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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126468
IAbove) Eddie Lawson (80) leeds Wes Cooley. Jr. in one of the closest duels
of the race. (Below ) Dave Garoutte of the winning Garoutte/Draper team.
ITop ) Lee Fleming and Mike Spencer topped the 150cc class. IAbove)
Pridmore at speed on the Cycle Tune Suzuki. (Below) Vintage bikes get off
the line. (Bottom) Freddie Spencer gets a pus h out of the pits after a speedy
stop.
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ca rburetor , and the crew reacted quickly to stop the leak.
"I think the floa t stuck," said
Sch lachter , "I ran out of gas on that
last la pl" He'd rocked the bike to slosh
any remaining fuel into the petcocks
and managed to reach the pits by the
skin of his teeth.
, As the race reached th e four and
one-half hour mark , Team Honda
staged a series of p it stops to set up for
a long, uninterrupted run a t th e end
of the six-hour race. The leading bike
pitted twice only a few laps apart , giv .
ing them enough fuel and tire to make
a run for it - if necessary - to the
checkered flag.
At the I20-lap point , it was the
Pierce/Spencer Honda leading the
.Lawson / Aldana Kawasaki and the
Cooley/Schlachter Yoshimura Suzuki.
In fourth was the Racecrafters Kawa saki of Klinzmann and Emde, and the
Parme/ Blakeslee Kawasaki was holding off the Smith/Pridmore Suzuki for
fifth . The 600cc class winner, the
Garout te/ Draper Yamaha , held ninth
overau. janead of event ua l (u noffici a l)
750cc winner, th e Fleming/Spencer
Kawasaki .
As the' ra ce cre p t into th e final hour,
, riders showed fatigue in la p times and
judgement err ors. One of the most costly errors took the Yosh imura entry ou t
of the race. •
At 4 :35, W es Coo ley fa iled to come
a ro und .
"He
fell ," Fujio
Yoshimura
shru gged as he a nd Carol Ca rp enter
waited to find ou t what exactl y had
happened to their rid er and bik e.
"W e don't know how he is, or what's
happened to the bike. He's up walking
around ," Carol added . As it turned
ou t, Cooley had rear -en ded a 350cc
machine that apparen tly had moved
into his line a t a much slower speed .
T h.t:.- resu lting crash put Wes in for a
check of a battered shoulder an d the
bike in the garage area , likewise
ba ttered.
,,' T hen the McCla nahan/ Silver acc ident happened on the front straightaway,- at 5:00 p .m. . and the race was
stopped ,
Champagne and protests flew in
unison in victory circle . Official results
•
will follow as soon as available.
Unofficial Results
OVERAll: 1, Ron PiercelFreddie Spencer (Hon); 2.
Eddie LawsonIOave Aldana {Kaw}; 3. Dennis Smith l
Reg Pridmor e IS uz); 4 . Chuc k ParmelWhitney Blakeslee lKawI; 5. Harry Klinzmann/Dave Emde (Kawl: 6 .
Steve Mallonee/Jell Haney (Hon ): 7. Wendell PIliUips!
Kerry Bryant (Kaw); 8 . Dave GatTounelDoug Draper
(Yaml; 9. lee RemingiMike Spencer IKawl; 10. Carry
Keoshg eria niS teve McClenon IHonl; 11. Steve
Mclaughlin/Roberto Pietri {Hon}; 12. John Ulrich1
Mark Shelton C
SuzJ: 13. Frank Mazur/Rich Oliver lKawl;
14. Roger Hagie/Frank Vanderb,oek (Kawl; 15, Tom
Ballantyne /Willi Scheffer ISuz l; 16. Gary Broeder/J ohn
Buddenbaum (Varni; 17. Ken Vreeke/Rich Cox U