TROUBLE BREWING

With the title win,yamaha Europe had ended up embarrassing the head honchos back in Japan, by building their three-cylinder special and regaining the world championship with it – and the not made here principle meant this was not appreciated back at head office. “I remember we had the 1978 version of the 350 triple already running on the test dyno atyamaha Amsterdam, where the works 500GP team was also based,” says Ferry Brouwer: “And one of their engineers came into the dyno room to look at it. He was immediately called back by his boss and told off, because ‘this is notyamaha project!’ – they obviously felt upset we’d beaten their factory twin to win the title. “It was a pity they felt this way, because Mr Uratomo liked the project very much, and there were plans to build a complete new engine with magnesium castings for which the drawings had already begun. But then a message came from Japan that they were not to do it – so suddenly everything was cancelled. “We had already built the new bike with even more power and a smoother delivery, andtakazumi won the first race of the 1978 season with it in Venezuela – but then it all fell apart, and he wasn’t allowed to ride it anymore.” Kent Andersson reckoned he knew why. “The factory got very upset because they’d just launched the new RD350LC road bike,” he said. “Here they’re selling a racer with lights for the street, and now we’ve gone and won the world championship with a bikeyamaha don’t even make themselves. I’m sure this was the reason we were stopped from racing it again in 1978.” Whatever the case, that shortsighted decision meantyamaha would never again win a 350cc world title before the class was scrapped at the end of 1982.