Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Wayne Rainey; " J ust lucky to leave w ith points," 2:00s a nd a si ngle lap a t I :59. H e didn ' t tak e a ny chan ces in traffic and severa l times sh oo k h is head at la p ped riders en countered m id-corner. Schwantz by th is time ha d a new tire o n his bike, too, but the ch a in had stre tched, th e sp rocke t teeth a lmo st worn o ff, a n d h is p roblem was m ak ing it to the finish wi thou t throwing a chain o r being ca ugh t by Merkel , who was gain ing. Ba ldwin was o u t, wi th what h e though was a reoc cu rrence of th e ignition p ro blem enco u ntered in h is hea t race. Sc hwantz felt h is bike's ch a in jump and bang against th e swingarm a nd ran 2:03s, 2:04s, even 2:06s, p la ying gentle w ith the thrott le. Merkel's ch a nce a t seco n d ended with pieces thrown out of his H o n da 's rear tire; h e didn 't even finis h th e cool-down la p aft er th e ch eckered flag fell , instead pulling ove r at the exit of the infield and ridi ng ba ck in to the pits withou t travelli ng around th e ban king agai n. Ra in ey had yet a nother sto p , seve n laps from the fin is h, to add fu el; his early stops h ad thrown h is stop sche d u le o ut of whack a nd he co u ld n' t fi nis h w ith o u t th e last p it. Spri ngstee n ca ug h t an d pass ed Fi lice; Fi lic e repassed and pu ll ed away. To la nd was back o n the tra ck a fter a lon g stop to ch a n ge a front wheel ; his 18-inch SF I I Mich elin had ch u n ked o n th e banking a nd Toland, thi n king th e sudden vibration was a th ro wn ro d, pu lled in th e cl ut ch a nd coasted in behind th e pit wall; hi s cre w lost pl enty of time finding him, locating th e problem, pushing h im to th eir pit, and making repairs. But when Toland reentered th e race, h e found himself passed by Filice a nd la tch ed o n , th e two m oving a way from Springsteen a t a good clip a n d run ning togeth er for six o r seven laps. T he n , three laps from th e fini sh, Filice's bike broke a rod; he co asted to a ha lt , but wa s still credi ted with 10th p la ce. _ T'sujimoto was long out of th e race, hi s engine blo wn . Gra ham 's en gine slow ed down, he th ought lat er he'd broken a val ve spri ng wi th a hast y downs h ift , a n d he crashed after being p us hed o u t by a lap ped rider he encou nt ered m id-chi ca n e. Betten co ur t's engi ne broke. Super T ea m p ilot Steve Parrish's Yamaha wo u ldn 't rev over 9000 rpm, pe rha ps with a nother brok en va lve spring. McM ur ter wo rke d o n fin ish in g, ru nning a gear high in the corn ers to ma ke th e en g ine la st , co u nt in g on a good posi tion a t th e en d . Ottis La nce's bike threw a rod. Dave Busby's H on da 's rea r wh eel broke; Mo nahan di d n 't Lawson pits with a crew that included both the Yamaha motocross mechanics and the regular road race team , make a sin gle lap before hi s engi ne blew . Ballington's Suzu ki broke, throwing a rod despite his ridin g it co nservatively, to p lan, even sh ifti ng ea r ly. R ainey was dej ected. " I h ad th e same tire as Eddie," he sa id. " I th ought 1 was being a li ttle easier on th e ti re than he was . We were go ing a t a pretty good pace. So off th e corners h e was spin ni ng it littl e more than 1 was. So I figu red, 1 won 't sp in it a s hard, ride a more co nservative race , because 1 could see th e ti res were getting a litt le slippery. T hen , down the straigh taw a y, I felt th is vibrat ion, I th o ug ht, naw , it's just Eddi e's d raft, but 1 went int o turn o ne a nd felt th is clunk, clu nk , clu nk , clu n k a n d th o ught I wonder wha t th e he ll th a t is. 1 we n t thro ugh th e right a nd left a nd felt thi s thu n k, th un k, so I sh ut off a nd let Eddie go . 