Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

The Supertw i ns Expert cla ss win went to Dev in Battley over Bert Stuckert and Stuart Beason . Charles Wallace (219) w as fifth place Novice finisher. AMA Cham~ionshi~ Cu~ Series: Round 1 Whitson leads the parade By Ga ry V an V oorhis DAYTONA BEACH , FL. MAR. 6 Richard Whitson, with class WIns In Formula One and Unlimited Superbike in the Expert division, led the annual invasion of Dayto n a International Speedway by the ranks of up-and-coming road racers in C ycle Week 's annual arnateur ac tivities day. Oth I f er p ~r o rmances o . note 12 ment em issions co ntrol rules to co m pe t~ with ,Cana dia n o r o the r RZs ~h lch don t h~ve to meet suc h rulm g s, thu s havin g an o vera ll power adva ntage. were turned 10 by J ames Penn in g ton The w in went to Warr en H arner in a very close fi n ish o ver Do yle Cart er in . th e Expert ra n ks .wi th a win in a fte r Mark St urteva nt was di squali!"hddlewelg ht S uper bl ~e and a seco~d 10 Formul a T wo . Novi ce Steve Gavin Iied fo r a rul es infractio n . Carter led s h.o w ~d he m a ~ be a ri ~ er to wa tch.by off the lin e wi th Stu rte vant qu ickl y w m n mg th e M l d d le w~l gh t ~ u per b l ke ass um ing th e lead whil e Carter a n d l H arner en gaged in a close quarters clas s and th en tu rr. lng 111 seco nd d ue l. H arner event ua lly got th e u p per p lace pe~fo ~ma n ces 111. H eavyweigh t ha nd and kep t Ca rter a t bay until th e a nd Unhml_te~ Super bi ke, Of th e 56:> ri de rs pre-entered to try fin ish . Eri c Moe finis hed third. Wh itson g ra bbed h is seco nd win of th eir s ki l~ .0!1 a mod ifi.ed . 1.7 mil e th e day with wh at a mo unted to a ro m p co urse u t.tll ~1I1 g th e m ~J on t y. ?f th e Dayt? na inf ield co urse 111 add itio n to in th e U n limi ted S uperbi ke Expert ru.nmng tu rns two and o ne (c1ockfin al. Wh itson was go nefrom the start and effort lessly o pe ned up a 10-second wls.e) o f the Speed way ova l, 353 sa w th eir names a p pear o n th e tall y sheets. gap o n seco n d wh ich remai ned to the No- sh o ws, scra tches and mec ha n ica l finish . H onda 1000 rid ers Pa ul Sto kes a nd Kevin Hum had a good tuss le a ttri tion th inned the ran ks. Whitson , a board a K.aw asak i. 10.00 going for second until Stokes broke sponsored by .Ka w asa k l /S uz ~ k l C.lty a way lat e in t he ra ce. Hunt the n ca m e under pressu re fro m J oh n Giam brone of St ua rt, ~Io n da a nd Superbike .M lke E~ gl n.ee nn g , ~ave a ll th e cred it for a nd hi s Kaw asak i a nd fin all y found hi s Wll1 S to h is sponsors a nd tu ne r himself in fo urth . Hunt had to hold Bob Kathman. of f th e Suzu ki -mo u n ted cha llenge o f "The tr ack co n fig u ra tio n is reall y Rona ld Carter to sec ure h is fourth . quite good ," said veteran racer Kurt '" just tri ed to ride as hard as' had Leibrnann before th e Formul a One to for the w in, " sai d J im Pennington final. " T he problem is this wind we a fter his victory in th e Middl eweight have is bl owing sa nd on the tra ck a nd Su pe rbike Expert final. Pennington that co u ld be dangerous." led a Kaw asak i Ninj a 600 parade o f Whitson qui ckl y stol e th e lead from th e top four spots. Pennin gt on took fell o w Kaw asak i p il ot Paul Gi amth e lead from Anthony Weadon with brone a nd set o u t to co llect his fir st Weadon th en slid ing down an d o u t win of th e da y. Giambrone stayed of contention. Phil Berke held second close while crashes eliminated th e before Ross Hall moved aro u nd an d Berke was for ced to foll ow second cha lle nges of Kevin Hunt and All an Smallwood. By th e halfway point. place