Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

.' . foun d ' could use a hi g her gear a nd began ridi ng like' should have the en tire race." • Results t , M ike Baldwin (Hon); 2. W ayne R. iney(Kaw); 3. Steve Wise (Hon); 4. David Ald ana (Hon); 5. Fred Merkel (Hon) ; 6. Robeno Pietr i (Hon) : 7. Sam Mc Dona ld (Hon); 8 . J ohn 8att enco urt IHon); 9. Lynn Miller (Hon ); 10. Lut her Wikle (Hon); 11 . Ji mmy Adamo (Due); 12. Philip Kostezer (Hon); 13 . Rick Orlando (SUI); 14 . Ron Sbordone (Due); 15. Glan Barry (Hon); 16 . 80 bby Goodin (Suz); 17. Bryan Sut · ton (Hon) ; 18. Ma dis on Cox (Due ); 19 . Dan Nolan (SUI ); 20 . Bert Coleman (Han I. Time : 55 min .• 16 .60 sees. Aver age speed: 108.544 mph . POINT STA NDINGS: 1. Mike Beldwin (36) ; 2. Wayne Rainey (27); 3 . David Aldana (24t; 4. Freddie Spencer (20); 5 . John 8ett encourt (17) ; 6. (TIE) Lyn n M iller/ S'eve W ise (13); 8. (TIE) Fred Merkel /Rick Orlando (10); 10 . (TIE) Joey Mills/ Roberto Pietr; (9): 12. Sam McDonald (8); 13 . Phi lip Kosteler (7 ); 14 . Rueben McMuner (6); 15 . (TIE) Glen Barry / Lut her Wikle (5 ); 17. J i mmy Adamo (4); 18. Kerry Bryanl ; (3): 19. Lorry Shorts (11 20. (TIE) Bert Coleme n/Ron Sbordone (11. ...... ..... $-0 0.. ~ AMA Formula Two ChamR.ionshiR. Series: Round 2 Emde edges Humble in thriller TALLADEGA, AL , MAR. 21 David Emdeand H ugh Humble took th eir battle for the win in th e Formula Two race at A.I.M.S. right down to the fin al M ike Baldwin took the checkered first. lapping all but the top f ive. .A M A Su~erbike Cham~ionshi~ Series: Round 2 Baldwin rolls at Talladega By Gary Van Voorhis TALLADEGA, AL , MAR. 21 Team Honda 'sMike Baldwin wo n the raindelayed Superbike race of the Honda-Talladega Pro-Am program a t Alabama International Motor Speedway. Kawasaki 's Wayne Rain ey finished second, about seven seconds behind Baldwin. B ld . , H d Steve \V' lse,. ~ Win s. on a teammate. finished thud, but 16 was never in contention for th e lead after the o pen in g two laps. . T eam Honda Support p rogram riders dominated the next five places with David Aldana leadin g Fr ed Merk el , Ro ber to Pi etri , Sam McDona id a nd J ohn Bettencourt home. Heav y rains o n Sunday washed o u t the day 's program , but the majority of riders sta yed on for Monday's race. Notably a bsent from th e slim field was Kaw asaki 's Wes Cooley, wh o was back at hi s California home mending from a broken co llarbone sustained in an accident in th e Dayrona 200 the previous week . Da rk , threatening clo uds a nd stro ng, gusty winds plus a temperature reading aro u nd the 40 degree mark led to d iscussion a t th e rider's meeting o f shorte n ing th e ra ce from 100 miles 10 50. The decisi on was to go 100 miles a nd forget a bo u t co ld fingers. "You don ' t rea lly feel th e co ld when yo u' re riding," sa id Rainey. " O nce yo u sto p, it 's a nothe r mail er. " Baldwin led o ff th e sta n with Ra in ey ri ght o n h is ta il. By th e time th e two were halfway throu gh th e infi eld. they had pull ed o u t a.30-yard gap on Wi se, Aldana a nd - Bett en , co u rt, The p auernIor th e. r ace for first was already .se.t. ;· By t~ e en d o f the fir st o.f 25 laps, Baldwin a nd Ramey ~ ad pulled O U I more real es tate o n Wi se a nd Ald ana with Merk el gelling pa st Bettencourt a nd Pi etri and Du cati rider Jimmy Adamo fo llowing. Although Bal d win com ma nded th e high-speed stretch es of banking on th e nearl y four mil e co m bined o val/ infield co urse, Rainey was th e strongest in th e i n fie ld. Tim e a n d aga in, Rainey would erase a lead Baldw in had built up where top speed counted. " We were able to make someof the chan ges 10 th e en gine after Daytona which we planned , but not a ll ," sa id Kawasak i's Gary Mathers. "We've gained a good bit o ver what we ca me 10 Da ytona with an d sh ould have gotten a bit mor e power on tap for th e R iverside round." Baldwin began using slower tra ffic to block Rainey o n lap five a lt houg h thetwo encounteredbackmarkers stan· in g lap th ree. Wi se had sell led int o a pattern in third, p osing no real threat to th e leaders and having n o threats posed to him . The best race, and one which wou ld co nt in ue for nearl y th e ent ire ra ce, had Ald an a and Merk el pla ying swa p and swa p agai n for founh . Adam o was ch urn ing steadi ly a lo ng in about sevent h a nd had pl anned 10 be a fac to r in th e top five since h e a nd tun er Ren o L eoni had ca lcu la ted he co u ld fini sh th e 100 m iles without making a gas sto p, H owever, a stop to fix a broken foot peg a nd another for a ga llo n o f gas o n th e white flag lap dropped him 10 l l th , "The stop for gas cos t me three o r four pl aces." 