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/126631
~ DAYTONA "83 ~ ," (Left) Freddie Spencer and Mike Baldwin freight-train through the chicane. (Above) Baldwin, Spencer and Aldene lead the first wave. (Below) Baldwin led the first half, but it was Spencer in front when it counted. AHA Superbi.e Championship Series: Round Speneer scoot» as V-4s dominate By Da le Brown DAYTONA BEACH , FL, MAR . II Teammates Freddie Spencer and Mike Baldwin dominated the Bell Superbike 100, pullin g away from the field fro m th e beginning of the race on their Honda Interceptor-based 750 Superbikes. Baldwin led the fi f f d h i rst hal .0 . the ra c:e arou n t e Daytona In terna tional Spe edway road course, bu t a leaki ng 10 gas cap forced him to ease 0(( as Spencer took the win for the second year in a row. Honda Support rider Dave Aldana finished third as Kawasaki's Wayne Rainey broke the Honda string with a fourth place. Another Honda Support rider, John Bettencourt, rounded out th e top five. This was the first race run under new AMA rules for the S ~per~ i~e c~as~. Four-cylinder ~ngi":es ar e.now limited to 75Occ, while twin-cylinder machines can go as hig h as 100Occ. Hondas dominated as far as speed, taking the top five qualifying positions and four out of the top five in the ra~e . . Qualifying The three factory Hondas were the quickest in timed qualifying, with Baldwin earning the pole via a 2:08.059 lap. Spencer was second with a 2:09.382, and sophomore ro ad rac er Steve Wise was third with a 2:10.421. Honda Support riders Fred Merk el a nd .A l da na, rqu nd~ out th e front row . Kawasaki teammates Wayne Ra iney and Wes Cooley were flanking th e outsides of row two. with Jimmy Adamo qualifying seventh fastest on the Reno Leoni Ducari, less than a hundredth of a second behind Ra iney. Honda Support riders Ro bert o Pietri and Sam McDonald also occupied positions on the second row. The slowest o£ficial time on the grid charts for a qualifying position (on ly 67 riders were entered and attempted to qualify) was a 2:53.251. Final Aldana was first out of the hole as the pack stormed d ow n the pit straight, but Bal dwin and Spencer were first to the turn , with Ra iney tucking in behind Aldana for fourth. Wise found his day over unusually soon as his chain derailed and he coasted to a stop in the first corner. Meanwhile, as th e leaders left the infield and got onto the banking, Spencer mad e a move and overtook Baldwin going down the backstraight, ~ Spencer led Ba ld win by the tiniest of margins as they flashed across the finish line for the first time. Aldana was third, followed by Ra iney, Pietri, Cooley, McDonald, Merkel, Adamo, Bettenco u r t, and Ducari-mounted Joey Mills. Spencer led the next two laps as Pietri and Cooley were involved in an interesting scra p. Cooley, on the slower Kawasaki, would overtake P ietri on the infield, bu t once on the banks and straightaways, Pietri wou ld make the pass right back . O n the fourth lap, Ba ldwin regained the lead. The two front run ners had pulled well away from the ba ttle for third between Aldana and Rai. ney. Pietr i a nd Cooley were not far behind, lead ing Merke l, Adamo and McDonald. On the next lap, both Cooley and McDonald were out of the race. Cooley's machine lost the nut on the clutch h u b, while McDonald came into the Honda pits with a dropped valve, and the bike waslater wheeled