Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126659
c<') 00 0') (Clockwise from top left) Kawaseki teammates Wayne Rainey (60) and We. Cooley rode together en route to Rainey'. event win end title, and Cooley'. runner-up fini.h. Sam McDonald (29) finished third. F-2 winner Randy Renfrow. Fred Merkel (84) we. with the I. .de... before crashing. AMA Superbike Championship Series: Round 13 Rainey takes all the marbles at Willow Springs By Dale Brown Photos by Lori Tyson ROSAMO D, CA, SEPT. 18 Kawasaki teamster Wayne Rainey got every-' thing he could ask for in the Budweiser Kerker: 100 Superbike event at Willow Springs, winning both legs of the race and clinching the Superbike championship with one race remaining. The 13th event of the series proved very unlucky for the 10 opposition Honda team when Mike Baldwin. the only other rider in contention for the title, crashed hard while leading early in the first leg and was taken to the hospital with a punctured lung and three broken ribs. To make ita truly miserable day for Honda, Fred Merkel and Sam McDonald both crashed as well. although nei ther was seriousl yinjured. In the confusion following two red £lags in the second leg, Wes Cooley and his factory Kawasaki claimed second with a 3-2 finiAh. McDonald LOok third with a 4-2 tally; his crash was what brought out the second red flag and nullified the allempted restart. Rainey, a titleholder in only his second year of full-time tarmac terrorization, said, "I guess anyone should be pleased if they win, but I wanted to race it out with Baldwin. That would have been the fair way. till, racing is racing, and it could have been the other way around; me falling and Mike gelling the title. I feel sorry for Honda because they've worked so hard and Mike really wanted it; you could tell by the way he was riding." Two five-lap heats set the grid, and Baldwin ~rab~ tbe pole by turning in a time faster than Rainey's heat win. The difference wasn't much less than one second after 12.5 miles! Cooley earned a back-row start with a spectacular DNF in his heat. On the last lap Cooley absolutely hand-grenaded his motor, with flames billowing out as a connecting rod broke and punched a fist-sized hole in the cases. Kawasaki had overnight to build a new motor for Cooley, and they did. But the Team Honda mechanics had less than three hours when Mike Baldwin's good engine went up in smoke. The good engine from the other works bike - Merkel's - was transferred to Baldwin's bike and Merkel got a slo~er spare. Five points down with two races to go, Baldwin showed his desire and grabbed the lead with Rainey and Merkel trailing him through the frrst turn. From the back row, Cooley was up to seventh midway through the first lap. Starting the second lap Baldwin was still out front with Rainey riding his shadow. There was a slight gap before Merkel, and he was followed by Cooley, Honda Support riders John Bellencourtand Roberto Pietri, aJ;ld privateer Honda rider Luther Wikle. Then, in turn seven, a cresting lefthander, Baldwin was down hard. Fortunately, he got away from the bike, which continued sliding down the track as spilled fuel ignited the machine. Rainey, who was right behind the Connecticut rider. said, "It looked to me like Mikejust ran ourof asphalt. He was going really fast through that corner, and he ran off the edge of the track. He was still leaned over and when he hit the asphalt lip going back on the track. that highsided him." Although the AMA's Bill Boyce said later that he wished he would have. no red flag was displayed. despite the fact that Baldwin's bike continued to burn near the middle of tbe track, and Baldwin was conscious but injured right at the side of the track. It took two laps before ambulance allendanlS and .track firemen could take care of the situation. In the fracas. Merkel got 'the lead away from Rainey. who appeared off-form and dropped to third a lap later. In laps 5-9 the show got back on track. with the Merkel/Cooley/Rainey bailie tightening up and changing positions around the track. Cooley dropped Merkel to second up in the slower portion of the track, but then Merkel drafted by at the end of the long front straight. The same scenario was more or less repeated the following two laps, but on lap nine they got into slower traffic and Rainey came out ahead. From there he ledto the checkered flag on the 16th rounding of the 2.5-mile circuit. Cooley drew up on Rainey near the end of the heat. but mindful of who had the chance to win the champion· ship, he stayed in second. Merkel was a close third. McDonald was a distant founh, but behind him was a good bailie for fifth. Bellencourt held it for much of the race. but two laps from home Pietri made his move aqd was