Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Weyne Reiney weves to the tens efter winning the Superbike nICe in nlCord time; second-piece finisher Fred Merkel wetches. 10 with 2:28s and 2:29s, Shoben at that time running 2:3Os. It was on the eighth lap that Rainey pulled in the clutch lever to downshift for the first turn and found that the clutch didn't disengage. that every downshift locked the rear wheel and set it hopping; he hadn't made it into the corner before he reaJized oil coated his bike's left footpeg, and figured out that the hydraulic c1Ul h sy tem had just 10 tits £1uid. Rainey worried about bending the bike into the corner with the rear wheel hopping, he'd explain later, and wondered if oi I coa ted the rear tire. Hewascenain hecouldn't£inish and wouldn't win; hecould look over his houlderand see Merkel; hea ked him elL what could he do? Rainey's time on that lap howed hi indecision, a 2:28. 5 to Merkel' 2:25.45, yet showed his resolve and qui k decision to get hi c1utchle s downshifting over early before each corner, while still upright, to coa t into the corner, to pick new brake markers and hift points to uit his malfun tioning bike and its loose, leaking clutch line fitting. Rainey would explain later that he had to slow way down to deal with the problems, yet his lap times on the ninth and 10th laps were 2:25.26and 2:24.67, faster than his sixth and seventh laps despite his forced new approach to the task at hand. Merkel closed to within three seconds. held there, slid .back four seconds. held there, was left six seconds behind, finished almost seven behind, his lap times consistent 2:25s for the duration. For all the drama up front, there was more behind. Chivington was safe in third, 20, then 30. then 40 second behind Merkel, but ahead of the battle for fourth. That battle had three protagonists, hobert, Polen and Goodfellow. hobert, soon after racingChivington for third and being finally left a lillie behind, encountered newly-laid oil on the track, on his line entering turn five, and straightened up and ran onto the grass rather than try to turn on the spilled lubricant. Which, by the time he recovered and returned to the pavement, put him a long ways behind Goodfellow and Polen. Goodfellow drafted past Polen on the eigh th lap of the race. on the front straigh t; Polen reclaimed fourth on lap nine; Goodfellow held it on lap 10. Both have claimed to have essentially stock uzuki G XRs. Polen, who seems unbeatable and whose uzukis have drawn glances askan e in the G XR Cup eries for" tock" machines, found himsel£ in the new position of being on the disadvantage side of a horsepower matchup between alledgedly stock motorcycles. onetheless. Polen perservered. and while Goodfellow led across the start! finish line for several laps, Polen was in front for lap 12. All the while, Shoben gained, atchingfirstGoodfellow, then Polen. The three were lined up together at the end of the white-flag lap, PolenShobert-Goodfellow, about six seconds behind Chivington, whose Yamaha tarted slowing and refusing to pull tOP rpm for unknown reasons. Shobert passed Polen entering turn twO, a 90° right, to lead the lillie group. Two turns later, a right-hander. Polen pulled up alongside Shobert on the brakes. and Goodfellow ran up the inside of them both, too fa t, running wide at the exit as hoben kept inside and repassed Good- fellow and Polen both. Shobert was in control until the last tum, where aLI thrtt encountered a lapped rider, Polen stuf£ing underneath and past a balked Shoben and the lapped rider before turning, Shobert following through the comer, drafting and motoring past Polen for fourth at the finish line. Goodfellow was a very close sixth, on Polen' rear wheel. Goodfellow later complained of oil leaking on his right boot; Polen said hi right wri t seized up Crem his debut ride on a 250c Armstrong in the Formula Two race. run right before the Superbike race, said he couldn't control his braking due to the problem and that he was sure he could have caught and raced with Chivington if not for the problem. Ashmead was seventh on his old Interceptor, hi 1986 model and its race kit proving lower and swallowing a washer on the track during practice at Brainerd to boot; Ashmead will ride old reliable while awaiting a replacement, updated racingengine kit from American Honda. McMurter was eighth on his FZ, ahead of Rich Arnaiz on his racekilled Yamaha. Arnaiz took at least three off-track excursions during the race, enough to convince 10th-place Nigel Gale that he and his nearstock, Curt Jordan-built FZ750didn't want to be too close. Jeff Farmer was 11th, and Ko ar Racing's Ottis Lance wa a disappointed 12th on his malfunctioning Yamaha. Among other things, Lance had to deal with extreme front-end challering when braking - he'd discover later that hi bike's front engine mount bolts broke, allowing the front part of the chassis to bend and flex and move around when he hit the brakes. And his bike's engine was slow, he'd say later, and he was so far back after finishing third at Sears Point that his pit crew wouldn't look at him and wouldn't give him a signal board showing his