Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Team Haslett Motor Sports finished seventh overall, first in the Mediumweight Production class. They turned in 947 laps on a Honda 500. standings, was running fifth in the race until a crash around midnight dropped them to 19th. "Randy Rhem gOt distracted when several warning lights came on at once. We had to change switches, plus straighten the pipe and handlebars," said M&M crew chief Ben Martinez. The Ontario Honda-Yamaha-sponsored M&M Yamaha FZ750 would eventually begin burning oil at the rate of a liter per hour and they finished up 13tl1. At the halfway point it was ProMotor 2 in the lead, followed by Racing Ottawa, Heschimura Racing, Sol max and Team Speed Boys. Consistency marked the leader's effort as Jeff James and Jim Tribou took stints during the night aboard Pro-Motor 2's Yamaha. The only problem they had was a broken footpeg bracket. Fixing that at 4:20 a.m. took five minutes, but a later tire change dropped them from the lead. Ottawa's Witmer had problems at nightas well. A broken throttle cable in the carousel brought Ottawa's FZ750toahaitandtheylostabout 10 minutes replacing it. Morning saw many riders turning on the gas before the track was dry and warm. Several of those competitors quickly discovered the tow truck. Just past the 16th hour, Speed Boys' Mark Heiser had the transmission lock up on him corning out of the carousel. The team lost an hour and a half and any chance of a win a they swapped the motor. Heschimura trashed its hopes of another win with an early morning spill that turned the lead over to Sol- max. Even with an 8:30 a.m. pit stop to replace a faulty water hose, Solmax held a three-lap lead on Ottawa and Heschimura and had four laps on Pro-Motor 2. Team Hammer was a mid-morning casualty. Toland cut an ultra-swift I: 13 lap but he never got to see the time on the team's pit board because he crashed on the next lap while running eighth. Late morning saw Sol max still out front, followed by Racing Ottawa and Pro-Motor 2. Ted Van Beek, ProMotor 2 crew chief, said, "Now we wait. We're catching Solmax at the rate of about two seconds per lap. We're about four seconds per lap faster than Ottawa. We should catch them about the 21 st hour." Shortly before II :00 a.m., Sol max pitted for gasoline and new tires. They were a couj:lle q .Ial? apea f., Ottawa and spent nearly four minutes in the pits. The hour ended with both Sol max and Ottawa on the same lap with Pro-Motor two laps down. Ottawa blew a fuel pump ballast restrictor which slowed them down. Frank Dinardo was at the controls and tbought the bike was running out of gas. Ottawa lost seven laps fixing the problem. Quietly churning oUllap after lap was the Human Race Team on a Metzeler/EBC/Wolf Racing-backed Yamaha FZ600. Riders Dave Zupan, Robby Braunschiedel, Kurt Hall and Tim Morrissey ended the first hour in 13th place and worked their way into the top five by the 18th hour despite going through three batteries. They had little reason to worry about class results as they had a 15-minute lead on the MediumweightSuperbikedass. Intrepid Racing's prototype Pirelli Demon tires were moderately successful. "We are running 70/140 on the rear and 80/120 on the front. We took off one set at about 8:30 last night because the cord was starting to separate," said Intrepid's Bill Mummery. James took Pro-Motor 2 into the lead going into the last hour and Tribou rode out the race in heavy rain without a mishap and actually widening the winning margin over runner-up Solmax. The final speed average for the 24 hours was 83.259 mph. An elated Van Beek said, "ProMotor 2 owes thanks to Generic Racing for furnishing most of the pit crew, and to scorers Bonnie Vincent and Renee Van Beek. Thanks also to Team Hammer for all the help they have given in the way of info and parts for the past few years. And thanks to Yokohama, Shoei, Kayo Corporation and D.I.D.': The class battles were almost a moot point. Royale Racing took its Yamaha RZ350 to the Lightweight Production class win, defeating runner-up Team Widman by 34 laps. Riders Doug Henry. Joe Ardolino, Joe Culbertson, Jim Henry and Dave Smith won despite battery problems, running out of gas once, and a crash in the pits. They completed the 24hour race on one set of Dunlop RS tires. National Fiberglass won the Lightweight class on a Suzuki GS450. Riders Eric and Peter Sma kula, Rich Graver, Tonv Holt and Brad Boesel piled up a 38:lap winning margin on Great Lakes Scale' Il-year-old H da (;:B400F. '.at io' i be glas Sol max USA riders Ron Bowen and Chris Chandler pitch in to help during a nighttime pit stop. The team led for eight hours, but finished second. Canada's Dan Witmer led Darotune/Racing Ottawa to third place. Frank Dinardo and Bugs Green joined Witmer on the three-man team. Riders Jeff James, Jim Tribou, Paul Zieschang and Tom D'Etore are joined by the Pro-Motor 2 pit crew as they celebrate their win after the race. endured despite having to split the cases after practice to repair the bike's transmission, an then replacing the shocks, shift linkage and headlight during the race. Boesel is the only rider who has competed in all the 24 Hours of Nelso races. Team Haslett Motor SPOrts was the winner in the Mediumweight Production class, fini hing seventh a erall on a Honda 500. Team riders Bru e Web tel'. Joe Lachniet. Jim Robcl"lson and Rick Darling carded 947 laps, seven up on the Yamaha FJ600 of Dynamic Graphics. • Results OVERALL: 1. Team Pro~Motor 2 (Yam); 2. Sol max USA (Yam); 3. Darotune/Racing Ottawa (Yam); 4. Intrepid Racing (Yam); 5. Human Race Team (Yam); 6. Cycle Speed Racing (Yam); 7. Team Haslen Motor Sports (Hon); 8. Rockwood Racing (Yaml; 9. Team Action (Kaw); 10. Dynamic Graphics(Yam); 11. Out &. Out Racing (Yam); 12. Team Wanker (Yam); 13 M&M Racing (Yam); 14. Team Hammer (SUl); 15 Team Speed Boys (Yam); 16. Royale Racing (Yam); 17. Key·Vista (Yam); 18. Moto-Fast Racing (Suz); 19. Horn Brothers Racing (Yam); 20. Team Widman (SUl). I r

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