History lived again last weekend at Spain’s Jerez GP track, with the fire-breathing 500 V4s of the two-stroke GP era ridden by the skilful stars who raced them back then, contesting a trio of races that were very definitely the real deal, not just parades.
1987 500cc World champion Wayne Gardner grabbed the first win of the weekend on Saturday aboard a 1989 ex-Randy Mamola Cagiva V589, just pipping Didier de Radiguès on a Suzuki XR89 RGV500 and Kevin Schwantz on the very same XR84 Suzuki that he defended his World title on in 1994. It was a close battle between the legends, with pole-sitter Christian Sarron dicing with Freddie Spencer for fourth place, both mounted on factory YZR500 Yamahas, after it proved impossible to source a trackworthy Honda for the American two-time 500cc World champion to race.
Spencer leads Jose Luis Cardoso, Schwantz, Sarron, De Radiguès and Gardner.
Indeed, in the first of Sunday’s two races it was Fast Freddie’s turn to take the flag ahead of Schwantz and de Radiguès – his first race victory of any kind since his AMA Superbike win at Laguna Seca in 1999. In the final contest, Schwantz grabbed the early lead, but was caught and passed by Spencer. Undeterred, the pair swapped positions several times before Kevin eventually made the move stick to the delight of the sizeable crowd of Spanish race fans enjoying the return of the two-strokes, and the men who made them famous.
The 500GP spectaculars were the highlight of a packed weekend in southern Spain, with support races for 250/350cc and 125cc two-strokes, the latter won by four-time World champion Jorge ‘Aspar’ Martinez, taking time off from his day job as MotoGP team owner. Autograph sessions, stunt shows, trial displays and two live entertainment shows each evening in the paddock adding to the on-track action. British-based promotor Nick Wigley plans to stage four or five such events annually around the world in coming years. “The passion from the fans here at Jerez is like nothing I’ve ever seen,” he said, “and the potential for this to become something on a global scale is really, really exciting. We hope everyone has seen just how special this can be, and are already in discussions to take the event to more venues around the world.”
Spencer (center), Schwantz (left) and Belgian Didier De Radiguès back on the podium together.
“For us it’s brilliant to be back on the 500s again,” said Spencer. “I’ve been riding a bike I was actually racing against back in the ‘80s! It’s a great connection between us guys up here, the collectors who have given us the opportunity to race these bikes again, and the fans who have come along to see us. I’m truly looking forward to where this is going in the future, and being a part of it.”
