Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

CD 0 0 0 I0 0.. 0.. >CD >- 0 0 l- ;z; ;z; ;z; -10 ..J 0 I- ra ces? R ick y Orlando ca rr ies #6 in AM A Superb ik e racing fo r 1985, and s 16 in Formula O ne. Du r in g the 1984 seaSDn he campaigned h is own VF750 F In tercep to r Superbi ke a nd ra n th e e ntire Su perbi ke series except for events a t P ortland , Oregon : Willow Sprin gs, Californ ia; a nd Bra in erd , Minnesota , O rl ando agreed to share with us th e cos t o f h is 1984 racing season , a nd t he a nswer see ms clea r: h e spent $ 14,563 .30 more th an h e ea rned as a professiona l racer. O rl ando esti ma tes th at h e wou ld hav e had a n addi tio na l $3900 in expen ses if he had a tte n ded the three events h e mi ssed in 1984. In cluded in th ose costs is the purchase o f a $9000 HRC engine, b u t no t th e cost o f build in g a co m pe ti tive Superbi ke chassis; Orlando b u ilt hi s racebi ke chassis duringthe 1983 seaso n . Orla ndo views th e engine as an inv es tment, and says it m ade a h uge difference in h is co m pe titiveness. At some races , O r la nd o ran h is H o nda in both th e Superbike and Formu la One even ts. In 1985 he'll ri de a TZ750 prepared by Carter Fish er in Formula One. Th e expenses listed under " tu ner" in clud e what Orl ando paid Denni s Zickrick o f ;\IPC to tune a nd prepa re th e bike at races; th e a ir fare cos ts involve flying Zickrick to variou s ra ces th at Orl ando drove to in his van . Maintenance between races was p ro vided by Zickrick as sponsorship of Orla ndo , a nd wo u ld ot herwise ha ve cost a n add itiona l $2700. H av in g so meo ne h el p with tu nin g , tire cha nging, a n d ge nera l prep a nd m a in tenance a t races ca n m ak e a ll the differen ce in the world in a rider 's resu lts, a nd th at' s w hy Orla nd o bit the bu llet a nd paid Zic kr ick Io r help . For 1985 Orla ndo's effo rt will contin ue with some sponsorship and co n tingency hel p from MPC (Mo torcycle Performan ce Center , Zic kri ck 's shop ), Shoei H elm ets, Sur-Tech (a a: 0 ..., >CD gling along, trying to keep racin g at all costs, and losing monev earned fro m more conventional jobs he ld between I- Z ;z; 0 ..., J u st what does 'it cos t to be a professional Superbike racer? Are the guys o u t on the race track making tons of money and livi ng a luxurious, jet-setting life? O r are they strug- >- ..J ::l Z ;z; By John Ulrich lJl a: ..J The cost of Superbike racing 0 !:1 ::l R icky Orlando leads Rich Oliver (27) and Scott Gray (5 8) at Sears Point. Orla ndo spent $26.000 racing in 1984. earned $11 .600 . z ;z; ,I; u ii: 0.. Wes Cooley. shown here with daughter A lexis. will ride a Super Team Honda VF750F Superbike at Daytona , Kevin Schwantz (rig h t ). not a member of the S uper Team. will ride a Yosh imura GS750 Suzuki. Super Team Challenging the factory might By Gary Van Voorhis The ' Super T ea m. The . a m e so u n ds as n imposing as its co n cep t: T a ke five riders and various Super bikes a n d co mbine them in to a via ble enti ty to do b u siness in the Daytona 200 . The man behind the proj ect , Tom Tuck er , is optimistic. " I don 't wa nt to make a ny predi ctions, but 1 beli eve all fri cti o n -red ucing m etal trea tm ent ). Bassani , T K-7 Racing Fuel , Ku sh iran i Lea th ers a nd Bel -Ra y Oi l. Besid es th e AMA Superbike a nd F- \ races , O rla ndo will enter th e In tern a tio na l Super bi ke Masters Series a nd th e 1985 Suzu ka Eigh t-hour , a round of the Endurance World C hampionshi p ; in 1984 O r la ndo rode at Suzuka - th e trip sponsored and bike furnis hed by a J a panese co mpa n y - with Reu ben McMurter and finis hed seventh . • Superbike Results Da yto na R iversid e Sears Po int Elkhart Lake Loudon Poc o no Laguna Seca Sea rs Point Mid-Ohi o Da ytona 14th 5th 4th 6th 5th DNF 12th A th l l th -lth Formula One Resu lts Sea rs Po int Mid-Ohio 81h 3rd Expenses Entry fees : G as. