Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

M ile Baldwin was flawless in the f irst privateer w in in two y ears. Fred Merkel's f irst NS500 ride resulted in a second-place f inish. N AMA Grand National Championship/Camel Pro Series: Round 12 Miles Baldwin blasts Road America National By Gary Van Voorhis Photos by Rick Corwine Canadian Miles Bald win had a day every road racer dreams about - a perfect start-tofinish ride in the Formula O n e National and th e first win by a privateer in two years. Baldwin was in co m ma nd a ll the way in th e 18 lap , 76 mile Honda Su percycle Week end National ove r Road Am erica 's 8_ fo u r mi le, 15 turn co urse in the scenic Wisco nsin co untrysi de . Fred Merkel ma de h is fir st a p pea ra nce in a National Champ ionsh ip winner 's ci rcle with a so lid seco n d pl ace ride. Ni ck R ichichi , th e la st pri vat eer to wi n a Nationa l, fill ed o ut th e happy trio a fter holding off a last lap cha lle nge by Wes Cooley. Greg Smrz pu t th e fin ish in g touch es o n th e top five. Steve Wise, a lt houg h o ut o f actio n a fter a n acci de nt on Saturda y. sti ll leads th e point sta ndings in Formula One. Doug Brauneck, via h is six th, mov es to seco nd , five points behind Wi se's 29 point IOtal. Miles Baldwin moved int o a three-way tie for third with Kenn y Roberts a nd Mike Baldwin , a t 20. The morning h eat ra ces provided a preview of things to come. Miles Baldwin, on a Yamaha 1£750. showed Mike Baldwin and his Honda RS500 th at Mike just migh t need a bit more pow er a n d took th e win in stro ng fa shi on. The seco nd heat was a ll Wes Cooley. He was using last year 's Su perbik e fra me a n d I.025cc Ka wasaki four-s tro ke p ow er. Rich ich i, on a T Z750, took th e measure of Honda S upport rider Fred Merkel, who was p ilo ting a RS500 like Bal dwin . Cooley wo n the heat by over 10 seconds a nd thus took th e po le for the N~t i.q 'l a lt.:. j. " ~ ~ l L J •• & .... Th e repavin g of the track in a number o f co rners which had p reviousl y had a slick surface sealer used o n th em , m et with rider approval. ' T h ey did a good job," said Baldwi n. " Before, some of th e co rne rs were j ust one lin e, bu t now yo u have a cho ice. " Miles Bal dw in took command a t the end of the first lap over Coo ley, Ma rk J ones, R ich ich i and Merk el. Mike Bal d win ca rne slowly on to pi t road at the end of lap one and pu lled d irectly into the p its a nd out of the race. " / had the lead ," sa id Mike Bal d win , " bu t j ust before I reached the h igh -speedCarousel turn , the engine seized. I was g lad it wasn 't a few seco nds lat er o r / m ight have been in rea l trouble. As it was, I had 10 dirt tra ck it a bit 10 keep fro m going down. The engine ca me bac k to life a nd / got back 10 th e p its, but / wa sn 't . going to ta ke a ny more cha nces ." By th e third lap, Baldwin had opened up a 3.8 seco nd ga p o n th e Ri chichi/Merkel battl e for seco nd wi th Cool ey/Jones battling for fourth not far behind, foll ow ed by Srnrz, Ri ch Cha m bers, Jimm y Adamo a nd Roberto Pi etri, J ay Sp ringsteen, h op in g to gather so me ex tra Camel Pro Seri es poin ts, ended his da y when the "engine locked tight " on lap three. T ha d Wolff and Kei th K i yora were a lso o ut of action a s th e resu lt o f ;1II accident in volvin g both . Wo lff was badl y ba ttered; Kiyo ta broke h is left femur.11 !'. 