Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Rich Schlachter (1 01) and Don Greene (1) in the Formula Two final Wayne Rainey won the race. 1;Nith Schlachter second and Greene third . Formula Two race, beating Rainey dominates Formula Two By Paul Carruthers SONOMA, CA , MAY 19 Wayne Rainey used th e Stuart Toomey-tuned Macl.ean Ra cing RS250 H onda to win th e Ma cLean R acin g teammate Ri ch Sc h lach te r a n d reigni ng Formula Two Ch ampion Don Green e. The w inn er 's circle was fill ed with H ondas; John Gl over brought Barry E lli~ a u's TZ250 Yamaha across th e line in fourth pl ace. Rainey set h is H onda on cru ise co ntrol to win the first h eat for grid position by a co m forta ble margin over Green e's Mo torcycl e U n l td . H onda. Aft er turning I:45s an d I :46s in p ract ice, Ra in ey seemed co ntent to INSU , turn 1:47s a nd that was all th at was needed to tak e th e h eat race win. Green e, meanwh ile, d idn 't get much o f a cha lle n ge for seco n d as h e stuc k with Rainey ea rly to pull clear o f th e pack . Schl achter pu t th e seco nd MacLean H onda into third pl ace a hea d o f Dal e Fran klin's H onda a nd J ames Step he ns ' Rot ax, . Dw a yn e C h u ng (Ya m) led th e seco nd Formula Two heat across th e lin e a t the en d o f th e first lap w ith David Sadows ki closi ng in seco n d . Th e ta ble was set Ior a two-man bat tle as Sadowsk i pulled h is H onda to w it hi n st riking d istance o n th e th ird la p wi th Eric H onda (Yam) , J ere H eino (H a n ), Robert Lugl ian i (C-A) a nd J ohn G love r ro undi ng o u t th e to p si x. G lo ver was on the move a fter sta lli ng his Yam ah a o n th e grid and a fter fOUT laps moved u p to fifth . At the fro m of th e field, Sa do wski had moved by C h ung bUI w ith th e checkered £Jag wit hi n hi s g ras p, Sadowski 's H onda seized . Chung took th e wi n w ith Kondo a nd Gl over ta king second a nd th ird , respectivel y. Sado wski coasted across th e line for fourth a nd H eino put hi s H onda across th e lin e in fifth . Rainey did the sa me in th e fina l o n S u nday. T he 24-year-old from Norwa lk, Ca liforn ia led Don G reene, Schl a cht er, Chun g , Kond o an d Franklin into th e first co rn er. Green e m ad e a move a n d got by Ra in ey in turn seven, but it d idn' t la st long as th e MacLean H onda wa s soon back in front . The front four o f Ra in ey, Green e. Schlachter and Chung quickIy pulled away from the rest o f th e field in th e opening lap. Rainey turned a I :46.41 on th e seco n d lap a n d Schlachter had m oved by Green e. Meanwhile, Chung started to gain ground on Greene's Honda, but Green e hit th e go button and left Chung behind. Rainey sta rted to pull away a n d a t th e end of lap three, he - was up by three seco nd . The ra ce -for fourth wa s the center of a ttentio n by lap four as Sadowski,. Kondo . Franklin, Stephen s a nd Glo.ver were a ll in position to tak e over th e slo t, By lap five, h owever, Stephen s was o u t o f th e pi cture as h e coasted to a stop in turn o ne. Schlach ter began to pu t a com forta ble margin betw een himself and Green e, but by thi s point Rainey was long gone . By th e ninth lap . Frankl in , Gl over , Alan Sco tt a nd H eino were invol ved in a tu ssle for seventh, while C h uck Aksla n d was beg inning to move in 13t h . On the next lap, Mark Sm ith go t his Yamah a side ways in turn two and Aksland too k a dva n tage to move by bo th Sm ith a nd Ra ben Lughani to tak e ove r l l th . T he three wa y di ce for th at spot co nti nued to cha nge in o ne o f teh bett er battles o f th e race. The 12th lap sa w Sad ow ski go t · down in th e carouse l, wh ile ga ining o n 'C h un g ; esca pi n g w ithout inj ury a nd a fte r 15 o f th e 20 laps Ra in ey led Schlach ter, Green e, Chung, Gl over, Kondo a nd Frankl in . In the closing laps, Glover started to close on Chung as the two swa rmed th rough traffic, Gl over tr ied a la st-l ap pass in th e esses a nd go t n ext to Chung acros s th e fin ish line, but go t th e official fourth-pla ce fini sh. T he easy w in went to Ra in ey in 35 m inutes, 52.98 seconds, bill Schlachter 's seco nd pl ace was enough to hold a slim two p oint lead over hi s teammate in th e Formula Two p o int sta nd in gs , 42-40 . Green e finished thi rd with Chun g . Gl over , H eino, TH . Suzuki makes insuring your bike as easy as buying your bike. When you buy a new or used Suzuki, you can get insurance at the same time. Completely hassle-free. All you have to do is use your Suzuki dealer's phone to call K&K Insurance. And you're covered. That means you can drive right off the lot.With insurance. Not only that, 12

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