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Pat Hennen (23) leads Gene Romero (15) as British teamsters Dave Potter 1 and Barry Sheene (7) follow in action at Oulton Park. 2> By Chris Carter . BRANDS H AT CH . MA L L O R Y PARK. O U LTON PARK . ENGLAND . MA R . 24 -26 -27 American superstars Pat Hennen and Kenny Roberts dominated the John Player Transatlantic Trophy Series, but solid strength in depth won the Easter weekend road race series for the Bri tish team. This was the sixth time in eight yea rs that Great Britain h h e seri d i as won ~ e senes a n. It wI.pes o~ t m em ones of. las t yea r s Amencan victory :when the Invaders .h um bled t.he home SIde. For the firs t time th e Win ' nin g team sha red a b onus of nea rly $2 .00 0 . Fina l score for the series. decided o ver six races at Brands Ha tch. Mallory Park and Ouh on Park . was G B 435 points. USA 379. Top sco rers . were Pat H ennen (92): Ken ny Ro berts (79) . Brands Hatch 14 Supe r bl y led by Barry Sheen e , Great Brita in am assed a n impressive 52 · point lead in the o pe ni ng ro u nd of the J oh n P layer Transa tl antic T ro p h y Match Ra ces a t Bra nds H a tch on Good Friday . But the int er-tea m rivalry be tween the nations tu rned int o a pe rso na l squa bb le between Sheene a nd his Texaco H ero n Suzuki sq uad team m ate Pat Hen n en . T he pai r figured in both excit ing .. 13· lap races . whic h ende d ' in a win . eac h. but .Sheene gave his Am erican team -mate a verbal blasting in th e pits at th e end of the seco nd ra ce . whi ch H en nen won b y half a m ach in e's length . • . Bar ry was not p leased With the way that Pat had regain ed the lead on the final lap of t he 2.6- m ile Grand Prix circ uit. and to ld Pat so in no uncertain termsl . However. H ennen s effor ts wer e not eno ug h to st op an on -form Brit ish squad fro m winnin g · bo th legs 8 1 po ints to 55. and heading for Mallory's m eeting with a 52- po int adva ntage. At co ntroversial team se lection after p ract ice o n Frid a y m o rn ing . Ro n H a slam and Ba rry Ditch bu rn top ped the q ua lifying tim es. and t hey pl us Ka wasaki-m ou nt ed Mick Grant and Dave Po tter on the Bro ad BP Yamaha provid ed a solid backbone of Brit ish sco ring to m ak e a mends fo r last sea so n' s m isera bl e Bri tish pe rformance. Bu t the Amer icans were ada mant th at the ca rds were well stac ked against them in this opening ro und . Run o n th e lon g circ uit' ins tead of the club circui t th e track was new to several of the Sta tesi de visitors. a nd wh ile their practice sessions were a ll too brief. the British boys had a n extra half hour of Oa t o ut tra ining . to pick t he rest of t he sq uad! . In th e ra ces Hen nen lost a fin e cha nce of vict ory in th e first race wh en forced to take to th e g rass at S u rtees whil e chas ing Sheen e in I he closing stages . and th en Kenn y Roberts ~a w his run ner-up spot to Hennen disap pear in th e second leg when the t hror tie stuc k open on one cylin der a nd he limped ro und to finish at th e ta il end of the fiel d . Bri ta in's st re ng th wa s in mid-field . and if only Sh een e co u ld match H en nen a nd Robert s , th e Americans ha d few riders capabl e of beating Grant. Ditchburn, Potter and Haslam o n the day . Even Sk ip Aksland was not his usu al self and weighed in with a seven t h a nd a fif th in the two teams events . Sheene h ad jo do it the hard wa y in the first race . Pulling t hrough fr om a second - lap sevent h he pa ssed Ro berts for seco nd spot on the sixth la p . and t hen ba ttl ed ,!way with H en nen for the lea d . Barry had it easy once Pat had run o n to th e grass on the te nth lap . and th e C al iforni an had to work ha rd to pull back-to t hird spot behind Sheen e a nd Robert s. Ron H asla m made a simi lar mis ta ke at Surtces soo n after, a slip tha t hel ped Ba rry Ditch bu rn . o n Sid Griffiths' Ya m aha . pip him for fourt h p lace a t the line. a nd with Pott er a nd G ra nt next home . the Americans we re in trou bl e . Gene Rome ro j umped th e gu n a t the start of the second race . b ut it d id no t ma tter. for though bo t h Sheene and Potter ha d made British suppo r · ters' hearts mi ss a beat by ind icating problems o n th e line . th e Union J acks . soon began to wave. . Mick Grant ma de th e ea rly pace . bu t dropped back as H ennen a nd Robert s m oved pa st. Bu t Shecne, slowe r off th e ~ri d th an befor e . was on his way., a nd was u p to th ird by the nint h lap . . ' R obert s d ro p ped ba ck wit h his st icking t hrottl e . a nd th e sc ra p was H ennen versus Shec ne . o nc e agai n . . H enn en won th e no -ho lds-barred sprint to the Oag-. but thanks to .a fin e Bri tish learn effort . typ ified by Steve l\1anship's br ave pu sh over the line fpr a po int in last p lace a fte r crashing wh en his Yam ah a se ized. m ade th e final tally G B 162. USA 110 . f. Results First leg: 'l . Sheene; 2. Robert s; 3. Hennen; 4. Ditch · burn ; 5. Haslam; 6. Potter: 7. Grant ; 8. Aksland ; 9. Will'ams; 10. Alda na; " , Mansh ip; 12. Marshall ; 13. . Romero; 14. Emde; 15 . S ingleton; 16 . Baldw in. Fastest Lap: Sh een e 1m 35.25. 98.31 mph . Team Scores: GB B1. USA 55. Second Leg : t . Hennen; 2. S hee ne ; 3. Oitchburn; 4 . a Gran t; 5. Aks lan d ; 6. W illi ms ; 7. Pon er; 8. Hasl a m; 9. Ma rshall ; 10 . Romer o; 1, . S ing let on; 12. BaldWin; 13. Emd e; 14. Aldana; 15. Roberts ; 16. Man ship, Recor d Lap : Sh een e 1m 35.25. 98 .83 mph. TeamSceres: GB B1 . USA 55. Progressive Tot al: GB 162. USA 110 . Mallory Park America cut Britain 's lea d to 45 poi nts after luc k deserted th e British squ ad at a dry but b itterly cold and wintry Mallory Pa rk on Su nday. • Again the America n dynamic duo of Pa t H e n nen .and Kenny Ro berts were in unstoppable fo rm. a nd on ly Barry Sheene of the Briti sh sq ua d loo ked capa ble of ma tching th em . Sh eene , trying ha rd to overcome a no ther pad sta rt . climbed to third spot_ in the openi ng leg beh ind Roberts and .Henne n . Time ran ou t before Ba rry could improve on th ai but others in the Brit ish squ ad , D a ve Po tt e r . Mick Gra nt wh o chase d the American pa ir for the fir st half of the ra ce . Roger Ma rshall a nd Ro n H aslam filled -t he next fo ur pl a ces. "- b . . Q So to th e dism a y of th e Am erica ns, far from improving th eir posit ion they ha d dropped ba ck . and losing 16 more points in tha t 22 -lap race t he y wer e 68 points in arrears at th e halfway stage of the team co ntest. o T ho ug h co nd itions wer e far from idea l. a nd ce rtain ly fa r rem oved C ;om those back home , 'the visit ors buckl d down to the tas k ~f pegging back what was proving to be the bes t Briti sli iea,m . for years. In t he second ra ce luck ran out, for Brita in . and America 's determina tion sa lvaged for them a glimmer of hope. Fi rst British blow ca me when Barry