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/126467
.M ~ < IClockwiH from abovel Roberto Pletr!, W.. Cooley, OllYe Ald8ne.... Eddlel..8wMn heed the cIrlIg l'lICe. to the first tum. l..nnon Is now HCOnd In polma. Ald8ne led by a .Um mwgln for 8 while. Spencer Inepecte hie deetroyed tire. AlMA Superblke Championship Road Race Series: R04lnd two As soon as Spe.ncer wobbled into the pits. Cooley dropped out of the hunt and fell back to a fairly distant third. "Right after Freddie dropped out I had an ignition problem," Cooley said later. "It made this fluttering sound. I was running about 85 percent. In the first race I was over geared, so I geared down for this one." Lawson and Aldana didn't drop off the pace. Though the rest of the field was spreading out behind. the pair didn't give any indication who the winner would be. They ran wheel to wbeel and on lap seven Aldana found a way to lead - but only by a small margin. They rode that way until the white flag lap. When it was over Lawson came into his cool·off lap with a victory fist in the air; Aldana was coasting, banging his head on the ban. Lawson had drafted Aldana and at the last possible moment went high on the banking and shot by to win. "About a 1,000 feet before the line I made my pass," Lawson said while packing up his gear. "It was close. It was a good race." "If I would have seen him coming I sure would have done something," Aldana said. "If I would have seen him go high I would have gone high. too but by then it was too late." Behind Lawson and Aldana came 1979 SUperbike Series Champion Cooley and veteran Pierce. Pietri, Glenn's Honda Sales rider Joe Patton, GSM/ Kal·Gard-sponsored Chuck Parme, Doug Chancey, Randy Carabellisupponed Rich Chamben and San Francisco's Ms. Wendy Epstein rounded ouuhe top 10. . McLaughlin had never been in contention. "The suspension was flawless, but it was the clutch. I got off the line real well. but I burned the clutch." McLaughlin expressed his opinion at pay-off concerning Superbilte competilion in 1980. "This time two KawasalUs were out front; a Suzuki and Honda were in the hun~. The competition should be close and give spectators a good show in future rounds." Cooley summed up his feelings on the series. "Everyone was worried a bou t Freddie, but he dropped out. You just have to be consistent. Of course, I'd like to win a couple. too!" 250cc Ughtweight Lawson leaps to last second win By Tom Mueller . TALLADEGA, AL, APR. 14 Team Kawasaki's Eddie Lawson made a move on his newly signed teammate David Aldana at the checkered flag and. took the win in round two of the Superbike Championship Series battle at Alabama International Motor Speedway. The last time Talladega's four-mile combined infield and high. banked tn-oval 12 cou~ was ~ to motorcycles was a National event m 19~4. The Amateur portton of the Pro-~ event got off on Saturday. but a ramout Sunday !T!oved t~ Su~bike round to Monday. SI~ skies agal~ threatened to soak the faclhty a meeting was held and it was decided to. cut the program to three 10-lap races. The 19 Super. bik~ enter~. would run a moneypaytng qu~hfytng race and a mo~eyl po~nts-paY'ng final. The 250cc Light· weIght race was open to Amateurs and only a final would be run. "It was an agreement between the promoter and the AMA," said referee Charlie Watson after the meeting. Superbike The qualifier stan took most riden by surprise. Referee; Watson waved the ~~ flag a~OSl Instantly af~~ getting mto position on the wall. I want you to know I'm not the regular staner," said Watson. ''I'm doing everything today." Yoshimura Suzuki· mounted Wes Cooley was the man showing the way as the pack howled into the infield, but Eddie Lawson didn't want to play folfow the leader _ he had the lead by the time he went onto the banking. David Aldana, who was making his • debut ride on a factory Kawasaki after riding a Yoshimura Suzuki at Day. tona. also decided to make a move around Cooley. but it wasn't quite as easy for him. A Cooley/Aldana duel set up for a bit. but Aldana saw a hot line and used it to pass. Behind Cooley trailed Venezuelan Roberto Pietri, riding with suppon from Team Honda, Ducati-mountedJim Adamo, and Team Honda's manage/rider ~ McLaughlin. Honda team rnemben Freddie Spencer and Ron Pierce only made their grid positions in order to qualify. They did not ride the heat due to mechanical problems they met with in practice. With a small field of riden, positions stabilized early. Lawson croued the finish line a healthy distance ahead of Aldana - a situation he wouldn't be able to enjoy the second time out. Lawson, Aldana, Spencer and Cooley ran so tight off the line and through the fint few laps in the points-paying. final that it was hard to detennine who the leader was - the group was running in a cluster that could have fit in a 20-foot circle. Pierce and Pietri were chasing a shon distance back. The big battle up front broke up when Spencer didn't appear on lap four. "I though I was breaking in the tire; then I though the clutch was slipping," Spencer said as he inspected his thoroughly disintegrated rear tire in the pits. "If it wouldn't have been so cold I don't think it would have happened. The tire just came up to temperature too quickly. " Dan Guglielmo made the trip from' PIYJDouth, MI, and found himself out front leading Taylor. Michigan's Craig Morris and Ricky Ritch around the course the fint time. By lap two Morris had worked his way to the front on his self·sponsored Yamaha and began to extend his lead to about a third of a lap by the finish. Guglielmo fell of the pace and fmished an eventual seventh. Nobuhiro NakamUra saw the second place slot open and plugged into it for good on his self-sponsored Yamaha out of Gainesville, FL. Floridian Ritch held a steady third to the checkers. Dieter Gunner. another Michiganite, c1aimed the founb place berth. In this race as in the others, posi. tions spread out in the early pan because of a low number of entries. The entire field was Yamaha-mounted. • Results _0 SUPEIlIIlKE: 1. Eddie L-.on ~I; 2. Dove_ 3. w. Cooley (Suzl; 4. Ron Pierce (Hanl; 5. _ Pielri CHonI; 8. Doug Chn:ey lK8wl; 9. Rich ~ CHonI; 10. Wendy Epstein tSuzl. lNV: I. 0Iig Mom. tv_I; 2. 3. Ricky Rilch tvarnl: 4. Dlel. Gunner tvaml: 5. Dennis Delli". tv_I; 8. Tom DocbIUr (Yam); 7. Dan Guglielmo tvarnl; 8. Bobby _ tvam~ 9. W_ 5c:haollW tvam); 10. Rick 51.- tvaml. SUPERBIKE POINT STANDINGS: 1. Ron P..ce 124); 2. Eddia L-.on 1201: 3. 5 _ (19): 4. Dove _ (18); 5. W. Cooley 1131: 6. mEl R_o Pietril Pal 11 0); B. me) Donnio SmilhIChuck PaIlon 191; ~l; e- _,a: Ft_ 10. mE) Harry KIiNmannIChucIt _ tlIl; 12. Doug Chancey 171; 13. (TIEl Rich ~ Roy 181: 15.mEJWendy~T_t5I. lNV TIME: 24:48.Q07. AVERAGE SPEED: 118.7lIB. SUPERIIIKE TIME: 22:03.032. AVERAGE SPEED: 108.841.