Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) Mike Baldwin streaked to a F-1 win; Rich Sc h lac ht er and the Maclean Racing RS500 tuned by Stuart Toomey and crew was second . Team Honda's Flyin' Fred Merkel won the Superbike race going away, then showboated for the crowd . It was Merkel's race all the way. AMA Grand National Championship/ Camel Pro S~ries: Round 15 Four straight ior: Baldwin at Loudon By Gary Van Voorhis LO UDON, NH, ~UNE 16 Mike Baldwin displayed h is mastery of Bryar Motorsport Park's track for all to see as heled from star t-to-fin ish in the Bu dweiser Formula O n e National portion of the Kawasaki Loudon Classic, The win marked his fourth straight at the facility and was performed before an enthusiastic. but slim 6 crowd a fter intermittent rain sh owers which started lat e Saturday nigh t sent a lot of spectators home early. Arai /Mich elin-supporred Baldwin was challenged by MacLean Racing's Ri ch Schlachter ea rl y in th e going o f the 40-lap, 64 mile fin al - shortened from the original 47 laps due to th e weather. Schlachter followed Baldwin for the entire race 10 fini sh second. Alan Labrosse, in hi s fir st-ever Formula One winner's circle appear ance, rounded out th e Honda RS500mounted top three on his Motoplan Insurance of Canada-spon sored mount. Labrosse took advantage of a fuel probl em with Dan Chivington's Gee Vee Performance Yamaha TZ500 which dropped Chivington from third to sixth with four laps remaining. Doug Chandler, on the Freddie Spencer/SuperTrapp Ra ci n g Honda RS500 , and Jimmy Adamo, aboard the Team Leoni Cagiva 500 GP bike, rounded out the top five. Wa yn e Ra iney, winner of th e previous two Formula One Nationals, crashed in th e first Sunda y m orning practi ce sessio n o n th e wet tra ck. He a n d his bike sl id off th e track whe re Rainey h it a sm all boulder near trackside , breaking h is elbow an d at least four ribs. After th at, th e mood in th e MacLean Ra cing pi ts - sp onsors of Rainey a s well as Schlachter - was decidedl y low key. Rainey had mentioned on Sa tu rda y that he felt th e tra ck was " dan gerous. I'm frustrated," said Rain ey. " Td rather just get th e raci ng o ver with and get out of here." Bubba Shobert, th e Ca me l Pro Series point leader, was a very interested spectator at Loudon - a n d on th e sidelines for the second weekend in a row . As he put it , " I' d rather be out th ere racing." Honda, hi s sponsor, is still against him road racing. Shobert kept a close eye on th e fortunes of Chandler and Ted Boody. Chandler closed the gap on Shobert in the Camel Pro point standings to seven points, I02 to 109, via his fourth placing, while Boody, after a 14th place finish, holds third at 92. Problems wi th th e timing cloc ks in a Sat urday test were fixed , but AMA's Bill Amick deci ded n o t to cha nce th e same p roblem a nd cha nged th e n ormal timed qual ifyin g sessions into two heat races . This m ove met with m ixed reactions. " 1 don 't lik e runn in g h eat ra ces," sa id Rueben McMurter. " T h e reg ular timed quali fying is lik e a long ' practi ce session wh ere you have 10 race hard, if on ly fo r five laps, 10 ass u re yo urse lf of a go od gr id p osition . However , we did ge t a n ex tra practi ce sessio n thi s m orning a n d that helped a bit. " McMuner wa s walking with the a id of a ca ne and sport in g a boot on his right foot two sizes larger th an th e left to accom m oda te a hea vil y taped foot/ ankle. th e result of a Saturd ay cras h in his Superbike hea t. An allnight work session. headed by tuner Rick Monett e and Dave Kart en plus a lo t o f help from o the rs in clu din g Larry Kano , tuner for Sam McDona ld a nd Ted Bood y, got McMurter 's damaged bike back on track for the Formula One race. Neither o f th e two five-lap h eats h ad full 31-ride r grids . Riders with ina deq ua te funds o r no spare rims for mounting ra in tires, as well as riders wh o didn 't wish 10 test th eir wet track ridin g skill or lack thereof, and th ose with mech a n ical p roblem s, sa t on th e ' wet track sid e. _ The first h eat saw Mik e Baldwin slice th rough traffi c from fifth to first o n la p two and lea ve everyo ne in th e spray from hi s rear tir e. Chivington pl aced seco n d with Boody turnin g in stro ng ride to tak e th ird. Boody wa s riding a Honda RS500 purchased from Mik e Baldwin , for which h e had to borrow a front rim a fter dinging his in an off-track m eeting a large rock during practice, " I bought the Honda from ' Mike I know it's a good bike and one I can get points on. I see th is season a s m y best to win th e Camel Pro title and I need top notch equipment - on both dirt and road racing tracks - if I'm going to do it," said the College Bike Shop of Michigan-sponsored Boody. The win in heat two went to Schlachter after he broke away from Int ercep tor Superbike-mounted Ricky Orlando. The h eat proved to be th e fastest. ea rni ng Sch lac hter th e pole a nd transferring th e top 13 10 th e fina l with th e to p 12 o u t of heat o ne m akin g up th e front 25 riders. Scott Lym an wo n the consolation ra ce to gai n th e 26th spo t on th e grid, with pro m o ter Don Brym er exercish is o pt io n to add an addi tio na l five to m ake it a 3 1-bike field . T he tra ck wa s drying by th e time th e Nati onal came to th e grid, although th e threat o f rain was ever presen t. T hose wh o had sp a re wh eels had a set o f rain tires mounted so the y co u ld if the need arose before th e start. Schlachter and Baldwin opted for slicks o n th eir RS5OOs, while Orlando went with intermediate rain tires front and rear on his Superbike. Chivington had hand-cut grooves in hi s slicks, wh ile Labrosse mounted a slick on the front and a g ro oved slick on the rear on hi s RS500. " T he raci n g line is dry ," said Mike Baldwin, " so slicks are th e best choice. If it rains durin g the race it'll be another story." Baldwin . taking n o cha nces in case o f rain. sp rinted away from the field right from th e gr een flag a n d by lap five h ad n earl y three seconds on Schlachter. Chivington, Labrosse and Chandler foll ow ed a n d would do so that order until Chi vington 's gas problem on lap 37. Schlachter turned up the boost 10 close th e gap on Baldwin in the next five laps and at th e en d of lap 10 on th e I.G-mile, IO-turn serpentine course wa s half a seco nd behind th e lead er. A fier ce battle wa s developing for sixth between Adamo, th e RS500s of Randy Renfrow, ridin g with crac ked ribs from an off-course excu rsio n at Road America th e week before, and Mile s Baldwin, plus th e Honda Superbikes of Peter Lusby and McMuner, with Doug Brauneck and h is Yamaha TZ750 also in there. Schlachter lost ground on Baldwin on about th e 18th lap. " I missed a downshift heading in to the right just before th e start/finish line and Dogged the engi ne coming out,' : said Schlachter. " Mi ke got through some

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