Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126846
.... (1) ..0 8 (1) > o Z Kevin Schwantz corners hi s Yamaha FJ600 while w inning t he Du nlop Middleweig ht Fina l at Da ytona Beach; Schwantz was two-f ar-two. Schwantz wins a pair in Daytona By Gary Van Voorhis DAYT O N A BEACH . FL. OCT 19-20 T exan Kevin Schwantz wo n tw o ch a m p io n ship titles in -the AMA Championship Cup Series Fina l at Daytona International Speedway. Schwa n tz sp li t his vic tories in the twoda y p ro gram by w innin g the co m bine d Yama ha RZ Chal len ge fi nal o n Saturday a nd th en defending h is num ber-one p la te with a wire-to-wire win in SUfiday 's Dun lop Middleweight Su perbike Expert fin a l. In Sa turda y's co m bine d Expert/ N ovi ce Yam ah a R Z C ha l le nge . Sch wa n tz wasted little tim e in ru shin g through traffi c from hi s back-of th e-grid start ing pos ition to ta ke th e lead on lap two. From th ere. Schwa ntz sprinted to a victory ma rgin o f six seco n ds over the rest of th e field, despi te a bro ken exhaus t silen cer in the la te la ps. of th e seven -lap fin al. David Lepplerneier, who led la p on e. . eventua lly wo u nd up seco nd with Bill Blyth e third . " I got a good start. got thro ugh th e slower riders in front o f me quickly and missed one rider crash ing before we got to th e h o rs eshoe turn ." Schwantz said. " O nce I took the lead I pu lled away and he ld my advantage. " On Sun day . Schwan tz repea ted Satu rd ay's performance except th is time he led th e race fro m flag-to-flag since h e d id n ' t ha ve to start from the bac k of th e grid. Sch wa n tz, the defend ing title h older , had so me co mpetit io n in th e open ing la p, but th at went away in a cra sh . Schwan tz. aboard a FJ600 borrow ed from Cycle Accesso ri es, q u ic kly had six second s o n th e re st o f th e field an d kept hi s lead a t abou t th at po in t right to th e finish . Th e batt le fo r seco nd was a hot o ne with FJ 600 riders Len ni e Combs and Dan n y Wa lk er du e lin g wi th Bill Bly th e and h is Kawa sak i N inja 600. Jo hn L opez, riding a - Kaw a saki GPz550, and Yamah a RZ350-mounted Brian O 'Shea led a five-rider deba te o ver fifth . T h e fight for seco nd went to th e ch ecke rs with Com bs u sin g th e draft to slingsh o t past Blyth e a n d Wal ker a t th e li ne for runn er-up. Lapel go t the upper han d in th e a rg u me n t over fif th . • David Bailey won both motos en route to win the Japanese Grand rrix at the Sugo Highlands Circuit; Bailey beat Honda teammate Johnny 0 Mara. Bailey wins in Japan By Ken Frankel S UGO , JA PAN , ocr. 13 Da vi d Bailey, riding a 1985 R C250 Honda, easily wo n bo th heats a t the Sugo H ig h la n d s Circuit for the o vera ll win a t the Japan Mo tocross Grand P rix w ith comman d in g Schwantz also won t he Yamaha RZ Challenge on an RZ350. Resu lts SATURDA Y YAMAHA RZ CHALLENG E EX: 1. KeVIn Schwantz iYam t 2. David Lepplerneie rfva rn]; 3. BiliBlyth e iYam l. YAMAHA RZ CHALLENGE NOV: 1. Tim Ledbetter (Yam); 2. Robert Wi llis (Yam ); 3. Chris M eurer (Yam). UW SUPERBIKE EX: 1. Mark Mastr angelo iYa mt 2. J am es McN ulty (Han); 3. William Beasch (Yam). UW SUPERBIKE NOV: 1. Perry Bruce iYam ); 2. Charl es Lang (Due); 3. Frank