Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126252
Englishman Chas Mortimer scooted to victory in the third heat after pushing challenger David Emde out into the gravel at the edge of tum one when Emde tried to pass. Emde crashed , bur jumped up to qualify for the final. Robens spli t immediately for the f'ina l-r ace lead with Kawasakimounted Australian Greg Hansford right in his draft. A short distance behind were Harley-Davidson (It aly) factory rider Franco Uncini and Baker with Katayama . Mortimer and H ·D mounted Jay Springsteen staying close . The Uncini- Baker duo moved up and began a four way fight with the lead swapping so intense that it changed hands 15 or more times in the first three laps with Hansford braking his way into the lead at 180 degree turn four every time for the three laps . Often during these laps , the leaders on the banking and down the front and back straights were two . three and four abreast. After five laps , the first place pos ition changed 25 times . On the fifth lap. an intense battle began 10 brew fo r seventh with Schlacter vM ort im er (who had slipped back). Klinzmann , Do ug Teague and Soulas mixing it up in a five bike draft. Mortimer crashed in the chicane on the same la p , suffering face and neck injuries when his helmet was 10m off in a violent slide. Mortimer had tried to out brake to make up for a slowing bike, but ended up hitting the ha y bales. Crashes began to take their toll and one such incident spelled the end for Robert s on la p 12. A slower rider fell going into the chicane. Ro bert s, taking evasive action , went out onto the grass. "T he engine quit on me and I lost my advantage (unofficially seven seconds). Since m y monoshock had stopped working two laps earlier. I didn't feel it was worth the risk 10 try and catch the field. " "T he monoshock was like a pogo stick when Kenny brought it in ," said tuner Kel Carruthers afterwards. During a similar incident one lap earlier , Franco Uncini crashed in the chicane picking up dirt in his drum brake and making it inoperative. That quickly ended his race . The average speed up to lap 10 was 99 .09 1 mph and climbing, With Roberts out and U ncini about to take the same route, Baker inherited an approxima te lO-second lead on Greg Hansford with Ka tayam a making a determined move through the pack to close the gap. Springsteen , Schlacter, Teague and Mike Clarke followed with Klinzmann close behind. David Emde , -unnoticed by most , had already moved fro m a near last start (79th on the grid ) and had passed 54 riders into 25th spot on his way to a final 10th placing. By lap 15, Sp ringsteen was slowing with brake problems. as Schlacter swooped into fourth . Baker held a comfortable 18-second lead. Pierre Soulas was making progress as he moved through traffic towards an eventual fifth spot. Springer later crashed in turn one. He was unhurt . Katayama continued to close on Hansford as he slowed, the victim of rotary valve wear. The problem had been acknow ledged and solved by Kawasaki J a pa n , but partswere not received to correct the problem. As the Hansford /Katayama duo neared the entrance to pit road on lap 18, the Japa nese star shot into the le a d . Hansfo rd shadowed a nd swapped the lead wit h Katayama for the next two la ps as the pa ir played ot a close quarters dog fight. Hansford slowed on lap 23 and then went directly into the garage a rea on the next go around . He had run out of gas . the vict im of a too sma ll tank a nd a helluva lot of hard racing. "W e don't Steve Biganski 1401 leads Lance Jones 13431. Eddie Lawson 1741 and Scott Shinn on the banking at the start of the Novice race. Lawson won by 10 seconds after dozens of lead changes. . normally run 100-mile events and at those speeds, there just wasn 't enough gas. I feel very bad about having to lose because of a situation like that ," sa id Hansford. Schlacter moved to third with Hansford out. Kayayama , who had been given a warning on the g rid b y AMA referee Charlie Watson about complaints fro m a number of riders about over-aggressive riding (" I must race to win , yes?" an swered Katayama ). cu t almost 20 seconds off Baker's once-huge margin before the checkers . It was not enough . Katayama later joked about his problems of seem ing to have only enough horsepower to finish ' second when he races in the United States. Baker's strategy of getting the feel of the " new" bike before making a definite move , paid off for himself, tuner Bob Work and the contingent of Yamaha Motor Corp . Japan who hovered around t he risi ng star. Raci ng rock star Takazum i Katayama was his usual self. casting stage prt'sence over the victory ceremonies and looking like he would break out int o a song. if on ly h and ed a gu itar. The ra ce was probably th e sweetest for Rich Schlacter , Schla rr er has been building a reputation as one of the fastest 250c c racers in the northwest for th e past three years , but unt il today nobody really knew how fast. T u n er Kevin Cameron . in a moment of reflection later sa id , " W a tchi ng Rich complete that last lap and take the checkers was o ne helluva thrill. Our.hard work paid off. " • Results lClO- M ILE 25Occ: 1. St eve Baker (Yam). 