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/126339
lAbove} Mike a.ldwln'. knee we. dreggln', but he we.n't on hi. wey to the Formule' vletory.IBelow} Freddie Spencer 171, Dele Singleton end Steve Moreheed 142) diced . .rIy on for third. Baldwincruises to WERA ·Grand By Dale Brown COLLEGE STATION, TX , OCT. 28·29 After arriving late and missing his heat race, Connecticut's Mike Baldwin ran away with the Formula 1 feature race at the Western Eastern Roadracers Association Grand National Final road race. . Baldwin picked up the lead 12 miles into the 75·mile race and rode strongly but conservatively to ' take the win over fast -rising Louisiana wunderkind Freddie Spencer. Dave Aldana. and Steve Morehead. Canadian Miles Baldwin starred in the two -day event also , winning the other 75 -m ile race . the Formula 3 event for 250cc GP machinery over Dan Chivington and Bruce Patterson. Miles Baldwin also won the Formula 2 race, for 350 and 250cc bikes . The Saturday portion of the event was devoted to heat races for all classes , and 24-mile final .races for most production and some Superbike classes. 8 The event was promoted by the National Sports Event Corp. and the Professional Riders Association. A $25,000 purse was put up, d ivided among 16 classes . In the Formula I heat. Freddie Spencer and Skip Aksland were dicing back and forth for the lead in the three-lap heat around Texas World Speedway's three mile road/banked oval s ou ne. On the last lap, two turns before they re-entered the infield and the oval, Aksland and Spencer hi t oil on the track. Both slid out almost simultaneously when front ends washed out. Both were up in a hurry. and except for Aksland's sprained thumb , not injured. Da le Singleton went on to win the heat on his Taylor White Construction TZ with Steve Morehead (K&K Supply Yam) , Dave Aldana (Team Dahmen Yam) and Harry Klinzmann (Yam ) following him home. Billy Addington (1000 Kaw) and Reg Pridmore, riding .his , Vetter Kawasaki with a full fa iring, were among the leading productionbased bikes in the heat . Back in the pits, En Kanernoto worked hard on Spencer's ex-Gary Nixon TZ, which had swallowed d irt during the tumble . Later it was discovered that the frame was bent, so Freddie had to use his, own personal TZ , also a Kanernoro-prepared machine . Aksland withdrew from the race, due to both the hand inju ry and more extensive damage to his bike.. Skip's tuners, Bud Aksland and Terry Sage, spent the rest of the weekend working on Morehead 's and Aldana 's machines. Baldwin arrived shortly after the heat race was over but did not ride Saturday. During Sunday's practice session, Mike became concerned about tire wear. The same tire compound he's used at Mosport and Imola was wea ring very fast due to the rippley surface of.the high banked east turn utilized from the stock car ova l. Baldwin called a Formula I rider's meeting after the regular rider's meeting and suggested shortening the • race from 75 to 50-60 miles due to the tire wear situation. The other riders, however , were using harder compounds which they felt would go the distance. They wanted to go 75 mil~ " and Bald>yip "greed to dC? it, • Dave Aldana led off the start of the feature race, but it was red-flagged, reportedly when some of the second wave riders left with the first wave . Morehead grabbed the point on the second start, and after half a lap , was leading Aldana , Spencer, Baldwin (up from about an II th row start), and Klinzmann. s Aidana took the lead on the following lap as Baldwin also advanced one position. He passed Morehead on the following circuit, then took tile lead from Aldana on the next lap. Singleton got up into the leading pack, running behind Baldwin , Aldana and Spencer, and ahead of Klinzmann, Richard Chambers (Yam) , Reg Pridmore, Curt Connell (Yam) , Conrad .Urba nowski (Yam) , and Billy Addington (Kaw). By the 10th lap the order for-the top three was set, with Baldwin leading, Spencer in second , after passing Aldana on a short straight in the back section, and Aldana third. mOl Morehead and Singleton were having an entertaining scrap for third, with flat tracker Morehead occasionally sticking his inside foot out through the corners. The duel lasted until just before the midway point when Singleton lost third gear. He pulled into the pits for a quick look at t ~e sprockets. He came. back out . on