Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

ment by sayi ng, ''I' m p retty upset about Yamaha pu lli ng those games. I don 't think ra cing sho u ld get int o that. I may hav e deserved it, but not Danny (Cha nd ler). For Kenny Clark to do th at I don 't think wa s right. " Am eri can Motorcyclist Associa tion referee But ch Le e felt the deci sions were cu t and dried call s. H e said that a ltho ugh many riders were h avin g trouble with th e tr iple-tiered hill section, onl y Ch andl er h ad ridden all the wa y to th e bottom and almost to th e previous turn. Other repo rt s varied , but Lee claimed to see it. H e wryly commented that being a starter was a better job, because h e co u ld put h is stuff in a bag a nd go home. Yamaha felt justified also. " I got disqualified a t An aheim Stadium ," was Glover's co m m en t, " Barnett got disqualified during one of th e TransUSA series. If th ey don't disqualify Chandler it will be lik e the fin e situation at Daytona. Th ey fin ed O 'M ara a nd Ward $100 a nd everyon e else $500. They can ' t do th at. I wa s ahead of it, but if h e did ride backwards in a situation wh ere h e co u ld of gone forward, that's hi s fault, n ot ou rs. You h ave to u se your h ead out th ere all the time." H annah's bottom line was, "They ca n play lik e that, we'r e go ing to give them a beating anywa y." On a different note, Suzuki's Mark Barnett had an unchara cteristica lly poor day at fourth overall in th e 125cc cla ss. Since Supercross po ints and Nati onal points go toward the overall Wrangler series winner, Hannah moves a little closer and safer to the titl e. ...... ... . ~ 0.. -< 500cc National Rick Johnson shows the awesome height required to leap over the uphill j um p. On ly a few j u m ped it in both motos. AHA/Wrangler Super Series: Round q SaddlelJaek sees fl~ing W s and insults; O'Hara, Hannah, Glover win By Karel Kramer Photos by Lori Tyson and Krarper ORANGE, CA, APR. 10 Bob " H u rricane II" H annah fle w his works Honda to an indo m itable lead in each m o to o f the Coors/Sa dd le back r o un d of t h e Wrangler Super Seri es w h ile teammate Johnny O 'Mara an d Yamaha's fourtime Nation al cha mp Broc Glover took the 125 a nd 500cc classes, respectivel y, with 1-2 14 moto finishes. Kawasak i's Jeff Ward an d Kent Howerton were runn ers-up in th eir respective classes, o ne th ankfull y and th e other reluctant ly. Yamaha 's R ick J o h n so n was the rider to h old the flying tropical storm in sig h t th e longest a n d rode well , but he was di spleased also , calling th e event a bad weekend. H onda teamster Phil Larson and Yamaha's 125cc h ope Ron Lechien put in fin e rides for th ird on a demanding Saddleback International track. David Bailey put his Honda into third in the 250cc class. . Saddleback had earth moving eq ui pment at work for weeks to restore th e park ravaged by recent destructiv e rains, only to open th e gat es under a threat of 60% precipitation possibilities. Fortunatel y for all , th e weather only threatened until th e ra ces were over. The tra ck featured multiple doubl e jumps, an d for th e fir st time rid ers were leaping th e seco n d terrace o f the monster Saddleba ck uph ill. Kawasaki's Bill y L iles was reportedl y the first rider to go over cleanly, and h e said that a 250cc machine required wide open fourth gear approaches to make the flight. During the 500cc class th e FAA was o n hand to moniter activi ty , but only Ward came close in th e tiddler class. Tea m manager grimaces and ten sions were the order of the day after the first 500cc rnoto . Rekno wn showman Da n n y " Magoo " C handler was disq ualified for rid in g bac kwards on the course a nd fellow tea m and class member Todd "Goat" Brekerwas dis qualified for outside assistance. Breker had a thrown chain, so the point was a technicality in his case, but Chandler had a second for the moto. Feelin gs on th e matter were unders ta n da b ly negative in th e Honda ca m p. Breker voi ced h is disappoint- Breker grabbed th e advantage as the opening salvo was fired for the big artillery, but Chandler and Glover slipped past on the opening lap. That left Golden State Series champ Breker with third ahead of La rso n , Howerton, Ma ico West- supported Mickey Dym on d, H u sq varna rider P hill ip Oveland, " Un known Jerome" Heiberger and Team Tarnrn 's Mike Shoemaker. Suzuki's Alan King was not in the top 10 on the open ing loop but h e pushed Shoemaker past Ovelan d for eig h th o n the second lap. Gl over led th e seco nd la p after Chandler bobbled in th e u p h ill sect ion towards th e in fa mous "Banz ai H ill." The shuffle had Breker an d th en Chandler following G lov er. Kin g pi ck ed o ff Dymond on th e next go'ro u nd for six th. T he to p seven rem ained the sam e until lap seven wh en Kin g put H ow ert on beh ind h im . Yamaha-mounted Warren Reid m oved past Dymond on th e same loop, but Reid a pparen tly ran into troubles later, fin ishing 26th. By th e next to th e la st lap, Breker co u ld feel hi s rear wh eel bearin g going. T he wo bblin g th at en sued threw th e ch a in. H e was assisted in hi s push to th e m echanic's area and was disqualifi ed. Yamaha Su p port rider Tim Lo cey and Honda Sup port rider Steve Martin had a lso moved into th e top 10. Chand ler had suffered o ne m in or fall already, but o n the last lap he looped out on the uphill. Reports . were not clear on whether his mach ine stopped on the flat or on th e hill Itself. Which ever was th e case , h e rode down the hill to start th e bi ke and was disqua lified. T hat mad e the fi nal order Glover, Kin g, Lar son, Howerton, Shoemaker, Locey, H eiberger, Martin, Dymond and H onda mounted Don Griewe. Howerton 's lu m ino u s gre en Prestone p umper pu lled everyone to the first turn of the second moto by 50 feet, but Ch andler led the cha rge downward with Breker third. H owerto n said aft er the race, " I needed th e holeshot. I have the flu so I don't (Continued to page 19)

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