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/126520
~ 00 0') ~ Overall top eeorer, England'. John Newbold (511eeda America'. Dan Chivlngton(90I, fourth-best Keith Huewen (161 and Steve Hen.haw in close action. (Above left) Randy Mamole turned in thr.. wine for the U.S. effort. (Above right! Daytona 200 winner·D. Singleton we. the top Americen overall, third behind England'. Newbold and Dave Potter. Transatlantic Trophy Match Races many by ouueoring Barry Sheene and Dave Potter to emerge as top overall points man with 72 on his four-strolte Yoshimura-based Suzuki. The inexperience of the U.S.'s lower order riden. coupled with equipment problems, told against the VISiting team. while an estimated 150.000 people paid to watch the weekend's three days of racing. but loses series Preliminerie. u.s. wins three, By Alan Cathcart America's two-year grip on the Transatlantic Trophy Match Race Series was broken over the 1981 Easter weekend, when the nine-man U.S. team was defeated by its British counterpart by 466 points to 345 over the sixrace series. It was the greatest . f' t . th 11 1l!argm 0 VIC ory me-year hIStory of the annual contest. 12 The U.S. won three of the races. however. thanks to brilliant riding by Randy Mamola on his 1980 factory RG500 Suzuki. At one time, h~ loolt.ed set to scoop ~he S25,~OO s~C1al pn~e for the fint nder to WIn all SIX races In a series; fate dictated otherwise, though. Team captain Dale Singleton was top points scorer for the USA with 65 after some tigerish rides. while on the British side John Newbold surprised Yamaha's well-publicized decision not to release Kenny Roberts to ride for the USA, coupled with the ablellce of Dave Aldana and Mike Baldwin (endurance racing for Honda at Le Mans) meant a less-than strongest American team was announced after Daytona in March. Indeed, Daytona performances obviously weighed heavily in team selection; winner Dale Singleton headed the line-up with his TZ750, though his attention between rounds was pretty much directed towards the spanking new Mit. 6 RG500 that also graced his comer of the paddoclt. With the Austrian GP - fint round of the FlM World Championship - the following weeltend - Dale and Aussie mechanic John Redding had their eyes on the rest of the season. The Dalton, GA rider had to leave his four-hoofed friend Elmer behind thanks to U.K. quarantine regulations, but was as vocal as ever in generating team spirit. A football-style huddle on the start line of the fint race at Brands had the Briu psyched out, and the help and encouragement both Dale and Mamola gave to the rookie teamsten was considerable, several times leading a freight train of U.S. fint-timen round the different tracks on a racing school for real. Mamola was using an '80 model team RG500. while his '81 model was on its way to Austria, mentor Jim Doyle was U.S. team manager. Daytona Superbike winner Wes Cooley had hoped to be riding the other kind of racing Suzuki. but arrived in England without his trusty four-strolte. Word was that Fujio Yoshimura and Gavin Trippe have yet to clear up a little matter of ex~ outstanding from last year's senes. "We don't get paid, there's no bike." were Fujio's comments to me at Daytona, and he was as good as his word. leaving Wes to scout around for replacement equipment. Having failed to penuade Suzuki UK to lend him one of their four-stroltes laclt of spares was the ultimate excuse - Wes found himself saddled with his fint strolter ride for three yean on an ex·Roger Manhall TZ750 owned by