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/126473
- - 'l' T v ~"'~:-',~:' ..... , ~ ,.if'" ~ J.t1f' , ~ .,.. " y _ v '''_~~ ~ Wes Cooley labove. and below center) put the four·stroke Yoshimura Suzuki through its paces. showing the two-stroke Yamahas of Rich Schlachter (below rightland Miles Baldwin (below leftl the fast way to victory circle, ~.~Y:, :..~~ " ~ - '"'0, .:<' M ' ~ ..~ , -- ¥..::~~ < Cooley cools 'em at'Road America By Gary Van Voorhis ELKHART LAKE, WI,JUNE 1 It took Wes Cooley just 45 minutes, 01.11 sec- onds to convince critics that the four-strokes in the newly-formed Formula One class are indeed competitive machines. Not only did Cooley bring his Yoshimura R&D of America l025cc Suzuki home a ." h did i convmcmg v.: Inner , but, e I It on the grueling four- mile Road America circuit which should have favored the faster Yarnahas. Following Cooley to winner's circle in the eighth round of the Winston Pro Series were Rich Schlachter and Miles Baldwin, J immy Adamo and Mark Jones rounded out the top five. Missing from Road America were Kenny Roberts, Randy Mamola , John Long and Dale Singleton , who are in Europe racing, Mike Baldwin, who apparently will make his comeback to racing at Loudon , and Skip Aksland, who is reportedly hanging it up after an accident in the Spanish GP , Gene Romero who did race did not have a good weekend and was plagued with gremlins, He finished 14th, Ted Bood y's run from the Louisville Half. Mile National Saturday night netted him no points as insufficient time to learn the track left him uncornpetitive and mired in 18th. "T hey built a bike that runs faster ' ist than hell ', I JUs t t WIS th e th rott I" salid e, Coolev as he th an ked F" Y06hi -J UJIO rrnura , Sohiro W a t ana b e an d th e res t 0 f th e • hi " l wou id h ave lik e d I Yos Imura crew . two wins today, I found out the hard way in the Superbike event that you ' don't win until you cross the finish , ' Ime. R unnIng ou t 0 f gas . th a t one In h b k ' II h was, a ear~ rea - especla y w ~n you re leading and only a half mile from 'the finish!" 10 Rich Schlachter, aboard his Microlon/ Arai / Sky Cycles / Cast rolsponsored mount, had mixed emotions about his second- place finish by less than ha lf a bike length over Miles Baldwin. " I' m glad to finish second," said Schlachter in winner's circle, "But I think things should h~ve bee~ di~~er. e.nt., I had a ~ro~le~ with the 1~llIon limIng and didn t discover what .t was until it was too late to correct, I don't think I rode to my ability because of the corners where the asphalt sealer made you alter' your normal lines and limited aggressive riding there, " Privateer Miles Baldwin of Canada also had a somber attitude. "I had a problem when a bug got into my eye in the earlylaps, then I got sweat in the same eye, That slowed my charge, The last. few laps were the real race: I b~sl~ally do all my own work , but If I ~Idn t hav~ Alex Cameron to help out I d be lost. . . . The four .m lle: 14-turn CI~CUlt at Road .Am en ca Includes uphills and downhills plus fast and slow sweepers, The only problem was that asphalt sealer had been used extensively in four ~urns to cure track break-up, It effecllve~y ,cha n. ed those.corners , to g 'n arrow 1",Slde lin e or a Wide outside one. Passing patterns ch~nged corn ~Ietely an~ altered , .a ~co rd Ing to many nders, their cornpennve edge. ~~rtunately for the owners of the facility , the forecast of doomsday and b di f d ith a ran Ing 0 " 1 ' 1 wit 1 anyone connecte ' motoreycf ' ty unn proven InIng as gUl " bl ' nocent 0 every cnme Imagtna e In ~ ~ ~ dally press articles du:! not scare ,,:way spectators, ,Many businesses remained . clowed dunn~ the weekend ?ecause of the scare tactics and that raised anger ' f . ' h ' , In many ans - u was t e main top ic of discussion. B h fi I F l O . ,y t e Ina o~mu a n,e practice session Saturday, u was .evident that everyone was using more gas than on a less demanding course , It was decided to shorten the National to 72 miles instead of the scheduled 80. Although the weather threatened all day , it did not rain. AMA officials were prepared to stop the race, let the riders change