Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) Team Hammer's Doug Toland (11) sets up to pass Eatherly Rac, ing's Dave Schlosser (59) late in the race, ahead of Dynamic Graphics (24) and Team Christine (35). (Below) Human Race Team (60) leads Solamx Racing (3) and Team Intrepid (25). WERA/EBC National Endurance Road Race Series: Round 3 Eatherly reigns at Road Atlanta By Larry Lawrence BRASELTON, GA, MAY 10 Eatherly Road Racing won their second WERA/EBC National Endurance race in a row with the riding of Dave Schlosser and Jeff Heino and the tuning of Mike Patton. Schlosser and Heino rode their Suzuki GSXRIlOO 197 laps around the 2.5-mile Road Atlanta course, totalin~ 492.5 40 miles during the crash-shortened event. The Eatherly efort is backed by BeI-Ray/ND/MichelinlYoshimura/ Arai/Kawasaki-Suzuki of Meadville/ Dutch Cycle Works and Gibsonia Cycle. The race was red-flagged at the five and one-half-hour mark since all the ambulances on hand were transporting riders to the hospital. With no ambulances, the race was red-flagged and called complete. Team Hammer finished second on the same lap as Eatherly, but was penalized five laps as a result of a protest filed against team member Doug Toland for unsafe riding. The penalty dropped Hammer to 192 laps completed, but did not change their finishing position. After missing round two at Rockingham, the Horn Brothers, Chris and john, finished third overall on the Meueler/Spectro/Shoei/Downers Grove Yamaha FZ750 with 191 laps. just seconds behind Horn Brothers was series-leading Human Race Team. Kurt Hall and Robby Braunsheidel rode the HRT Yamaha FZ600 hard to finish fourth overalL. For Team Hammer, the race was nearly over before it even started. The Vance & Hines/Arai/Emgo/Bel-Ray Suzuki GSXRIIOO started leaking oil before the pre· race practice and had to be pulled in. Gary Hilgenberg and crew quickly pulled the engine, made repairs and were ready by race time. Most probably didn't even notice that Hammer was having trouble especially when Doug Toland took command of the race by lap two and started pulling away from the rest of the 52-bike field. Eatherly Racing's Schlosser also moved out quickly and was all alone in second. Heading up the rest of the pack was Bob Enlert of Team Gibsonia riding a Yamaha Fj 1100. Following Gibsonia in the early going was M&M Racing (FZ750), Tour De Force (FZ750) and U-2 Racing, also on a FZ750. Rocky Racing started off on the wrong foot as the team was forced to pit on the first lap because of a flat tire. Team tuner Vic Fasola was unprepared for the surprise tire change, and the team lostlOlaps. Rocky's Greg Hom Brothers Racing rode their FZ760 Yamaha to third overall, first in Heavyweight Production. Tysor and Ron Ewerth came back out and made up plenty of ground en route to their third-place finish in Medi umweight Production (16th overall). By the one-hour mark, Toland had lapped the entire field, and Eatherly was running a comfortable second. Tour de Force's Doug Gere headed up a close battle for third involving U-2 Racing, HRT, jam-Ups Racing and Horn Brothers. Early top runners Team Gibsonia and M&M Racing were both plagued with mechanical difficulties in the first hour. The Gibsonia FjllOOthrew a chain which destroyed the left side of the machine, and M&M Racing's FZ750 had a long pit stop to repair a blown rear shock. Team Hammer was cruising in first place at an almost relaxed pace when a problem cropped up with the Suzuki's oil cooler. Apparently, tire expansion, combined with raising the front forks a bit in the triple clamps to the fine-tune handling, caused the tire to rub through the cooler. The team was in the pits for nine minutes to put on a new cooler and adj ust the forks. When the second hour standings were posted, they showed Eatherly Racing in the lead, two laps ahead of U-2 Racing. Tour de Force, now with Ken Davis at the controls, still held on to third. Team Hammer dropped to 14th, five laps behind Eatherly. It was Heino's first time at Road Atlanta and during the morning practice, he told teammate Schlosser that he couldn't get used to coming over the hill under the bridge heading into the last turn. "You come over that hill blind and you're flying." Heino quickly overcame his apprehension and started turning some quicker lap times. The big question at the halfway mark was, could Hammer catch Eatherly? It looked possible; they had gone from 14th place to third in one hour, and their pit stops were much quicker than Eatherly's. Eatherly was running conservatively to keep tire wear down; they switched from Dunlops to Michelins for Road Atlanta. On the other hand, Hammer with riders Toland, Dave Sadowski and Pat Hernon, was not riding conservatively at all. In fact, Toland had turned a few laps in the one minute, 32-second range, near record time at Road Atlanta for motorcycles. Local riders Doug Whelan and Adam Smith had put together U-2 Racing to race Road Atlanta for fun more than anything else. But when Adam Smith (winner of six WERA Novice sprint titles last year) rides at Road Atlanta, things happen, and the team found themselves in second place after three hours. At the three-hour mark it was Eatherly Road Racing with 108 laps, U-2 Racing 105 laps, Team Hammer, Tour de Force, Horn Brothers Racing and Sol max Racing each with 104 laps, and HRT, Team Intrepid and jam-Up.'s Racing with 103 laps. Back in the pack a bit was Royale Racing, with the father/son rider combination of Doug and jim Henry. Royale, riding the ationaJ Fiberglass Yamaha RZ350, had won the Lightweight Production class in the two previous endurance races. At the finish, the Henry clan had made it three in a row, finishing 18 laps ahead of second in class Team Buckeye. Another team dominating their class is Yamaha FZ600-moumed Out and Out Racing with Mark Lauuenhiser and Kevin Eby. Out and Out followed up a first-place finish at Indy and a third at Rockingham with a win at Road Atlanta. By the fifth hour, Eatherly held a slim one-lap lead over Hammer while the Horn Brothers had passed U-2 Racing for third. The battle for fifth was very tight. jam-Ups Racing, HRT and Tour de Force were all on the same lap after five hours. Solmax dropped out after fourand-one-half hours. The team's FZ750 blew a motor while they were running eighth overall. Thomas Stevens crashed jam-Ups FZ600 just after the five-hour mark dropping them from fifth to 15th at the finish. "I was just trying too hard," commented the dejected Stevens. The Eatherly crew really began to sweat, just after the fifth hour. Hammer had unlapped themselves and were charging hard. With a half-hour to go, Hammer was only 30 seconds behind Eatherly; suddenly, starter AI Wilcox threw the red flag. It was over. The Eatherly pit was jubilant, they had won two in a row. In the Hammer pit, faces showed frustration, they knew that had the race gone a full six hours, they would have won it. As it turned out Eatherly would have won regardless. The protest against Hammer rider Toland was allowed and the team was penalized five laps. "I can't believe it," said a joyous Schlosser. "This is really satisfying for me, after being dropped from Team Hammer last year then coming back to beat them. The season's still young I realize that, but with guys like jeff (Heino) and Dan (Chivington) riding with us, we'll be tough all year."

• Cover