Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

David Emde looked good winning F-3 at AFM Laguna Seca . (File photo) Emde exhibits winning form at AFM Laguna Seca RR By Frank Nellis MONT EREY, CA. J UN E 6 The American Federation of Motorcyclists North met a t a cold and windy Laguna Seca Ra cewa y tod ay for the second • 48 race o f th e 1982 season. AFM a lways attracts to p talent to its races - today was no excep tio n. Da ve Ernde came wit h h is Bob Endico tt-sponsored TZ250 to compete in th e For mula III race . When the green flag dropped. the h igh whine o f the TZ250s was modified by th e thunder of the four-stroke si ngl es and the fla t sound of the air-cooled two-stroke twins. Emde ha s lost over 15 pounds since Dayto na, and he was looking very lean a nd mean. That. in addition to a n extra disc up front. made him unbeatable. Emde emerged from tu rn two wi th a clear lead o n Fred Merkel. wh o had the sa me lead on a four-way battle between Don G reen , Keith Dav, Kevin Peltz a nd Bo b Luglia ni. Mean while, Tracy DeMuro on his Simi Cycle RD 400 was j ust getting o ff the line after a bad start. Emde an d Merkel immediatel y started moving away from th e dogfight behind them. Earlier in th e day Emde admitted, " Merkel is th e only person that I'm reall y concerned abou t in head -to -h ead co m pe tit io n. Wh en he ge ts pumped, I tell you , th at kid can go l" But Dave's concerns were unwarranted today - Emde moved out o n Merkel , increasing his lead by seconds. Emde was cu tt ing laps within two seconds of Eddi e Lawson 's record . By th e ha lfway point, DeM uro had caught up to the figh t for third and passed a ll four AMA Experts. H e held th ird for several laps, ta kin g th e wh ite flag first despite th e best a ttempts by Don Green a nd company to pass him. Mean while, Emde was co mpleting a flawless ri de for the win. Even th ough the wea ther was u nseasonabl y co ld , Dave was not troubled by wh eelspin.:It was clear th at th e tire was sp in ning as he wh eeli ed o u t of turn nine, but like Law son and Freddi e Spencer , he was com pletely in co ntro l whi le inches away from th e Arm co. He took the chec kered flag 35 seconds in front of Merkel. As th e battle for th ir d came down the hill a nd into turn n in e, DeM uro was clea rly in th ird. But a missed gea r shift in tha t tig h t left-h an d hairpi n a llowed Day to sli p by DeM uro a nd Green to take third. The pocket rocketship class (400cc Mod ified Productio n ) sta rted with Scott Moo re on his Pa lo Alto Yamaha RD 400 a nd Frank Mazur o n his Nippondenso/Sierra M/ C Products Honda Ha wk in a dead heat ente ring turn two . Sco tt held the wide line and sta yed o n the power a touch longer to exit in front o f Mazur. Meanwhile, Dal e Alexan der and Eric Ko ndo, bot h mounted on Pal o Alto Yama ha RD400s, were dicin g for third. Mazur sai d la ter, " I don' t thin k o ne wa rm-up lap was enoug h to heat up m y year-old slicks. I could have stuck a wh eel in on him , but tha t's for di rty raci ng. You can' t do th at safely a t 100 mil es per hour. I let Scott get by a nd followed him, waiting for a mistake." The mistake ca me a lap lat er wh en Moore dragged his exhaust pipe in turn seven , which forced h im o ff th e track a nd in to th e dirt. Befor e he could recover, Ma zur a nd Alexander were by him. A lap later Moore h it his pipe again in the corkscrew , letting Ko ndo into third. La ter Moore sa id , " Afte r I dragged my p ipe those times, I was a litt le sha ken up. I decided to hang back a nd fin d the rh ythm n again before I