Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

...... iAbove) Mike Baldwin leads Richard Schlachter (7) and Randy Renfrow in Formula One action. (Below) John Ashmead (37) holds his own against Fred Merkel (1) and Rueben McMurter early in the Superbike race. AMAGrand National Championship/Camel Pro Series: Round 1. 7 Baldwin edges .Renfrow in Pocono duel By Gary Van Voorhis. LO NG PO ND , PA, J U NE 23 Mike Baldwin, in a race which came down to a sheer horsepower drag race to the finish line with Randy Renfrow, won the $24,000 Formula One portion of the Pocono Cycle Jam Weekend at Pocono International Racewa y in front of a . crowd. es t irna ted .at ?O,O~O. Baldwin, on the Arai /Michelin- 10 su pporte d Honda RS500, defea ted Renfrow an d hi s Renf row-Big o ney Ra cing RS500 by " maybe half a horse-. . p ower," acco rding to Renfro w. In visu al terms, the ma rgin of victory was th e blink o f a n eye - a bo u t one. bikelen gth a t th e end o f 75.6 mil es of full -tilt ra cing on th e 2.8 m ile combined o val/road co urse. j oining th e two in winner 's ci rcle wa s th ird pl ace Mil es Baldwin a nd his Shoei RS500. Ri ch ard Schlach ter , o n th e MacLean Racing RS500, a n d Ala n Labrosse, aboard a Motoplan In surance-sponsored RS500, rounded out th e top five. One battle of note took place around m id-p~ ck a l t~oug h the protagonists were n t raCl".g «:ach o the r. Doug Chandler ran In eig h th to 10th pl ace throughout th e race a nd fini shed 10th. Bubba Sh obert, who lost his Camel Pro Seri es point lead to Chandler a t the Santa Fe IT on Friday night, ended hi s da y in th e DNF co lu m n after tweak ing th e front en d on his Honda Interceptor-based Superbike aft er coll id ing with Dav e Sch losser whil e trying to p ass o n th e in side. The outcome saw Chandler leave Pocono with a n eigh t po int edge o n Sh obert, 127points to 120. Ted Bood y, theonlyother dirt tracker seeking Camel points in road race Na tionals, had anot he r frustratin g day a nd ga ined n othing by hi s out-of-the-points finish . Boody h olds fou rth in th e po ints a t 92, behind Scott Pearson's 93. A new en tra nc e to th e infield sec- tion a t P ocono retained the sa me style sweep ing turn as before, but m inus any steel gu ardrail on th e o u tside. T he addition a lso elim ina ted the very slo w a nd bothersome lefth ander a fter th e entrance. Rider rea ctions were m ixed on the new sectio n with most say in g it was " greasy" beca use it hadn 't cured enough ; th at th ere was a bump in the transition area wh er e th e old track met th e new , and th at it was breaking up in some areas. A m al functi on o f th e timing lights forced rid ers to q ualify for the Nationa l from heat races (o n Saturday) rather th an in .the 30 m inute timed qual ifying sessi ons ca lled for by th e AMA ru Ie book . The rid ers regard th e qual ifyin g sessio ns a s an additional practice time a nd gri pes arose - as th ey did a t Loudon when th eywere forced to run h ea t races a lso - a bo u t a lack of practi ce time-.T he howls beca me lo ude r wh en Su nday 's three sched uled practi ce sessio ns beca me o ne -and ona damp track-due to a la te sta rt to a llow the tra ck to d ry fro m an overnigh t ra in. Sch lac h ter topped th e fir st qualifying heat by a four-second margin ove r Renfrow and with th e win ca me th e pol e p osit ion . The top 13 from th is h eat a lo ng with 12 from heat two mad e up th e basic 25 rid er field. The sto ry of the race was Mike Baldw in , wh o cha rged down pit lane a nd o u t onto th e track after th e field h ad ta ken th e green' flag , and d idn't sto p for fin al tech inspection on the wa y. " My cre w wa s repairing a transmi ssion problem and lost track of the fact I wa s in heat one, " said Baldwin . " T hey put things back together, but th ere wa s still a problem so it was tear down again and put it back together aga in before I could get on the track. " Baldwin finished ninth. No protests were filed. . Chandler led th e second heat into turn one a lt h o ugh he hadn 't any idea of where the new