Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

E • ! t (Top) W.. Cooley rode to third d..pite 8 . .r1oua high speed wobble thet nearly pitched him off. Third __ good for 8 tie in the &pet IC8I' glv.. Eddie Lewaon 8 ride to the pita 8ft8r Lewaon's engine blew up in 8 heat l'lIC8.lAbove rightl MJ:ke Spencer __ fourth. the infield and the bilte literally jumped all over the track. Not only did Cooley save ·it, but he was right back on the gas passing three riders before hitting the west banking exiting the infield. "I don't believe I stayed up on two wheels," said Cooley afterwards. "I know it was spectacular because it scared the hell out of me. It was really my fault because I got a bit over anxious to get through traffic. I didn't realize Eddie was that close on the final lap or he wouldn't have gotten me." The heat races over the nearly fourmile combined road/oval at Talladega - as the track is better known - saw Cooley open a good lead on Honda's Mike Spencer and Cooley's new Yoshimura teammate Guennady Liubimsky for the fust \reat win. Eddie Lawson led the first two laps of heat two and then had his motor go up in a large puff of blue smoke when r ,.1.""\.'..... :r 1 J l. I 4 .. 1.. ~ J a rod let loose at the start of the backstretch. Freddie Spencer cruised to the win followed by his Honda teammate Robeno Pietri. On the cool-off lap, Spencer picked up Lawson for a ride to the pits. The final was to be a 12·lap sprint, and the fastest off the line was Pietri. Unfonunately, he didn't even complete the first lap. "Everything lookea fine," said a dejected Pietri afterwards, "then it went bang. My luck hasn't been too good lately." Freddie Spencer took over the lead with Cooley in tow follo"(ed by Lawson, Mike Spencer and Klinzmann. "Freddie and I were having fun drafting each other in the early laps," said Cooley. "However, the bike seemed to get a bit slower, and I had a bre'ak in concentration when I had the near get-off." "I Idst a bit of ground in the opening lap," said Lawson. I didn't want to push as hard as Wes and Freddie on tires that weren't even warm. Once they began to stick I rode as hard as I could to make up ground in the infield and stay close on the banlting." Spencer led the second and third laps with Cooley taking over on laps four and five. Spencer was baclt on top for the next two go-arounds with Cooley doing his "worm wiggle" on lap eight. From there on Lawson inched steadily closer. Mike Spencer was getting a bit of learning time in riding to fourth while Klinzmann was trying in vain to make his fifth a fourth, "I rode the wheels off the bike," said Jimmy' Adamo of his Berliner/Reno Leoni Ducati - the flTSt twin finisher in the infield. "I was skating the bike through the infield and making up some ground. But when we hit tne banking it was good-bye. There's no substitute for raw power:' Adamo was seventh behind .the Hyper-Cycle Kawasaki of Carey Andrews. points 1'lIC8.IAbove Iettl Lang Hinkle, riding for Kawasaki Canada, made a charge up through traffic to put himself into a rapidly closing sixth place on lap four. Hindle . lost a lap on lap seven for unexplained mechanical reasons. Another casualty of mechanical gremlins was Liubimsky who was running fifth on lap three. Unfortunately, that's where his ride ended. e Results 1. Freddie Spence; (Honl; 2. Eddie Lawson IKawl; 3. W.. Cooley (Suz); 4. Milte Spencer IHon); 5. Harry Klinzmann IKawl; 6. C8rey Andrews (Kawl; 7. Jimmy Adamo IDuel; 8. Ricil Chambers IKawl; 9. Kurt Liebmann IHont; 10. _TunstaiIIDucl; 11. Kurt Win"", ISUl); 12. Kirk Guey (Suz); 13. Larry Shorts IHonl; 14. Berry Eer1eIKaw); 15. Wendy Epstein ISul); 16. Ronald Miller IKawl; 17. Vince Hill IKIWI; 18. Lang Hindle (Kawl; 19. Ron Sbo

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