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Jun 6 | Circuit des Frontières |
Circuit des Frontières,
Chimay,
Belgium
9.500 km road course |
> |
Preview
As usual, the classic Belgian road race had one of the best fields of any of this year's International races : Agostini, Read, Sheene, Cecotto, Länsivuori, Nixon, Rougerie, Schwärzel and Steinhausen headed the entry list on the ultra-fast Chimay circuit.
Four solo classes and a sidecar race where scheduled, and although the race distances were decent, the nature of the Chimay circuit meant that this amounted to 20 minute sprints ! Cecotto set a new track record during the F750 race, with a lap at a stunning 214.8 km/h average speed. Helped by a glorous weather, the event was a total success, with a reported 60,000 spectators attending on race day.
Race
The "golden trio" of Agostini, Read and Sheene was reduced to a duo when the Italian champion's Suzuki refused to start at the flag. Ago got the bike running after a while, but it was not working properly and he cruised to the pits to retire at the end of the first lap. Up front Read had taken the lead in front of Nurmi, Sheene, Kassner, Lucchinelli, Smart and Fau. Sheene had had a prudent start, but by lap 3 he had passed Nurmi for second and was closing fast on Read. Teuvo Länsivuori and Paul Smart followed Agostini into retirement, while Coulon, North and Tchernine caught up with the group fighting for 3rd place.
The Read/Sheene high speed duel was fantastic, although it can be guessed that Sheene was in fact playing with Read to entertain the crowd, as his works XR14 Suzuki had the edge over Read's standard RG. On lap 5 Sheene took the lead, but he let Read by at the start of the last lap, only to easily pass him in the long Chimay straights to clinch victory. The rest were some 30 seconds behind, with Lucchinelli narrowly beating Coulon for 3rd after a race-long fight. Tchernine ran out of fuel in the last lap, dropping from 9th to 15th as he cruised to the finish line.
The Read/Sheene high speed duel was fantastic, although it can be guessed that Sheene was in fact playing with Read to entertain the crowd, as his works XR14 Suzuki had the edge over Read's standard RG. On lap 5 Sheene took the lead, but he let Read by at the start of the last lap, only to easily pass him in the long Chimay straights to clinch victory. The rest were some 30 seconds behind, with Lucchinelli narrowly beating Coulon for 3rd after a race-long fight. Tchernine ran out of fuel in the last lap, dropping from 9th to 15th as he cruised to the finish line.
Results
| Distance 8 laps = 76 km Speed 204.3 km/h |
| FL Barry Sheene 2:40.30 - 213.3 km/h |
| Sources Vincent Glon, Guy Thonus, Moto-Revue #2272, Moto-Journal #271 |