1 J l .JI..I IJ __ 011 ,1 1 .111 Merk el mo ved in to seco nd over Richich i with Cooley a n d J on es following o n lap five. Baldwin 's margin was three seco nds. Merk el was tryin g 10 whi tt le away a t Baldwin 's adva n tage o f a bo u t th ree seco nds a s he began th e eig h th lap. Cooley a nd Richi ch i had been tra d ing thi rd back a nd fort h whil e Jones was in a lone lv fifth ahead of Srnrz and Adamo, wit h P ietri clos ing. R ich Chambers. Bo on ie Kn o tt . Do ug Bra u neck a nd Uri Berg ba u m ro unded o u t the top 12. T he leaders were in traffic. Only o ne second separa ted Baldwin from Merkel as they took th e halfway flags in th e 18 lap race . O n the nex t la p . it was the same . Merkel was havi ng his first ride o n th e H on da RS500 three-cyli nder G P p rod uction bike and ma ki ng the m ost of it. With tea mma te Mike Ba ldw in o u t of the race a nd Steve Wise n ot runn in g d ue to a pra ct ice acci de nt on Sa turday , Merk el a nd Pi etri were th e on ly riders ca rry ing T eam H onda co lors. Baldwin pulled back some space a nd wa s 3.8 seco nds up o n Merkel o n lap 12. Ri ch ichi p assed Cooley for third a t th e sta rt/ fin ish line as th ev bega n lap 13. J ones was sa fe in fifth. a nd th e rest o f th e field was verv stru ng o u t. Smrz led Brauneck , wh o wa s o n th e move, with Knott. Chambel'Sa nd Bergbaum rounding o u t the top 10. Baldwin began 10 pour o n th e stea m a nd pi cked up over a seco n d a la p on th e next go arou n d over Merkel. Ri chichi a nd Cooley were still tradi ng th ird wit h Richich i a p parentl y p lotting h is last la p strategy as he rep ea ted ly used a slipstrea m pass on Cooley righ t at the finis h lin e. Pi etri was out with me chanica l problem s as was Ch am bers. Merkel. 1"pS, ~ x p n i~ nc j n g r {r,Q !1t . br ak e problems and Baldwin was 13 seco nds up by th e start of lap 15? whil e Ri chichi a nd Coo ley were still goi ng a t it for third . Sm rz had moved 10 fifth , with Braun eck a nd Knot l ahead o f J ones, Bergb aum an d Gl en La Rock, wh o ro u nded o u t th e to p 10. Baldwin had lapped th rough 10th pl ace when he to ok th e wh ite fla g, a nd Merk el was safe in seco nd. ec;, lev led R ich ichi a t th e sta rt o f th e la st' lap a nd tha t battl e wou ld go to th e flag. Sm rz was a lon g d istan ce back in " fifth . Jones had d rop ped o u t wh ile' runn in g eig h th. Bal dwin handily too k th e win wh ile Merk el was wil dl y wa ving hi s fist a s he took th e checkered flag . Ri chichi won th e drag race wi th Cooley for third , with Smrz, Brauneck and Knot t fill ing o u t th e top seven, th e o n ly ride rs no t la p ped . " I saw the pit sig n ' Wo n' a nd / ' kn ew th is was it," sa id an ela ted Miles Baldwin afterward . " It was l very 'sa tisfying 'to wi n m y first Na J tional. Thi s is a ver y pr iva teer effort. / don 't ha ve an y ma jor spo nsors, justG some friends who kick in so me monev .11 Us ua lly, it's th e fac tory riders wllo "ta ke co m ma nd a nd do the winn in g .G Today, / was doi ng the bea ting. Jl " My origi na l stra tegy was 10 wa if l a nd see, bu t / go t the lead wh en Mik;:~ Baldw in 's bike had p roblem s o n lap o ne and / jus t took off. It was boring to ride a lo ne a nd / p robabl y lost co n-!' cen tra tio n a couple o f tim es. T he n / 1 got a co up le of lap sig na ls say ing I had a bo u t two seco nds o n Merk el and "/ dug insi de, sta rte d going deeper' ! into th e turns a nd ge tting th e gas o n. The last few laps l listen ed for ticks in the engine or a nyt h ing else that might go wrong . Now , th e on ly th ing I'm th inkin g a bo u t is spending the money. Let' s see, $4.285 plus S360 in lap l! m oney eq ua ls a good hunk o f gr een. -' " / want to th ank Sol ar Weld and Fox Sh ox , wh o I've been working with for th e pa st few months. StanleyA Chan o f Dunlop plus Diamond a nd ') Shoei a lso h elp m e. Kevin Cameron~l h elped m e with th e motor and m y' ) tuner a n d right hand man is A lex ~ Cameron ," said Baldwin. A: " Fo r this bein g th e first time I've ridden th e RS500, I'd say / did pretty -r good an d / p lan to do better, " said ~ Merkel. " / th ought / might have a C cha nce a t ca tch ing Baldwin , but th e fron t br ak e pads wore o u t a bo u t halfwa y th rough th e reace and the n a fork sea l blew a few laps later an d coa ted th e ins ide o f the win d screen , with fl ui d, ma ki ng it hard to see. I had a good cus hion so / settled into a rhythm a nd held o n.i n .secou d •.Larry. ,

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