Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

, I Team Honda's Mike Baldwin takes a victory lap after his Superbike win. Worrell and Merlin Perksin helped me with the bike a nd 1ca n 't forget m y dad, Gary. Th e only other problem 1 !,tild was smacking my knee so hard on a speed bump 1thought 1bro ke it. " • Rich ich i was all sm iles. "This is a heck o f a fini sh a fter a ll th e problem s we 've had this week . We broke a pi ston in the heat race this morning and had th e engine right down to bare bo nes. Th e eng ine wasn 't as fast as 1 would have liked it to be, but we did a lr ig h t. I lo st a good bit of m y front b'raking power in th e last part of th e race. If 1 hadn 't lopped o ff th e ga s a fter th e warm-up lap 1 probabl y wouldn't have fin ish ed . , " J'd lik e to th ank m y tuners a nd good friends, Ni ck Brown a nd Alan Hathawa y wh o p ut in a lot o f hard a nd hurried work to put me on th e gri d. I'd a lso lik e to thank Boston Cycles for letting Ni ck have th e time to work with me," said R ich ichi. f " I rod e th e wh eels o££ th e bike in the turns," said Cooley. " I had to , since 1 didn't ha ve the top end the Yarnahas had. 1cou ld gain ground in a ll the tu rn s, but wou ld lose it ever y time on the stra ights, It was a lillie spooky out there wi th the acci dents and th e ambulances on the track. 1 tried to ge t by R ich ich i on the last la p , but he rode a lillie harder and I co uld n' t get any advantage. I feel good. It's been a good weekend. Now , it 's time fo r Loudon. Put in a plug for Ro b Muzzy and Ken Funkhouser , th ey did th e work on the bik e." " T h is was the da y of th e d inosaur," said Ph il Flack, Greg 'Sm rz' tuner. " T h ree TZ750s in th e top five isn 't too sha bby." " It was a good race, " said Srnrz . " I didn't really have any problems. Th e tir es got a lillie greasy la te in th e ra ce, but th at didn't reall y bother me. " Smrz rides for Waynesville C ycle Center and Sure-Fire Distributing. Results FORM ULA ON E: 1. M iles Baldwin (Vam); 2. Fred Merkel (Hon); 3 . Nick Rich ich i (Vam); 4 . W es Cooley (Kaw); 5. Gr eg Sm rz (Yam); 6 . Doug Brauneck (Vam ); 7 . Boon ie Knott (Yam)l; 8 . Ur i Bergb aum (Su z); 9 . Gle n laRock (Vam); 10 . Hap Eat on (Yam); 11. John A shm ead (Kaw ); 12. Rich Chambe rs (Vam ); 13 . R.T. Hampton (Hon); 14 . Ma rv in W est (K8W); 15. MBnin Morr ison (Yam); 16 . Fred Giaimn o (Kaw) ; 17 . J im Vou ng (ya m); 18 . Ed Mulin eau. (Kaw ); 19. Larr y Short s (Hon) : 20 . M ark J ones (Vam). Ti me : 44 m in .• 12.959 sees. Average speed : 97 .702 mph . FORM ULA ONE CHA MP IONSHIP SERIES POINT STA NDINGS; r . Steve W ise (2 91; 2. Do ug Braun eck (241; 3 . (TIEl M ike Baldwin/ M il es Baldwin / Kenn y Robert s (20); 6 . Greg Sm rz (1 7); 7. mE) Eddie Lew son /Fred M erkel (16); 9. Kurt Lentz (lSI; 10 . John Ashmead (13) . AMA GRAND NAnONAL CHA M IONSHIP/ CAM EL PRO SERIES POINTS STA NDINGS: t . Randy Goss (1 14); 2. Ricky Graham (100); 3 . Bubbe Shobe rt (87); 4. Jay Springsteen (SO); 5. A le. Jorgensen (76); 6 . Scon Parker (71); 7 . Terry Poovey (54); B. (TIE) St eve Eklund/Gary SCotl (48 ); 10 . Ted Boody (4 5); 11 . M ickey Fay (37); 12 . Hank Scon (33); 13 . Steve Wise 130); .14 . Edd ie lawson (251;15. (TIE~ Doug Braun eck /Randy Gr een (24); 17 . (TlE) Mike Baldwin /Mil es Baldwin / Kenn y Robert s (20); 20 . Ron nie Jones (19). AMA Superbike Championship Series: Round 5 Mike Baldwin breezes to • VIctory EL KH ART LAKE, WI, J UNE 4 Mike