Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

• ...... .... ... 0- < 20 Top U.S. scorer Aldana and Newbold play to the crowd at Qulton. involving violent exercise: riding a 1000ccSuzuki around Mallory's twists and turns could hardly be called peaceful! Baldwin made a flying stan to lead the field on the first lap of race three. but Marshall's Suzuki flashed past down the short straight to snatch the lead, with Barry Sheene on his tail. Baldwin fought back, though, and actually led at the end of lap one, before Sheene outbraked him into the tight harpin 10 lead the race on lap two. Next lap and Marshall was past too, before screaming past Sheene on lap five to snatch the lead, using engine braking to the maximum at the slow hairpin. But hopes of a fourstroke win were dashed on the very last lap, when Sheene used the presence of traffic 10 best advantage 10 sneak past the Suzuki rider and clinch a narrow but thrilling win which kept him on line for the Grand Slam: possibly Marshall tired a little towards the end too, as his illness took its 1011. Behind, Baldwin held down a secure third, initially pursued by a bunch consisting of Keith Huewen, Bob Smith and a right-back -on-form Schlachter. Huewen seized, then Rich outfumbled Smith at the esse's to place fourth, before the reigning British Champion launched it in a big way at the infamous Devil's Elbow. Smith was lucky enough to walk away shaken but intact from a spot that has claimed several lives in the past. Wes Cooley was going great guns' in sixth place till the motor blew, joined in retirement by Rich ichi who exhausted his stock of ignition units. Homchick made the most of his rebuilt gearbox to ride exceptionally well on his first visit to the track, finishing just behind Pietri in II th place and ahead of an out-ofsorts Dale Singleton, who was lapped. Aldana won a race-long dice with Steve Parrish to finish sixth, and though Britain still won the round by 76 points to 59, it was the most encouraging American showing yet, and indeed of the whole series . The 90-minute break between races saw frenzied activity in the U.S. camp, as everyone with a hand to spare pitched in 10 help change Cooley's blown engine. The sight of American Honda 's Larry Worrell (who throughout the weekend worked on anything that moved regardless of make), Yamaha rider Dave Aldana and entrants Don Vesco and Paul Dahmen, Honda PR chief Stuart Rowlands and Roberto "Tell Me What Hat I'm Wearing Today' And I'll Put It On" Pietri all working together with Wes and his Yoshimura Suzuki mechanic made for good watching; whatever problems the U.S. team may have had, refusing to help a rival manufacturer's rider wasn't one of them. Forty-two minutes after the commencement of operations, Cooley's spare engine fired up in the Suzuki: a job well done. Wes made the most of it to, for at the start of the second Mallory 'ra ce, in continuing sunny but cold weather, he was one of the last away, yet rode up through the field to grab eighth overall on his best ride yet, passing such notables as Lingham, Parrish, Huewen and Henshaw along the way : he just failed by one-tenth of a second to snatch seventh from teammate Pietri on the line. Up front it was the first heat all over again, with this time a more blatant flying start by Baldwin before the " Barry and Roger Show" rook over again. Dave Aldana also got a flyer, second on lap one before being elbowed back to fourth by Sheene and Marshall. Thereafter he fell into the clutches of a dueling group initially led by Pietri, with Schlachter, Newbold and Wood in line abreast going into the hairpin just behind. Baldwin yielded the lead 10 Sheene on lap three, but hung on gamely 10 Marshall till forced 10 retire with ,. ignition problems again on lap 10. That elevated Schlachter 10 third place, using superior tactics to outsmart the four-stroke engine braking of Newbold at the hairpin. Pietri then suddenly lost two p laces and a fair bit of time as his secondhand rear Dunlop - the only suitable tire for the RG 500 he could obtain - went off, a nd a couple of lurid slides persuaded him 10 cool it. This let him into the clutches of a gaggle of six riders spearheaded by Lingham, but also containing the fast-rising Cooley and a high ly impressive Homchick. who eventually got the better of teammate Singleton and Henshaw to place a solid 11th. Pietri and Cooley eventually double-teamed Lingham and Parish to earn valuable points for America in seventh and eighth spots. But the greatest drama in this, the most exci ting race of the series, came on lap 17, when Sheene - safely in the lead from Marshall - saw his cha n ce at the $40,000 payout dashed when under heavy braking for the hairpin his left clip-on caused the fork stanchion 10 turn in the yoke. This meant that when he turned into the hairpin the steering damper jammed on, sending him gently into the inside wall with the steering locked hard 10 the right. In a flash Marshall was through to take a welldeserved