Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Noel Portell i, G regg Sm rz a nd Larry Sh orts ) ra n co nsistcn rlv to ta ke th ird overa ll for spo nso rs Mo w Guzzi and Quadrifogli o,T hey had 245 laps, com pared to th e winner 's 256 a nd seco nd pl a ce T eam Spirit's 254 laps. Righ t behind Dr. J ohn was T eam T NT (T o m Kra use, Tom Da h l an d Rand y Bechtel o n a 550 Suzuki from TNT T o ta l Perfor mance Engi neer ing )with 240 laps. Resu lts 6 HOU R: 1. Team Lock hart (2 5 6 laps); 2 . Team Spir it . (25 4 lap s); 3 . Team Dr. Jo hn's Mo t o Guzzi (24 5 lapsI; 4. Team TNT (240 tees). 5. MPE Endu rance; 6 . Tam Procr astinat ion ; 7. Team Double Down ; 8 . Team Blind; 9. Team No Nam e; 10. Team Pork. Lance tops PRRO sprints By John Arthur Burrus P HOEN IX, AZ, J AN. 13 Day two in Arizona 's biggest weekend o f motorcycl e road ra cing was fea tu red as a cha llenge betw een Phoenix Road (A bove) Jim Vreeke on the AMA Six -Hour-winning Team Lockhart Ninja. (Below) Bernd Koegler (4 ) and Todd Griswold dice in PRRO sprints. Team Lockhart takesAMA endurance opener By John Arthur Burrus PHOENIX, AZ, JAN. 12 They told everybody at the riders' meeting 15 minutes before round one of th e AMA -sanctioned 1985 U .S. Endurance 26 Ser ies that th e bike leading the first few laps al most never leads a t the end of the six -ho u r race. And they were righ t. Onl y L ockhart P residen t Wen dell Ph illips and team mate J im Vreeke were no t listening, because th ey had sta rte d to lap th e field by th e 30m inute mark, a nd des p ite slowi ng considera bly in the fin al h al f ho ur to nurse a thread-ba re fro nt ti re on th eir 900 Nin ja, T ea m Lockhart finished two laps a hea d of th e second -p lace ent ry. Actuall y, thei r ability to ride fast and avoid cras hi ng in turn 12 had q ui te a bi t to do with the early lead . The to wer turn (12) a t Fir ebi rd mak es a transi tion fro m co ncrete to th e asp ha lt as it enters the main straigh tawa y that also begins the drag strip portion of the race track. It 's bu mpy , a nd the chem ica ls applied for bu rnouts ma ke the surface slick. Roughl y half the 21 team s entered in the Cham pio nshi p Cu p Series cras hed in this turn d u ring the first hour. Even the leader had a minor spi ll here on th e wa y into th e pi t, but most everybody got ba ck up a nd into the fray. T eam Po rk (Kevin Elliott, T odd Griswold a nd Sco tt Scherer), however, got o ff in turn four some tim e into hour five a nd had to sett le for 10th over all. T eam H .A.M.E .R . (Nor m Ben e.d urn, Bob Ea ton a nd Ni ck Ni colini) a lso encou ntered bad lu ck . They even had a 45-minute engi ne cha nge . Afterwards. th ere was a not e on a Seca that belonged to Ni co lin i's neighbor - it read: We borrow ed yo u r rear motormounts; do n 't leave until we fini sh . At the 40 minute mark , Bruce Haupt o f Team Road b urners went down in turn 12, th e rescu e ca us ing a red fla g. T eam Lockhart was back in front a t th e restart. a nd a real battle began to shape up between Tea m Double Down (H enry T ecza , Nigel Gale and Jim Cox . sponsored by Nevada Yama ha and Mota Pro )and Team Spiri t (Bruc e Sass and Tom Mar quart from Woody Wh eel Works, Vickery Sports an d Denver Used MC Pa rts). Bot h tea ms were on FJ600s, a nd bo th were very interested in the co nt ingen cies put u p by Yamaha. Team Double Down had cras he d twice a n d lost la ps but were ru n ni ng stro ng a nd whee l-towheel wi th T ea m Spiri t in the fina l h our. Altho ugh too la te to file a written