fini sh er H all home. BB MonWhitson had a gap on G iambrone temayer fill ed out th e top four. whi le Paul Stokes. on a Honda , a nd Gavin , aboard a Ninj a 600, nearly Yamaha rider J ames Knipp di ced for went down in th e horseshoe section third . The nod went to Stokes a t th e o f the track a half-dozen times, but fini sh . never lost control in th e Middleweight New AMA CCS racing is th e RZ Superbike No vice final whil e co nChallenge, a n Expert/Novice comtinuall y stre tchi ng out his lead. bin ed race for Yamaha RZ350 riders . Yamaha rid er Scott Baringer and While en gine s must remain stock, a Honda-mounted Gregg Fenley put rider ma y repl ace any part o n his bike on a good show in th eir fight for with parts manufactured by Yamaha seco nd. Baringer eventua ll y put som e .brea rh ing room o n Fenley in th e for RZs sold in o th er than the U .S. The ruling was devised to allow U .S. final la ps to finish seco nd . G av in h ad • owners withbikes.which m eet gQvern· . • .a 12-second lead a t th e finish; •• ~ •• ' . The Supertwins fi na l wa s a battle of BMW s a nd Bert St uckert , S tua rt Beat son a nd Devin Ba ul ey wer e the co m ba ta nt s. Interest ingl y, St uckert taught Battl ey ho w to ge t th e most o u t of his r idi ng sty le an d Battl ey. i n turn , ta ught Beatson. Stuckert held ~ eat s on and Ba rt ley a t bay for th e Iirst four la p s, bu t a bobble by St uckert wh il e Beatson was cha ll eng in g gave Battl ey just the openi ng he needed to ta ke th e lea d a n d th en ho ld o n for th e win . Bea ts on topped Stuckert for seco nd . " I know th eir riding style an d th ey know m ine," sa id Baul ey aft er th e fini sh . '" wait ed for my o p en ing and took adva ntage of their mistakes. It co u ld have been anyo ne's race." Battley, who recentl y o pe ned R ockv ill e Har ley-Davidson in Rockvill e. Maryla n d , was rid in g th e Sa n J ose BM W (1000) he ca m pa ig ns in bo th Battl e o f th e Twi ns and th e Superbi ke ra nks. G arv Horto n , o n a H on da 750 o ut o f his 's ho p, T h e T uni ng Po int, led th e H ea vyweight Superbike Ex pert fin al from sta rt to finish, bu t he didn ' t think h e was go ing to win it. '" was cru ising a lo ng," sai d H ort on , " an d on th e fin al lap the engi ne spu ttered a nd I th ou ght i t was going to di e. I was a lmos t o u t o f gas. I j iggl ed th e bike a n d it went back to runnin g smooth ly, bu t it gave J im Kni pp th e cha nce to reall y close th e gap o n me." Knipp, o n a Honda, worked hi s way to second by d ispatching th e Yamaha of Kenneth Davi s and th en · Pennington an d his N inj a befo re pu tting a run on Horton. Pennington sli d o u t whil e fourth o n th e fin al lap to en d his ride. Knipp topped Davi s for seco nd. G avin 's trouble in findin g a good and fast lin e through the ho rseshoe m ay have cos t him th e win in th e Heavyweight Superbike Nov ice fin al. G avin' s lea d was whittl ed down o n eac h la p by Suzuki rider G eoffrey Wil son . G avin gave h im extra en co urage me nt by bobbling badly tw ice a nd eac h time Wil son gobbl ed up spa ce. O n lap eigh t, Wilson took th e lead a nd h eld it to th e fin ish . G avin was close beh ind a t th e che ckered flag . David Curtis wo u ldn ' t giv e up in th e Form u la Two Expert fina l an d th a t a tti tu de pai d off wi th a last la p pass fo r th e lead a nd the win - barel y - o ver Penn in gt on. T he up perha nd belonged to Penn in g ton , bu t Yama ha TZ250-mou nted Curt is in ch ed closer o n eve ry lap until it was time to ma ke h is m ove o n the fina l o n e. '" h ad th e lea d a nd th en I go t in to heav y tra ffic ," sa id Penn in g