win, while Barry picked himself up with the help of two marshalls, straightened the steering and rejoined with the aid of a push from the two corner workers concerned. He just got away in front of Schlachter, who out-accelerated him to place second for a while, before Sheene reasserted himself and Newbold also followed his team captain through on the penultimate lap at the hairpin. Rich fended off a do-or-die effort on the last corner by Graham Wood 10 place fourth, with Aldana just foiled in his plan to sneak up the inside of them both by half a length. What a racel Though they lost that race, 80-56, 10 trail 332-211 in the series, the U.S. team was far from disheartened: their gritty showing in the two Mallory races had lifted their spirits. "Hey, let's start the series again at Oulton;" suggested a jubilant Aldana. Strictly speaking, the margin should not have been so great, for as AMA official Rick Titone was quick 10 point out 10 race officials, the help of the two marshalls 10 get Sheene back in the race after his spill constituted outside assistance, and his points for second place should therefore have been forfeited. Barry could never have restarted the bike on his own uphill with his legs in the state they are. The British countered by saying if the . U .S . insisted then they'd protest Baldwin's jumped start, which since he only scored one point in that heat, would have been just fine. But figuring that with such a massive margin between the two teams on points it wasn't worth endangering the goodwi ll of all concerned, Titone declined 10 press the point, probably rightly. OULTON PA RK, ENGLAND, AP R. 12 When the teams reassembled 90 miles further 10 the northwest at the picturesque O u lton Park circuit, the word was that Roger Ma rshall had spent another night in the hospital, bu t would try to ride again. If this gave relief to the British team , the Americans were dealt a body blow when the team's second highest scorer, Pietri, fell off his Suzuki in practice at the exact same spot where Dave Potter was killed last August. Fortunately for Roberto, the area has been cornpletel y razed, so that though the Venezuelan twisted his right ankle in unloading, he was otherwise unscathed. The same could not be said for his bike tho ugh , with a couple of carbs wiped off and at a guess some countryside inside the engine. With spares for the new Mark 7 RG500 still unobtainable in Britain - amazingly so, when you consider over a dozen of the $20,000 machines have been sold there so far - Roberto was sidelined for the rest of the series. Suzuki GB generously offered the loan o f one of Huewen 's spare engines, but when a check was made Roger Keen discovered that the production frame had different engine pickups than the factory bike. Adios Ro bert o , and typically the LA-based Venezuelan madeno excuses: "I'm on the bike, and it's my job not to fall off, so this had to be my fault. I still don't know why it happened, because although I was out on new tires I was taking it really easy, 10 let the engine warm up as much as 10 let the tires scrub in. I hardly leaned it over - then next I was sliding on my back. I'd sure as hell like to know what ha ppenedl & No doubt tc)give his dep leted tean; . a lift, it was "EI Capitan" Aldana who scored the holeshot at the start to lead Marshall, Newbold and Sheene to the first turn. Dave hung on till halfway around the first lap, when the demoralizing speed differential between the British and U.S. bikes asserted itself, and not only Sheene's factory Yamaha, but also the privateer version of Graham Wood and the Suzuki four-strokes of Newbold and Marshall blasted past the Vesco Yamaha as if it was going backwards. Baldwin took longer 10 pass his team leader, but almost as soon as he did so he slowed and parked his Honda with a broken crankshaft just before the finish line, ready 10 push ove r to gain precious points for the team. This left Aldana tracked by Wes Cooley's Suzuki, ti ll Wes slowed near the end with a burnt valve; he still beat Steve Parrish to the line for sixth place. Schlachter was already out on the first lap with an automatic-shifting TZ750, joined on the finish line by Bob Smith who'd blown a head gasket on his Suzuki . Lingham crashed out on the first lap, and Homchick trailed Singleton by on ly a short distance for ninth place, ahead of Richichi , who never seemed to get it together all weekend. Ward kept p lugging away consistently at the back, and at least finished all his races . Up front, it was Marshall again, with Sheene content to sit in the slip stream of the glorious-sounding Suzuki. Till the last lap, that is, when as if to press the point that he could have done so all a long, he breezed past Roger down the back straight to take the checkered flag first for the fourth time in the series. Newbold narrow Iy beat Wood for fourth while a disconsolate Huewen retired yet again when his Suzuki's brakes gave out.

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