tried a pass." When the crossed flags ca me o u t, the Io ur-ma n tra in had ca ug h t up to the back of th e pack and was lapping riders. The added tra ffi c allowed Mazur to stretc h his lead on Alexander, while a cras h in front of Ko ndo ca used him to he sitate. a llowi ng Moo re to retake third. O nce Moor e got by Kondo , he found th e rhy th m n he lost earlier a nd set his sights o n Alexa nder. Dale had los t Mazur in tra ffic, a nd he was wor king hard to keep his distance on Moor e whe n th e white flag came o ut. Da le said, " I kn ew he (Moore) was behind me, bu t I didn 't know how far. I looked back over m y shoulder in turn four. That was a m istak e." Dal e found himself too wid e o n th e exit, a nd he was in th e alligator teeth a nd inches away from th e Armco and a 20-foot cliff. Moore was in front going up the hill before Alexander reco vered . But Alexander wasn 't out of it yet , Moore mi ssed a sh ift in th e las t turn bef ore the sta rt / fi n is h, allo wing Alexander to come up along side Moor e for th e dr ag race to th e chec kered flag. The lead cha nged wit h every gear shift th e two mad e. When the flag drop ped, no o ne was sure who crossed th e fin ish lin e first. Bu t Patty Sho p her, AFM's head sco rekeeper, ruled th a t Mazur won , Alexander sq uea ked ou t second a nd Moore finis hed th ird . T h is was later confirmed by Moor e when he fin ished his cool-off la p . AFM North meets again o n J ul y 4 at Sea rs Po int Racewa y in So no ma , CA. For licen se a nd ticket information call 415/327-3323. Results FORMULA I: 1. R. Oliyer (Kaw); 2. J . Woo (Kaw) ; 3 . J . Sta nle y (Kaw) . FORMULA II: 1. T. DeMuro (Yam); 2. W . Blake sl.. (Kaw); 3. R. Figuria (Han). FORMULA III; 1. D. Emde (Vam); 2. F. Merkel (Vam ); 3. K. Doy (Vam). FORMULA IV: 1. J . Legin (Vam); 2. T. Veeger (Vom); 3. E. Kondo (Yem). FORMULA IVA; 1. S. Ledw ~h (Han). FORMULA S: 1. C. Bicke l (C-A); 2. C. McAyoy (Han); 3 . S. Murrey (Vem). FORMULA T (OPEN): 1. L Theobald (M-G); 2. D. Stateman (M·G). FORMULA T (750): 1. M . John son (Yom); 2. A. Wierbinsk i (Vom); 3 . K. Hele (Due). OPEN SUPER STREET: 1. B. Koegler (Han); 2. T. Stotum (SUl); 3 . K. Eyen (SUl) . 750 SUPER STREET: 1. D. Figuerio (Han); 2. T. Orello (Kaw); 3. G. Poine (Kow). 600 SUPER STREET; 1. T. De Muro (Yom); L Vol lergo (Vom); 3 . W . Montoye (Vem ). OPEN MOD PROD: 1. K. Eyon (SUl ); 2. D. Hort (Kow); 3. E. Nicholson (Han). 750 MOD PROD: 1. S. Groy (Kow); 2. G. Poine (Kaw); 3. M . Swanson (Suz ). 600 MOO PROD : 1. F. Mazur (Kaw) ; 2. J . Montoya (Yam); 3 . M . Yarrow (Yam). 450 MOD PROD; 1. F. MOlur (Han ); 2. D. Alex ander (Yam ); 3. S. Moore (Yam). 250 MOD PROD: 1. G. Oyerm an (C· A); 2. D. Sial er (C· A); 3. M . Fenne r (C-A). OPEN STOCK PROD; 1. K. Eyon (SUl); 2. F. Malur (SUl ); 3 . L Theobald (M -G). 7 50 STOCK PROD: 1. S. Groy (Kow); 2. T. Ore llo (Kaw); 3 . S. Dunleavy (SUl). eoo STOCK PROD: 1. F. Maz ur (Kaw); 2. J . Mo ntoya (Yamt 3. M . Jo hnson (Vam). 450 STOCK PROD: 1. D. Elkins (SUl ); 2. D. Keit h (Vam); 3. N. Riol o (SUl) . SIDECARS : 1.lse; ma n/Bevans (Yam); 2. Taylor/ Lapierre (Kawl; 3. Breed/Ram irez. Blagg bags Sunny Valley TT By Clay Light SUNNY VALLEY, OR, J UNE 6 Robbie Blagg finally got it all together today at SOMA's TT racing in Sunny Valley, winning the l25cc A main after so ur Iuck in the first three races here in sou thern Oregon, wh ich escape d the heavy rains the vall ey was plagued by. Bla gg took th e ma tchi ng trophy dash a nd took the Lightweight Mon ey da sh as weI!. Rod Bixel came back to take the L ig h tweigh t Money main on