Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

m e," sa id Holman. who wa s seen in various full -lock slides, ta nkslappers, a tte m p ted hi gh -sid es and off-trac k excursions durin g th e weekend, H is style wasn ' t th e smoothest, but h e went p rett y fast. Kevin Brunso n crashed h is Armstro ng on the first lap of th e heat; th e signi fica nce of tha t will beco m e clea r lat er. Bal d win won th e second h eat race in 6:18.959 . beat in g Greene , Ch uc k Aksla nd, Doug Bra uneck and Da le Fra nkli n ; Franklin 's back on his ow n Yama ha after a fa ll ing out with Dave H arold saw him lose his ride on the Honda Baldwin is no w rid in g . Greene jum ped o u t o f th e grid 10 lea d th e fi rs t lap of the Formula T wo fin al in front of H olman, Chung a nd Stephen s; Ra in ey sta rte d eigh th a nd charged up to thi rd with Baldwin in tow ; by the sixth lap Ra in ey was o u t and Baldwin was in front, with Greene second and Stephens th ird . T he pace wa s in th e 1:12s, a nd Baldwin and Green e slowly pu lled a way from Stephen s, a 20-year -old machine~t w ho built man y o f th e parts o n his bik e an d who tunes it himself. Meanwhile Brunson, wh o started 40th, was chargi ng through th e pack a t an incred ib le ra te, catchi ng an d raci ng j eff H eino for fo u rt h. H olm an is bei ng p icked off a nd fade s as h is bike's shock lo ses its damping, his riding becoming a little more wild every la p as th e bike refuses to cooperate. Do ug Brauneck finds h im self racing with Holman for six th , Brunson having already caught a nd passed th em ; H o lman di ves into turn . n in e on th e ins ide, both wheels loc king up an d hopping, th e bike cha ttering and trying to turn sideways as Holman fights to keep it under control and going stra igh t; Bra un eck rides around the outside of Holman and dri ves out o f the corner wh il e H o lma n sti ll fights for co nt ro l. The next lap, exiting the sa me corner with Brauneck just a head , Holman tu rn ed on th e throttle 100 ha rd , too soon and loses the rear en d, sl idi ng and bouncing sideways wi th hi s left foot flying o ff the peg. H e saves it, loo ks beh ind an d sees no o ne close, and visibly slo ws..Bra u neck wo n' t see h im again . Gr een e closes on Ba ld win in tratfie, cli ps h is friend john Gl over as he laps hi m, Greene's hip catc h ing Gl over's bike's ha ndlebar as h e passes o n the outsi de. G lover cras hes a nd G reene mom entar il y slo ws; Baldwin pulls it back ou t. Green e holds th e interval even at a coup le of seco nds , bu t ca n ' t mak e "it up, a n d th e race is essentia lly over. (G lover su ffered a bro ken arm and shoulde r; Greene a pologized over the p ublic address system in winner's circle, explai ni ng tha t h is momentum was carrying h im past G love r when Gl over ad justed his entry line to th e o u tside ; it wasan accident, an d Greene felt terrible.) " It ran j us t the way I expected it to ," said Baldwin after wi nni ng. The ATAC chamber on h is Honda fell off o n th e cool-off la p; Bal d win figu red h e wa s Iucky o n that one, a nd th anked sponsors Sh od . Fox, Diamond an d Dunlop. a nd bike owne r j eff Ne ilsen. " I feel bad a bo u t j oh n ," sa id Green e, "because I' ve never kn ocked any body o ff before. But th ere was no p lace for me 10 go, I wa s a lready on th e wh ite lin e." G reen e is sponsored by Eurocycle, Dunlop,Champion, Ara i, Ba tes, Redline and ERC. . • Results 1. M i les Baldwin (Hon); 2. Oon Greene (Hon ); 3. James Ste phen s (Spo ); 4 . Jeff He in o (Hon); 5. Kev i n Brunson (Arm); 6 . Doug Brauneck (Spo t; 7 . Brad Holman (Hon); 8 . Dav id Sadcows ki (Hon); 9 . Dwayne Chung (Yam); 10. Dale Frankl in (Yam). POINT STANDINGS; 1. Rich Schlachter (95): 2. Oon Greene (8 2); 3. Wayne Rain ey (60); 4. Doug 8 ra u nec k (48 ~ 5. Je H Heino (44); 6. Dave Sadows ki (43); 7. Chuck