Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Jimmy Adamo ran this close to Gene Church. but Church won BoTT. (Below) Todd Brubaker won the 600cc Superstreet race. Ricky Orlando (12) and Rich Olive( s Superbike race for fourth stayed this tight until the finish. (Below) Don Greene (20) leads Sam McDonald (29). winner Tracy DeMuro (52). John Glover (96) and Chris Steward in F-2. he had a flat tire, pitted to check. The tire had air, and Adamo went back out, albeit at a much slower pace, far behind. The pace of the group racing for fourth was fast, I:50s and I:5Is; the men ahead were running I:47s-I:48s (Merkel), 1:49s-1 :50s (Bettencourt and Quarterley). There was no sign the group would break up; it stayed together lap after lap. Then, one lap, it was gone. Pietri parked with clanking noises coming from his engine. McDonald pitted with hot water spewing from a broken cooling-system fi tting on his Honda's forward cylinder bank, his boot full of scalding water. Adamo was far behind, although picking the pace back up, whatever his problem was having cured itself. With two laps to go, Quarterley missed a shift in front of the pits and suddenly his bike didn't run right at lower rpm; valves had bent. He was far enough ahead of Orlando that it didn't matter. Orlando and Oliver were still back and forth to the finish, entering the carousel side by side, Orlando staying ahead to finish fourth. So Merkel won, beating Bettencourt, Quarterley, Orlando and Oliver. "It's never easy," said Merkel later, when a reporter said it looked like an easy win, "but it was no problem. I slammed my knee into a curb about the sixth lap - it almost tossed me off the seat - then a big bug splattered on my shield and blocked one eye's vision. I didn't have any tearoffs so I had to rub it with my gloves. Merkel, like other riders, noticed that the pavement in turns two through four has deteriorated since last year, with more bumps, holes and ripples. That made it harder to ride an alreadYolough track. Afld,wind . played a part in the race; Merkel said gusts at the crests of Sears Point's many gullies and valleys made the front wheel light. • Results 1. Fred Merkel (Hon); 2. John Benencourt (Han); 3. Dale Quarterley (Kaw); 4. Rickv Orlando(Hon); 5, Rich Oliver (Kaw); 6. Mike Harth (Hon); 7. Ruben MeMur!er (Hon); 8. earl Roloff (KawJ: 9. Rieh Chambers (Hon); 10, Jim Adamo (C.gJ. 20 LAPS. DeMuro wins Formula Two By John Ulrich SONOMA, CA, MAY 20 Tracy DeMuro rode his Yamaha TZ250L to the Formula Two victory circle for the first time, winning at Sears Point Raceway. DeMuro and long-time tuner john Lassak used a recent AFM race as a dry run for the Pro-Am, and practiced with the Hang 2/BassanilA-I Cycle Specialties-sponsored Yamaha two days before today's event for good measure. It paid off with a hard-fought win: DeMuro diced with Team Honda's Sam McDonald until McDonald's RS250R suffered suspension failure and McDonald parked. Don Greene, who led at one point on his Yamaha TZ250j, was second, with Chris Steward third. DeMuro's Yamaha isn't stock. Lassak, best known for his work with air-cooled RD400-based engin'es, put his considerable talents into making DeMuro's new machine fast and reliable. Improvements included a single 13-inch cast-iron front disc with a four-piston Brembo caliper and a set of round-cone Bassani pipes built to stock specs but less prone to breakage than. the :Yamaha pipes, which are indented at various points for routing clearance. By the time practice was over, Lassak figured quiet, cheerful DeMuro had a shot at the win he had turned I :50s running alone. McDonald was slightly off the pace in practice, smarting after crashing his Superbike in practice. His Honda, tuned by his older brother, Phil, sported a new Fox rear shock and two handfuls of turned-down, drilled titanium bolts painstakingly installed since Riverside. Other contenders included Greene on his TZ250 Yamaha, newly fitted with the Hummel cylinders as used recently by Dave Busby; Steward on his Tom Maggard-tuned, A.P.A. Trucking of Los Angeles Yamaha TZ250H; john Glover on Barry Elliot's Spondon-framed TZ250j sponsored by ].B. Wholesale Roofing Supplies; Canadian Champion Alan Labrosse on the MotoPlan Insurance Yamaha TZ250L; and AAMRR and WERA 250cc Champion joey Sommers on the Pops Cycles TZ250]. Greene quickly built up a big lead in the first Formula Two heat, but slowed as his bike's well-used rear tire stopped working. At the same time, Yankee Sommers was coming through traffic, trying to get near enough to Greene to learn the tricks of the track. As Greene slowed, Sommers' momentum carried him past, and he won the heat. Action started in the final race before the flag dropped, on the warmup lap. Steward collided with john Williams on the warm-up lap as Williams entered tight turn seven; the impact ripped the bars out of William's hands and he crashed his CanAm, breaking the fairing. (After the race started, Williams would make two laps, his fairing dragging on the ground, finally pounding his bubble to pieces in rage and pulling into the pits. After the race Steward would apologize to the infuriated Williams; saying he made a mistake and was sorry. Observers were surprised no blows were thrown in the confrontation.) McDonald holeshot the final, but Greene rifled past on the brakes at the last corner underneath; it was a good place to take advan tage of McDonald's pain - his injuries hurt the most during braking. McDonald immediately repassed on the straightaway in front of the pits, and was first up the hill into tUrns two and three. And as McDonald regained first place, DeMuro closed on Greene, the two soon racing wheel-to-wheel. Behind, Labrosse followed Steward, was passed by Glover and Sommers; Labrosse got back past Sommers and both Glover and Labrosse passed Steward. But Labrosse made his move on Steward by flying past in turn 10, got wide - way out on the edge of the track - and crashed cartwheeling through the air and miraculously escaping inj ury. Chuck Aksland crashed at the exit of the carousel while running in the top 10, breaking his right collarbone and separating his left shoulder. Kurt Bickel crashed at the same place a few laps later while running eighth, spraining both ankles and both wrists. Up front, McDonald led DeMuro and Greene, pulling two seconds ahead. But DeMuro was suddenly back on McDonald's rear wheel, the two running one after another lapafter-lap. All was not well with McDonald's RS250R - it handled strangely, bouncing and hopping. Sm'oke poured from the fairing, and McDonald came close to crashing several times on his wild ride. DeMuro took the lead, gained a second, and McDonald coasted to the side of the track. The rear shock reservoir on McDonald's bike had come loose. Three tie-wraps had secured -it to' the 9

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