N.Z. rider denied win

Press, 28 July 1987, Page 34

N.Z. rider denied win

NZPA-AFP Suzuka, Japan Australia’s Kevin Magee edged out the New Zealand sprint rider, Gary Goodfellow, and his partner, Japanese rookie Katsuro Takayoshi, to win the Suzuka eighthour motor-cycle race in Japan yesterday. Magee, partnered by the West German sprint rider, Martin Wimmer, took the lead on his Yamaha with five minutes to go and effectively ended what would have been Goodfellow’s and Takayoshi’s first world-class triumph on their private Suzuki. The pair had paced for almost four hours. It was the first world

motor-cycle endurance victory for Magee and his partner. Takayoshi managed to cross the finish line Imin 30s behind the winners, who covered 200 laps of the 5.91 km circuit in 8h Imin 20s of sunny, sultry weather. The American Yamaha team of John Kocinski and Kai Rayborn came in third, two laps behind, in this fifth round of the nine-race world endurance series. Wimmer, who said "Magee raced very well and I tried not to make mistakes,” won the 250 cu cm sprint grand prix in Spain in April. The world 500 cu cm sprint

grand prix leader and polestarter, Wayne Gardner, of Australia, failed in his bid to win the title for a record third straight year, in spite of a formidable one-lap early lead. His Honda colleague, Dominique Sarron of France, crashed into barriers just four hours into the race while building up their lead in the 102nd lap. The Honda pit crew spent 10 minutes replacing badly damaged rear and under cowls and the silencer, while Goodfellow took the lead. Gardner put the machine back into the race in eighth spot.