Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

o ~ ~ .... Q.) ..0 8 Q.) u Q.) o Team Hammer's Tim O'Kennedy, Doug Toland and Peter Carroll won the AFM Endurance race at Willow Springs. The Hypercycle team of Jeff Herzog and Carry Andrew (41 ) lead the pack en route to their second place finish; Team Phantom was third. Team Hammer and Polen win Willow finales By David Keck Photos by Dale Brown ROSAMOND, CA, 'OV.22-23 Team Hammer's Doug Toland, Peter Carroll and Tim O'Kennedy finished' off their season by winning the AFM Six-Hour Endurance race .at Willow Springs International Raceway. It was Hammer's 25th career win and the . h . f th . 1986 N ' 1 Slxt WIn 0 elf auona Championship-winning sea- 16 son. Texan Doug Polen also ended his highIy-successful season in style by winning the final instaHment of the AFM Toyota/Coca-CoIa/Budweiser Formula USA race of the season. "We wanted to try some things out," Team Hammer's O'Kennedy said of the win. "Just to blowout a cobweb or two." Not to mention the rest of the competition. Team Hammer handily won Saturday's marathon. cover- ing 203 laps on the 2.5-miIe, nineturn c~>urse (507.5 mll~s) with thelT Suzuki II.OO and beatmg 68 other entries. The Team Hammer trio had no problems with the bike in breezing by the rest of the field. In fact, about the stiffest competition Team Hammer faced in the Saturday six-hour wasn't riding like the wind, it was the wind itself. Strong gusts from the northeast , made its presence (eIt, causing several scary situations. It was so strong that itbIewO'Kennedyo(fthetrack briefly at one point late in the race. "It was a huge problem," he said. "I had trouble keeping the bike pointed the right way. In tum nine (a long, sweeping turn). it was moving me over about three feet and you never knew what way. One second I was up, then alI of a sudden I was on a ·knee." The wind wasn't the only probIem. A the day wore on to late afternoon, and the sun started sinking in the autumn desert sky, CarroIl said visibility became a problem. But along with the wind came Iower temperature, which made riding comfortable - as long as one could stay on the track. "It was nice and cooI," said Toland, who added that he almost Iost it himself on the front straightaway because of the wind. "We couId have rode for an houranda halfata time. Butl stilI wouId have prefered it warm than windy." Unofficially the Hypercycle team of Carry Andrew and Jeff Herzog finished second on a Suzuki GSXR750 and Team Phantom, made up of Terry French and Dennis CostelIo finished third, also on a Suzuki GSXR750. Despite the strong winds and packed track, there were only twO major problems on the day. The race had to be Stopped on the first lap and restarted when Mike Minig went down in turn one. About four hours into the race, a rider from the team of Bruce WiIson (a Los Angeles Police Deptartment motorcycle patroIman who organized the year's earIier PoI ice OIympics road race), Frank Dominici, Frank Scurria and Barry Burke went down and the race was stopped again. Team Hammer Ied from the stan and had onIy one reaI threat. With just an hour and 45 minutes gone by, onIy one bike, the team of Donnie Greene, Brian Brinkman and PauJ Vogel were left on the lead Iap with Team Hammer. Soon after that mark, however, the engine blew up on the Suzuki GSXRllOO with Greene aboard and that was the end of the threat. The action went from Iong distance on Saturday to sprint races on Sunday, which brought on a new threat to the sIeepy western town of Rosamond. That threat was from PoIen, who is proving that the old west isn't dead. In spirit at least. Polen has made a lot 0'[ money travelling around the nation like an oId-time gunfighter-for-hire. beating other riders to the draw and to the finish line. The Formula USA Series; with no rules as its main rule, would seem like the perfect job for Polen. But he just couldn't seem