Baldwin took a commanding lead on th e opening lap of th e 15 lap , 60 mi le Superbike feature at Road Am erica and cr u ised to an easy victory. It was the third win in five rounds for Ba ldwin . Wa yne Ra iney, aft er some earl y lap dicing, pulled awa y from the rest of th e field and took a strong second, finishing 2.7 seconds beh ind Ba ldwin. Wes Cooley, in his firs t ride of the season wi tho u t bad luck joined th e winner's circle cerem on y with a th ird p lace fin ish . A strong ride by J im m y Adamo, his second in as many even ts, netted him fourth over Ro berto P ietri wh en Pietri, in trying to ho ld o££ Adamo 's cha rge on the final lap, ran off the tra ck . Baldwin's win added four points to his series leading total and he now holds a 76 to 59 lead over Ra iney. One in cident marred th e da y. Steve Wis e, th e Superbike final winner a t Mid-Ohio, crashed hard in a Formula One practice session earlier in the morning and sustained broken ribs, a punctured lung a nd some internal bleeding. He was transferr ed from th e track medical facilit y to Sh eboygan Memorial Hospital. Honda 's Baldwin took the pole for the final by averaging almost two mph faster than second heat winner Ra iney and his Team Kawasaki / Kerker entry. Rou nd in g out th e front row were the Vance & H ines Honda of Robert o P ietri, th e Ducati of T eam Sure-Fire 's Jimmy Ada mo and the Ara ilCastrollMerkel raci ng Honda of Fred Merk el. Ra iney too k the lead at the start. but los t it to Bal d win and P ietri during lap one. Kawasaki 's Cooley followed Ra iney with Adamo. Merkel and Honda Support rid er Sam McDonald behind. Ba ldwin 's lead at th e end of lap o ne was nearly two seco nds. On lap two, he pulled out even more whi le the batt le for second tightened to a four-rider fra y. . Formula Two winner Dave Busby (center) celebrates his victory, O n th e fifth lap. Bal d win had pu lled a fu ll 6.9 seconds clear o f Ra iney. P ietri, Cooley and Adamo were having a vicio us argument over third . Merkel, who had been in the fight for third, was in the pits and out o f th e race with a broken valve. McDonald led six th pl ace Malossi USA Du cati rider Joey Mills with R.T. H ampton's Superbike Factory spo nso red Honda in seventh and Merri am Cycles H onda-mounted Mark Jone s in eig h th. Baldwin 's lead dim inish ed to six seco nds o n lap eig h t with Ra in ey holdin g a secure second as Cool ey a ppea red to close jus t a bit in thi rd . The battle was now for fourth with Pietri leading Adam o. McDonald fol low ed wi th Mill s in tow. The sp rea d fro m first to seventh was 65 seco nds. Baldw in began o pe n ing up th e ga p a ga in and wa s o ver eigh t seco nds ahead o f Rainey. On lap II , Baldw in ca me pa st th e sta rt/ fin ish lin e sha king his fist a nd po inting to th e rid er in front o f him . It a p pea red J ames Knipp was sp ray ing oil. Knipp was a bo u t to be bla ck-flagged , but stopped on the co urse after ac knowledg ing the problem. . At th e end of lap 12. Baldwin's margin had been cu t to 3.6 seconds with Cooley about that far behind Rainey in third. Ba ldwin had been slo wed by the rider who had sprayed o il. Pi etri led Adamo in fourth . McDonald , in fifth, led Mills with J ones, Kawasaki rider Dale Quarterly and Keith Kiyota , on a Honda, rounding out th e top 10. Four seco nds separated Baldwin from Ra in ey as he took th e white flag sta rt ing th e final lap. Cooley had dropped back a bit. but was a secu re third. Pi etri a nd Adamo were find in g th eir battle for fourth would tak e th em to th e chec kered flag. Adamo took the nod for fourth. " Everyt h ing went perfect," sai d Baldwin of hi s third win. " A lot of peo p le as sume just because it 's a factory bik e it 's go in g to be fast , but ac tua lly it' s th e result o f testing, testing and more testing. " I had a coup le of scar es out there when 1saw oneof the co rner workers grabbing for th e o il flag in one turn . I went cautious for a lap and cau gh t up to th e rid er who was losing th e oil a nd pointed down so he would kn ow he had a problem. I still had a sa fe lead and yo u don 't have to win bv ten seco nd s wh en o ne seco nd is just as good. What I reall y didn't want 10 happen was a no the r in cident lik e a t Mid-Ohi o wh ere I didn 't have a ny con tro l o f th e si t ua tio n ," sa id Baldwin . Ph il !'1cJ)onald a nd Ra y Plumb, Baldwi n's mecha nics, had mobbed him as he came up pit road headed for victory lane. " Steve J o h nson and Mark Johnson deserve a ll the credi t for m y victory, " said Rainey. " T hey did a lot of work on th e bike a nd it paid oH. We used th e motor we'd normally use in th e rain. It isn't as strong o ff th e corners, bu t 1 kn ew it was a good one . My stra tegy was 10 foll ow th e H ondas because th ey had power on me on the strai ghts and try to mak e up th e differen ce in th e turn s by go ing in deeper. It was a good race and we had a lot o f good d icin g goi ng on in the open ing laps." " T his is th e first decent rid e I'v e had a ll year a nd it' s definitely a mental boost form e," said Coolev . " Yo u ha ve a lot o f bad lu ck and yo u ge t down o n yo urse lf a bit.lthink things a re turning a ro und for me. It 's still ea rly in th e season." " I was waiting for th e fin al lap," sa id Adamo a bo u t hi s di ce with Pietri for fourth . " I felt I had {he po wer to get him and was wa iting, but Roberto gav e me a hand. We were hea ding into tu rn five, a tight left-ha nder a nd 1 was right on Ro berto . He saw me and tried to go in a bit deeper, but he ra n off the track and that was that ." Results SUPERBIKE: 1. Mike Baldw in (Hon); 2. Way ne Rainey (Kaw); 3 . Wes Coo ley (Kaw) ; 4 . J im my Ado ma (Duc ); 5 . Roberti Pi et ri (Hon ); 6 . Sam Mc Do nal d (Hon); 7. Joey M ills (Due); 8 . Mark Jones (Hon ); 9. Keith Kiyota (Hon ); 10. Dale Quarterly (Kaw); 11 . Richard Ch ambers (Han); 12 . Ricky Orlando (Hon); 13. Dan ie l Nola n (Hon); 14 . Doug Cameron (Kaw ); 15 . Dw ayne Wassberg (Kaw ); 16 . Fred Giaimo (Kaw); 17 . Winifred Hopp (Duel ; 1B. Edward Key (Hon ); 19. Ron Sbodo ne (Due); 20 . Chr is Ross IHoni . Time; 37 min .. 43 .282 sees. Average speed : 95.436 mph. SUPER BIK E CHA M PIO NSHIP SERIES POINT STA NDINGS: 1. Mike Baldwin (7 6); 2. Wayne Rai. ney (5 9 ); 3 . Fred M erke l (39) ; 4 . Sam Mc Donald (37); 5. Steve Wi se (3 3); 6. Dav id Aldana 1 31); 7 . Robert o Pie tr i (29); B. Jimmy A dom o (28); 9 . Rick Orando (2 7); 10 . John Ben encou rt (25) . Formula Two Busby cools the field EL KHART LAKE, WI, JUNE 5 Dave Busby grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the Formu la Two fina l and breezed to an easy victory. R h ys Howard moved through traffi c after a slow start to tak e seco nd with a good ad vantage over a raging batt le for third which went down to th e fin al feet and was decided in favor o f Keith Kiyota, Alan Labrosse and R usty 9

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