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/126921
Griffith tops Formula Two By Randy Marrs' LEXINGTON, OH, AUG. 3 Garry Griffith and his Yamaha TZ250 took 35 minutes and 38 seconds at an average 84.859 mph-for his first-ever Formula Two ational win, on Mid-Ohio's scenic course. Four-time U.S. Formula Two Champion Donnie Greene finished second behind Griffith, a scant 0.260 seconds behind. Sitting on the pole for the Formula Two final was james S.tephens and his MacLean Racing Honda; next to Stephens was Greene, then Doug Brauneck on a Spondon Yamaha, Gri££ith, and Rich Oliver on a Honda RS250. At the green Oliver got the holeshot, followed by Stephens, Greene, Brauneck, and Griffith all hooked up in a draft and racing for position. Following the front five were Ed Key (Honda), jeff Heino (Honda), Mike McPyle (Honda), and Keith Kiyota (Honda). \ As the front pack headed down the long back straight, Stephens rode past Oliver for the lead while Brauneck got around both Oliver and Greene on the next lap. By the third lap Stephens was on the move and motoring away Jrom the balance of the field. Griffith was also on the move, passing Brauneck on the back straight. By lap four of the 21-lap final Griffith was in second as Stephens had moved out of sight in the first place position, with Girffith, Oliver, Brauneck and Greene still hooked up in a draft. "Those guys were running into each other and swapping paint, and I was waiting to see who took who out, waiting for them to settle down," Greene said later of his lingering in fifth. Running a distant sixth through 10th were Mike McPyle (Honda), David Curtis (Honda), Ed Key (Honda), Gary Gibson (Honda), and Kiyotao On' the next lap Oliver led Griffith . through turn four. Oliver would later say that it was on this lap that Griffith passed him under a waving yellow caution flag; Greene said he saw Griffith make the pass but would decline to protest later. Oliver repassed Griffith, and said that Griffith collided with him entering turn one, hitting his bike's shift lever and knocking it out of gear. Oliver lost ground, and then crashed on the same lap in turn five when he hit dirt thrown o.n the track by Brauneck taking an inside line and dragging his knee off the pavement. Griffith led the next lap with Greene moving into third, Brauneck fourth, and Oliver fallingoff the pace. Oliver was now pressured by Curtis as Stephens continued to put distance on the pack, until one of his bike's exhaust pipes broke. Key, Kiyota, and Heino were running nose-to-tail on laps 12, 13, and 14. Griffi th and Greene's pace saw Doug Brauneck begin to fall behind on lap 15 with Greene closing on Griffith: On the next-to-Iast lap, Griffith passed Stephens. Following Griffith around Stephens was Greene, who tried to close on Griffith and turned the fastest lap of the race, I :40.03 compared to Griffith's fastest of 1:40.28 and Stephen's fastest of I :40.68. Griffith held Greene off for the win, with Stephens third, Brauneck fourth and Curtis, Oliver, Gibson, McPoyle, Heino, and Key filling the first 10 spots. Wheeling his Ed's Cycle/Bell/KK Motorcycle Supply/Dunlop/Castro- sponsored Yamaha into·victory circle,Gri££ith said "I really feel proud to beat the Number One rider in the nation. I got lucky'" "Well, I tried. Nobody gives Griffith any credit, but he rode a hell of a race today," said Greene. "I gotta great start but the pipe broke and the engine started losing power and Ijust couldn't keep up the pace," said Stephens. • Results I.Garry Griffilh (Yam): 2. Don Greene (Han): 3. James Stephens (Hon); 4. Doug Brauneck (Yam); S. David Curtis (Han); 6. Richard Oliver (Han); 7. Gary Gibson (Han); 8. Mike McPoyle (Han); 9. Jeff Heiner (Han); 10. Ed Key (Honl; 11. James 80nner (Vam); ,2. John France (Hon); 13. Marcello Del Giudice (Vam); 14. Roger Mendonca (C·A): 15. Michel Cholene (Han); 16. Keith Kiyota (Han); 17. Alan Inglis (Vam); 18. Chris Knowles (Han): 19. Raben Mawson (Yam); 20. William Beesch (Yam). D1STACNE: 21 lal>O. 50.4 miles. TIME OF RACE; 38 minutes. 38.134 seconds. AVERAGe SPEED: 84.859 mph. MARGING OF VICTORV: 0.260 seconds. FORMULA 'TWO POINT STANDIGNS: 1. Don Green (139); 2. Rich Oliver (901: 3. James Stephens (72); 4. Randy Renfrow (65); 5. Doug Br.runeck (55); 6. David Curtis (49); 7. Garry Griffith (48); 8. Ed Key (44); 9. Jeff Heino (401; 10. Joh Long (37). The F-2 start: Rich Oliver (97) leads Ed Key (83), James Stephens (24), Doug Brauneck, Don Greene (1) and Garry Griffith (15). Adamo wins twins battle By Randy Marrs LEXINGTON, OH, AUG. 2 Jimmy Adamo used his Team LeoniiND/MichelinlAraisponsored Ducati to beat Gene Church and his Harley-Davidson by 20.649 seconds at Mid-Ohio. With Adamo getting the avera I win and first in the GP class, Doug Gross took the Heavyweight Modified class win and Dean joas took the Lightweight Modified class win. Adamo led off the line with Church in