his wa tere d down version of a Bultacoframed RM , and Ken Percy (Bu l) look th e 250cc A main. J eff Ca m p bell (Elite/ Ou t From/Harry Lilly/ Vern's Air Sal es/Simpson Hon ) wo n his trophy das h in the O pen class bu t had bad luck in the ma in, which fell to Brett H oward (H on) . Th e ma in s started o ff in the early part o f th e day wh ich , wea ther-wise, was su peri or to th e previous night's showery short tra ck raci ng. Su ns h ine gr eeted a fine turnout of riders and spectators who witnessed Andy Dixon (Yam Sports Center ) come o ff th e line in first pl ace in th e 80cc A main event. Dixon held Travis Smith (Suz) a t bay th e entire 12 laps to take the win over Smith, Wayne Frampton and He ath Hutchins. Real exci tement was stirr ing up with seven fin al ists on the line for th e 125cc A main bash. One rider took control (Blagg) and proved why he is one of the fine st I 25cc riders around. riding his sano Yamaha in sole posession of first followed by Rod Bixel and Ch arlie Mitchell (Boss Frames/ Shoei/Yam of Grants Pass). Both rode th e wheels off their respective machines in pursuit of the diminutive l-t-vear-o ld wh iz kid who seemed to have things all wrap ped up a t the half, leaving the fighting up to Bixel a nd Mit ch ell, who scra p pe d it out Cor second. Blaggbagged the win , Bixel second a nd Mit ch ell, wh o has th e points lead in th e clas s, third. Fourth went to Joh n Miller (Suz) with David Wollard (Suz) fifth a nd Brian Riley (Suz) six th . Ken Percy put hi s Bultaco into th e lead at the gr een light in th e 250cc A main over Scott Annis (Yam Sport Center/Papa AnnisSuz), BobbyKlum (H o n) a nd Wa yne Schemerhom (CA). Blagg blasted through traffi c into fourth in th e twistyTT turns bu t ran into trouble when faced with getting around Klurn, who many have found is the wrong person to follow through th e corners. Up front, Percy was having a picnic with Annis holding seco nd and Klum pressuring from behind. Percy held off the advances of Annis to take th e win, Klum third Blagg fourth and Schemerhorn fifth . He made the main by winning the 250cc B ma in that was run after the Trophy dashes. Jeff Campbell (H on) immediately grabbed the lead in th e Open A main with Brett Howard (H o n) , Robert J ok ela a nd Sch em erhorn in hot pursu it. Campbell led th e race, pushed by Howard, wh o rides wi th a gutsy sty le . Th e a p plied p ressu re saw Camp bell lose conce ntratio n and take a sp ill, p u tti ng H ow ard in the lead wi th a lap to go. H ow ard now had J o kela , who was last year's high point O pen rider, to contend with, a nd it looked like Jokela wou ld mak e hi s move, bu t lappers go t in th e way , Jetting Howard wi n . T h ird went to Schermerh orn with Annis fourth. Results MAIN MIN I: 1. Kenny Craig (Yam); 2. Mikey Frampton (SUl ). 80 A : 1. Andy Dixon (Vam); 2. Tray is Sm ith (SUl); 3. Wayne Frampton (SUl ). 12 5 A ; 1. Robbie Blagg (Vam ); 2. Rod Bixel (Suz); 3. Cherlie Mitchell (Yam). 250 A: 1. Ken Percy (Bul); 2. Scan Annis (SUl); 3 . Bob Klum (Han). OPEN A ; 1. Bren Howerd (Han); 2. Robart Jokelo; 3. Wayne Shemerhorn (C·A) . U GHT WT $ : 1. Rod Bixel (SUl); 2. Charlie Mit· chell (Vam); 3. John Miller (SUl) . ELDERLV GENTS: 1. Ron Poole ; 2. David McBride (Han); 3. Tom Wriston: 25 0 B: 1. Brien Riley (Bul); 2. Pet McBride (Han): 3 . Ma rk Abernathy (SUl). TROPHVDASH MINI : 1. Kenny Cre;g. 80: 1. Trav is Smit h. 12 5 : 1. Robbie Blagg . 250: 1. Ken Percy. OPEN: 1. Je ff Cam pbell . L W $ ; 1. Robbi e Blagg . ELDERLV GENTS: 1. Ron Poole.

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