infield section went since h e had arrived too late to ge t in an y o f th e practice sessions. Chandler and Boody both spent II hours or better o n th e road co min g from Frida y night 's Santa Fe IT National. In th e en d , it was Miles Baldwin over Doug Brauneck and his Shoei Yamaha TZ750. Chandler finished sixth, wh ile Boody, also in heat two, fin ish ed way down a fter trying to race with Loudon ra ce gea rin g still on th e bik e. H onda RS500s dominated th e front row of th e final' s grid in th e hands of Schlachter, Miles Baldwin, Renfrow a nd La bro sse with Brauneck Yamaha TZ750-mounted . Sch lach ter led th e field away o n th e sta rt with Renfrow a nd Mil es Baldwin in tow. Chandler saw his midpack start become one with th e tailende rs as he bogged th e engine and got a way slo wly. Shobert was right with him while Boody, from the last . row in th e field , also sta rted very slowly. . Mike Baldwin was fou rth by th e en d of th e first lap with Labrosse right behind. At the end of lap three, Mik e Baldwin drafted past Schlachter for the lead as Renfrow and Miles Baldwin trailed. Meanwhile, Labrosse had broken free from Brauneck and Dan Chivington for fifth with Chivington, on the G ee Vee Performance Yamaha TZ500, zip p ing around Brauneck for sixth o n th e next go around. Yamaha rid er David Reed, jimmy Adamo, on th e T eam Leon i Ca gi va 500 GP bik e, a n d Cha nd ler fo llo wed . Dav e Schlo sser a nd j ohn Long, both Yamaha TZ750-m ounted , foll owed with Shobert , riding a h ybrid consist in g of Mik e Baldwin 's 1983 T eam Honda Superb ike updated through 1985 a nd used by Fred Merkel as his spare Superbik e, in 13th. T he ei ghth lap saw Ren frow, Sch lachter a nd Mike Baldwin sideby-side a t the sta rt / finish line with Renfrow in com ma nd a s they entered th e infield. At th e start of lap 10, Ren frow had a five bikelength lead on Baldwin and Schlachter. Baldwin , on th e inside (pit) line, and Schlachter ap pa rent ly touched - th ere was a trace of rubber m arks on the left side.• o f Baldwin 's fairing afterward - a s th e two set up for turn one. and Schlachter went straigh t a head at th e runoff a rea. Sch lac h ter was quickl y back on th e track , but down to fourth behind third placed Mil es Baldwin . Lea de r Renfrow a n d Mike Baldwin had a fo ur second gap on Mil es Baldwin a n d were lapping a t a 105 m iles-p erhour pa ce. Sch la chter, five seco nds behind Miles Baldwin, held a slig h tly larger gap o n Labrosse in fifth. Chivin g ton , Brauneck , Reed , Chandler a n d Ada mo ro u n ded o u t th e top' 10. Sho bert was stuck in 13th wh ile Bood y wa s back aro u nd 20th. In th e fina l half of th e race. traffic began to pl a y an important rol e on th e ga p separa tin g the leaders. Baldwin , aft er taking th e lead at th e halfwa y point. never relinquish ed it at th e sta rt / fin ish line. The two put on a show, passing slower traffic in tight situations through the infield on each lap and both were uncanny in knowing the sp lit second when a move co u ld be made. Baldwin held the edge exi ting th e infield and the ch ica ne , while Renfrow continually gobbled up any advantage Baldwin could add up, although he co u ld n' t make it pay at the finish line. One of th e most exciting and preci se displays the two put on came at th e start of lap 22. Baldwin led across the line with Renfrow moving his line out toward the grandstands and . executing a daring and risky outside line p ass around Baldwin entering : the infi eld . Baldwin returned the favor with a similar inside line pass two turns later . The battle for the win went to the last la p with Baldwin taking the white flag fir st by about 10 bikelengths over Renfrow. The two wer e. confronted by slower traffic in the infield with both being for ced to make precision passes of two riders and then one more before having a clean shot at the rest of the track. Baldwin led out of the infield for th e over 3.000-foot run to the chicane and did his late braking maneuver entering

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