Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ e ~ 1=c::J-4 l;ACI'IIG ~ 00 Q") ...... ...... ...... .... CJ .D E CJ -' 0.. CJ sr: Team Ham m er' s 1980 Moriwaki chassis , set u p f or 24-hour racing. Team Hammer has to w in at W illow Springs to keep championship hopes alive. Cycle Tech has totally dominated the 1985 season to date. Here, fo under Bill Foster and rider Dave A ldana with one of their GSXR750s. David Aldana offers John Kocinski advice du ring night practice at Nelson Ledges. There w ill be night practice at Willow Springs September 6 . The front row : Team Hammer's Russ Paulk (1 1 Speed Boys' Mark Heiser , (5 1, Cycle Tech 's John Kocinski. The championship isn 't decided. Speed Boys' FZ750 Superbike has won t hree races t hrough consistency; riders are Bob Frank, Mark Heiser, larry Burkholder. Preview: WERA 24-Hours West When th e WE RAIWiseco National Endurance Series comes to W illow Springs R aceway for the 24-Hours West on September 7-8, more will ride on the outcome than 22 simply a ra ce win or ra ce loss. Because the 24-Hours West will •• - _ t.. "' . I decide the 1985National Endurance Champions. T he series to da te has been dom inated by Cycle Tech Racin g. a new team run a nd tuned by Bill Foster w ith fin an cin g put to g eth er by wealthy Texas la wyer J o h n Bradley. Cycle Tech 's purpose in life is racing; Foster recentl y closed hi s racebi ke prepa ration business because it interferred with his race p ro gram; Cycl e T ech 's rid ers a rc th e onl y sa la ried p ilo ts in U .S. en d u ra nce racing , The ef for t is dead ly ser io us a nd unbelieva bly effective. a nd FOSler is a m aster of instantly so lvin g p roblems encou n tered durin g a race a n d sti ll pulling o ff a win with Cvcle T ech 's two Suzu ki G SXR750 Su perbikes , runn in g in th e H ea vyweight Su perbike class. C ycl e T ech ha s co mp le te ly domi na ted th e season's results with five win s, two seconds. a thi rd a nd a 27 th . R id er s are Da vid Aldana . J ohn Kocinsk i, J oe y O sowski a nd Da ve Zirkl e. Cycle Tech's domi na tion ha s co me a t th e expense of two -time Na tional End ura nce Champions T eam H ammer a nd thei r Prot ot ype-cla ss S uzu ki G S l 150-pawered Formula One bikes. Tea m Hammer pilot s Russ Paulk, Do ug T ol and , Da ve Sch losser , Ti m O ' Ken nedv and a lterna te rid er Dan' Sadows ki a re quick 10 p oint o u t th a I Tea m H amm er has led eve ry race this yea r, bUI th at doesn't mean much wh en so me th ing goes wrong and Cyc le T ech wins. Tea m Hammer won th e fir st race with Cycle Tech seco nd; fini sh ed seven seco nds behind a fter Sch losser cras hed in the second race; a nd went downhill from th ere w ith a rash o f mech an ical p roblems enco u n tered wh i le lead in g o r bat tlin g fo r th e lead. The la st straw wa s d a t the Nel son Le ges 24-Hour, when T eam Hamm er , which won bo th U. S. 24-hour ra ces last yea r and se t a • • • _ . ... • .1' ' , •• .. still -sta nding .S . reco rd fo r m ileage co vered in a 24-hou r ra ce a t 2025 mi les, blew up in th e second hour a fter p u ll ing a two-lap lea d . Wi th a reorganized team a nd a new cre w c h ief. T eam Hammer is faced with th e task o f tr ying to co me from 295 points behind (in fourth p lace) to ca tc h C ycle T ech in th e remai ning five ra ces . Whi ch is wher e Willow Springs co mes in. P oints a re a lloca ted on the basis o f fini shing position (35 for fir st . 30 for second, 27 for third , 25 for fourth, etc.) a nd a lso m il eage. th e number o f m iles covered divided by 10 eq ua ll i ng mi leage points. And each ream ca n o n ly co u m points fro m n in e races (i ncl udi ng o ne 24h our) toward the season cham p io nsh ip. Team H a mmer 's o n ly hope a t re ta in in g th e Nu m ber One pl ate for th e third consecu ti ve yea r is 10 beat Cycle Tech a t Will ow Sp ri ngs a nd get m ore points th an Cycle Tech di d in fin ish in g th ird a t Nel son Led ges. What i t will lake is a big win with record m ileage. First place a t 2100 mi les would put H ammer with in reach of Cycle T ech. Speed Bo ys Racing . o ften ca lled th e Fabul ous Speed Bo ys. ha ve won three races a n d have fin ished second twi ce and third three tim es. But Speed Bo ys and th eir Nel son -Led g eswinning FZ750 Yamaha S uperbike a ren' t ex pected to m ak e th e lo ng trek from Penn sylv ani a to Ca lifornia for Wi llow Spr jngs Ra cewa y. Severa l lo ca l team s will be tough at Willow , including Cyc le Tunc 's team o rga n ized by Denni s Sm it h , former em p loyer o f C vcl e Tech founder Foster. BUI the tit le is lik elv to be decid ed between Cycle T ech a nd T eam Hammer . a nd th e decid ing ra ce is lik el y to be Will ow Sprin gs o n September 7-8. •

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