1was up over the front o f the bik e looking a ro u nd , it was vibra ting so bad . I kn ew so methin g was wrong so 1 j us t cr u ised in. T here was a big ch u n k o u t o f th e back ti re, T he seco nd time it gave me the sa me ind icat ions, a nd aft er seei ng tha t chunk 1 wa sn ' t about to tak e a ny chances. T he last tire was fine; it backfi red one time a nd bl ew th e exh a ust pipes o ff near th e end; 1 g ues s I'm just lucky I finished fourth. Wh en yo u' re 87 secon ds behind Lawson, wh at kind o f ince nt ive ca n yo u ge t? ' 'I' m just lucky to leav e here with p oin ts, " Rain ey said. " I th ought if he was go in g to run th e who le di stance th at wa y, we were go in g to be in for a h ell of a race," sai d Lawson o f Ra in ey. " It wa s just a matter o f ge tt ing through traffi c a n d traffic was just so bad . Eventuall y 1 think we would hav e been in trouble that way, just gelling through traffic." Asked abou t h is tires , Lawson sa id " It wen t off , it go t slip pe ry, but it wasn ' t like it was u n rid eable. " " Everyth ing went p retty go od ," sa id Schwantz. " I ran wi th 'e m a co u p le laps a n d 1 said th is pace was too hot. Th ey to ld me before the race if it gets too int ense, back o ff a litt le • a nd mak e it a ll the way ." Results 200 FINAL: 1. Eddie Lawso n (Vam): 2. Kevin Sc~wantz (Suz) ; 3 . Fred M erkel (Hon); 4 . W ayn e Rain ey (Hon ); 5 . Ja y Sp r ingsteen (Yam); 6 . Rueben McMurt er (Yam) ; 7 . Vasa Ku lta lahti (Yam ); 8 . J ohn Ash me ad (Hon); 9. Anders Ander sson (S Ul); 10 . Dan W alker (Vam): 11. J im Filice (Yam); 12. Pet er Ruberto (Suz): 13. Ricky Orland o (Hon): 14 . J eH Hein o (Suz): 15. Bubba Shobe" (Hon): 16. Glen Bar ry (Hon): 17. Keil h Huew en (Suz): 1B. Carry Andrew (Hon): 19. Doug Polen (Suz); 20 . M ike Ha"h (Yam). (A bove) Schwantz, Lawson and Merkel , (Below ) Japan 's Satoshi Tsujimoto qualified fourth, but broke while running in t he top f iv e, . QUALI FYING: 1. Eddie Law son IVam). 1 minute. 56.228 second s: 2. Wayne Rainey (Honl. 1:56.4 23: 3. Kev in Schwantz (S uz), 1:57 .24 ; 4 . Sato shi Tsu j i- moto ISuzl. 1:59.032; 5. Mike 8aldwin {Varni, 1:59.034; 6. Fred M erkel (Hon). 1:59.3 20: 7. Kork 8alli ngton (Suz), 2:00.021; 8. J ay Spr in gsteen (Vam). 2:00 .056: 9. J im Fili ce (Varni, 2:00 .245: 10. Bu bba Shobe" (Hon) 2:01 .3 78 ; 11. Dan Chi vingt on (Vam). 2 :03 .107: 12. And er s An dersson (Suzl , 2:03 .294: 13. Lance J ones (Yam). 2:03 .325 ; 14 . Marco Lucchinelli (Cag), 2:03.487; 15. Dale Quer. terley (Vam). 2:03.70B: 16. Steve Parr ish (Yam). 2:04 .196; 17. John A shmead (Hon), 2:04 .254; 18. .Jim my Adamo (Cag). 2:04.6 50 ; ~ 9. Ottis Lan ce (Vam). 2:04 .652; 20. Ricky Orlando (Hon), 2:04 .669; 21 . Vesa Kult alahtl (Suzl. 2:04 .8 10: 22. M ichel Mercier (Suz), 2:04 .838; 23. Rueben McM u" er (Yam).2:04 .90 3; 24. Edgar Hinton III(Suzl, 2:05.059 : 25. Claude Leroux (Suzl. 2:0 5.304 . AMA CAMEL PROROAD RACING SERIES POINT STAN DINGS : 1. Eddie Lawso n (20); 2 . Kev i n Schwa ntz (16): 3. Fred M erkel (13); 4. Weyne Rai. ney (1 1); 5 . Jay Spr ingsteen (10 ); 6. Rueben M cM ur ter (9): 7. Jo hn As hmead (8): 8. Dan Wa lker (7)' 9. Jim Fitice (6); 10 . Ricky Or lando (5); 11. JeH Heino (4): 12. Bubba Shobe" (3): 13. Glen Barry (2): 14. Carry Andrew [ 1)... .. 9 ..

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