Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Honda-mounted O'oug Polen (2961 is chased by Greg Tysor in Middleweight Supersport Expert class. Polen won; Tysor took third. AMA/CCS Sprint Races Shaw triples By Randy Marrs DAYTONA BEACH, FL, FEB. 28-MAR. I Doug Polen, Bob- Rentzell and Rick Shaw helped kick off Cycle Week's road racing at Daytona International Speedway with seven wins between them. Floridian Shaw scored wins in the Heavyweight Expen, Formula One Expen, . and Unlimited Superbike Expen classes, riding a Yamaha FZ750 and FZRIOOO. Polen won the Unlimited Supersport Expert and Middleweight Supersport Expert races on his Suzuki GSXR II 00 and Honda 600 Hurricane. Novice Bob Rentzell took wins in Formula Two and Middleweight Superbike Novice. Saturday'S Novice races were the first on tap for the weekend and Bob Rentzell, brother of Expert Kevin Rentzell easily won the Middleweight Superbike and Formula Two races aboard his Yamaha FZ600. The Novice Middleweight Superbike race saw 80 entrants take to Daytona's 11.52 mile road course. Leading the first lap in the seven lap Sprint final was Tennessee rider Steve Seaborn, riding a Kawasaki Ninja 600, Bo~ Rose was in second, David Hand ran third, Mike Lehning fourth, and Bob Bossardet rounded out the front five in a tight pack. Rentzell started near the back of the pack in the second wave and by the end of lap two had moved into second. By the next lap Rentzell had the lead as he outbraked Seaborn when the pair entered the International Horseshoe tum. Seaborn was trying to pressure Rentzell as he closed to within two bike lengths on lap four, but with two laps to go, Rentzell began to pull away from Seaborn. Rose, riding a Yamaha FZ600, and Scott Woolard, riding a Yamaha RZ1l50, were swapping positions four and five. With one lap left, Rentzell had increased his lead to over 100 yards on Seaborn, taking his first win of the day. "This really feels great, I hope my brother is proud of me today. The motor was really puJling and I started picking off people one by one," said Rentzell in the winner's circle. Following Rentzell and Seaborn across the finish line were Bossardet in third, David Campbell in fourth, and Brian Gristick in fifth. Rentzell's win in the Formula Two Novice class race was almost an instant replay of his Middleweight win. StaTting from the back of the grid again, he took the lead with Seaborn in tow. At the checkered flag it was Rentzell for his second win of the day, with Seaborn second, Campbell taking third, fourth going to Brian Gristick, and David Felpel fifth. In the Heavyweight Superbike Novice class, Rentzell finished third as John Choate, riding a Suzuki GSXR750, took the win with Mike Hattaway second. David Campbell, riding a Honda 600 Hurricane, won the Middleweight Supersport Novice class after a race long battle with runner-up Richard Resta, third place finisher Shawn Nicoloff, fourth place finisher Keith Miller, and George Matthews. . With Saturday's Novice competition completed, the Experts took over on Sunday with six races on tap. Rain began to fall early Sunday morning and there was some question at first ifthe sprints would take place. It was finally decided by officials that unless the rain was hard enough to prevent visibility and lightrting posed a threat, the races would be run. The rain continued, but not enough to prevent the races from taking place. The races were shortened to five laps to allow for the running of the AMA/MotoWorld O.S. Endurance round that' would take place later Sunday afternoon. In pouring rain, the Heavyweight Superbike field took the green with Georgia's Mike Harth taking the lead. At the end of the first lap Harth pulled in and Kevin Rentzell took over the lead. Harth had been under instructions from the Dunlop tire technr- Pouring rain fell dur:ing the Heavyweight Superbike race. but Rick Shaw captured the win. nonetheless. Shaw won three classes on the day. cians to do one lap at speed, break the tires in for t e upcoming endurance race, then pull in. Rentzell's lead lasted until lap three when he crashed in the International Horseshoe turn. With both Harth and Rentzell out of the race, Shaw moved into the lead, t;lking the checkered £lag two laps later. Only seven riders completed the race due to the rain. "The track was soaked. I hit a paint stripe and got sideways. That's the scariest situation I think I've ever been in, but I've always wanted to see my number up there on the scoreboard in the number one spot," aid Shaw. Following Shaw across the line were Steve Wands, