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/126317
(Above) Schlachter he ld off M ike Baldwin (43) until lap 35. but Baldwin claimed second. (Below) Ninth-place Steve Eklund (11) captured his fi rstever Camel Pro road rac ing points. Dale Singleton (30) and Dave Aldana were fifth and sixth. (Below) Bruce Sass. 250cc runner-up. ho lds off a pack early in the race. utYankees front -run ning ba tt le was th e rid e bei ng turned in by Mik e Baldwin . Baldw in had broke n awa y from his a nd tu ssle with Mc Laughl in consis tently kn ocked seconds off th e margin Schlac hter a nd Aksland h ad bu ilt u p on him . On la p 33, th ree laps afte r Schl achter felt his tires ge tting a ta d greas y, Bal dwin kn ocked on his d oor in a n a u tho rita tive m anner a nd two laps lat er went throu gh th e door a nd slammed it in Rich ie's face . The finish ing or de r for th e top three places was set : Aksland , Baldwi n a nd . Schlachter. Behind th at trio another drama was und old ing . Ga ry' Scott , whose lu ck in road ra cing is wors e than bad (he calls it rotten ), had worked h is wa y int o fourth a fte r a multi-la p d ice with McLaughlin . With bu t four laps to go , Scott opened up a two -second margin over McLaughlin a nd was su rel y cou nt ing th e fourth pl ace Ca mel Pro points. But two la ps from th e end, tuner Sal Acosta 's fa ce got the far-away "oh not , not again" look , Scott had un loaded in turn two. " My front end 'washed ou t , " said th e KK Motorcycle Supp lysponsored Scott, So fourth be longed to McLa ughlin, a nd behind him in fifth ca me Singleton . . '" could have gotten into winner's circle , b ut in the rush to get th e bike . back together in time for the National , one of us forgot to tighten the nut that .' sec u res th e righ t hand clip -on . It kept moving back into th e tank and be sid es that l lost most of m y front brakes, " said a d isappointed , yet pleased with his co me- from -be h ind performance , Sin gleton . Sixth went to David Ald ana and h is T eam Dahmen Yamaha ; seven th to Ron Pier ce , eigh th to J im Allen a nd his new ride co u rtesy of Lau rel Enterprises/Pau l Napier ; ninth to points-seeker Steve Eklund a nd his Zanotti Enterp rises Yamaha , and rou nd ing ou t th e to p 10 via a consiste nt. smoot h rid e came At lan ta 's Ron Mass, As expected , 20 big Camel Pr o Seri es points went to Aksla nd , who after th e race sa id , " It wou ld have been a di ffer ent ra ce if Dale (Singleton) ha d ' sta rted u p front ." T hose points mov ed Aksland past Eklund int o seco nd beh ind defending cha m p ion Ja y Springst een . Sp rin ger post ed a t Loudon with an XR750 powered H arl ey, but tlie engine gave up th e figh t in Sunda y m orning practi ce . All in a ll, th e race provided the first rea l lead position di cing in many a Grand Nat iona l Championship road' ra ce a nd served as the first cou rse of a d ou ble-event Loudon yea r. Boston Cycl e'sJohri Jacobson will host another La conia Classic over La bor Day weekend. a nd as befi ts his motorcycle dealership's slogan. you can cou nt on the likes of Aksland, Ba ld win and Sch lachter to m ak e that even t a nother "privateers a re revolting" a ffai r. • Results 41 LAPS : 1. Skip Aksland (Yam); 2. Mik e Baldwin (Yam); 3:Rich Sch lacht er (Yam); 4. Steve M claughlin (Yam); 5 . Dale Singl eton (Yam ); 6 . David Al dana (Yam); 7. Ron Pierce (Yam); 8. J im All en (Varni; 9. St eve Eklund (Yaml; 10. Ron Mass (Yaml; 11. Jo hn Long (Yam); 12: David Emde (Vam); 13. Robert Wak efield (Yam); 14. Erik Buell (Vam); 15. Dan Sorensen (Yam); 16. Sandy Cowen {Yam); 17. Pierre Buellac (Yam); 18. Hap Eaton (Yam); 19 . Phil M cDo nald (Vaml; 20 . Henry • DeGown. A verag e Speed : 82.239 mph (new recor d) Time: 54 min.• 28 sec . AMA GRA ND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPICAME L PRO POINT STANDINGS: 1. Jay Spr ingsteen 11 111: 2. Skip Ak stand (951 3 . St eve Eklund (87); 4 , Garth Brow ; 1 641: 5. Ted Boody 1 591: 6. Gary Scott 1 ; 7. Hank 451 Scott 1 : 8. Mike Kidd (35): 9. Alex .Jorqensen 132 411 ): 10. Terry Poovey 1 . 311 M A NUFACTURERS ' POINT STAN DINGS: 1. Harley· Davidson (125): 2. Yamaha 1 11: 3 . Triumph 1 : 4. 9 361 Norton 12 5. Bulta cc 11 31 6. Ossa 1 6): : 111: 7. Kawasaki 11 01: B. BSA 1 : 9 . KTM lSI. 91 Expert ' Lightweight: ' Nixon scores as Springsteen tumbles By Gary Van Voorhis LOUDON , NH ,JUNE 17 Although it was a very popu lar victory , Ga ry Nixon was no t smiling after his win in t he Ex- pert Ligh tweight event . "Hey, don 't think I made en ough to pa y for the ga s," was Nixon 's reply to a post race question . Indeed . Nixon , aboard his J .R. Kelley /KK Motorcycle Supply mount easily outdistanced Vickery Yamaha sponsored Bru ce Sass a nd pri vat eer Pierre Beullac. Nixon's share of .the purse was .$37 5 plus $50 for being fast qual ifier. Sass a nd Beull ac home $2 55 and $160 , too k respectively. Interest in th e Lightweight events has d windl ed to the point that many riders left 250cc bikes home, shri nking the field of sta rters to 21. T he ra cin g , at least for th e top two posit ions was fierce in the qualifying . heat a nd it set th e table for what wou ld transp ire in th e fina l. HarleyDavidson's Jay Springst een was loose. "H ey, I'm here to have fun and go fa st ," sa id Springer. He was fast enough to surp rise Loudon ma ster Nixon in th eir battle for th e heat ra ce W In . Springsteen swapped th e lead with Ni xon a number of times a nd the pair hit the finish lin e less th an a bike length apart after five la ps. The 32-lap feature saw Springer exp lode from th e sta rting line to lead N ixon , Beullac , Sass and Mike Baed er into the first turn . Miles Ba ldwin, via a su pe r start , quickl y worked his way. to third as Jay drew out a lead of about 100 feet by lap three. • 7