ton . " Da vid go t by a nd th er e was no place to ge t back by him o nce he got the adva n tage. It 's a tough way to lose a fter riding so har d. " Resu l ts uw SUPERBIKE COMBINED: 1. Raben Mar · quardt (Han); 2. William Beesch (YamI; 3. William Campbell (Hon) : 4 . William Bannon (Suz); 5 . Ralph Ackroyd (Yam). F/ 1: 1. Rich ard W hit son (Kaw); 2. John Gtam brone (Kaw); 3 . Paul Stokes (Han); 4 . James Knipp (Yam); 5. Ronald Caner (Suli. RZ CHALLENGE: 1. Warren Harner (Yam): 2. Doyle Carter (Yam); 3 . Eric Moe (Yam); 4 . Danny Baxl ey (Yam) ; 5. Tim ledbetter (Yam). UNU MITED SUPERBIKE EXP: 1. Richard Whi t · son (Kaw); 2. Paul St okes(Hon); 3 . John Giambrone (Kaw); 4 . Kevin Hunt (Hon l; 5. Ronatd Corter (SUl). UNUMITED SUPERBIKE NOV: 1. Theodore Mar· ezy!( (Yam) ; 2. Steve Gavin ( Ho n~; 3 . Geoff rey W iI· son (Suz); 4 . Tom Hin es (Kaw); 5. Patrick Johnson (Han). M/ W SUPERBIKE EXP: 1. James Pennington (Kaw): 2. Ross HalilKawl; 3. Phil Berke (Kaw) : 4. BB Montemayor (Kaw): 5. Chr is Bloch (Suli. M / W SUPERBIKE NOV: 1. Steve Gavin IKaw): 2. Scott Baringer (Yam): 3. Gregg Fenley (Han); 4 . Peter Johnson (Due): 5. Mich ael Oldroyd ISull. SUPERTWINS: 1. Devin Battley (BMW) : 2. St uan Beatson (BMW); 3. Ben Stucken (BMW): 4. Kun Uebma nn (Du e); 5. Peter Jo hnson (Due). H/W SUPERBIKE EXP: 1. Gary Honan (Han); 2. James Kn ipp(Hon); 3 . Ke nneth Davi s (Yam ); 4 . Don Leav itt (Han); 5 . Tim Bender (Hon) . H/W SUPERBIKE NOV: 1. Geoffrey Wilson (Sull: 2. Steve Gavin (Han) ; 3. Gus Christensen (Yam); 4 . Gregg Fenley (Han); 5 . Jean Dubois (Kaw). F/2 EXP; 1. David Curtis (Yam); 2. James Pen nington (Kaw); 3 . Phil Berke (Kaw); 4. Ross Hall (Kaw): 5. Chris Bloch tSUl). F/2 NOV : 1. Lawrence Hanlon (Yam) ; 2. Peter Johnson (Due); 3 . Mike Mathews (Han) ; 4 . Richard • Sear. (Kaw); S : George.Brown (SUl).· ' • , '. ' A laska's O'Connor ro de hi s Kawasa Suzuk i (far lane) in the f irst 1 9 8 5 D Dragbike! National Championship Series: Round 1 Hollywood Top Fuel win to O'Connor By Tom Lo ugh lin ' ·IOLLYWOOD , FL. MAR 3-4 " Sq u ea ks " O 'Conn or m ade good h is n earl y 7,OOO'mile trip [rom Anchorage, Alas ka to tak e the Top Fuel win in the Dragbike! season open er at M iam i-H oll ywood Speed way. A spe cia l Saturday event - the Hogna tio na ls - for riders w i t h H a rl ey-D a vid son m a chin ery o n lv sa w Son ny Mi ch al ow sk i win th e Open Fu el cla~s. O 'Co n nor, the number o ne quali fier in the Top F ue l field. started o ff h is win n ing stri ng o n a so lo pass o n his nitro- in jected Kaw asaki in th e firs t ro u n d of elim ina tions with a strong 8.2 1 seco n d, 163.63 clocking o n th e quarter-m il e. Mark Miller so loed into round two o n hi s T u rbo Kaw as aki whe n Mi ch al owski brok e off t he line. Suzuki rider George Babor downed J aime Morocco for his spo t in round two while Jim McClure o u tra n Larry Hayes. O'Connor do wned Miller in round tw o for his tick et to th e fin al while Babor ea rned th e o the r fina l round berth with a n easy run when McClure red-li ghted o n the sta rt. Babor turned in a strong sta rt , but it wasn 't eno ug h as O 'Connor came on stro n g at th e finish to post an 8.69 / 154.63 to Baber's losing 8.58 / 151. Th e win was O'Connor's first in Dragbikel since 1978. The first round in Funnv Bik e led off with top qualifier Ferd Keyes so loing hi s Suzu ki over th e broken Steven Bishop Kawasaki . David Hicken - down ed Jo H ut chi n son whil e Randy White put T om Pazolt on the trailer. Keyes received a bye into th e final in round two an d Hicken downed White to set · up .a ,'s uzu ki, .versu s

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