Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Wayne Rainey (6) and Randy Renfrow (91) power their Honda RS500aoff the sunting grid during the Formula One start .t Brainerd. South African Kork B.llington finished second behind Renfrow in the Formul. One race desphe h.vlng·....ock problems. AKA Camel Pro Road Racing Series: wheels (l8-inch rear, l6-inch front) and Dunlop slicks, 3.7017.20R-18 radial KR 108 rear and a 3.50/5.10-16 639 KRI49 bias-ply front. Ballington's MacLean Racing RS500 had the same' Dunlop front slick as Renfrow's bike, but carried an 18-inch rear radial without the usual markings. The only numbers on the tire sidewalls - and they were small numbers visible only to a person down on hands and knees - read CI98 and 899. The tire was an experimental special. Rainey led the first several laps when the flag dropped with Renfrow close behind. Greco was third on his Bruce Maus-tuned Honda, with Bal· ling~on fourth ahead of Trinder, Franklin, Goodfellow, Baldwin and PauLk. Rainey and Renfrow had iderrticaI times of I :42.15 on their first flying lap (the second lap of the race); Rainey turned a I:41.96 to Renfrow's I :42.08 on the third lap but Renfrow came back with 1:41.67 to Rainey's I:42.30 on lap four, closing up to right behind Rainey. Renfrow passed Rainey, and when the pair came past the finish line the next time, Renfrow was still in front, Rainey close behind. The duel didn't last long. As the pair came out of the last turn, a slightly' banked 90% right·hander leading onto a very-long straightaway, Rainey straightened up and pulled to the-right side of the track, coasting. He watched a few laps, then left the bike \e.aning against the back of the winner's podium and ran across the track, into the pits, to wait for the Superbike race. "It just tied up," Rainey said in the pits. "It tied up while I was off the throttle and braking. It felt good for those first two laps. Then on the third lap it wouldn't pull the Rs down the straight and then when Randy got by me I couldn't draft by him. I figured I'd just ride it." (Mc Donald later determined that the crankshaft had failed). Greco crashed on the same lap as Rainey pulled over; he suffered cracked ribs and was taken to the hospital. Ballinglon had been gradually gain· ing on Greco, turning 1:44s. He couldn't go any faster, and looked tentative over the bumps in comers; that was especially evident at the apex of the last tum, where Ballington was off the gas longer, instead of dialing on the throttle for the drive out. He looked uncomfortable, as if something wasn't right, yet he still gained on Greco, working the bike as hard as he could. Greco's crash and Rainey's retire· ment put Ballington in second, far b hind Renfrow, but also far ahead of third. It was a good break; Ballington would later explain, (privately, in the pits, after carefully avoiding ROUDd~ Renfrow wins histfirst By John Ulrich Photos by Randy Marrs. Bruce Newton and John Ulrich BRAINERD, MN, JUNE L Randy Renfrow rode his RS500 Honda to his first AMA Formula One victory at Brainerd International Raceway, with Kork Ballington second on another three-cylinder da and Pepsi-sponsored event, lhe spectator crowd was estimated at 12,000. That many people were not visible in the grandstands or in infield camping areas, but could have been dispersed around the three·mile·long track situated in a wooded area. The field may have been small and filled with non-GP bikes, but the front row was serious. With Schwantz out, former AMA Formula Two Champion Renfrow was gridded on the pole, with former Superbike Champion Rainey alongside and four-time (25Occ and 35Occ) W.orld Champion Ballington and Trinder completing the front row. Asked about how he thought the race would shape up, R~nfrow, who finished second to Ballington at Sears Point, said that he knew he would have to race Rainey. Ballington was a lillIe off the pace in practice and the heat race, Renfrow said, but it was the same at Sears Point and when it came time to race, Ballington was right there. "Ballington's sly," Renfrow silid. "I think he's tremendously confident of his abilities and I think he may have some time he's not showing us. He's sly." Rainey expressed concern for Schwantz, who was still at the hospital getting x·rays just before the start of the F-I race. "I've been hurt," Rainey said. "I hate to see anybody get hurt. It's the worst feeling in the world. There you are on the track doing something you enjoy and you get hurt. It sort of scares you." When R,uney came to the grid, his Phil McDonald-tuned. American Honda Motor Co.