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/126484
Supe rb ike· mounted Eddie Lawson (21) gets t he Formula One ho leshot . Cory Ruppelt 1 711. Bru ce Ha mmer 1 and Dale Singleton (301 provide the pursuit. 521 AMA Grand National Championship/Winston Pro Series: Round 19 Singleton shows the way at Pocono By Tom M ueller Ph ot os by Henny Ray A bram s and M ue ller POCO NO , PA , AUG . 16 Dale Singleton made a return trip from the GP circuit in Europe to give American competitors a lesson in what going fast really means on the 2. 8-m ile Pocono International Raceway course at t he Winston Cycle Jam . Singleton left no doubt that his rookie season in Europe has refined his road race skills . He 8 cont rolled the 27 lap , 75.6 ·mile final , and pulled an ever increasing lead to the finish line. '" really feel good. After being overseas so long and having to play second fiddle , it's good to be hom e ," said Singleton amidst cheers in winner's circle. Rich Schlachter ea rned a second place finish in th e fina l after out-dueling th e hottest rider of the weekend, Eddie Lawson . The two staged a ra ce long two -stroke versu s four -stroke bat tle. Schlachter on a Yamaha TZ750 and Lawson on a fac tory Kawa sak i prepared Superbike. Lawson won both the Superbike and Expe rt Lightweight races, so when it ca me time for th e Formula One fin al he already had a bunch of track time under his belt. Some notable co ntenders fou nd their wa y to Poc ono , b u t not to th e final's sta rti ng grid . Former Na tiona l Cha m p Gen e Rom ero d idn't rid e be caus e of a bent fra me tha t im pai re d the Busch Beer -sponsored bik e's ha nd ling . Wes Cooley crashed his Yoshimura Su zuk i in p ra ctice and made it unridable. Mark Jones went into a corne r too hard in his heat ra ce a nd crashed h is bik e int o flames, sending him self to the Pocono Hospital with a compound fracture of the lower right leg, contusions to his chest and intern al inj uries . Gina Bovaird was a spectator due to a cras h at th e Suzuka 8·Hour race in Japan that injured her hand . Freddie Spen cer did n't make it , as he had planned to ride h is Honda Superbike in the National and limped acorss th e line in the Superbike race with an -oil leak . Spencer would have gridded in the ba ck if he would have ran , as electrical problems kept him from running his heat race . Spen cer had co ntr ac ted with Honda to ru n Iiis Yamaha TZ750 in onl y th e Da ytona 200 and Laguna Seca National, so lJ.e didn't have that bike alonJl:. Sunny skies and one of tfie best crowds in years brought th e final into lap one. Ted Boody was left in the starting area , fr anticall y tryin g to get his b ike started. Kawasaki's Lawson took th e holeshot - four-stroke style - with Schlachter and Singleton in tow . ~ By lap two Singleton had the It;ad , for good as Microlon-sponsored Schlachter, Lawson , Kal -Card's Bruce Hammer, Cory Ruppelt and K vm Stafford followed. On lap four Rup~lt moved on Hammer and despite a monoshock problem, was pa cing with tlie leaders. Stafford and Harry Klinzman locked into battle with Klinzmann winning out for sixth behind Hammer. By lap seven Singleton held a 7.5 second lead. Lawson was closing on Schlachter and behind Ruppelt and