Aksland (30): 8. Dwa yne Chung (28); 9. Robert Lugliani (24); 10. Freddie Spencer (20). Interview: Kenny" Roberts The Return of the King By Paul Carruthers MO NTEREY, CA, J U LY II Kenny Roberts retu r n ed to motorcycle road racing at Laguna Seca .after a year of business, golf and relaxation. Rob erts announced last yea r th at his vic to ry in th e Champion Spark P lu g 200 at L a g u n a Seca marked th e be. . . . gmn mg of hIS renrernent from racing. Now he's back, and th e big q ues tion isn 't whet he r or n ot h e ca n sti ll ride a t th e level n eeded 10 win , but ra th er wh y he wants 10, o nce aga in, th row hi s leg over a 185-m ph roa d racer. " T h ere were more reasons to do it the n the re were rea sons no t to do it," Ro bert s sa id aft er a practice session o n th e T h u rsday bef o re the ra ce. " I' m in good en o ug h physical condition , Eddie (La wso n ) is tied up trying to win the World Championship an d Yamaha had this bike and didn't ha ve anybody 10 ride it . It just seem ed o bvious tha t Laguna wou ld be th e p lace if I was goi ng 10 ride a t all. " I' m going to ride in j a p an at that eigh t-hour race (the Suzuka Eigh thour. a round o f th e Endu ran ce World C ham pio nship ) and t h e y were both tal ked abou t a t th e same tim e. Wou ld I do La guna a nd wou ld I do Suzu ka? Of co urse th e tra ck was fi ne 10 do La guna so th ere was no pro b lem th er e; rea ll y w hat I ' ve backed the schedu le d own 10 wha t I wa nt to do and th at' s wh y I' m do ing it. It's just w hat I wa nt .1O do." With Lawson 10 poin ts dow n 10 Ro th rna ns Honda ' s Fredd ie Spen cer in the 500cc World C hampionship, a n i mage of a classic R oberts! Spe ncer! La wso n ba ilie in th e rema in ing Gra nds Prix comes to m ind . Is th ere a p ossibil ity of Rober ts return ing to th e co nti ne nt 10 h elp Lawso n ? " It's not been proposed to me yet," Robert s said . " Everyth ing that I do ge ts proposed to m e; lik e three months ago this sta rt ed with me doing Laguna a nd it worked o u t with th e sponsors so it was feasible for me to do it . P~ on e me up and tell me I' ve gO! 10 be rn Europe a wee k later an d it's going to be ro ugh ." Ro berts, h ow ever , at ti mes m isses th e Gra n d Prix life. " I m iss it whe n I' m wa tch ing pracrice a n d it's a good da y," Ro bert s said . "And yo u know yo u co u ld be ou t th er e se tt i n g la p tim es j u st as q u ick as a n ybo dy else, or q ui cker. Wh a t I think I mi ss th e most is th in king w h y ca n ' t th ey go fast er ? T hat was a lways my thi ng. Wh a t is preventing me from going a ha lf a secand fa ster ? lf I was two seco n ds a head of e very bo dy I s t i ll wo~ ld~'t be happy. I would say , .Well If this was fix ed th en I co u ld go two and a half seconds faster .' " T h a t' s what I miss' the m?sl. Saying ' H ey let me ride th at , I thin k I ca n get this thing going fas ter than that.' It's th e techn ical s tu ff involved in m a k in g th e bike g o fa st er, th at' s wh at I mi ss, but wh en yo u ' re th ere and you're fig h tin g it out a n d !t's raining a nd yo u get u p themorning o f th e rac e a n d it' s raining and you h a ven ' t tested the rain tires. There are just so m any complications to doing a whole seas o n. It really p u ts you .unde~ a lot of st~ess ';lnd yo u ca.n ' t realize, witho ut doing rt, wh at kind o f stress yo u ' re actuall y under ." Robert s was aboard T adahi ko Ta ira 's 1985 V-Four Yamaha on Thursday a nd aft er not road racing in a yea r h e cru ised a rou nd doing co ns istent l m in u te, S-seco nd laps. La st year Ro ben s set the lap record a t th e Monterey co urse wi th a I:06.5, but h e says thi s yea r's bike is better. . " T h is bike is a lot bett er ," he said. " It 's fa st er, h andle~ bet ter , and i t doesn't sha ke and VI bra te as bad as la st year 's bi ke. I fee