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/126612
...... . ..l-<. 0.. < Wolff won (Clock wise from above) Harry Klinzm ann (show n) and Thad Rick Mitche ll leads John Lassak , Dave Busby (show n) overal l, Runne r-up nn follow s teame d with Lou is Vallerg a for third overal l. f irst 600. Kl inzma Bruce Hamm er. early leader AMA!Budweiser Grand Prix Endurance Championship series: Round one KUnzmann! Wolff roast Riverside 500km By Dale Brow n Photo s by Patric k Beha r R IVERSID E, CA, APR. 18 Des pite a mom enta ry fire foll owi ng a gas stop , Har ry Klin zma nn and Tha d Wol ff team ed up on a n Edd ie Law son Rep lica Kaw asak i to dom inat e the 310 -mil e ,Bud - 6 weise r Grand Prix endur ance race-h eld a t River side In terna- I.tional Racewa y. In the hunt for the lead right from the start. Klinzm ann a nd Wolff took advant age of misfor tunes and mecha nical proble ms suffere d by other tea ms to open up a five- lap gap on second place. the Kawas aki of R ick Mitche ll and Steve Sowde n. Third overall , and first in the600 cc class. was the Yamah a of Louis Vallerga and Dave Busby. Val lerga, the defend ing 600cc co-cha irman, was schedu led toridew ith Canad ian Rhys Howar d. but when Howar d crashed in the Superb ike race earlier in the day and was unable to compet e, Busby was recruit ed and the two put in an outstan ding perform ance. Top placing 750cc machin e was the Kawas aki of Canad ians Robert Whela n a nd R icha rd Jagroe . They were fifth in the overall standin gs. Klinzm a n n and Wolff led the vast majori ty o f the race. Their biggest threat came from the Chevro n / Team Hamm er Suzuki of Bruce Hamm er a nd J o h n U lr ich , who led th e early la ps. Bu t a naggin g oil leak slowed their efforts. a nd then a blown engine stoppe d them altoget her, just as they were catchin g Klinzm ann and Wolff with about 20 laps left in the 95-lap event. Twenty -five teams started the race. which woul d run over three hours. Appro ximate ly 9-10.000 fans were on hand to see them. Klm zrnan n and Wolff had both ridden the IOOkm Superb ike race p re- ceedin g the endura nce race, and they were mounte d on Klinzrn ann's Superbike. They took the lead off the start, but Bruce Hamm er was soon by and into the lead. Behind the Chevro n/ Derale /Vanc e & Hines- sponso red leader ran Klinzm ann, the Dennis Smith/ Chris Stewar d Cycle Tune! Yoshim ura Suzuki , the Champ ion Moriw aki-Ka wasak i of Whitn ey Blakeslee and Lee Flemm ing, and the Matrix Kawas aki of Be n n y Del Monic o and Hugh Humb le. Hamm er's time out fro nt didn't last too long before he had to come into the pits. A plug with an O-ring seal placed where the elec tric starter had been began to inexpli cably leak oil onto the right foot peg and Hammer came into have rags safety-wired around it. Around the 20th lap the pit stops started , and when Klinzm ann came in for fuel, Del Monic o and Humbl e took the lead. By this time Blakeslee a nd Flemin g had been into the pits three times, were well out of conten tion and would eventu ally DN F. Wolff regai ned the lead when Humbl e and Del Mo nico pitted a nd had a hard time restarti ng. T he Texans' difficu lty restart ing droppe d them to fo u rth behind Smith/ Steward and Hamm er/Ulric h. Hamm er was making up time in big chunks and moved up to second , whi le Wolff was ge tting close r and closer to lappin g the th ird and fourth p lace, macJ:ti.n~ .