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/126511
Join the high performance team •.. [][]ffiU'1J don't want to speculate what the problem was, " Marc Fontan, in halting English said, "I believe 1 could have won. However, 1 had a problem with my fmal gas stop and that probably cost me my chance. 1 was running very well." Fontan was a clOle friend of last year's winner Patrick Pons, who died in a racing accident. Fontan rides for the same team as Pons did - Sonnato· Gauloises. MacLean Racing's Rich Schlachter also lamented his bad luck. He had led for 20 laps before a series of misfortunes cooled this charge. "First 1 hit what 1 think was a spot of oil and in saving myself from a crash, 1 broke the wind· screen which pulled out the breather tube and that began spraying me with gas. The gas covered the bubble and made it difficult to see. Then 1 lost second and third gear and that killed my chance to win. " There was a fmt that went into the Daytona 200 record hooks: The fint fInish by a female rider. Gina Bovaird, who became the fIrst female to qualify for the 200 last year but crashed in the late stages of the race, finished !17th this year despite a lengthy pit stop to adjust a very lOOle chain late in the race. "I believe we could have done at least 10 places better in finishing with· out the chain problem," said Bovaird. "However, I'm just happy to have fin· ished. 1 feel it's quite an accomplish· ment. My sponsor - Star Brite (polish) - is quite happy with the results. " One of the biggest stories of the race was again centered on Kenny Roberts and his inability to break his Daytona jinx. For the second year in a row, stuck throttle slides sidelined the pre·race favorite. At the end of the third lap Roberts was in the pits with the full complement of high priced Yamaha talent atta4ing his bike. Fuming behind his dark face shield, Roberts paced up and down for perhaps two minutes then stalked away. Yamaha's Kenny Clark knew Roberts wouldn't be back and called a halt to the work. "I firmly believe," Clark would say then and later, "that when the AMA tech inspectors checked the carb reo strictors they closed the throttle slides before withdrawing the instrument used. That caused the throttle cable to develop a kink in it and consequently, the slide to stick open." The AMA's Mike DiPrete offered that Roberts had made an off·course excursion on the lap before he had come in and that trip might have caused the problem. To that logic Clark replied Roberts ran off the track because the throttle was sticking open and the problem was the cause, not the result, of the run olIo In any case, it was another DNF in Roberts' Daytona 200 hook. Qualifying To see Kenny Roberts pick-up the pole position in qualifying fOT the 200 did not surprile many. That Roberts' time (2 min., !I.998 sec.l112.!157 mph) was a full one and one·half seconds slower than last year's tTack record pace was noteworthy to some. However, the blustery wind conditions disturbed more than one rider's concentration including Roberts'. "The wind was gusting so bad," said Roberts, "that 1 was literally blown past the chicane on the first lap of my qualifying sesaion. If you weren't ready for it, the wind could really mess you up." Mike Kidd was one of those riders who ran afoul of the wind. He crashed in the chicane after getting in too hot .-4 00 O"l .-4 BRAD LACKEY DARREL SHUIJZ WAYNE BOYER RICHARD COON NOT PICTURED: WARREN REID· STEVE WISE Carrera goggles with exclusive HYPER-SOFT M FOAM. ~A BBrBA CA~Il£~A INTE~NATIONAl COIlPOflATlON @ ~~ CUSTOM I i i I NOllWOOO, NEW JERSEY 07648 ENCLOSED .... I , TRAILERS 6xIOx5'6" shown ANY SIZE ANY SHAPE O'..... I.....r ........ lt.... i I ! STANDARDS WIDE TRACK CaIIfGnda Outd•••, , · " ....ea.u. .... 1'"'1'ta 4651 Moon Lake Drive Placerville, CA 95677 916/457-9777 Cauopolis, Ml 4905 I 66501 Calvin Center R.oad 616/699-5741 7