Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) West Florida Racing finished third overall on their Yamaha FZ750. (Below) Miami Vice's Steve Tedler and Thomas Stevens finished fourth. New Haven Suzuki (15) leads Escargot Racing (123), eventual winner Taylor Roadracing (159) and the pack in early act,ion from Moroso. Jam-Up Racing (48) leads Front Row Racing (57) in the battle for GTU honors; the Front Row team of Greg Goulding and Steward Edenfield won. AMA/MotoWorld US Endurance Series: Round 14 Taylor Roadracing tops Moroso SOOk, By Randy Marrs WEST PALM BEACH, FL, OCT, 10 The Suzuki GSXRIIOO-mounted Taylor Roadracing team of Doug Brauneck and Dave Schlosser took their first win of the series as they topped a very strong field of 27 endurance teams at the Moroso Motorsports Park today in a . record-shattenng race. Today's round turned out to 4 be the fastest-ever motorcycle endurance race held at Moroso and in the process the official lap record of oneminute, 27.01-seconds - set by 500cc World Champion Eddie Lawson in 1982 - was topped by Brauneck and two others. Taylor Roadracing beat secondplaced New Haven Suzuki by a full lap with third-placed West Florida Racing two laps down. Front Row Racing's Greg Goulding and Stewart Edenfield won the GTU portion giving them their second win of the season and thus becoming only the second team in the GTU catagory to have two or more wins; Team Sunset has four wins in 1986. Noticeably absent from Morosowas the series leading Team Lockhart; apparently preparing for the upcom- ing Paul Revere race in Daytona. Canada's top endurance team Cobare Racmg was on hand, but mll1us the services of the injured Roy Hare; Rich Jagoe was enlisted to ride with regular Cathleen Coburn. The road course at Moroso Motorsports Park had been repaved in July and the repaving proved lO playa major role in the reduced lap times. The repaved track along with temperatures in the high 90s would playa big part in the outcome of the race. Twenty-seven teams were on the grid for the 2:30 p.m. start, with the New Haven Suzuki team of Kevin Rentzell and Jeff Atwell sitting on the pole. Thomas Stevens on the Miami Vice Suzuki GSXR II 00, however, got the jump off the line followed by the Escargot Racing GSXRllOOofScottCantrell and Doug Chancey. RenlZell held third with Brauneck fourth and Schwing Racing's Bryan Schwing and Bill Kelly in fifth. West Florida Racing's Rick Shaw and Ken Stephens were sixth with the S&:L Racing Enterprises GSXRllOO of Alan Lane and Larry Scholl holding down seventh. The GTU race was a scramble between the Jam-Up Racing FZ600 Yamaha of Tommy Sloan and Donnie Rowe, FZ600-moumed Paul Smith Racing and Front Row Racing's FZ600. GTU series contenders Team Sunset got a late start when the high temperature forced a water seal lo blow on the first lap in what would be a long day for the Kawasaki Ninja 6OO-based team. By the fifth lap Stevens had put a lot of distance on second-placed Escargot Racing while Brauneck had put the Michelin/Bel-Ray/Yoshimura/ND/Shoei/Dutch Cycle Worksl PBI Sprockets/EK Chain-sponsored Suzuki past RenlZell and into third place. Schwing Racing also got past New Haven Suzuki and moved into fourth while dropping Rentzell and crew to fifth. On laps six and seven Brauneck moved into second folJowed closely by Escargot and Schwing Racing; RenlZell held a distant fourth while Shaw· was even farther back in fifth. Stevens was the first to drop below Lawson's lap record with a quick I :26.36, but fly lap eight had dropped from contention with fuel problems. "They built a new fuel tank for the bike, but didn't have enough time lo clean out the debris in the tank," Stevens said. "The fuel filter got clogged and we just fell back from there. " Local favorites Escargot Racing took over the lead with Schwing in second, Taylor Roadracing third and RenlZell's New Haven Suzuki fourth. Rentzell was now making his move; first passing Brauneck in traffic and then on lap 16getting by Schwing for the lead. At the end of 20 laps it was New Haven Suzuki, Escargot Racing, Taylor Roadracing, Schwing Racing and West Florida Racing holding the top five positions. GTU racing had Paul Smith Racing holding the lead followed by Jam-Up and Front Row Racing; Team Sunset was continuing to have water trouble and was in and out of the pits. Both RenlZell and Brauneck were now tUIning record lap times; Remzell turning a I :26.93 and then a I :26.45 while Brauneck did a 1:26.93 and then a I:26.23. By the end of 30 laps, Brauneck was within two and a half seconds of RenlZell after turning a 1:26.01. A£ter 40 laps and 170 kilometers of the 500 kilometer race, New Haven held the lead with Taylor a close second, Schwing Racing was third, West Florida Racing fourth and Escargot in fifth. Escargot's pace was being slowed by the heat as it affected both Cantrell and Chancey. '.'We were planning on running one-hour-and-15-minute stints, but the heat was too much," Cantrell said. "We are really having a lot of trouble in the pits." Paul Smith Racing continued to lead the GTU class with Jam-Up second and Front Row Racing third. Paul Smith held a two-lap lead on both second and third at the end of 40 laps. _ Taylor now had Schlosser on the bike with Atwell on for New Haven while the spread between the two stood at 38 seconds. The From Row Racing charge to the front was briefly derailed when Edenfield entered the . higll-speed left-hand carousel too fast and ended up in one of many Moroso ponds. Edenfield got the bike out of the water and running again, but lost almost 20 seconds in the process. With the GTO positions remaining steady, the GTU class began lO shuffie dramatically. Jam-Up, who started the race with a fresh mOlOr, began lo experience oil consumption trouble. "We've got a real problem with oil consumption," Sloan said. "I noticed the oil light coming off and on and then it came on solid; I had to come in 20 minutes early and that hurt us." Paul Smith Racing lost the lead when they began to experience clutch trouble and finally pulled in on lap 48. "I think the clutch went out," Syfen said. "It started slipping and finall y we didn't have enough cl utch to pull out of the pits." Teammate Smith added, "The heat and humidity are real bad. I was able to cut some real quick laps at the start but as the race progressed the heat got to me and I slowed a lot; then the clutch

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