Slaughter (Suz). UNLMTD SUPERBIKE NOV: 1. Adam Smi th iYam); 2. Kath leen Coburn (Suz); 3. AJlan Mueller (Suzl. F/2 NOV: L Hilt on Van Staden (Due); 2. Donni e Row e (Han); 3. M ichael Lakin (Yam). M IW SUPERBIKE NOV: 1. Donnie Rowe (Honl; 2. M ichael Lakin (Yam); 3. Steve Gav in (Kaw) . SUPER TWlNS NOV: 1. Erena Lew is( H-D); 2. Raben Griff ith s (M ·G); 3. Bill Shea (M- G). H/ W SUPERBIKE NOV: 1. Adam Smith iYaml; 2. A llan M uell er (5u z); 3. Kath leen Coburn (5uzl. SUNDA Y SUPERTWINS EX: 1. Jimmy Adamo (Cog); 2. Larry Short s (M ·G); 3. Tim Bender (Duel. F/ 2 EX: 1. David Curti s (Hont 2. Steve Taylor (C-Al: 3. Paul Smith (Ar m). _ HIW SUPERBIKE EX: 1. Tom Mason iYam); 2. Danny W alker (Yam); 3. Pat Hernon (Yam). F/1 EX: 1. Man in Morrison (S uz); 2. Steve Nerdiello iYa m); 3. Roby Head (Yam). M / W SUPERBIKE EX: 1. Kevin Schwa ntz iYa m); 2. Lenn ie Combs iYam); 3. Bill Blythe (Kawl. UNLMTD SUPERBIKE EX: 1. Danny Wa lker iYam); 2. Tom M ason (Yam ~ 3. Steve Nard iello (Yam ). leads of 10 to 12 seconds during the races. Both seconds wer e ta ken by tea mmate Joh nny O ' Mara who fi nished three srcouds back in th e fir st ra ce under drv co nd itio n s. H eavv rain in th e second h eat. however . slip p ed a slid ing O 'Mara back 24 seconds a t th e finish. Yamaha rider Mitsu vasu took the first heat th ird pl ace wh{1eHonda fact ory rider Tofukuji was third in th e seco nd heat. Ka wa sa ki's J eff ",Yard endoed h is KX250 wi th a 1986 production engine, cras hing hard on a downhill wh ile lead in g o n th e first lap of t ~e fir st heat. H e broke the exha ust p ipe and throttle grip a nd was clearly h urting a fter the accident. Bet ween heat s he wrapped h is ri ght calf in ice an d in the rai n y seco nd heat he was a strong third, but faded to finish six th. David T horpe , th e 500cc Motocro ss Wo rld Cha mp ion fro m Engl and, said that he has been o n th e PR a n d p romotion tra il ever since h is Swi ss G P victo ry a nd h is stro n g showi n g a t th e Mot ocross des Nat ion s in Gaildorf, G er ma n y. H e termed h is ri d ing " a t iO percent" and h e fin ished fourth in heat one. After a last place start in the rain , he zipped through th e terrible weather for a seventh place finish in the seco nd h ea t. " T h a t wa s fun ," he said, covered in mud. " It reminded me of home! " Am eri can rider Steve Martin clinched his second co nsecutive 250cc Japanese Motocross Championship with two fifth-pla ce finish es. H e and his wife will be headed . home to Florida for the Thanksgivi ng and Chris tmas H o lidays. News in side th e paddock is that Honda is testing their 1986 factory bikes at Sa fari La nd near Fu kushima Ci ty midway between Tokyo and Sendai while Ward will be testi ng th is week a t. Kawasaki's n ew motocross co urse o u tside of Akash i. Suzuki 's p lans wit h Bo b Hannah sound to everyone like a good PR sales exer cise, but Suzu ki o fficia ls hi n t th a t they have a good 500cc m ot ocross bik e in the work s. Ka wa saki is said to be ta lking to Andr e Mal h er be abo u t the possibility of h im joi n ing Ka wasa ki 's team effort in Europe, bu t whet he r a fi na ncia lly in depen de nt you ng man like Ma lh erbe is ready to join a fam ily effort is st ill q uesti onable. 27