Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Doug Toland (356) leeds Rich Oliver, Ninja va. Ninja, at Willow. (Below) Richard Scouler blows a kiss to John Glover. Teem Wheelsmith's Richera Seoular rode the teem's stock Yamaha FJ1 100 an hour and 46 minut.. at the aJert of the Kerker Four-hour. one spot. Mazur had slipped back in the midst of the pack led by RZ350mounted Mike Haller; RZ500 pilot Malcolm Hill, Vogel, Seoular, Scott Johnson and Gary Tatsumi followed in tight formation. By the mid-point ofthe race, Vogel had pulled away from the rest and was alone in second. Haller and Seoular battled for third, while Johnson, Mazur and Tatsumi bauled for fifth. By the ninth lap, Seoular broke away and moved up to fight Vogel for second. Four laps later Seoular outbraked Vogel entering tight tum three and held him off until the last lap (15), when Vogel snuck by. Butat the flag, it was Seoular who came out in second ahead of Vogel, but just barely. . Resulq 600 5S: 1. Wo"er Nino IK_); 2. Richard Scoular (Yam); 3. Many Vogel (Kaw); 4. Mike Haller (Yem); 5. Gary Tatsumi (Sun: 6. Scott Johnson (Yarn~ 7. Tony MatMws (Voml: David MorTi. (Kew); 9. Brent Ross (Yem); 10. Ralph Thonure (Kawl. 8: Roloff ekes 12 one of his bike's pipes, and that his Tom Maggard-tuned TZ lost power; the same thing happened to Dave Busby while leading at Sears Point. (Busby was already out of this race, his bike broken.) Behind Glover and Steward, DeMuro was- on the move, on one single lap turning a I:31.5, and passing Sadowski, Franklin and Labrosse. Sadowski passed Franklin and Labrosse, too, and DeMuro and Greene closed up on Glover and Steward. Steward slipped past Glover entering turn one, Glover went around Steward in turn eight, and Steward never led again. And for a moment, Steward lost second place, DeMuro flying past and drawing even with Glover in turn eight, the two so close that obse.rvers couldn't tell who led; it looked dead even. But at the exit of turn nine Glover was still first. DeMuro tried for the lead again in turn one, got sideways, lost his drive and was passed by Steward. DeMuro's Yamaha, tuned by John Lassak, started vibrating then, and lost power; Lassak would later say he thought the crank went. Greene was already out, his bike broken-he thought it, too, had a failed crankshaft-and as Greene coasted into the pits Glover still led. Steward would close up one more time, make up a three-second gap, but Glover was first across the line. Steward's last drive did shake off DeMuro, who finished two seconds behind Steward and 12 seconds in from of McDonald; Labrosse was fifth. esse win Sadowski and Franklin both failed to finish, out with engine troubles. Greene was credited with 13th place, and still leads the championship points. Results 1. John Glover (Yoml: 2. Chri. Steword (Yom); 3. Trocy DeMuro (Yoml: 4. Som McOonold (Honl; 5. Alon Labroeee (Yom); 6. Clinton Whitehou.. (Vom); 7. Jim Staph..,. (Yem): 8. Michel Pellerin (Yeml; 9. Chuck Akelend (Yem); 10. 801> DeWitt (Yaml; 11. Santiago Londono (Yam); 12. Dale Franklin (Vam); 13. Oon Greene (Yam~ 14. 0""" S a _ i (Vom); 15. Oavo Bulby (Yam~ 18."'om Sero IVam). Nifto smokes Lockhart Superstreef By Lori Tyson ROSAMOND, CA, SEPT. 16 Walt Nitto dominated the Lockhart6OOccSuperstreetrace, taking his O1ampion Moriwaki GPz550 to an easy win. New Zealander Richard Seoular rode a stock Yamaha FJ600 to second ahead of GPz550-mounted Marty Vogel. Frank Mazur, one of the pre-race favorites, put his 12-year-old Honda out froni at the start, but was quickly. displaced by Nitto at the top of the hill in the first lap. Nitto was never challenged from that point on, and proceeded to lengthen his lead with each subsequent lap. The battle for second place was intense as seven riders diced for the By Lori Tyson ROSAMOND, CA, SEPT. 16 Local Production bike ace Earl Roloff won the California Superbike School Challenge over New Yorker Kevin Monahan in an extremely close finish under lessthan-ideal racing condition. In the Superbike Sehool Challenge, national-caliber racers, as well as local boys, ride Kawasaki GPz550s, with weight added to some machines to handicap the lighter riders. A $2000 purse is up for grabs at each event. As the race began, a rain, wind, and dust storm hit the track making for treacherous going. Rich Oliver, who won the Laguna Seca round of the essc, holeshot the start and led the field of 16 riders into the first lap. Monahan was in second, followed by Dale Quarterley, Dave Busby and Jeff Haney. (It was learned later that Haney was docked one lap for jumping the stan.) By the third lap, Oliver and Monahan were fighting over the top spot, despite strong winds and nearly-zero visibility in flat-out tum eight. New Zealander Richard Secular, winner of the Sears Point round, led the freight train fighting for third, which included Dave Sadowski, Roloff, Busby, Jim Vreeic.e and Quarterley. Lap four saw Monahan grab the lead from Oliver, and Roloff taking third. Sadowski, Secular, Vreeke and Busby continued to argue the fourth position. By lap six, Roloff had caught up to the leaders, and in the next lap, took second from Oliver as they entered the turn two sweeper. In the ninth lap, Roloff drafted past Monahan on the front straight. But Monafian didn't give up. The two battled fiercely for the lead, and in a nearly side-by·side finish, Roloff took it by a nose. "I thought I pulled out too soon to pass him in turn eight," said Roloff, "but the dust was really bad and he backed off the throttle and I went for it. It feels really good to win after blowing my motor in the Superbike race~ 'I Results cssc: 1. Eerl Roloff; 2. Kevin Monahan; 3. Rich 4. Dave _ i ; 5. Richard Seoul..; 8. Jim Vr_; 7. Chris S.-nl; B. David Busby; 9. W.. Cooley; 10. Tracy DeMuro. Ol~: Seoularand Glorer win Kerker Four-hour By Lori Tyson ROSAMOND, CA, SEPT. 15 Richard Scoular. and. John Glover took Team Wheelsmith's La Habra Yamahasponsored stock FJllOOYamaha to overall victory in the Kerker Fourhour endurance race at Willow Springs. Secular and Glover beat the second-place team of Fred Eiker and Marty Sharpe, riding under the Santa Barbara Riders banner, by three laps. Pre-race favorites and reigning National Endurance Champions Team Hammer started four laps down on the field due to an ill-timed decision to switch to rain tires and were docked five more laps by officials for being late to the grid., putting them nine laps down at the start. Riders Russ Paulk, Tim O'Kennedy and John Ulrich turned the fastest laps of the race - the quickest being I:34s and I :35s - using just two gears (third had blown in practice) and made up four of the nine laps to finish fourth. Just prior to the start a freak desert rainstorm hit the track and sent riders scrambling for rain tires or shelter. It -would rain intermittently throughout the day. Team Lockhart's Rich Oliver led the soggy start on the same bike he and Wendell Phillips used to win the AFM Six-hour, followed by Team Ninja's Doug Toland. Secular and Shar~. On the third lap Seoular and Sharpe both drove 0(( the track in uphill tum three; neither crashed and both rejoined the race quickly. By the next lap Oliver and Toland

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