Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) Greene (1) holds off Rainey in t he Formula Tw o fi nal. (Below) Schwantz was unsto ppabl e on his Yoshimura Suzuki aro und the SIR track. Glenn Barry (1 5) and Da le Quarterley were this close for most of the Superbike race. but in the end it was Quarterley's Yamaha taking sixth place. o ne lap. ahead of Ra in ey. Schlach ter. Baldwin an d Dale Fran klin. The first pl ot cha nge came o n th e start of lap two whe n Stephens highside d in turn fo ur. Ra in e y and Schla chter were forced to the grass a nd w he n St ephen s j umped to hi s feet. Schlachter co uld n' t avoi d h it ting him . R ain ey a nd Sc h lac hte r managed to avoid crashi ng an d Stephens esca pe d wi thou t se rious in Jury. " He (Step he ns) highsid ed in fron t of me a n d I went in to the gra ss." R a in ey said later. " L uc k ily I was going slow eno ugh th at I d idn't spin . but it gav e Donnie a cha n ce to get away." Sch lach ter 's near- miss was even closer. " I was o n the o utside a nd when he stood up I nai led him. " Schl a c h te r said. " I al most went down." The trouble in turn fo u r gave Greene a break and after two laps he le d third-place R a i n ey b y 5.5-seconds. "When I turned around and saw what was happening. I thought I'm gonna win this sucker," Greene said afterwards. Ra iney, however. had o ther ideas as he began to reel in the 1984 Fo rmula Two champion after gelling by Ba ld win . Meanwhile. Schlachter. who found himself in fifth place aft er the miscue. moved by Franklin on the front straight a nd set h is sights on Baldwin. Green e continued to lead, but th at lead was short-lived as Rainey showed him a wh eel in turn two and took the lead a few tu rns later. Braking. it seemed, was the key a n d Ra iney. with a twin-di sc RS500 front end on hi s RS250, was gelling th e best of Green e in every co rner. Sch lach ter moved to with in striki ng dis tance of Baldwin as Ra in ey imm ediatel y ope ned a lead over Greene . By lap I I, Rainey had a 6.S-secon d cushion , but th e hard br ak ing was beginning to show on th e MacLean Honda and he was forced to back o ff th e pace . " T h e brakes were gon e from ca tchi ng him." Ra in ey sai d. " I had to brake about 100 feet earlier, bu t I had a big lead and started cooling it. I was n't ri ding hard beca use I hadto .conserve the brakes and I' m g lad I wasn't p ressured; I co u ld n' t ha ve raced hard if I was." G reene was ha ving h is own problem s with bro ken silen cer. but h is lead ove r th e Baldwi n-S chl achter d ice was padded enough for comfort. Schlachter. meanwhile. wa s content to sit on Baldwin 's rear wh eel a nd h is patience pai d off as he do ve un der th e Ca na d ia n in th e fa st la st co rner to take th ird. Franklin had a lo nel y ride to fini sh fifth behind Baldwin. _ a Results SUPERBIKE: 1. Kevin Schwentz (SUl ); 2. John Bellenco urt l Hon); 3. Todd Br ubaker lH on); 4. Sam McDonald (Yam ); 5. Lan ce J ones (Yam); 6. Dale Quart erl ey (Yam); 7. Glenn Bar ry (Hon ); B. Kevin Mon ahan (Hon); 9. Keith Pinkstaff (SUl); 10 . M arvin Bra un (Yam); 11. Je ff Morrow (Hon); 12 . St even Littlej oh n (Yam ); 13 . Dan iel Walker (Ya m); 14. Randy Skiver (Hon ); 15. Patrick Marin acci (Hon). F-2; 1. Wa yne Rainey (Hon); 2. Don GreenelHon); 3. Richard Sch lachter (Hon); 4 . M il es Beldwin (Hon); 5. Dale Frenkli n (Yam); 6. Robert Lug liani (A rm ); 7. M ich ae l Kenyon (Yam): 8. Paul Pelroli (Yam); 9. Gordon Hedemark (Yam); 10. Ste ve Hang (Yam); 11. Joe Davis (Yam); 12. James Stephen s (Rot); 13. Chris SChul ze (Hon); 14 . Chuc k Aksland (Yam); 15. Brad Holmen (Hon). POINT STANDINGS ; SUPERBIKE; 1. Fred Me rkel (961; 2. John Bellencourt (84); 3. Todd Brubaker (7 6); 4. Glen Berry (70); 5.J ohn Ashmead (65); 6. J im Felice (4B); 7. Rueben McMurt er (4 21 B. Kevin Schwantl (40); 9. Sam ; McDona ld (37); 10. Ricky Orlando (31). F-2 : 1. Richard Schlachter (124); 2. Don Greene (11 1); 3. Wayne Rainey (1001; 4 . Miles Baldwin lHon); 5. J eff Heino (4 9t 6. Doug Brauneck (481; 7. Dave Sedo w skl (4 3); B. Chuck Ak s land (42 ); 9 . Ja mes St ephen s (411; 10. Robart Lugliani (39). Walther, Pittman, Ginn rule at SIR By Bruce Scholten KEN T , WA. AUG UST 17-18 Tom Walther used his Canadian Suzuki GSXR750 to its full potential in winning th e Am ateur Superbike and Formula O ne races du ring the WMMRAI Strohs Superbik e Weekend a t Sea ttle Int ernati onal Ra cew a y, whil e J oe Pi llman a nd Eri c Ginn al so reigned supreme in th e 750cc Producti on a n d 600cc Cafe cl asses . Sti ll not legal in AMA Pro racing, the Suzuki GSX R750 was the hot setu p for the Superbike race in Seattle . Wa lt her took the pole position for the final by virtue of his Saturday win in the fo u r-lap hea t race. The Suzu ki -pi lot h ad a brief squa bble wi th P ill ma n 's five-va lve 750cc Yamaha. but early in the eigh t-lap final Walther's Vancouver Su zuki took the lead for good. A bit furt her behind. Ward Rog ers came out on to p of an interesting bailie fo r third p lace. Rogers rode a strong running BMW boxer shod with a Mi chelin High Sport in front a nd the biggest slick he co u ld fit onto th e rear. Bo b Collins took fourth overall with a Ka wasa ki a nd fifth pl ace went to Bruce Beh a l o n a Motorcycle Works GPZ550. Walther took an earl y lead in th e Formula One final on Sunda y, bu t was quickly cha lle nged by the 1975 TZ750 Yama ha o f Pa u l Peiroli. Peiroli had quickl y disposed o f J oe Davis ' one -liter Renton S uzuki a n d bega n to press Walth er for th e lead. Walth er , ho wever, had a lilli e i n . reserve and won con vin ci n g ly over P eiroli, Da vi s a n d the s u r prisi ng BMW o f Rogers. Pill man won Sa turday 's qua lifi er in the 7S0cc Production class o ver SCOll Moon an d SCOll Freri cks , bu t o n Sun day Freri cks ca me home the runn er-up beh in d Pittman . Sha w n R oberti found a lillie ex tra in hi s H onda to ho ld Moon to fourth pl ace. In 600cc Cafe ac tio n, Doug Renfrow won by nearly a straightawa y in Saturday's qualifier .o ver teammate Bruce Behal. Third p lace we nt to Eric Ginn on th e 600cc Du cati Pantah he recently rode to second pl ace in th e sma ll-bore Bau le of T he Twins race at Lagu na Seca. On Sunday , th e J apanese screamers of Renfrow and Beh al lea p t to the front with Moon not far behind in third . Ginn got past Sanford Bro wn 's Yamaha, and two laps la ter managed to reel in Moon 's Ninja. Renfrow said earlier . " It's running great now. like a one litre bike." But just wh en it looked lik e he was gone a nd Beh al wa s giving up. Ren frow retired wh en a s pa r k plug wir e grounded out on th e gas ta n k. Ginn ch a lle nged Behal and pas sed the Suzuki on lap four down th e stra igh t whil e promptl y making u p grou nd in the ch ica ne. " O n th e white flag la p I felt m y exha ust p ipe break ," G in n said. But he managed to n urse it home for th e victory before he ei ther ran over it , or was black-flagg ed. • ~. Results SUPERBIKE: 1. Tom Walt her (Suz); 2. Joe Pill - man (Yam ); 3 . Bru ce Sahe l (Kawl. 45 0 SUPERSTREET: 1. Sanford Brown (Yam); 2. A lan Sch wan (Ya m); 3. J im Rin ehart (Yam) . F-2 : Pau l Pei rol i (Yam) ; 2. Stev e Ha ug (Yam); 3. Ter ry Williams (Yam). F-1 : t , Tom W alth er (Suz) ; 2 . Paul Pei rol i (Yaml : 3. J oe Davis (Suz). OPEN PROD : 1. Marvin Brau n (Yam ); 2 . Cra ig Gottschalk (Suzl; 3 . Scon Frer icks (Yam). OPEN G.P.: 1. Eldon War ren (Yam); 2. Stan Jeu Jau (Yam); 3. Mellhew Ward (Yam). 600 CA FE; 1. Er ic Ginn (Due); 2. Bru ce Beh al (Kaw ); 3. Scott Moon (Kaw). 600 PROD; 1. M ike Sievers lKa w); 2. Stephen Sipes (Hon); 3. Scott Moon lHon) . VINTAGE; 1. Randy J ami son (Nor ); 2. SCOII seericksIYem); 3. Shewn Robert i (Yaml . 21 •

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