position. He decided to soldier on for any points he could grab, looking for a gain in the end-of-the-year standings. Lance got three points for his trouble. ''I'm just so happy to finish," said Chivington, who broke at Daytona and Brainerd and who didn't attend Sears Point. ''I'd like to thank George Vincensi for building the bike, Shoei Helmets for being there just in case I need them, Castrol Oil and Wiseco Pistons. But what really kept the whole thing up was Michelin Tires, which really worked good." "My mom and my grandma came back this time," Rainey said from victory circle_ "This is the first time they came back. I'm sure glad to win in front of them. This one is for them." Later, away from the microphones, Rainey explained what happened in the race, and aid ''I'm glad it's over. I didn't think I was gonna make it." Rainey thanked sponsors Alpinestars. Kerker, Bell, Dianese. Targa, Michelin. Pro Honda, HondaJineand O'Neill. Merkel thanked Arai, Dunlop, Fox and uperTrapp. • Results SUPERBIKE: 1. Woyne Rainey (Honl; 2. Fred Merkel (Honl; 3. Dan Chivington (Yaml; 4. Bullba Shoben (Hon); 5. Doug Polen (Suz); 6. Gary Goodfellow (SUl): 7. John Ashmead (Hon); B. R _ McMun... (Yam); 9. Rich Arnail (Vam); 10. Nigel Gale (Vam); 11. Jeff Firmer (yam); 12. Otti. Lance (Vam); 13. Carl Mufflev(Sull; 14. Pet... Lusby (Hon); 15. Gary Gibson (Vam); 16. Bill Kelly (Vam); 17. Meril Moen (Vam); 1B. Roy Hare (Suz); 19. John Jacob (Yam); 20. Phil Schmidt (Yam). RACE OISTANCE: 15 laps, 60 mile. RACE TIME: 36 minutes, 24.702 seconds AVERAGE SPEED: 98.B69 mph SUPERBIKE POINT STANDINGS: 1. Fred Merkel. 65; 2. Wayne Rainey, 51; 3. Gary Goodfellow. 31; 4. Bubba Shoben, 27; 5. Rueben McMun..., 26; 6. John Ashmead. 25; 7. (TIEl Nigel Gale/Rich Amaiz. 19; 9. (TIEl Kevin SchwanttiOttil Lance. 16; 11. Dan Chivington, 13; 12. (TIE) Doug Toland/Meril Moen, 11; 14. (TIE) Jay Springsteen/Doug Polen, 10; 16. Tom Malon. 9; 17. (TIE) Keith P i _ / Todd Strang, 7; 19. Jim Tribou, 6; 20. (TIE) Jeff Stern/Dan W...... 5. A.A F.,.",."" Two ROIHI tlp : :=r--r- Renfrow outlasts Greene in F-2 By John Ulrich Photos by Jim Quinn ELKHART LAKE, WI, JUNE 8 Former AMA Formula Two Champion Randy Renfrow beal reigning Formula Two Champion Don Greene lO WiD al Road America by a margin of about seven seconds after 52 miles of racing. Rich Oliver finished third, after James Stephens and Dale FranJd.in both crashed in the last corner of the last lap while racing for third place. Franklin and Stephens got going again to fini h fifth and sixth behind fourth-place David "Curly" Curtis. All six rode Honda RS250s. Greene slowed during the final laps of the 13-lap event, and afterwards said that debris in the engine caused piston damage and a resultant loss of power. Renfrow and Greene each won their five-lap heat race for grid position with almost identical times, Greene winning the first heat with a time of 12 minutes, 55.143 seconds at an average speed of 92.886 mph, compared to Renfrow's second-heat victory in 12:58.20 at 92.542 mph. Greene beat Oliver and Doug Brauneck in the first heat; Renfrow beat Franklin and Curtis. Greene showed something in hi heat, though, trading first with Oliver for four laps, running laps in the 2:34 range, before whippingoU a last-lap 2:32.9 to win. Renfrow's fastest lap was a 2:34.5 in his heat race. All the top runners in the class ran Dunlop slicks, Greene and Renfrow on twO versions of Dunlop radial rear tires, Oliver on bias-ply Dunlops. Oliver led the first lap of the final ahead of Renfrow and Greene, running 2:34s. But Renfrow. then Greene passed and left Oliver, both dipping into the 2:32s on the fourth lap and staying there for another four laps. during which both turned 2:3Is, Renfrow 2:31.53 vs. Greene's 2:31.86. Greene made up for that on the ninth lap with a 2:30.94 to Renfrow's2:31.61. but Renfrow led anyway. By the 10th lap Greene started to slow, falling two seconds, then five seconds, then six seconds behind Renfrow, turning 2:35 and 2:36 while Renfrow still clicked off2:32s and 2:3Is, with a last-I lap 2:35, cruising in first. Meanwhile, Dale Franklin ran third, then second on the second lap, riding MikeSullivan's RS250 -Sullivan crashed at Brainerd and decided not to ride at Elkhart. Franklin tried out-braking Renfrow into an infield right-hander and was making the pas when Renfrow, unaware he was there, moved over into FrankJin; Franklin grabbed till more brake to avoid a collision, lifting the rear wheel high in the air as he balanced on the front wheel, then ran off the track. He rejoined the race way back in the top 10, and tarted working his way up. On the last lap, Stephens was third and Franklin, having JUSt passed Oliver, was right on Stephens' tail going into the final turn, setting up for the dash up the front-straight hill to the finish line. Stephens grabbed too much throttle, slid sideways, leaving a big black mark on the track and heading out into the gravel at th edge of the pavement, his tires sud denly catching and flinging him u out of the seat and through the wind screen, his hands still on the bars an (Continued to pagt: JJ

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