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/126758
=================================================== .~ ~ Freddie Spencer laps a rider. Eddie Lawson (21) and Roberts got the drop on the pack at the start. Note Spencer's poor start from the pole. Roberts went out in the first session, but was well off last year's pace that made him the first and only rider to qualify for the 200 at under two minutes. His 2:01.110 held as top time until Spencer appeared 20 minutes into the session. ,Spencer blistered the track, dropping his times with each consecutive lap. When he pulled onto pit road he had a new track record of I:59.20 I which translated to just over a half second faster than Roberts' previous record. Spencer's 116.878 mph speed was also a one lap record. Haslam, Baldwin and Lawson made up the remainder of the front row on the grid. Graeme Crosby, on a Yoshimura Suzuki four-stroke Formula One hike, was sixth fastest with the first Xamaha TZ750 showing up seventh in the hands of privateer Doug Brauneck. Miles Baldwin, on another TZ 750, led production Honda RS500 racers Randy Renfrow and Wes Cooley to fill the top 10. Both Baldwin and Cooley were lucky in their sessions as each crashed after getting in the required amount of laps. Baldwin's ego took a beating while Cooley landed on his elbows. A second qualifying session with two 30-minute segments was run on Friday for those riders with problems encountered the day before. At the finish, Dan Zlock held the final, 80th, qualifying position at 2:25.883 with an average speed of 95.490 mph. One name missing from the list of qualifiers was that of David Aldana. "I had a Suzuki RG500 lined up, but we - had trouble getting some' parts which we needed to make a good showing. I came anyway and tried to pick up a ride, but the bikes available were either bits and pieces thrown together or something someone had crashed. My plans for the 200 sort of fizzled. " Yvon DuHamel's return to the 200 after eight years of retirement didn't take off like he expected. "We had a lot of teething problems," said DuHamel. "We finally got a new and stronger engine, but I only got in five laps of practice on it." DuHamel was 60th qualifier on a Honda Interceptor-based entry. tilt racing speed and how well Roberts and Lawson had a'dapted to the problems connected with their Yamahas. With the nags along pil road snapping in a brisk breeze, the first wave in the 80-rider, three-wave field took the green £lag and the 200 was underway. It was yellow and black time up front as the field ended lap one with Lawson leading Roberts across the line after they charged away on the start. Spencer got caught in traffic and was about eighth and on the move.. The next lap saw the same pattern up front with Spencer slicing his way to sixth behind Baldwin, Haslam and Crosby. Lawson continued his holdon the front position on lap three, but was receiving heavy pressure from Roberts. Roberts sliced to the lead heading into the chicane as the two were halfway through lap four. They were already catching slower traffic. Spencer, in a burst of speed, had narrowed the gap on the leaders after dispatching Crosby, Baldwin and Haslam in rather easy manner. The three then began a high-speed ballet through traffic while battling for the lead. On lap six, eight to 10 riders provided an o!;>stacle course coming off the turn four banking and onto the front straight. Roberts, in the lead, took the middle line with Spencer high and Lawson low. With the precision of three surgeons, they sliced through in a move which had to be seen to be believed. Meanwhile, Randy Renfrow had ended his day in a crash in the chicane. His new RS500 sustai ned su perficial damage and he was unhurt. "I was moving around a slower rider when the front endjust slid out," said Renfrow. "It was as $,imple as that. The bike was really going good and I had adapted to the 500 from the 250s I raced last year really well." Renfrow had been running in eighth position. Haslam and Baldwin were engaged in a battle for fourth with Crosby right behind. A short distance back, Rich Schlachter, Wes Cooley and Doug Brauneck debated seventh. Miles Baldwin was 10th. The lead swapping continued up front along with the close encounters of the worst kind with slower traffic and riders making the wrong moves when being passed. It was during this time, the seventh through 10th laps, that Roberts backed off the pace and 200 The biggest topic of conversation in the pits prior to race time centered on whether or not the 500cc Honda GP bike would last 200 miles at full (Above) The lead was swapped in the early laps with Roberts leading Eddie , Laws.on, and Lawson leading Roberts (below). c-'1_-------, Spencer also led Roberts, and vise versa, until Roberts opened up and said goodbye. Spencer also had to pit for new rubber. 9