to break away from tearing up Eastern tracks. He managed to make it to Willow Springs twice for Formula USA races before the final affair, finishing second in one and crashing - with Toland - in another. ow a racing series with no limit on engine size or type of fuel seems crazy enough, but leave it to a guy like Polen to take full advantage. "The rules aiiow us to do whatever we wam to do," Polen said before the eight-lap race. "And boy does my bike run good on methanol. "It makes I60 horsepower on the dyno - that' about 70 over what it was. I mean, it's an unlimited deal so why not use it? We were thinking about adding a lillie nitro, but we decided, naw." Needless to say, Polen won without the help of nitro. He started in the third row and by the first lap's end had moved imo second behind Chris Steward. Polen sailed by Steward two laps later and quickly began pulling away from the pack. Steward was second while Earl Roloff held down third. The win didn't make any difference in the poims standings. Roloff stilI won the Formula USA points championship, having wrapped it up last month when points leader Jim Vreeke of Canoga Park feII and broke an elbow in the October race. The championship was sweet for Roloff, who raced one of just two Kawasakis in the Formula USA Series. "We opted for a different bike and it worked out," Roloff said. "But it looks like we're going to have to have more horsepower next year. We don't need just a can anY1J1ore. We need a chemist." Roloff was peaking of the need for exotic fuels for next year's Formula USA Series. However, as it turned out, he won't have to worry about it. Polen's bike hadn't even cooled off when Willow Springs track owner BiII Huth announced that the series wiII no longer be unlimited. Only racing gas is to be used in next year's series. Turbochargers were also banned; Huth cited safety reasons for the changes~ Roloff won $3000 in cash, a Toyota pickup and a solid gold bell buckle (weighingeighLOunces) (or the championship. .. Results 6-HOUR ENDURANCE: 1. Team Hammer ISuzj; 2. Hypercycle (Suzj; 3. Team Phantom (Suz). FORMULA USA: 1. Doug Polen (Suz~ 2. Chris Steward (Suz); 3. Earl Roloff lKaw). OPEN GP; 1. Chris Steward ISuz); 2. Rob Reinen ISuz); 3. Brian Brinkman (Suz). FORMULA 1: 1. Malcolm Hill (Suz); 2. Carry Andrew IKaw); 3. Scott carness (Suz). FORMULA 2: 1. Danny Coe IRot); 2. Mick Ofield (Yam); 3. Peter Hipp (Hon). 750 STK PROD: 1. Richard Moore ISuz); 2. David Langford (Suz); 3. James Domay (Suzuki 7501. OPEN STK PROD: 1. Marty Siegel (Suz!; 2. Steve Rupp (Suz~ 3. Jon Bartelmie (Yam). 450 SUPERSTREET: 1. Dave Colbert (Yam); 2. Whitney Blaklsee (Kaw); 3. Phillip O'Neili (Yam). 600 SUPERSTREET: 1. Calvin Rayborn III (Han); 2. Michael GralleS (Yam); 3. Glen Shopher lKaw). 750 MOD PROD: ,. Don canet (Suz); 2. James Doman (Suz); 3. Chuck GralleS (Suz). OPEN MOD PROD: 1. Dave Langford (Suz); 2. Marty Siegel (Suz!; 3. Steve Rupp (Suz). 600 MOD PROD: 1. calvin Rayborn III (Hon); 2. Chuck Waychoff (Yam); 3. Jeff Hoeppner (Kaw). 450 MOD PROD: 1. Willard Ivins (Yam); 2. Dean Mizdal (yam!; 3. Bill Donovan (Yamaha 350). 450 STK PROD: 1. Dean Mizdal (Yam); 2. Bill Donovan (Yam); 3. Doug Davil (Yam). 600 STK PROD: 1. Michael G...... (Yam); 2. calvin Rayborn IIIIHan); 3. Dale K_r (Yam). 750 SUPERSTREET: 1. Malcolm Hill (Suz~ 2. Scott Cavness (Suz); 3. Don Canet ISuz). OPEN SUPERSTREET: ,. Chris Mallory (Suz); 2. Marty Siegel (Suz); 3. Kye Gunn (Suz). 750 lWINS: 1. Bill Eieele (Hon); 2. Jardt Ph unidat (Yam); 3. Jim Smith (Hon). OPEN TWIN: 1. Mick Ofleld (Nor); 2. Greg We",.., (Yam); 3. Mark Yarrow (Yam). 250 MOD PROD: 1. Jeff Hoeppner (Kaw); 2. Scott Clefl (Kaw); 3. Willie Sarzi (Kaw). FORMULA 4: 1. Chuck Gra_ (Yam); 2. Matt Winia,*, (Han); 3. John Irvine (Han). FORMlAA S1NGl£S: 1. Peter Hipp (Yamt 2. &on Flory (Hant 3. M _ canfield (Yam).

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