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/126512
Drtvw IMJy CoIemen 8IId pl. . . . . . MIIrk Sew,. topped the Long Beech GP SIdec8r event with I IeIt Iep ..... Coleman/Bevans bestLBGP sidecar event By Dele Brown Photos by Skip Johnson end Cheri.. Morey LONG BEACH, CA, MAR. 15 Northern California riders Larry Coleman and Mark Bevans and their Kal-Gard-sponsored TZ750-powered rig turned a last lap pass into victory in the 12-lap Sidecar race held in conjunction with the Long Beach Grand Prix Formula One auto race. Reg Pridmore and Kenny 20 Green came out of retirement to finish second ahead of Ian Fillery and Steve Quinn. The race w~ billed as. the fi.rst East/West Slde~ar Senes, WIth SIX teams from each side of the U.S. and Canada. The West team was given the victory as they took three out of the top four places with the first East finisher the Fillery/Quinn chair. 0.£ the Eastern riden Bill Davidson and Pat Dunn were leading the race going into the last lap, and would have had a secure second. But in trying.to retake the lead, thq crashed hard four comers from the finish. Davidson was taken to the hospital for treatment of a broken right hand and lacerations. Dunn was reponedly not too badly hun. Racer Pete Eaaaff deserves credit for getting the event on the LBGP slate with unofficially the largat purse U.S. three-wheelen have ever raced for. Travel, appearance and prize money totalled over $17,000. After the event was over, Wayne Lougee hoisted Eaaaff onto his shoulders and Eaaaff was treated to an enthusiastic ovation by the assembled racers. The sidecars took to the twisty 2.02mile course carved out of Long Beach City streets and parking lots a stone's throw from the Queen Mary, on Friday for practice and qualifying. The circuit gave the teams a diff}cult time with two series of esses - turns 2-4 and 8-11 :.... that had the passengers scrambling wildly from one side of the vehicle to another. Estimated top speed down the fast back straightaway was 135-140 mph. The fastest qualifier was the R.C. Engineering-sponsored, Kawasaki- powered chair of Davidson and Dunn. The sidecar race was the final event before the Fonnula One feature, and they played to a packed house. "For the first 10 laps, we kind of took it easy and put on a good show staying up with the leading group, said Codman later, "When I saw the white flag lap. I went for it. You can't go flat out from the stan. This is a long race for us." Put on a good show they did, with the top 5-6 rigs changing positions from corner to comer, lap to lap. Pete Eaaaff and Kenny Harrold led off the stan on their Kawasaki chair, followed by the TZ750-propeIled rigs of CoImIan/ Bevans and Bruce Lind/jack Han, and the Kawasaki of DavidaoniDunn. Not with the leading group was the Kawasaki of Fillery/Quinn: "A bad clutch caused us to stall on the line with a live engine stan. It didn't stan the first time we pushed it, so we had to push it again. We had to ride like crazy just to keep them in sight," said Fillery, who made the trip from Toronto, Canada. As they staned the second lap. Wayne Lougee and Sean jackson (Kaw) had taken over the lead and were now followed by Davidson/Dunn, Coleman/Bevans, Essaff/Harrold and Lind/Han.