Wayne Gardner let down

Press, 1 August 1989, Page 29

Wayne Gardner let down

NZPA-AAP Tokyo The Australian rider, Wayne Gardner, had a record third victory in the Suzuka eight-hour motor-cycle race tom from his grasp yesterday when his team-mate, Michael Doohan, crashed their bike while they were leading near the five-hour mark. Doohan ploughed into the back of a slower rider bn the Suzuka Circuit and wrecked their Honda RVF 750. At the time, the two Australians looked to have the race at their mercy with a more than one and a half lap lead over

their nearest rivals, another Honda combination of Frenchmen Dominique Sarron and Alex Vieira. The Australians had led from the start after Gardner claimed pole position. Their main rivals, the Yamaha pair of American Wayne Rainey and Australian Kevin Magee, chased them hard for the first four hours until their bike broke down. It is the third successive year that Gardner has been in a winning position in Japan’s biggest motorsport event, only to be let down by

his team-mate. [ Gardner won the race in • 1985 and 1986, but two years : ago Sarron crashed when the team held a commanding I lead after six hours, and last year his Scottish co-driver, r Neall MacKenzie, overr revved the bike and blew the t engine when they were again , leading. > Ironically, yesterday Sarr ron took advantage of Gardner’s misfortune to win j the race, with the Japanese i Honda pair of Shoji Miyazaki i and Tadasi Orshima second, t Australian Peter Goddard j was third on a Yamaha.