Whathappenednext?
Neil Hudsondidn’tquite get his 500cccrown
to add to the 250 one but proved many
criticswrongby beingin the top three.
Dave Thorpe wouldprove predictions
correct and go on to win threeworld 500cc
titlesin the Eighties.He remainsin the
industryand is involvedin Honda’soff-road
successthesedays.
GrahamNoyce also remainsaone-time
championbut cameoh-so-closeseveral
timesand still races.
Brad Lackey,the 1982500ccworld
MX championfor Suzuki,wascriticalof
his factorymount and had fallenfoul of
Suzuki’smanagement,or so it wasclaimed
inMotorCycleWeekly.There wasmuch
speculationover his futurewith mostpeople
reckoningSuzukiwouldnot renewhis
contractdespitehim winning.The rest of the
Japanesefactorieswere prettymuchhappy
with their squadand the Europeanswouldn’t
have anythinglikethe budgetto retainLackey.
AndreMalherbehad aresurgenceand took
afinal 500cctitle in 1984,nearly doingit
againin 1985and 1986,beforeretiringand
trying touringcar racingthen rally raids...
However,aseriouscrashin the 1988
Paris to DakarRally left the Belgianwith life
changinginjuries.Thoughthe title chaseis deemeda‘world’ championship,arun throughthe nationalities
enteredshowsthe 1982contestwasreally anorthernhemisphereseriessave for alone
Australian.Enteredfor Farleigh Castlewere five ridersfrom GreatBritain,threeBelgians,
seven Swedes,two Americans,eightridersfrom the Netherlands,two from the principality
of Luxembourg,one from the principalityof San Marino,two Austrians,Norway and Denmark
fieldedone rider apiece,whileFinlandhad two ridersasdid Franceand Ireland...whereas
West Germanyhad six ridersand Italy had three.Nationalities
Above:Lackeywasn't theonlyAmericanracing
atFarleigh,Honda’s GarySemicswasovertoo.Archive
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