'sa id Adam o . " If , had kn own' o n ly had o ne lap to go. , co ul d have run it o n reserve." Rainey sudde n ly lost a bo ut five seco nds 10 Baldwin o n lap 10. "There was din and rock s o n the track in th e chica ne," sa id Rainey. '" was fo llowin g M ike closel y a nd his rea r tire p ick ed u p a good-sized rock a nd p ut it rig h t through m y windscreen . Tha t brok e my co ncent ra tio n a nd ' co uld n' t ga in ba ck th e ground Mik e gained." Rainey was fir st i n fo r gas and ca me o u t still in second. but wi th Wise o n h is rea r tire. Wise held seco nd for o ne lap until h is.gas stop and th en Rainey was gone. Baldwin gassed a nd was immediate ly back o ut in front . Ra iney was back in co m ma nd of seco nd with Wi se third. The top three [inish ers were set wit h six lap s sti ll to run. Baldwin was running lap s at over 109 mph a nd would lap all but the top five by th e fini sh . Aldana had brok en away from Merkel on th eir ga s stops and wou ld have a clea r hold on founh when Merk el had 10 make a second. unscheduled stop fo r gas on lap 20. The fie ld cruised on 10 the checkered flag. '" don 't think m y fingers ha ve ever been thi s co ld," sa id Ba ld w in . " O the r th an th e co ld, the race was an easy o ne." "Take a look at the hol e in my windscreen ," gestured Rain ey pointing 10 th e baseball-sized opening. " T he rock that punched that hole sca red th e h eck o u t of me ." Wise was a bit mad at himself. '" didn ' t reall y have eno ug h tim e to learn the track befo re the race. I wa s maki ng mis takes choosing whi ch gear 10 use in some turns until abou t th e halfway point. Then' experimented, few feel. Emd e , a boa rd hi s Bo b Endicott-sponsored Yamaha , had th e ed ge o n top e nd accelera tio n o n Humble 's Humble and Son Ma chine Shop-sponsored Yamaha. The d rag ra ce to th e checkered flag was decided by a wh eel -width in favor o f Ernde. Third place, a di stance back from th e lead ers, belonged 10 Ra nd y Ren frow aboard his Sure-Fire Distribut ing sp o nso red Yamaha . Ren fro w made up for the heartbreak a t Dayto n a on e week earli er when he ran out of gas o n th e final lap while running third. Rh ys H oward's fourth place finish earned h im a tie with Humble a t th e top o f th e p oint sta nd in gs with 22. Emde holds third at 20 whi le R usty Sharp's fifth p lace was good enough to move him to fourth in points at 18. R uss Pa u lk led the slim field of just over 20 riders into the first of 10 laps. Dav e Busby and Don Green e, top 10 finish ers at Da ytona , nev er made it off th e line. Both had engine problem s on the warm-up lap. Pa u lk led at the end o f the first lap, followed by J ay Parnell a nd Humble with Ernde, from a last row start, al read y up to fourth. Pa u lk's ride ended soon afterward with a crash in th e infield. '" hit a slick spot, the front end washed out and ' exp loded the haybales.' said Paul k. '" feel terrible." Pa rn ell rook the lead with H um ble right on his rear wheel and Ernde and Ren fro w a short di stance away. Renfrow dropped a bit off the pace as Humble, Ernde and Parn ell traded th e top three spots with some slick displays of drafting a nd passing. T he front-run ni ng th ree beca me two when Parnell parked his b ike in the chicane on lap six with undisclosed problems. Ren frow and Howard were having th eir own duel for third whil e P h ill ip Johnson and R usty Sharp went at it for fifth. O f note wa s th e co nsistent riding of Christine Bau r. Miss Ba ur fi nished in eighth place, which may well be th e highe st placing by a fema le rider ever in th e class . The att ention centered on th e Hurnble/Ernde or Emde/Hurnbl e duel in th e fina l laps. Slower traffic became a factor as each rider tried to use it to hi s advantage. The two were seen waving each other on in the

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