Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) Pietri took his best finish of the year at third. while McDonald (below) had his best-ever Superbike finish. Formula Two winner Rhys Howard (14) leads a shadow and Hugh Humble. Formula Two Howard the winner by inches LO NG POND, PA, J U N E 26 third a head of a good battle be tween P ietri an d McDonald. who were tradin g fo u rt h a ll over th e track. The leaders were a veraging 95.225 mph. Mark jones, wh o had worked h is wa y to eigh th on lap five was in th e p its a nd O UI of act io n o n lap seven . T he fans were enjoyin g a su perb show a n d cheer in g every time th e R ain ey/Merkel or Merkel/Rainey duel for the lead came past th e sta rt / fini sh line. Merkel led th e seven th a nd eigh th laps, but Rainey to ok it a way each time in th e hairpin turn with Merkel taking the advantage a t the ch ica ne. Adamo had parked his bike a n d was out of action. Pi etri and McDDnald co nti n ued th eir duel Ior third. Rainey began to probe just how fast Merkel wa s at th e sta rt / finish line and the two came across dead -even on laps 10 and II . At th e beginning o f lap 12, Rainey ca me across a ll a lo ne a n d in co m m an d. Merkel' s ride came to a n end with undisclosed p roblems a nd h e coasted to a halt at the ch ica ne. R ainey inherited a 33-second ga p o n McDonald/Pietri in th eir duel , n ow for seco n d. Bett en cou rt was in fourth followed by Mot orcycle Perf ormance Center- sponsored HDn da rider Ri ck y Orlando . Th e field was str u ng o u t a ll over th e 2.8-mile, 12-turn tra ck a n d Ra in ey was quickly la pp in g h is way through traffi c. On lap 16, Rainey had a 36.92seco nd sp rea d on McDonald, wh o had open ed abou t 10 len gths o n Pi etri oBett en court cruised in fourth with Orlando fifth . Rainey had lapped through sixth . Sixth was h eld by Kawasaki rider Dick Oliver with Am ol Precision H onda rider Kurt Li ebm ann in seventh . Ra iney, with a stron g lead , began to slo w hi s pace a bi t on la p 18. McDonald h eld n earl y six seco nds on Pi etri wi th Betten court in fourth . the two were engaging ina ba ttl e for fifth. Rainey cr uised th e fin al lap with 24 seconds in hand over McD onald . while McD onald was 16 seco nds up o n Pi etri. Th e three we re th e o n ly rider s o n th e sa me lap . As Rainey took th e checkered flag , h e lift ed both hands off th e handlebars and shook th em in th e a ir in a sign of jubilat ion . " I wa s really gl ad to see Fred si tting by th e side of th e track wh en I ca me by," sa id Rainey in winner 's ci rcle. " I know he wasn 't too happy. We had a good ra ce go ing th ere. H e was follow ing me a nd lettin g me set th e pa ce. His Honda had power on me o n th e straig h ts, but m y Kawasaki had be tte r brakes a nd handling. It was hard to slow down th e pace, but I had suc h a good lead th at I took it easy toward th e end . I wanted th e win." " T he race was real m ell ow for me," sai d McD onal d . " Roberto an d I had a duel go ing w hich was fun . Then I lost Robert o in tra ffic and I d id n 't feel I should worry about wh ere he was unt il I co u ld h ea r h im behind me." " I wanted to keep racing." said Pi etri . "This ra ce.wa s over 100 q u ick . Sa m bega n to ge t a way fro m me when I began runnin g o u t o f fro nt bra kes. I coo led it because I wanted to m ak e a • showing in wi nne r's circle." Results 1. Wayne Rainey IKaw ); 2. Sam McDona ld (Hon); 3. Robeno Pietr i (Hon); 4. John Benencoun (Han); 5. Dick Oliver (Kaw); 6. Ricky Orlando (Hon); 6. Kurt Liebmann (Hon); 8 . R.T. Hampton (Honl ; 9. Dan Chivington (Han): 10 . Dan Nolan (Suz); 11. Dave Reed (Hon); 12 . Joey Osowsk i (Hon); 13. Jim Knupp; 14. Bob Gamble (Hon); 15. Marv in West (BMW] : 16. Bud Norton (Kaw); 17. Ma lcolme Tunst all (Due); 1B. Philippe Kceteeer (Hon): 19 . Chri s Ross (Honl; 20. M ike Casey (Kaw). Time: 34 min.. 28 .006 sees. Average speed: 93 .648 mph . SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINT STANDINGS; 1. Mike Baldwin (961 2. Way ne Rai· ; ney (92); 3. Sam McOonald (63~ 4 .mEl Fred Me rkel. Roberto Pietr i (SO); 6.John Benencourt (45); 7. (TIE Wes Cooley/Ricky Orlando(40I; 9. Steve Wise (33 1 "lIIIIlI1IIIliIillillilllillllllliii.IIi.~M."1W iAi nailliil . • • • • • • •_ ldaii • Ca na dian Rhys Howard collected hi s seco nd straight Formula Two Championship Series win with a photo-finish victory over fellow co untryman Alan Labro sse. Third, a short d istance behi nd, was Sa m McD onald with Randy Renfrow a nd Hugh Humbl e ro u nd ing o u t the to p five. Th e 15-1ap, 42-mi le race provided th e fans wi th a start to fin ish show with th e lead up for gra bs th ro ughou t. Th e fini sh was so close th at a co n fere nce had to be held at th e sta rt / fi n ish line with th e referee decid in g in favor o f H ow a rd . The wi n a llowed Howard to widen th e ga p be tween himself an d Renfrow in th e ch ase for th e champi onsh ip. Howard no w holds a is-point ga p, 97 points to 82. Humble h olds down third a t 62 poin ts. L oudon Form u la T wo w i n n er H ow a rd took th e pol e for th e fina l. wi th second hea t winner Renfrow a longside. H umble, Dave Emde a nd Labros se fill ed th e front row in th e 36 rid er field. The firs t five la p s of the 22 to be run saw H owa rd take the lead on th e first lap, with Labro sse m ov in g into the fro nt position o n lap two . H oward clung to hi s rea r wheel in seco nd as the two opened a 30 bi ke gap on th e batt le for third bet wee n Sa m McD onald a n d Hugh H u mble. R en fro w. after a bad start, m oved his way throug h traffic to fif th . Russ Paulk, Dan Coe, Ru sty Sharp , j oe Sommers a n d Don G reeen ro unded o u t the to p 10. Dave Ernde, in si xth at th e en d o f lap o ne , never ca me arou nd 10 fin ish lap two . McD onald bega n 10 whittle a way the d istance between himself an d second p lace La brosse o n lap eigh t, with Humbl e lu rk ing close beh ind, H oward gra bbed the lead o n th e n ext lap . wit h McD onal d th en tak i n g seco nd fro m Labrosse as th ey we nt th ro ugh th e ha ir p in turn . H o ward barely led McDona ld and La brosse as th e three too k th e half.wav fla s. with Humble a n d Ren. frow filling the to p five. Coe , Pa u lk and Sharp were battling for six th with Sommers and Steve Ba ron dueling for ninth. Don Greene was now out of the race. Howard bega n to use slower traffic to his advantage on the 10th lap, and opened u p a 3D-bike1ength lead over L a b r o sse with Mc Dona ld right behi nd. The average speed for 10 laps was 92.325 mph . Humble. in fo urth, was begi nni ng to feel p ressure from Ren fro w. . H oward , Labrosse and McD ona ld were putting on a terr ific show in their ba tt le for the lead . Ren fro w wa s try ing ha rd to ma ke it a four-wa y battle as h e crep t u p o n the lead th ree. Humble held do wn fi fth . Coe had moved away from Paulk in sixt h . H oward to ok the whi te flag a head of La brosse a nd it wo u ld be a 2.8 mile drag race to th e flag. Labrosse h eld hi s brakin g until late into th e ch ica ne to take the lead , but Howard go t a good d rive o ff th e exit. The tw o were side by side a t the fini sh line in a ra ce too close to ca ll. The referee ga ve the nod to H oward by in ch es o ver La brosse. McDonald took third wi th Ren frow and Humble foll owing . " It was rea lly close a t the fin ish," said winner H oward . " I figured if I we nt a ll ou t on the fina l la p I had a good chance o f wi n ni ng. I got a bit o ut of shape i n the ch ica ne o n th e final lap a nd th ought I m ight hav e lost it , but I got righ t back in th ere." " I wou ld have loved to win," sai d La brosse. " Rhys tried to wea ve a bit as we came down the front straigh t so I cou ldn't ge t a good dra ft, bu t it d id n 't work. An inc h or two was th e differen ce." " I m ade a mista ke stayi ng in th e d ra ft o f H oward a nd La brosse," sa id M cD on ald in h is second w inner 's circle appea ra nce o f th e day. "The bike began to overhea t and I was down o n p ow er o n th e la st two laps a nd th at 's wh en I needed it m ost. " • Re'sults 1. Rhys Howard (Vam): 2. Alan Labrossa (Vam): 3. Sam McDonald (Vaml: 4. Randy Ran/row (Vaml: 5. Hugh Humble (Vam); 6. Dan Coo (Vam); 7. Joe Summers (Yam); 8 . Rus ty Sh arp (Yam); 9 . William Himmelsbach (Yam); 10. Steve Baron (Yam); 11. Jeff Umrysz; 12. Clive Ng ~A ~K ien ; 13. Alan Ward (Yam); 14 . Dan Guglielmo (Yaml; 15 . Joe Lachn iet (Yam ); 16. Christine Saur (Yam); 17 . Dan Geiger (Yam); 18. Denn is Haysl ett (Yam); 19. Steve Arnold (Vaml ; 20. Pete Frost. Time: 27 min.• 10.551 sees. Average speed: 92.729 mph. FORMULA TWO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIESPOINT STANDINGS : 1. Rhys Howard (97 ); 2. Randy aen frow (8 2); 3. Hugh Humble (72); 4 . Dave Emde (53); 5. (TIE) Dave Busby /Daniel Coo/Rusty Sharp (351 ; B. Steve Baron (32); 9. Alan Labrosse (271; 10. Rus· sell Paulk (26). _

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