2. Takazumi Katayama IVaml. 3. Richard Schlachter (Yaml. 4. Harry Klinzmann (Yaml. 5. Pierre Soulas IYam). 6. Harald Merkl (Yaml . 7. Doug Teague (Vam). 8. Tom Herron lYam). 9. Murray Sayle IKawl. 10. David Emde (Yaml. 11. Harald Barto' (Yam). 12. Mik e Baldwin (Yam). 13. Harry Cone (VarnI. 14 . M ike Clarke (Yam). 15. Steve Morehead IYaml . Lawson gets Novice win for birthday By Gary Van Voorhis DA YTONA BEACH , FL , MAR. II Eddi e Lawson of Ontario, csnr. . cel ebrated his 19th b irthday with a victory in the 76 ·Mile Novice event, but it took the birthday boy almost half the race to convince the other invitees that it was his pany. Lawson , aboard a Ted Darinsponsored , Carl Brown-tuned TZ250 Yamaha , fitted with Mack car and pipes. had a trio of party crashers in Lance Jones, Scott Shinn and Steve Biganski to contend with in the early going as the four played swap pos ition in a front running pack. Gadsden , Alabama 's Lance Jones was the only one hanging around for the victory celebration . It was the first ever road race for Jones who had a total of five laps on the bike and the track before his qualifying heat in which he took third following -Lawson and Shi nn . Third place in the victory celebration ' went to Craig Morris of New Boston , Michigan who sliced his way through the pack on his Doug Teague sponsored , Bruce T eague built Yama ha . Lawson led the field from the pole position on the opening lap through the infield with a good port ion of the other 79 riders in close pu rsuit. However , once the bikes hit the high speed banking the horsepower haves and have-riots were quickly separated . The race quickly sp lit into a rubberband lead snap situation with Lawson , Shinn and Biganski doing the honors on the first three laps . Jones , never more than a few bike lengths away, used late braking to advantage to slip into the lead on lap seven of the 20 lap event , ahead of Shinn. Jones and Shinn were in command on lap nine with Lawson close behind . By this time it appeared that while Jones was fastest through the infield , it was Lawson who had the top end speed where he needed it. Traffic began to get heavy by the halfway flags with Shinn pitting one lap later for a lengthy two lap stop whi le Lawson and Jones put ground on Biganski. Morris was fourth by now and took over third two laps lat e r. Meanwhile , Lawson and Jones had spent the laps 12 through 14 running side by side or wheel to wheel testing each other in some very exciting racing , Lawson then pulled away slowly to a Hl-second-pl us margin of victory. It was Lawso n's party , but he was the q uietest of all in victory lane a llowi ng only that he was " ha p py to have won " and that he "experienced problems with a sticking shift lever that took a few laps getting used to ." Lance Jones' crew of sponsor .Floyd Tapp , tuner Bubb Pattman and helpers Woody Kyle a n d Chuck Strubbe were ecstati c. The y had replaced a crankshaft after practice and then experienced ignition fa ilure just before go ing to t he grid which necessitated repair with no tim e to re time the bike. " We wer e cutting it close all d ay," said Woody Kyle, Jones wasn't sat isfied. " It was fun , but I was d in tracking it a little too much . . . putting m y foot down in the corners while braking. I'd like to win Charlotte. " Coincidentally, the bike Jones rode had been bought only days before from Lawson's sponsor, " I was off a little slow at the start," said Craig Morris , "a nd ran in ninth about half the race before really beginning to move. If I had a better start , t he outcome might have bee n different. " • Results 76-MllE NOVICE: 1. Edd;e lawson IYam). 2. lance Jones (Yam). 3. Craig Mor ris (Yam). 4. Chuck Killen (Yam). 5. Bruce Sass (Yaml. 6. Jack Robaczowski (Yaml. 7. Hugh Humble (Yam). 8. David Old (Yaml. 9. Mark Legarra (Yam). 10. Joe Zeigler IYaml. 11. John Glover (Yam). 12. Rickey Campb ell (Yam). 13. Ken Charles (Yam). 14. Dave Bearden IYam). 15. St eve Lang (Yam). 16. Larry Legarra (Yam). 17. James Gervais (Yam). 18. Mik e Fellberg (Yam). 19. Tom M arquardt (Yam). 20. J erry Wood (Yam).