Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Bovaird (Vam) turned in a 24-20 finishes for 18th overall. Both Dale Singleton (Vam) and Richard Schlachter (Vam) were sidelined with mechanical problems, Team Honda's Ro bert o Pietri won a 100-mile Superbike race at Imola the day before the Imola 200. American Thad Wol£f (Suz) finished third. Rich Chambers took l Sth despite ignition problems, and Rusty Sharp finished 17th. Adamo crashed on the first lap. Terry Cunningham (Hus) edged Ed lojak (Hus) for bast individual score and the 250cc Intent cia.. win at the April 4 Perry Mountain (Alabama) One-Day Qualifier. Cun ningham picked up six points (seconds) on lojak in the final MX test to post a score of 1,256 to lojak's 1,259. Mike Melton (Hus) and John Martin (C-A) cont inued their winning ways, taking the 125 and 176cc Intent cia .. victories, respectively. The Open Intent class win went to Kevin laVoie (KT M ). - ..... .. 0.. < Former 350cc and F750 World Roa d Raci n g Champion Johnny Cecouo's name showed up on la te entry lists for the Long Beach Grand Prix Formu la One auto race . Cecouo was slated to drive the second car on the team run by former World Driving Champion (and motorcyclist) Emerson Fiuipaldi. However, during practice and quali fying neither Cecouo or the second Fiuipaldi emry were seen. Cecouo had scored a few top five finishes in Formula Two competition last year . Following his early-saason success on the Winston Pro circuit, Steve Wise had been scheduled to try out the Honda NS760 for a possible forey into m ile and half mile competition. We asked Wise about what was happening in that area, and he replied, " I didn't do the test, it was rained out. As of right now, I'm not scheduled to do any NS tests. I 'm going to concentrate on the Superbike races and the TTs." J ay Springsteen was a no-show at the Ascot TT National. "He just got sic k again," said Harley- Davi dson Racing Ma nager Dick O 'Bri en . "It happen ed abo u t 4 o 'clock this mornin g and it's the same old thi ng. He went over to the hospital and got a shot and he's feeli ng better now." Broc Glover's win in the 250cc MX National at Saddleback came three weeks after installing Simons upside down forks on his works bike. Simons has been working close ly wtih G lover since he switched and reported, " Dialing them in for hard (packed ) tracks is the hardest." Glover has no immediate plans to swit ch back to a works fork assembly. Grand National Champion Mike Kidd did the hono rs as American Honda presented J .C . Agajanian with an FT500 - the bike they named after Aggie's track - Ascot. We were saddened to hear of the death of Michael O 'B rien , who went orr the course at Willow Springs in Rosa mo nd , CA, Ap r. 4 duri ng practice. T he cause of the cras h is u nder investigation. Godspeed, Mich ael. 2 Team Marlboro/Agostini's Graeme Cro sby rode his works Vamaha to victory in the Apr. 4 Imola 200 ro ad race in Italy. Crosby won bo t h 100-mile legs . Finishing second wa s Team Honda's Marco L cchinelli , The def ending 600cc World Champion lost the race in the pits as his works Honda requ ired a battery change during each leg's pit stop. lucchinelli finished third in the first leg behind Crosby and Franco Uncini (Suz) and second in the second leg to take overall runner-up honors, Crosby's teammate Graziano Rossi took third overall with a 6-3 performance . Jimmy Adamo (Duc) led a disappointing showing by American riders w ith a 16-13 score, good for 13th overall. Gina The Pro fessor of .Mo rocr oss, Gary Ba iley, left Saddleback quite pleased since both of "his" riders went 1-2 in the 250s. The Professor has been working with Glover "since Day tona. I started working with (Rick) J o h nso n a couple days ago." What is Ba iley's ro le? " I don't tell them a bo ut th e p h ysical training part; I'm strictly coaching them on riding techniq ues,' he said. Glover's bike was one of the few that didn't meet earth during a day full of racing at Saddleback. As Jon Rosenstiel pecked things up to go home afterwards, though, it fell off its work box amidst cheers and jeers of Glover's family and friends. Video Cassette Documen tat ion, an east coast firm. is plan ni ng to fil m the Unadilla 250cc U.S. MXG P for television purposes, and they're currently seeking both sponsors and information to help with their project. VCD is appealing to west coast manufacturers, especialIy, for their support. Contact AlIan McKay, Video Casette Documentation, 64 Harding Lane. Chatham, MA 02633, 6171945-0339. The U.S , squad has been named for the annual Transatlantic Easte r Match Race Series, which w ill run in England on Apr. 9-11. Team Captain is Dave A ldana, and he's joined by Freddie Spencer, Mike Baldwin, Roberto Pietri, Wes Cooley, Mark Homchick, Nick Richichi, Rich Schlachter and Dale Singleton. Spencer will ride his Honda NS500 two-stroke GP bike, Baldwin and Pietri will be on Form ula One Hondas (though not the FWS V -4s), Cooley and Aldana will ride Formula One Suzuki fourstrokes, The remainder will ride TZ750 Vamahas. HosP ITal STOP: Karen White remains hospita lized fo llowing her crash in the Long Beach GP's 250cc Invitational. Karen hit the bare concrete wall, breaking her leg in eight places and fracturing her pelvis. You can drop her a line at Room lOlA , Bay Harbor Hospital, 1437 W. Lomita, Harbor City. CA 90710. Bruce Porter of BP Racing gave Papa a call to correct an item in the Hnagtown story last week. As much as he'd love to take credit for Jerome Heiberger's four-stroke exh ibition class-winning Vamaha , he said it was actually an Ed Santin special with support from Euro Cycles and Hi -Point Racing. The NorCaI speedway season starts May 14 and 15. Auburn Fairgrounds in Au burn (30 mi. east of Sacramento) begins their 17-week run of Friday night shows on the 14th. The Town and Country Fairgrounds in Napa open their l l-week, show the next night. Riders who wis h to get on the Auburn program shou ld calI J o h n H o uston a t 916/448-7557 or 485-7140. Napa hopefu ls sho u ld calI Dennis Robi n son a t 707/ 252-8772. In additio n, Mike Bast will con duct one of h is speedway schools at Aub urn on May 15 and 16. The Vamaha Perpetual Gold Cup MX Series vi sited Jolly Rogers Raceway in Seattle, WA, Apr. 4 , Cory Klaudt (Hon) took the 125cc Pro win with Scott Tyler (M ai) topping the 250cc Pros. Rick Burgett (Vam) returned from Europe for the Open Pro win. Coverage next week. Rich Arnaiz, the fifth -place finisher at the Ascot TT, will be backed by Stockton Harley -Da vidson and new owner Scou Smida for the remainder of the year. Pro MXer Jim Holley decided to try something a little different and keep the cobwebs off his VZ490 while he waits for the 500cc Nationals to start, So, he entered the Ascot TT w ith it and qualified 53rd (the field was limitad to the 48 fastest) , three-tenths of a second off the cut-off. Holley wanted Papa to let people know that he had a good time, "Everybody \MIS really nice. I didn't have a legal tire (in the rear) 80 Kawasaki sold me a used one for $20." Eddie Mulder loaned him an old set of leathers, gave him a few po inters, and he was set. When asked how it was, he replied seriously, " Th ose guys are tntl:'

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