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/126477
o 00 0') ~ (Topl Rich Schlachte r (48) and W es Coo ley battled in t he back section. but Schlechter had the power on t he str8ights end t ook the w in, (A bove left! Gennady UUbimsky finished f ourth w hile Bruce Hammer (above rightlstaged a IattHace climb t o third. AMA Grand N ational Championship/Winsto~ Pro Series: Round 13 Schlachter over Cooley in Road 'Atlan ta clash . By Tom Mueller Photos by Dan McCauley and Gary Van Voorhis BRASELT O N , GA ,JUNE29 "I really didn't think Wes would stick with me for as long as he did," said a victorious Rich Schlachter after coming out on top of the twostroke vs. four-stroke battle between himself and Yoshimura Suzuki-mounted W es Cooley, Schlach ter was the . first to win a Form ula O ne National a t Road Atla nta' s 2. 52 8 mile course since it was last ru n in 1974 , when Ken ny Rob erts took the honors. Like Roberts, he d id it on a Yamaha TZ750 . "I knew it was a losing battle towards the end becau se if 1 got Rich he'd ge t me back in the straights," said Cooley . "1 was starting to build u p some heat." Cooley's ru nn er-up placing was com me ndable in th at his moto r had done double time . After blowing his Su pe rbike motor in a heat ra ce the d ay before, Cooley had his Formula One engi ne mounted in his Su pe rbike. He ran th e bike to second in th e Su perb ike featu re and pu t th e motor back in his Vetter sponsored Form ula O ne bike . "They (his m echan ics) j ust look ed it over. It was clean , so they pu t it back in th is one." sa id Cooley, pointing to h is Formula One bike. After the Loudon Nat ional Cooley spent some time relaxing at Schla chter's ho me in Connet icut , and now it will be time for the two to be together again. They will be heading for Japan to do testing and then compete as a team in an eight-hour en du ra nc e race. "T ha t' ll be our next win - whe n W es and 1 take the eight-hourl" said Schlachter . Third place laurels were given to Kal -Ga rd sponsored Bruce Hammer, who paced his way through the pa ck to his fina l position. " It was a matter of tenacity - stick to-a-rive-ness, 1 could have passed ea rlier, b ut it would have bee n risky," said Hammer. "1 had a good choice of tire. I ra n a bit harder compound. I'm sure all the front-runners had them. " Fourth and fifth positions went to Gennady Liubirnsky a nd Rich Chambers , respectively, who held consistent paces which brought them to the front . Once again , it wasn 't former Grand National Champion Gene Romero's day, He left the grid with the rest of the heat two pack , but failed to come around, "I went low to pass, and all of a sudden the bike started. swapping. Then it got a bite and pitched me high-side. Then som e people told me there's oil on the track there ," said Busch Beer sponsored Romero. Honda's Freddie Spencer didn't make a showing in th e fin a l, either. Spencer ca me to Road Atla nta under the impression that Honda would bring a bike for him to ride, so he left his TZ750 Yamaha at home. The Honda mount didn't materialize, so Spencer was a spectator rather than rider on rac e day . Spencer will now take a trip to Belgium for his 500cc GP racing debut next week . The 50ยท lap , 75-mile final got und erway with Microlon/CastroVSky Cycles/ Ar a i sponsored Sch lachter, Cooley, second heat winner Mark Jones and Bru ce Paterson taking advantage of th eir up-front grid slots and going out front. Through that lap and 12 more, Cooley ra n tight on Schlachter, trying to set up a pass that he could never