protest, the Do ubl e Do wn ma na g er n o ticed that they had been ma rked (in erro r) a s losi ng a no ther 10 la ps or so in the fina l hou r. All the way from Pennsylvan ia , Dr. John's Mot a Guzzi (john Witt ner , Ra cing O rgan ization (P RRO) and th e Am eri can Federa tio n o f Mo tor cvclists (AFM), but befo re it was over, clu bs from T exas, Nevada an d Col orado h ad joined in to co mpete for a purse o f ove r $2,000.00. In preparation for the fin al ma tch race th a t wo u ld determine th e pu rse sp li t, 10 sprints were held for th e 23i entries in 20 ca tego ries, in cluding Vintage a n d Ov er 40. The ma tch race was a n open event for th e da y's fastest riders in each clu b. In th e openi ng race. Superstreet A a nd B, Ouis Lance fro m Lon e Star Suzu ki too k th e first-lap lead o n hi s 1000 Su zuki fo llow ed closely by Sco tt Gray 050 Suz) from Kosma n Racing, J ack Redm on d and Heald sburg Cycle. a nd G reg Win g on a 900 Ninja. Win g crashed twice in th e seco nd la p . o nce in tu rn three and once in turn four. AFM rid er Scott Gray took over on th e next la p , and by th e en d o f .the sp ri nt had acq u ired a huge lead as well as a new lap record , shav ing abou t 2.5 secon ds o ff th e o ld mark a t Firebi rd . Lance took second in Superstree t A, and PRRO 's Todd G riswold was th ird on a 900 Ninja from Motorcycle & Marin e, Mo w Pro a n d TNT T otal Performance En gineering. Bru ce Sass , on a Yamaha FJ600 sponsored by Vicker y Motor Sports and Dun lo p , ran away wi th Modified Pro d uction C whi le Earl Rol o ff an d Da n Turner battled back and fourth over second and third place. Ro loff (FJ 600) fin ished a head of Turner's 550 Kawasaki. With 23 bik es entered, Formula 2 competition belonged to Bern d Koegler and his H o nda 750. Aaron Turner. on a TZ250 from Castl e Rock Yam aha, sta rt ed from th e middle of th e pack a nd by th e white fla g lap was in seco nd just a head of Keith Kiyot a on a TZ250 sponsored by K&K Racin g. Kiyot a passed Turner in th e closing seco nds for th e runner-up spot. Scott Gray (FJ 600) led Mod P ro duction A racing a ll the wa yfrom th e second lap. Second overa ll was Earl Rol off on a 900 Ninj a , a nd third overa ll was Mik e Williams (i50 Suz ). Williams' performa nce earned first p lace in Mod P rod uctio n B, a nd T y Pi z was seco nd on a 500 Yam aha. Formula I an d Formula 3 bik es com peted in th e nex t sp rint, an d despite di spl acem ent diff erences, one o f th e little gu ys was fourth overa ll Dwa yne Ch ung won F3 on a TZ2 50. O rtis Lance led th e first two laps in Fl , th en it went to Scott Gray for a wh ile, bu t th e ultimate winner was Bru ce Sass. In th e fin al mat ch race to decid e who woul d lak e ho me th e money, the for ma t was ch a nged to 10 laps, a nd th ere were no equipment restr ictio ns. Sass wok a co m ma nd ing lead as he had in every ot her race but managed to cra sh in la p seven. spoiling an y cha nce a t the money. T hat left two o ther fast men, Lan ce and Gray. in th e 1-2 pos iti ons . C h u ng ea rned third -place money, wi th Bobby Burkler fou rth , Koeg ler fifth , a nd P RR O fa vori te Willi e Adam s in six th . Mike Will ia ms, PRRO number-on e rid er last seaso n wa s in sevent h pl ace. Results SUPER STREET B: 1. Bobby Burkler (Han I; 2. Bernd Koeg ler (Han ); 3. Mike Will iam s (Suz). SUPER STREET A : 1. Scott Gray (SUl); 2. Ott is Lance (SUl) ; 3. Todd Gri swo ld (Kaw) . . SINGLES : 1. Bob Russell (Rt.); 2. Loyal Ream (Honl; 3. Bob W ilson (HanI. OPEN "TW 1. Thomas