth –atthe end of the day.
Noyce’srun of bad luck seemedto
continueat Farleigh and he didn’tmanageto add to his win in Sweden’sroundthree.In
partthis wasanindicationof the high level
of competitionat that time in the GP scene
and parttodowith Noyce’sdetermination.
Sufferingfrom injuriesto his kneethe
Hondarider waspushingharderthan he
shouldand in heat onefinishedabrilliant
fourth, but then got caughtin afirs tbend
pile-upin the secondheat –doing further
damageto his knee.Despitethis he powered
throughthefield to takefourth placebut his
kneelet him downagainand anotherfall
droppedNoyce back tofifth place.
Noyce wasn’tthe only one sufferingfrom
injuriesas Neil Hudsonhad to contendwith
damagedligamentsat the baseof his thumb.
It maynot soundabad injurytoasocial rider,
but at this level, and with factoryprepared
bikes to hangonto,anythingless than peak
fitnessputs arider at adisadvantage.
Still, Hudson’ssteadypace,uncomplicated
style and determinationput him in fourth and
sixth respectivelyin heatsone and two and
this wasenoughto give himfifth overall.
Thoughthe cheerswere mainlyfor the
top threeBrits in the GP,especiallyThorpe
who displayed amaturitybeyond his years
by racingcalmlyand unflusteredonce he gotIn orderto ensurespectatorswould have
the best possiblespectacleto see at a
GP the FIM –the sport’sinternational
governing body –introducedaqualifying
methodfor the GP entry.
AtypicalMX GP wouldhave agrid
of 40 riders, the first 10 placeswould
be for the top 10 in the previousyear’s
championshipleaving 30 placesfree –
simpleenoughmathematics.Organisers
had to acceptall applicationsfrom riders
on the 500ccGradedInternationallist
of whatever nationalfederationsubmits
them.If this meanttherewere morethan
30 ridersafter the automaticentrieshad
beenfilledthen aballot wouldtakeplace.
This ballotwoulddeterminewhichriders
went in to the two timedtrainingsessions
on the daybeforethe GP.From these
sessionsthe top 15 in eachwouldmake
up the remaining30 placesin the GP.All
40 riderswould be in atimedpractice
sessionon race daytodeterminewhich
ordertheywould be on the grid.Newfor’82
FlyinghighatFarleigh,
CalifornianBradLackeyleads
teammateAndreVromans.Archive
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