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To ll s Air fare ,.. H ot el . . , Food T u ner Pa rts HR C engine $550.00 2332 .00 $ 16.30 $ 1500.00 $776.00 $500.00 $4500 .00 $7000.00 $9000.00 Winnings AMA pu rses Conti ngen cies MRA purses , $5318.00 $5725.00 $568.00 wi ll finis h and fin ish well. " T he cast Ieatures .a wid e spectru m o f back g rounds a n d racing knowl edge. Wes Coo ley, th e 1979-80 Su perbike cha m p a n d '8 1 Dayton a Super bik e race winner, has th e most season in g . Engl ishman R Dn H aslam is a G P co n ten de r and fi nished third in th e 1984 Da ytona 200, th e last yea r o f the Formu laOn e fo rmat fo r the ra ce. Gary SCO ll, the 1975 AMA G rand Nat io na l Cham p ion, ha sn't bee n on a road racer si nce the 1979 Da ytona 200 a n d has n ever raced a Su per bike. J imm y Fil ice, 1981 Camel P ro Series R o o kie o f the Year , ha s raced bot h Form ul a One a nd Fo rmul a Two. This wi ll be h is first o ut ing o n Su perbike eq u ip m en t. Th e 1978 Camel P ro Series Rookie of th e Yea r. La nce j ones, com p le tes th e tea m . jon es has ro ad raced 25Qcc a n d Ba t tle o f rh e Twin s machinerv . Cooley a nd Ha~lam will ride H onda In ter cep tors wh ich were ca m pa ig ned by Sa m ;\IcDo na ld last year. The ;\IcD Dnald eq u ip men t wa s th e best o f wha t was support ed by H on da as o u tside, n on -Ia rtory eq u ip me n t, The bikes were bought ea rl ie r this yea r by road racer Da ve Bu s by and a re being rented to Super Team for Da yto n a . Super Team wil l pr ov i de a n " u m bre ll a " fo r Cool ey and H asla m , g ivi ng' them a ba se of opera tio ns a n d s u p por t. H aslam w i ll be br in g i ng his o w n m ech ani c from En gl and with Coo ley u ti li zin g h is o w n m echan ic as we ll. Alt ho ugh ridi ng wit h t he Su per Team , th e two ha ve backi ng from Steve Mc La ug h li n a n d MCC Associa tesj the m o vers beh ind the p ro posed int ernationa l Masters Superbik e Seri es, w hich McLau ghl in h opes 10 obta in FIM san ction fo r by mid- Ma rch . Scot t a nd Fi lice comprise a nother pa n of th e team. T hey wi ll be r id ing Yamaha FZ750s w h ich ha ve been under go in g nearly non-sto p race preparation si nce the bik es were picked up o n Mond a y. February 25. " I ca lled Ken n y Cl ark o f Ya m aha a bo u t th e FZ," sai d T uc ker. " He sai d he h ad tw o and I grabbed th em. Cl ark a n d th e rest o f th e Yamaha p eo p le wer e ver y open a bo u t w ha t ha d been d one to their bi kes and wit h su ggestions o n what we need ed to d o to o u rs . We're work in g o u t o f a sh o p a t th e Port Orang e (Flo rida) home o f former din tra ck er Irv MacD ouga ll. In addition to m yself a nd team m an a ger Gary N ix on, we've got tuner s Dan T hom pso n a nd Woody Kyl e worki ng o n th e Yarna has. T here we re n o race kits wi th the bikes, so we're do in g o u r own ." Thompson w ill ha nd le th e tu ni ng ch ores on SCOll 'S bi ke whi le L ou Val egra is maintaining the Filice m achine. J ones will ride a H o nda In tercep to r, race p repped by Woody Kyle. 'The bike is stock exce p t for minor cha nges. " As o f Thursda y, Februa ry 28 , we don't hav e a maj or spo nsor fo r the team ," sa id T uck er. " We ho pe to hav e o ne by th e time ra ci ng gets underwa y. R ig h t no w yo u co u ld say th e tea m is oper ati ng o n a shoes tri ng budget. We like to thi nk we 've got the ho m e co u rt adva n tage w h i le H o nd a ha s th e adva ntage in m on ey a nd tec h no logy. S u pe r'Tra pp, Va lvoline a n d KK Mo torcycl e Su p p ly h a ve provid ed m ost o f th e ass is ta nce for thi ngs we' ll need a t the tr ack . W h at peop le won 't see is th e ne tw ork o f o ther peo p le beh ind u s who a re p ro vid in g lo d g in g , mea ls, specia l ass ista nce a n d a lo t more. I grew u p i n Da ytona , worked here a nd h a ve a lot o f fri ends her e - th a t' s the hom e co u rt a dva n ~~. .

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