Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ i~ I. I (Above. left) Starfire Racing 's Randy Renfrow (9 6 ) ran close to w inner John Bettencourt (5 0) before mechanical problems. (A bov e, right) Todd Brubaker (3 9 9) finished third; he re he runs with Ricky Orlando (1 2). (Below) Formula Two w inner Wayne Rainey (12 ) leads Don Greene (1) and Rich Schlachter. Results 1. Mike Baldw in (Hon); 2. Randy Renfrow (Hon); 3 . Dan Ch iv i ngton (Yam ); 4 . Wayne Rainey (Han); 5. Do ug Braun eck (Yam); 6 . Alan Labrosse (Hen); 7 . Doug Chandl er (Hon); B. Ar! Robbins (Yam); 9. Russ Paulk (Yam); 10. Bubb a Shober! (Hon); 11. Miles Beldwin (Hon); 12. Boon ie Knott ISuzl; 13. Ted Boody (Honl; 14. Kevin Monah an IYam). FORMULA ONE POINT STANDINGS : 1. Mik e Baldwin (B9); 2. Randy Renf row 1 69); 3. Ric h Schlachl er (63); 4 . Alan Labrosse (56); 5. Doug Chandler (55); 6. (TIE) Miles Beldwin/ Wa yne Rainey (51 ); 8. Dan Chiv ingto n (5 1); 9. Fr eddie Spenc er (20); 10. Jimmy Adamo (18). CAMEL PRO SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. 8ubba Shober! (156); 2. Doug Chandler (149); 3. Ted 800dy (130); 4. Scott Pearson (114); 5. Scott Parker (113); 6. Mike 8a ldwin (89); 7. Randy Renfrow (69); 8. Jay Springsteen (65t. 9. (TIE) Chr is Carr /Ronnie Jon es (64); 11. Rich Schlachter (63); 12. Alex Jorgensen (621; 13. Terry Poovey (59); 14. Randy Goss (58); 15. Alan Labrosse (56); 16. Pete Hama. (54); 17. Wayne Rainey (52); 18. Mil es Baldw in (51); 19. Ricky Graha m (4 1); 20 . St eve Eklund (40 ). Formula Two Rainey rolls to victory LEXINGTON, OH, AU G . 4 Wa yne Rain ey kept hi s tide hop es alive in Form u la Two with a green fla g to checkered flag ride to vic tory in the 21lap, 50-m ile final a t Mid-Ohio. Ra iney, aboard a MacLean Racing H onda RS2 50, was followed h ome by tea m mate R ich Sch lac h ter o n a simi liar bike and the R S of Eurocycle-backed Do n Greene, the defend ing series cham pion . T he battle fo r fo urth went ri ght to th e finish wi th Mi les Baldwin, on the Brothers H onda·BMW R S250, edging OUI john Kocinski and his Moto"x Fox Yamaha TZ2!iO. " -e. The point standings, with four ro u nds left to run in the series, sh ow Schlachter hold in g th e top spot with III points to Greene's 95. Rainey h olds th ird a t 80. Rain ey a lmost didn ' t ride the race because ther e was only a 45-min u te break between it -an d th e Form ula One Nationa l. H o wever, a fter talking to sponsor Bob MacLea n a nd ge tting some advice from friend Keith Code of th e . Ca li fornia Superbike School, Rai n ey decided to race. The closene ss o f th e rac es, th e hea t a n d humidit y an d the wea r a nd tear o n Ra in ey's h ea ling elbow inj u ry we re a ll di scussed . Rainey wo re a special orthopedi c brace which limi ted the movement of th e a rm . Rai ney led Green e and Schlachter o n the start o f th e fin al. Do u g Brau neck's ride was o ver almost as soon as it started when so meth in g apparentl y was sucked into th e ca r bure to r o f his Spondon and he retired on lap two . By the fourth lap, the front three had opened an II second gap in the rest of the field with Yamaha rider Chuc k Ak slan d , in fo urth, slo w ly losing ground to the charge o f Brad Holma n whil e Koci n sk i and a slow starting Baldwi n reeled him in. Ra in ey opened up two seconds on the Greene/Schlachter duel for second and just a s quickl y lost iCLap seven sa w Schlachter take second for good and close the gap on Ra i ney, o n ly to los e grou nd in traffi c. . Kei th Kiyo ta cra sh ed h ard in the esses just before th e start / finish line a t th e en d o f lap 12 and went to the h ospital with a broken arm , Ra iney gaine d nearl y two seco n ds o n Sc h lach ter o n lap 13 whe n he sliced through a pa ck of riders o n the front straig h t and Schlachter co u ld n' t do th e same. At th is p oint, Rainey was up nea rly six seco nds a nd would ho ld an eight -second gap at the . finish. The fin al th ir d o f th e race saw R a i n ey .. Sc hl a ch ter a n d G reen e m ain ta in ing a steady pace with their spots in winner's circle locked up. Fo u rt h spot went right to the checkered flag wi th Bal d win ta ki ng th e posi tion away from Kocinski on th e fin a l la p by two bi kelengths. "I tried a number of different thi ngs • ro-break away · ~m ~lI4i}es ; '. said .." Kocinski, "but I cou ld n ' t do it. " Holman and Aksland were joined . by john France in th eir figh t for sixth in the fi nal half of th e ra ce. At the. fin ish, Holman a nd Fr ance p us hed Aksl and ba ck to eight h . Yamaha rider Garry Griffi th, in ni nth , was the fina l rider on the lea d lap. " I had a n ew clu tch for th e fin al an d I wasn ' t sure how it wou ld wor k since I didn' t have time to try it out before th e race," sa id winner Ra iney. " My ga me plan