M oore (Ducl . IN: 75 0TWIN: Michael J oh nson (Yaml; 2. Steph en Wi ckJand (Han); 3 . Cha rlie Wallace (BMW). STK PROD D: 1. Scott W ill ock (Yaml ; 2 . Joh n Hopperstad (Yam); 3. Norm an Me yer (Yam). STK PROD C: 1. Peter Carr ok (Yam); 2. Ottis Lance (Su z); 3 . Dan Tu rner (Kaw ). STK PROO B: 1. M ike W all ace (Sull: 2. David Wright IHan ); 3. Ty Piz (Yam). STK PROD A : 1. Scott Gray (Yam); 2. Earl Roloff (Kawl; 3. Curt is Ada ms (Yam l. MOD PROD D: 1. Norm M eyer; 2 . Jo hn Hjelm (Yam l; 3. J oh n Hoppersta d (Yam I. VINTAGE: 1. Kirk M itchell (BSA); 2. Leslie Joh n son (Norto n). OVER 40: 1. Loyal Ream (Han); 2 . J im Huffman (Yam I; 3. Bruce Hendrick (Han). MOD PROD C: 1. Br uce Sass (Yam); 2. Earl Roloff (Yam); 3 . Dan Tur ner (Kaw l. FORM 2 : 1. Bernd Koegler (Hon); 2. Keit h Kiyota (Yam ); 3 . Aaron Turner (Yam I. M OD PROD A : 1. Scott Gray (Kaw ); 2. Earl Roloff (Kaw); 3. Mi chael Hu nte r (Han) . MOD PROD B: 1. M ike Williams (SUl); 2. Ty Pil (Yaml; 3. Mike Joh nson (Yam ). SUPERSTREET C: 1. Ma rty Vogel (Kaw l; 2. Earl Roloff (Yam); 3 . Ed Ragle. SUPERSTREET D: 1. Bri an LeFevre (Yam); 2. John Hje lm (Yam I; 3. Greg Sm it h (Yam). MATCH RACE: 1. Onis Lance : 2 . Scott Gr ay; 3 . Dwayne Chung ; 4 . Bobby Burkler; 5. Bern d Koegler . 1: Schlag super at Sand Hill By W.H. Spencer BRENTWOOD, CA, DEC. 30 J oey Schlag got a new Open class H onda from spo nsor Contra Costa Honda and smoked the troops at Sand Hill Ranch in preparation fo r th e upcoming G olden Stat e Seri es. In 250cc Pro ac tion, Rich Mythen a nd Andy Tressur put o n th e sho w with Myth en en d in g th e da y as a double winner o n hi s Suzuki . Sch lag got away early in both of th e Open P ro mows with Wayne Arch er hangin g o n to h is rear tire in th e fir st mot o , but fin ishing seco nd. Archer didn't hold up so well in th e second ro und on his Berkeley Yamaha YZ. Devon Joos held the pa ir of threes for third overa ll over Cl ayton Blood and Tom Sween ey. Craig Hamilton ached both ends o f th e 125cc Junior show on his KX with J eff Nicholson combini ng a 3-2 for second over J esse Brita in 's 2-4. Myth en 's Suzuki performed flawlessly in both 250cc P ro motas as he wa s closely pursued by Andy Tressor on th e ABC Body Shop special. Mike Sco tt finished third in rounds to top Tony R ichards 6-4 tally. Results ' 80 INTl EX: 1. Todd Hicks (Kawl; 2 . J immy Clay (Yam); 3 . Todd Enke (Yam). OT MASTER: 1. JoJo Castro (Yam); 2 . Hank Wessel (Suz); 3. Glenn Pruitt (Yam). VET MASTER: 1. Phil Gr ib nau (Yam): 2. Steve Law (Mai); 3. John Ha nde lin (KTM). 80 NOV /JR : 1. Da nny Roberts (Kaw); 2. Scott Schroeder (Kawl; 3. Kevin Cordura (Han ). OPEN PRO: 1. Joey Schla g (Han ); 2. Wayne Archer (Yam ); 3. Devon Joos (Hon). 125 PRO: 1. Ty Earl (Yam); 2. Jo hn Dauth (Hon ); 3 . Garvin Andrews (Han ). OPEN INT; 1. Mi ke Renn er (Hon ); 2 . Jack Azev ed o (Han); 3 . Bill Rowl and (Han). OPEN J R; 1. M ike West (Han); 2. Kir k Smit h (Yam); 3 . Craig Thomasia h (Han ). 12 5 JR : 1. Craig Ham ilton (Kaw); 2. Jeff Nich ol. son (Suz); 3 . J esse Br itain (Kaw ). 125 NOV : 1. Se rgio FernandezIHan ); 2. Rick Bryant IKaw) ; 3 . Mi tc h Cook (Yam) . 250 PRO; 1. Rich Mythen (SUl); 2. Andy Tressor (Han ); 3 . Mike Scott (KTM ). 250 INT: 1. J ack Azevedo (Hon); 2. Hecto r A lcala (Yam); 3 . Roger M cCoy (Kaw). 25 0 J R: 1. John M ata Jamaki (Kaw) : 2. Ken Sm all (Hon); 3 . M ike Harr im an (Hon ). 250 NOV : 1. Joe Madison (Han ); 2. Joel Chr ist iansen (Ha n); 2. Dave Shapiro (Hon).

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