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
'83 (A bov e) W inner Anton io Neto carves h is way through the Daytona infield. (Left) Neto and second-place finisher Jim Filice sha re the champagne. (Below) Randy Renfrow jumps int o a short-lived lead at the start. International Lightweight N eto surprises F-Z troops By Dale Brown DAYTONA BEAC H , FL, MAR . 12 Yamaha-mounted Brazilian Antonio Jorge Neto put a shocker in on the U .S. Formula T wo road racing scene as h e absolutely dominated the lOO- m ile International L igh tweight event a t Dayto na Inter na tio na l Speedway. New took th e lead o n th e second lap a ndheld it the remai ni ng 24 to take a l7-seco nd margin at th e chec kers over for m er Yamaha factory rider Jim Filice. Wh en Ra ndy Renfro w's beautiful ride sputtered to a ha lt o n th e last lap when h is gas ran ou t, Northern Irela nd's Con Law was th ere to tak e third o n a n Erh lic h, the o n ly nonYamaha to finis h in th e top 20. Speaking th rough an interp re ter, Neto said aft er th e race, " We want to thank th e people arou nd h ere for the ir hospitalit y, because if we di dn 't h ave th e help, we woul dn 't be doing an ything. We are very grateful." Alth ough an unknown to the American raci ng scen e, Nero has posted top 10 fi ni sh es in 250cc World Road Raci n g C ham pionship ro unds. T h ree five-lap heat race s sorted out th e p ositions on th e gr id , wi th Fil ice win n ing the fastest o ne to earn tile po le o n hi s Bud Aksla n d-tu ned TZ. Ren fro w, ri di ng a Sure-Fire/ Cycle Sport-sponsored Yamaha took the seco nd fas test h eat , a nd Don Greene took the ot her. Wit h rider s on the seve n -mi nute clock for a wa rm -up la p before th e stan, w eStGermany's J urgen Schmidt had tro u bles with hi s bik e, a nd he a n d h is cre w were still wo rk ing on it wh en th e green flag dropped. Schmidt had qualified for th e middle or row one, but wound up th e da y in th e DNF ranks. When th e gr een did wave , Sam McDonald nailed th e th rottle from hi s second-row start an d had the lead com ing out or tum o ne , Ren fro w and Fil ice were right behind h im . In turn two Cl ive Ng-A-Kien slid o ut , j ust as he had done in his h ea t race. Righ t behind h im (th ey started , 75th a nd 76th ) was Dave Bu sby, wh o . ha d al so fa llen in th e corner durin g a heat. This time ' Bus by avoided any off-course activity. Fi lic e to ok over first as th e pack h it th e west bank in g. an d h e led across th e lin e with Neto having worked hi s way fro m a third -ro w start to second, a head or Ren fro w. Neto passed Filice on the seco nd la p , an d with 24 lap s to go the ord er read: Neto , Filice, Ren fro w, R ussell . Pau lk, H 1.!gh Humble, ~cD~naN,__ f r I '" I