wa s to set a stea dy pace a nd keep it th ere unless I was really p us hed." Sch lach ter h ad a dec ided limp as h e hobbled away from wi nner's circle. " I broke three litt le bones on th e to p of m y right foot in a cras h a t Laguna Seca a n d now it rea ll y h u rts. During th e race I didn 't notice it. " • Results 1. Wa'ine Rainey (Hon); 2. Rich Sch lac;:h ter (Hon); 3 . Don Greene (Ho n); 4 . M iles Bal dwin (Hon); 5. J ohn Koc in ski (Yam); 6. Brad Holman (Hon); 7 . Jo hn Fra nce (YamI; 8. Chuck Aksland (y am); 9. Gar ry Griffith (Yam); 10. Jeff Heino (Hon); 11. Rober! Lugl ian i (Arm); 12. St eve Tayler (C-A); 13. Ala n Hippensteal (Kaw ); 14 . Lee Racicot (Yam). POINT STANDINGS : 1. Rich SChlachte r (111 ); 2. Don Gr eene (95 ); 3. W ayne Rainey (80); 4. M iles Fred Mer kel came to Mid-Oh io wit h racing on his mind even though he has pins and three screws in th e to p of h is left foot , secu rin g th e bone he broke in five p laces j ul y 13 at Laguna Seca . " I put m y leathers o n a nd th en spen t 10 minut es gelling m y le ft boot on," said Merkel. " 1 rode m y Championship H onda around th e ga rage. area fi rst Round 10 a n d had a lot o f troubl e shi fti ng." Merkel decided to wai t and see abou t raci n g . On Saturday, the decision was made for him. " I crashed, that's it ," explained a di sappointed j ohn Ash mead as h e carried a n ice bag cove ri ng his broken ri gh t thumb a fter his Saturday morning crash in practice. " T h is wasn't LEXI N GT O N , OH, AUG, 3 the time to hav e so meth i ng li ke this Team Bet ten purpl e's Joh n ny ha p pen ," co ntinued Ashmead. " I got Betten court was probably th e th e ball roll ing wit h my win a t Lahappiest rider a t Mid-Oh io o n g u na Seca a nd I figured I cou ld close Saturda y, but H onda Intercepthe poi nt gap a good bit here si nce tor-mounted Bette ncourt di d n 't allow Fred (Mer kel) wouldn't have been 100%. Now, I' ll m iss o ne more roun d h im self th e luxury o f an ear- to-ear at the least." g ri n un til h e took th e checkere d flag Barry, th ird in poin ts, stood to a t th e en d of th e 25-la p, 60-m ile gai n the most wi th Merkel an d Ash Wi seco Superbike final. It marked mead on th e sidelines, but h e was in hi s seco nd Su perbike win but you 'd ..' G OllSlaJU:pain from abnH.en c:olJar-. have no look back to 1918 aad Loubone he sustained in a crash at Ladon for' Bettencourt's first - on a g u na Seca. ''I' m hurting, that 's th e Suzuki - in th e days of th e in fa ncy o f bottom line," sai d Barry. the series. In the en d, i t was Bettencourt who " O dd ly enough," sai d Bettencourt, gai ned th e mo st in th e poin ts as h e " I was on the pole for th at ra ce a lso . vaulted to seco nd, Merkel still holds a It 's been a lo ng tim e be tween wi ns and pole positions ." solid 28-point advantage, 96 points to 68 o ver Bettencourt , foll o wed by Rueben McM u rter also recorded Ashmead a t 65, Brubaker at 63 and h is best fin ish o f the season wi th a Barr y at 62. seco nd on the Spans Afield/Yama ha " j u st because I'm o n th e pole I bet Motor Canada- backed Yamaha FZ750 yo u thi nk I'm nervous," said fir st - the second straight run ner-up finheat winner Betten co u rt to Superish for th e newest en try in the Super'tea m Yamaha rider jimmy Fili ce, th e bike ranks. T h ird went to T odd Bruwinner o f th e o the r q uali fying h eat. baker an d hi s Starfire Racin g H onda " You bet I am ." Orla ndo , Brubaker a fter Peter L usby cras hed a nd paned and Randy Renfro w , o n a Starfire co m p a ny w ith h is Phoen ix Racin g Ra cing Ya maha, fi lled out the fro nt Ho nda w i thin a few feet of th e checkrow o f the 39-r ide r g rid. ered fla g . H e su sta ine d a co n cuss io n . Fil ice lit th e af terburners right from Since he a nd his bike crossed th e lin e th e start and was over six seconds separa tely, Lusby wa s cred ited with ahead of McMurter, Bettenco urt , Ren12th, th e final ri de r o n the lead lap. frow, Brubaker a nd Orlando by th e MPC/Shoei-sponsored R icky Or- ' end o f lap four. Fi lice loo ked as if he lando fini sh ed fourth with j ohn was in a race by himself as h e pulled Kocinski a n d h is Cvcle Tech H onda away with ease. in fifth a head o f th e 'H onda of Barto w Ren fro w was getting up to speed mount of Glenn Barr y. on the rolling 15-turn tra ck a nd by The story o f th e race began with lap six was up into second a head o f Friday's practice sessions. Defending Bettenco u rt a nd McM u rter. " My stratseries champ and current point leader . Baldwin (50); 5. Jeff Heino (49 1 6. Doug Braun eck ; (48); 7. Dave Sadows ki (43); 8. Chuck Aks land (4 1): 9. Jam es Stevens (38); 10. (TIE) Brad Holman/ Rober! Lugl iani (30). SuperbiJ(e Series: ~'Johnny 8" makes good 9

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