Cycle News

VOL. 55 ISSUE 48 DECEMBER 4, 2018 P87 a Yamaha that year. Factory riders racing other brands of motorcycles in prestigious races would soon become a thing of the past. Even though Lawson's focus was on superbike racing and perhaps even on racing the Moriwaki Ka- wasaki KZ1000-powered machine in the 200, his Lightweight race effort was no afterthought. The bike Lawson raced was a standard Yamaha TZ250G, but the bike had ample titanium bolts bringing down the weight. It also featured over- sized plasma-sprayed aluminum brake discs, the calipers, aluminum units from a TZ750. The barrel of the TZ engine was ported by Harry Hunt and the engine meticulously assembled by Gennady Luibimsky (who was racing a similarly prepped bike). While Lawson was ready, the competition was stiff. Defending series champ Freddie Spencer would race his '79 title-winning bike, deciding to do so at the last minute. Even though he was a late entry, Spencer, with the tuning skills of Erv Kanemoto, would be a formidable foe, if not outright favorite. If Spencer wasn't the favorite, then certainly it would be Anton Mang, the GP winner from Germany who was racing a Krauser Kawasaki KR250 with factory help. How good was Mang and his Kawasaki? He would go on to win the FIM 250cc Grand Prix World Championship later that year, winning four GPs along the way. Also, in the field was talented Australian champ Gregg Hansford who was coming off a season as runner up in World Championship 250GP. There was a large contin- gent of foreign riders in the race, especially from the U.K., including Joey Dunlop, not to mention a solid field of domestic 250GP riders like Dan Chivington, Doug Brauneck, Craig Morris and others. Spencer won the first heat race in a runaway over Hansford and Brauneck. Mang took a come- from-behind victory in heat two over Lawson and Luibimsky. Mang's heat was the faster of the two and the German sat on the pole for the final. At the drop of the green Luibim- sky led at the start with Derek Hux- ley running second on one of the British-made Cottons, powered by an inline, twin-cylinder, rotary-valve Rotax engine. By the start of the second lap though, it was Lawson leading Spencer. Mang got another rough start on his Kawasaki, but he was making up ground fast. Once up to speed, Mang set a blazing pace. He moved up and passed Spencer and Lawson and immedi- ately began gapping them. But then Lawson and Spencer caught a break. Mang raced on Mi- chelin tires for years and was used to the characteristics of those tires. At Daytona, Mang decided to run Dunlop. Halfway through, the tires began to heat up. Longtime Dunlop riders would have recognized they could continue to push the tires into predictable slides even when hot, but the sliding caught Mang off guard and he slowed his pace. Lawson and Spencer (both on Goodyears) got by Mang in the closing laps. It appeared certain it would be a battle between the two Americans to the flag, but on the last lap they were playing the who's-going-to-lead-coming-out- of-the-chicane Daytona slipstream game. Both slowed, trying to goad the other into the lead. That allowed Mang to quickly close in and shock Lawson and Spencer by blasting past. Now all bets were off. Spencer was third coming out of the chicane, eager to get to the front. Lawson didn't panic. "I rolled out of it a little because I wanted Freddie to pass me," Lawson later explained. "I figured I could get an extra strong draft with both of them in front." Lawson was right. Coming out of NASCAR turn four Lawson had a massive slipstream and was able to perfectly slingshot past both Spencer and Mang at the Tri-oval. He came across the finish line about two-bike lengths ahead of Mang and Spencer who were basi- cally side by side, with Mang taking second by mere inches. The Daytona Lightweight win was Lawson's first national victory. Kawasaki must have not enjoyed seeing their rising star racing a Yamaha and they soon got him a KR250 and he went on to win three more rounds that year to win the 1980 AMA 250 Grand Prix Championship, setting Lawson off on a road racing career that would eventually see him become a four- time Motorcycle Grand Prix World Champion. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives

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