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/126764
- --- e e ~ 00 O'l ...... ~ ~ ..... C'I .... 0.. < Earl RoloH; they were left out in the cold. ii: --' John Bettencourt, Sam McDonald :> and Roberto Pietri rode support team z :I: Honda Interceptors they bought at 0 ., the end of last year. Dale Quarterley c z entered his bright green GPz750 « Superbike. Ricky Orlando and z 0 Rueben McMurter and several other en riders had bought-from-Honda Inter~ ceptor race engines. The rest of the ii: 0 field was a mix of mostly Inline --' > Hondas, Kawasakis and Suzukis. With factory engines come horseen 0 power, and, half a lap away people 0 could tell who had power when the :I: 11. first leg started. Merkel blasted into the lead and wheelied out of Turn Six, and pulled down the straight toward Turn Seven; everybody else's bikes came off the corner flat and level. Bettencourt was second that (irst lap, passing Quarterley and McDonald in the esses after they collided. As he went past Quarterley, Bettencourt bumped him, and Quarterley ran 0(( the track onto the dirt, stayed on the gas, and wheelied over a lip back onto the track, maintaining third place. By the second lap, Merkel had three seconds on Cooley and Fred Merkel (84) leads Sam McDonald (29) and hard-charging Wes Cooley in banked turn nine. Cooley and his McDonald (who, besides overcoming Yoshimura Suzuki lost ground to the Hondas of Merkel and McDonald. caught up in the tricky corners. his first-lap collision, had recovered from the shock of a rock cracking his helmet's shield). Two laps later, Merkel had six seconds; McDonald had passed Cooley and pulled three seconds ahead; and Bettencourt was still ahead of Quarterley. Orlando and Pietri were running together and swapping places, and Vreeke was alone behind them. Then came the crash. Riders stood in groups as the bikes were carted away, complaining that the oil flag wasn't displayed, that the yellow flag wasn't waved vigorously, that they weren't given warning of (Above) Cooley wheelies off the line in the Superbike restart. following en eight-bike pile-up. (Below) McDonald what lay in wait just over the Turn end Dave Busby. privete Yemahe va. works Honde in Formule Two. Busby won. Seven crest. Before the restart, mechanics installed a new rear tire on Merkel's bike; like McDonald, Merkel ran a blind-crest entrance to Turn Seven. 16-inch Michelin SFII in the front It wasn't until several riders stood and an 18-inch Dunlop KRI~~ in the in the middle of the track waving rear. Cooley ran the same rear tire, their arms in warning - bikes litterand a Dunlop front, too. ing the pavement behind them -that Merkel Led the restart; Cooley passed officials finally reacted and threw both Bettencourt and McDonald at the red flag. the end of the esses to ta ke second, Riders fell two and three at a time. and the pattern of the racing to come The (irst was fifth-place Dale Quarterwas set. The Hondas had motor on ley, who may have set off the Lap Cooley's Suzuki, maybe ~O lengths Seven crash by grinding through an on the straight, Cooley would say oil galley plug on the side of his later. But Cooley's been around RivGPz750's engine and falling in his erside plenty of times, and knows own oil. But before Quarterley could every bump and patch, He used the get up, seventh place Roberto Pietri knowledge to make up time in all the and eighth pia e Jim Vreeke were tricky sections, out-braking, outdown (sixth place Ricky Orlando got riding the others in Turn Two, Turn through on the extreme inside). Earl Six, Turn Seven and Turn Nine. He RoloH and Rueben McMurter made did it so well on that first lap that he it through, but Larry Theobald and still held second after the big back Luther Wikle fell, along with Rich straight, ahead of McDonald, BettenOliver, Richard Chamber and, finalcourt, Orlando, Roloff (on his own ly, fourth-place John Bettencourt. GPz750), Quarterley, Pietri and Leader Merkel, econd-place Sam McMurter. McDonald and third-place Wes CooIt ended that way, Merkel seven ley got past, Cooley's feet off the pegs seconds ahead of Cooley, Cooley five and struggling, just before Bettencourt seconds ahead of McDonald. wadded up. Merkel jumped into the lead again o one was hurt. at the start of the second leg, riding Merkel rode the American Hondaagain on new tires, with fresh brake sponsored works Interceptor tuned pads and a new clutch. McDonald by Mike Velasco. The bike had a new was second, Cooley third (after a wet clutch being tested for use in 1985 By John Ulrich giant start-line wheelie) and diving for-sale race engines. The clutch gave RIVERSIDE, CA, APR. 15 underneath McDonald at Turn Six to Merkel some trouble in practice the Friday before the race, when it proved take second and close up on Merkel. to be good for two startS before slipCooley made up serious time at Turn ping. Nine, a big, sweeping, banked corner linking the back and front straights; Wes Cooley entered at the last minute on the Yoshimura R&D of McDonald picked the distance back up on the straights and re-took second, America GS750. Cooley and Yoshimura parted at Daytona on bad terms; then passed Merkel briefly, with Cooley right behind. it wasn't until a few days before Riverside that terms were settled and time the last machine slid into the Then Merkel reclaimed the lead started. mess, and irate spectators threw botCooley agreed to ride. In the meanand lowered his lap times from I:~ I More than a minute and 25 time, Yoshimura Vice President Sueto I:29 and I:28, and the spread tles, cans and curses at corner workers seconds passed between the time between first and second grew to four who didn't keep more riders from pilhiro Watanabe had promised Coothe first bike crashed and the ing into the wreckage, hidden by the ley's bike to both. Dayi