Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

...... a dvantage over Mertens , as they motored away. Although safely in . the fina l with their second a nd third placings, neither rider was willing to let up and a t the £lag it was Fa rris who took the number two spot over a _ very close Hall. The fourth heat gave a glimpse o f what promises to be an increasingly familiar scene in £Iat track racing - a Harley versus Honda duel. The principals in this instance were Springsteen and Terry Poovey, and if the outcome is any indication, new-kidon-the-block Honda may be coming of age. Poovey grabbed the lead coming out of tum one, only to be passed down the back straight by Springsteen. T he two factory riders then jetted away from the o ther nine riders and tested each other for the entire 10 la ps. Poovey was a ble to slingshot past several times for the lead, but Springsteen was always able to return the favo r. On the white £lag lap, Poovey tr ied to sneak u n der goi ng into turn three, bu t couldn't q u ite make the move stick. A last-cha nce draf t a t the £l ag also came up sho rt, but Poovey had pushed Springs teen to the fastest heat of the day a t six minutes, 18 seconds. Semis Two riders from each semi-final would gain transfer spots to the main, a n d as the first semi took to the starting grid, two factory riders looked to be safe bets. Honda 's Han k Scott,last week' s third place finisher at Spring! field, a nd Harley 's Scott Parker had both run into problems in their lieat races and finished in fourth , on e pl ace out of transferring. Scott did the proper factory thing and jumped into the lead, but Parker was slow off th e mark and spent the remainder of the race disputing second place with Mike Inderbitzen. Parker eventua lly wa s abl e to follow Scott home in second , but a dogged Int erbitzen made him sweat every inch of the way. St eve Ek lund and Garth Brow looked to have the edge in the second semi. Unfortuna tely for the m, Rod ney Sullivan and Tim Mertens h ad neglected to read the script. Mertens bu lled his way past the two former National winners and was p ulling away when he was st ruck do wn by mechanical problems. Sullivan , who had p ush ed h is way to secon d, took over the point posi tion. At the £lag , Sulliva n was still in fro nt of Eklund. ' Bro w, wh o had sta rted th e day !Jy q ua lifyi ng fourt h fastes t, would h ave to win th e Las t Cha nce Qua li fier to make the final. Last Chance Qualifier Bro w came very close to no t making th e final , thanks to the efforts of Keith Da y. Day had pu t in some impressive rides of late and on lap seven stuffed a wheel in front of the lead ing Bro w. Brow was a ble to get back in front, bu t m ust have known the still-close Day was going to try the move later. Sure enough, going into turn three on the las t la p , Da y tried to scoot under again. The more" ex perienced Bro w was a ble to stave off the maneuver and he ld onto a wheellength victory to claim j he 17th and last transfer slot. Junior Invitational Action in the J unior In vita tional was noth in g short of phen omen al. T he mach in es were an odd mixture of 500cc Ca n-Ams a nd Hondas, carbu retor-restricted H arley 750s, with the occasional Triumph or Yamaha th rown in just for spice. Whatever formul a is used to eq ua lize the bikes must be working , because at one po int early in the race, eight bikes ca me jo stl ing do wn th e front straight in the tightest of for mation's. When all the shuffling was done it was Bu d Ca rroll with the win , Ro bert La n d in seco n d a n d Ross Klatt in third. (Top) Ricky Graham (1) and Jay Springsteen traded the lead I~p after lap. (Above) Springsteen's bobble allowed Graham some breathing room at the finish . (Left) Honda's Terry Poovey (1 H) hounded Springst!J8n in their heat. (Below left) Jim Filice (17) won his heat. (Below) Early In the race, Alex Jorgensen (44) was up with the leaders. 8

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