tow. As the pair entered turn two, Church passed Adamo for the lead with Dale Quarterley, Malcolme Tunstall, and Dr. Dave Kieffer racing for a distant third to fifth. Sherry Fridus led the Heavyweight contingent on her Moto-Guzzi and Dean joas took over the front spot for the Lightweight class on his Yamaha. By lap two Church and Adamo began to put distance on the entire pack with Tunstall and his-BimotoDucati getting around Quarterley's Bimoto-Ducati for third. By lap four the pace Church and Adamo were settirig had increased to --a 20-seco(Jd advantage over Tunstall, Quanerley, and Kieffer, who had begun to fall back. . Bert Stuckert had taken the Heavyweight lead from Friduss, who had fallen back to 11th and eventually pitted with brake trouble. Church and Adamo were pu~ting five-to-six seconds per lap on the field and starting to lap midpack riders. Adamo began to slowly gain ground on Church and briefly got around the HOG/Dunlop/H-D Motor Co.-sponsored rider on the next lap when Church missed a shift going under the Goodyear bridge. Traffic now began to playa major part in the race; Church was using everything h~ had to keep Adamo at. bay, trying to get lapped riders between him and fast-closing Adamo. Stuckert, riding the RK BMW/ Team jersey BMW, continued to lead the Heavyweight class; Paul Zieschang ran ninth and second in Heavyweight. Current Lightweight Modified points I~ader, Dean joas aboard the Sheboygan Yamaha/j&j Cycle Yamaha Vision, held eighth and the class lead. Adamo, now on the charge, pulled even with Church on the front straight only to fall in behind the H-D rider as they entered theinfield. Zieschang on the Yokohama/VTwins of Syracuse/Paul's Cycle Works Moto-Guzzi attempted to pass a slower rider when the pair entered Jimmy Adamo (26) brought his Team Leoni Ducati from behind to win the Battle of The Twins; beating Gene Church (8). turn four. Zieschang went to the inside of the turn and over the speed bumpers then straight off the track, losing a position. Gross was now on the move and pressuring Stuckert for the Heavyweight lead with only 1.4 seconds separating the pair. By the end of 10 laps of racing Church's average speed was 84.124 mph with Adamo staying glued to his rear tire. Tunstall at this point had started to increase his lead over Quarterley and Kie(fer had fallen to a distant fifth. The next lap Gross passed Stuckert for the Heavyweight lead. Church's missed shift earlier in the race had apparently damaged the Harley's motor as he now began to slow. It was now Adamo's turn to use the slower traffic to his advantage, again pulling even with Church and taking the lead on lap 14. With two laps left, Adamo lapped Kieffer. "I led in the beginning but Gene got by me. Gene missed a shift early in the race and that's when I began to gain on him," said Adamo. "I missed a shift on the front straight and then it started to run on one cylinder in the corners until I'd straighten it up. I may have bent a valve," added Church. "Man, third again, jimmy and Gene were just too fast today," said third-place Quarterley, sponsored by Eagle Racing. Following Adamo, Church, and . QuarterJey were Tunstall, Kie[[er, Kurt Liegbman (Ducati), Doug Gross (first in Heavyweight Modified), Zieschange eighth, Stuckert 10th, and joas II th (first in the Lightweight class). Church continues to lead the overall point standings with 118; Adamo second with 104, Kieffer third at 78 points, fourth is Tunstall with 68 points, with Quarterley rounding out the top five holding 63 points. • Results OVERALL: 1.JernesAdamo(Duct 2. Gene Church (H·O); 3. Dale Quanerley (BIMt 4. Malcolme Tun· stall (Duet 5. David Kieffer (Duet 6. Kun Liebmann (Due); 7. Dougla. Gross (Due); 8. Paul lieschange (M·D); 9. Ben Stucken (BMW): 10. Dean JOBS (Vam). OISTANCE: 17 laps. 40.8 mile•. RACE TIME: 29 minutes. 03.404 seconds. AVERAGE SPEED: 84.249 mph. MARGIN OF VICTORV: 20.849 seconds. GP: 1. James Adamo (Due); 2, Gene Church (H·O); 3. Dale Quanerley (BIM); 4. Malcolm Tuns.all (Due); 5. Devid Kieffer (Duel; 6. Kun Liob""'nn (Due); 8. Jerry Dean (Duel: 9. Ivan Farah (Due); 10. William Weidner (Due). HVYWT MOD: 1. Douglas Gross (Duc): 2. Paul Ziescheng (M·D); 3. Ben S.ucken (BMW); 4. Sherry Friduss (M·D); 5. Erena Lewis (H·D); 6. Alen Hippensteal (Vaml; 7. Jerry DeMott (M·G); 8. Mike Fesko (H-D); 9. Raben Henmen (Vaml: 10. Don Bergquist (M-O). LTWT MOD; 1. Dean Joes (Lav); 2. Peter Johnson (Cag); 3. Bradford Joyce (Cog); 4. William campbell (Han); 5. John Stepleton (M·D); 6. JOhnny Szokfrak (Cagl: 7. Martin Stalnaker (Vem); 8. Michael Schneider (Han); 9. Charles Wallece (BMW): 10. James McNulty (Han). GRAND'PRIX POINT STANDINGS: 1. Gene Church (118); 2. Jemes Adamo (1041: 3. Devid Kieffer (781; 4. Malcolme Tunl1all (68): 5. Dele Quenertey (83); 6. Iven Farah (42); 7. John Williems (32t 8. Hilton VenS_n (25); 9. Kun Uabmenn (24); 10. Steve Wemwonh (22). II