-sponsored Honda was fitted with 17-inch wheels front and rear. The rear carried a 18/67-17 SI123 radial Michelin slick; the front was' fitted with a 12160-17 Michelin bias-ply slick. Renfrow's Starfire RacinglRenfrow·Bigoney Racing RS500 was fitted with thestandard·diameter RS500 and Dale Franklin third on a TZ750. Fast qualifier Kevin Schwantz sat out the race with a broken collarbone suffered in 12 a moming·practice crash of his Yosh· imura Suzuki Superbike, and early leader Wayne Rainey's RS500 Honda came to a halt with a broken crank· shaft. Schwantz won the first of two fivelap heat races for grid position, held on Saturday, the day before the final. Schwantz, riding his spare Superbike, came from third place behind Rainey and Ballington to take the lead and the win with an average speed of 103.141 mph. Rainey finished the heat race second, with Ballington third and Brazilian Marco Greco fourth on a Honda RS500, ahead of Miles Baldwin on a TZ750 and Russ Paulk on a RS500. Renfrow won the second heat race after leaving Australian Steve Trinder and his aging Suzuki RG500 behind on the first lap. Trinder finished second ahead of Franklin and his Donosaur Racing TZ with New Zea· lander Gary Goodfellow fourth on his ·stock·except-for-pipes·and-carbs Suzuki GSXR750 LTD. Canadian Bob Woods was fifth and Henry DeGouw was sixth, both on TZ750s, and David Old finished seventh on the Honda RS500 he bought from Baldwin alSears Point two weeks ago. The field for the Formula One race was very small with 21 entries. Riders on Superbikes, modified street bikes and absolutely stock machines filled out about half the tiny·field. Due to lhe ligh t en try, the Last Chance Qualifier race was cancelled and replaced with a final practice session on Sunday. It was in this final practice session that Schwantz crashed while breaking in two new tires, in the fourth tum of his firsllap of the track on a cool, overcaSl morning.. Despite the thin field for the Hon· t t • ~., "0 '(. ••• T any public criticism of the bike or blame·casting while being interviewed by race ann6Uncer and former competitor Richard Chambers) that the bike's rear suspension malfunc· tioned. "The rear suspension unit packed up," Ballington would say later. "I think it's locked solid. I couldn't do anything with it." The race for third came down to Trinder versus Franklin. Franklin had horsepower and used it; Trinder gained in some infie1<~ sections and lost coming off comers. Behind them, Trinder's traveling companion and teammate, Goodfellow, raced Paulk. Their personal race had been simpli· fied on the fourth Lap when Bald· win's TZ broke. Paulk caught and passed Goodfellow:. but Goodfellow was almost instantly back ahead of Paulk, who came by the pits pointing at his bike's engine in a futile signal to Ron Mass, a fonner racer serving as Paulk's crew for the weekend. Paulk's bike didn't sound right coming out of the comers; a kinked throttle cable was lifting one carburetor slide before the other two and then stopping the throttle before the other slides were fully lifted. Paulk . lost ground, stopped losing ground, gained it back, and was back in the" race for fifth. At this point, 11 laps into the 20lap race, BaBington had slowed, hampered while lapping traffic, running one lap as slow as I:48. Franklin and Trinder were turning I :46s and 1:47s and were catching Ballington; Bal· lington was about 40 seconds behind Ren frow - who slowed to consistent I :44s after Rainey parked - and about 10 seconds ahead of Franklin and Trinder. Watching the MacLean Racing pit board, Ballington sped up, returning to mostly 1:46s and some I:45s, staving off any threat from Franklin/Trinder. Franklin in tum gained room on Trinder in the final laps, and would finish the race about five seconds ahead of Trinder. Renfrow won at record speed, averaging 103.507 mph with an official margin of victory of 42.67 seconds. Ballington was second, Franklin third, Trinder fourth. Paulk took a run at Goodfellow, leading him on the last lap, until the final turn, where Goodfellow outbraked and stuffed underneath, staying- barely ahead at the checkered £lag. Manin Morrison, Woods, Old and Degouw rounded out the top 10. When the £lag fell, there were 13 bikes still run· ning on the course. . "It was perfect," said Franklin of his race. His third place on Steve Haug's TZ750 made the pre-season press releases they sent out (declaring that their Dinosaur Racing effort would prove that a lO·year-old TZ could still be competitive in Formula One) a lot more believable. Franklin

• Cover