Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ 00 c::n ~ ~ 1-0 QJ ..c 0 ~ C.J 0 " Col. . . . ICY. eIong with. pM of MCOI_ MtWd Broc GIo"., the ovwaU win. He ..... 13-po1nt .... lnthe ......... ANA Trans-USA NX Series: Roand three Unadilla laurels landedby Glover By Tom Mueller Photos by Marc Lachapelle and Mueller NEW BERLIN, NY, OCT." Team Yamaha's Brae Glover used a pair of runner-up finishes to take the overall win at Unadilla Valley Sport Center's Trans-USA round. Suzuki teammates Darrell Shultz and Mark Barnett took moto wins, but Glover's 2-2 was good for top points of the day, bolstering Broc's point lead in the series to 13 over teammate Mike Bell. 8 Consistency also worked for Yamaha's Bob Hannah, whose 3-3 netted him second overall. Shultz coupled a sixth with his first mota win to claim third overall, followed by Honda's' Danny LaPorte with a pair of fourths and Bell with a pair of fifths. Following Glover and Bell in points are Hannah and Shultz. Barnett dropped to fifth in the standings after moto one proved fruitless when he pitted for two laps, then was disqualified for going backwards on the coune. Attendance was down, at a reported 8,400 for the Ward Robinson promoted event, mainly due to inclement weather conditions through Saturday night which hindered camping. The course looked sloppy but sunny skies and gusty winds, combined with prac- lice, call1ed the loamy swface to abIorb __ mthe moiIture. The rauIt _ 0p- timum traction on a very rough and choppy track. Unadilla remains one of the premier MX tracks in the nation, mfning altitude changa, long straights, delicate IeCtions and the i n f a _ Grav· ity Cavity, the ~ downhillIupbiB bowl which spits riders on to a straightaway. The points spread was close between Glover, Bell and Barnett going into Unadilla. (Glover had 77 to Bell's 76 and Barnett's 71). Practice was run on Saturday, which hadn't been offered in the previous two rounds, and most riders opted for a mud bath in the rain to start learning the course. Sunday also started muddy, a situation most California riders fmd foreign. "I can handle the mud, but I'm not the best at it," said Glover. "It's getting nice out there, the track is taking the water up. " ''The mud is OK, but I'm IIW'e DOt the greateat at it." said Bell. MMy goal is to stay in the top five each mota aDd break the top three overall. I'm IIW'e not counting myself out of it." Barnett couldn't ride befoR Unadilla due to a sore right shoulder snsteined iJ! a crash at the Red Bud (Michipn) Trans-USA round the previous weekeod. He found another way to prepare. "Leon (WoIeIr., frieud aDd traiDer) and 1 ran two hours a day in the sand dtmel (near Barnett's parents' home in . Illinois). It was the dunes, then a 10· mile run down the heach, an at a good clip. Then bad to my truck to die," said Barnett. ThouR'h the course did dry, it offered few options to pass in some sections. "The track is sort of bad, it's one line down some of the straights," said Moto-X Fox/Kawasaki rider David Bailey. "It's like passing in the double yellow zone on the highway_" 2&Occ Honda's Donnie Hansen, Shultz and Barnett threaded into the sweeping M ...... right hander first as tDOtO one got underway. Riders were on any and all pSble 1ineI through lap one when the pack was Itill bunched up. HanIen got sideways on a tricky downhill on lap one and 10lIt it, running mid-field after a quick push start. By lap two Barnett looked to he on his way, expanding his lead on Shultz. Glover, Wile, Hannah and LaPorte were nex,t; Bob fmally getting Danny after a line-changing caper. Then Wise and Hannah locked Into batde, just as they had done at this year's Unadilla 250cc USGP. Hannah took a wild line to the outside, taking fourth. Barnett bobbled and took a slow speed fall and Shultz took the lead with Mark on his heels. A bit past halfway in the 4O-minute-plus-two-laps mota Barnett regained the lead, but it was short -lived. MaJt's throtde jammed on the high section's straightaway, but he milled the mechanio' area. He turned around and went back to tuner Jeff Clark for repairs and re-entered the race a1moIt two laps down. His eYeDtua1 fuUsh m 17th would have given him four points, but he was disqualified. Shultz dia1ed up is Jon Slenzak tuned stadium·format bike and had the rat mthe race to hiJnself, going in for the win. The real action _ bad in third where Hannah passed Glover for second with an inside line through a downhill with LaPorte right behind. When they came around, however, Glover was again leading Hannah and LaPorte. Shultz, Glover, Hannah and LaPorte CTOIlIled the finish line fairly close together, with a large ~Jh: Bell. Suzuki's Denny Bendey P hard and moved into sixth by the moto's end with Wise, Bailey, Hansen and LOP's Steve Martin filling out the top 10. "I just have to keep the thing (motorcycle) pointed straight the next time out," said Shultz. "I guess I was trying too hard, 1 was swapping all the way

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