l re a lly goo d excep t for my th umb a n d th e palm o f m y hand keep go ing numb from a ll th e G forces . I've been workin g on it, but I just can' t seem to si mu la te th e problem a nywhere but here. Tha t's the biggest p roblem that I'm ha vin g . " I' m not as sharp as I wa s la st year, ye t. Bu t it will come to me quick. Well, it will or it won't. I do n't rea ll y kn o w th e a nsw er because I've never really had 10 la y orr a year a nd co me back. So a t this time on Sunda y, I'll be a ble 10 answer th at question more .accura telv," There have been rumors lat ely of Ro bert s returni ng to th e dirt tr ack o vals of America on a H a rlev-Da vid son . Ma ny have dismis sed th e thought, but Robert s confirmed on Th ursday that t he Septem ber I Spri ngfield Mile may be the p lace. " I m ay en d up d oin g the Spri ngfie ld Mil e a nd I'll kn ow fo r su re by Su nday," Roberts said. "Tha t's so me th in g th at h as co me across my des k a n d I m a y end up doing th at, One o f th e p romot ers called me an d wanted to ge t me to h is racetrac k." Robert s ca n show up a t a roa d race, like La guna Seca , and in st antl y be rh e ma n to bea t. But wi ll it be th e sa me a t th e dirt track? Ca n an o lder Roberts co m pete with dirt .trackers l ike Bu bba S ho bert a n d Doug Chand ler o n th e ir own sto m p in g grou nds . " I don 't think it wo u ld be ha rder th an co mi ng here," Ro berts said. " I thi n k i t' s probabl y easier. It would take a wh ile to get back into dirt racin g ; I' m n o t sayi ng th a t it's easier because it's eas ier ridin g . I' m sayi ng that it ' s easier because the chances o f yo u dying because yo u screwed u p a re far less. The ch a nces of me doing so me thi n g wrong here an d eating it h eav y are pretty good; if yo u screw u p here, so me of these pl aces you ca n get hurt prett y bad. " Bei n g compet i t ive on th e d i rt tracks wo u ld be ha rd er because I' ve n e ve r raced o ne o f th o se ( Harley) th ings and I have no idea wha t I'm ge tti ng in to or exactly w hat I' ve got to do . He re, I kn ow ho w th e bi ke ha s got to react to my riding so I ca n do that. but the re I don't have a clue in h ell wha t's going to happen." At th e Suzuka Eight-Ho ur in j a pa n Robert s will be aboard a fo u rstroke o f a d iffere nt n a tu re th an a H arley at Spri ngfield. "Yam ah a japan as ke d m e if I would do th e race beca use it's a big race for th em and they need th e tech ni ca l input for th e four-stroke," Roberts sa id. " I thi nk I've a l rea d y helped th em enough - ir's just th at I have so much experience with Iourstro kes or two- strokes - I think th ey can get there qu icke r. Th ey o bvi ousl y know a hell of a lot m ore than I ever thought a bo u t kn ow ing a bout mo torcycl es, but th ai Ii tt le input every no w and th en rea lly cu ts a few corners. " T hey a ske d m e 10 do th at ra ce beca use they need tha t input. They thought that beca use th ey cou ld get a bigger crowd (with m e coming), they cou ld ge t a bigg er sponsor to do the race . Wh en the news got o u t that I was co n s id e ri n g d oin g Suzuka , Ya ma ha was ge tti ng someth ing like 2000 letters a day sayin g ' P lease bring Kenny Roberts to Suzuka .' I a sked who was b uil d ing the bike. If the stree t departm en t was buildi ng it , then there was no wa y. Bu t they sa id th e ra ce department was bu il din g it a n d it wou ld be a ra ce motor desig ned a s a ra ce m otor a nd the ch assis wou ld be a race cha ssis. It's qu ite a development for them a nd it's tot all y different from wh at vou see h ere (S upe rbi kes ), but it is 'based u pon th e cran kcase and cyli n de r head of th e FZ750. It ' s qui te fast a nd it handles li ke a GP bike, so I t hi n k I'll ge t • alo n g with it quite well. " 11

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