Originally posted by Macca
Having a pop at the moderator as well as other posters is pretty futile........
Meanwhile...........................
We talked some pages ago about why Mamola was second in the WC many times but never champ. In 1979 he took over Baldwin's 500 ride on the Zago RG after doing some 250 GPs on a Bimota Yam, and got the 1980 works Suzuki ride on the basis of very few GPs, and actually didn't think he had the speed to beat Roberts until he did so (having the improved Full-Floater XR helped) by which time he was too far back on points.
1981 should have been his year, but everybody except 'Lucky' had bad luck or unreliability. In 1982 he was on the wrong tyres; the 1983 flexi-flyer XR45 was well past its sell-by date; Honda thought Spencer could win in 1984 on his own until too late and too many injuries, and Mamola and the other Honda boys were always second-class citizens as far as getting the good bikes; same in 1985 only more so.
The question I wonder about is why he didn't do better with Kenny's team; did they not get the same bits as Ago's?
And I think someone asked a while back about the last RGs to race in 500 GPs? WWW are these guys, on IIRC two of the last three RGs seen in 500 GPs?
Paul M
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Claude Albert and Andy Leuthe ? 1989 ?
The last to take the start with a RG was, i think, Andy Leuthe in 1991...this year the Chilian V. Cascino was DNQ at the Tchech GP...1989 was the real last season with many RG entrants
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LM67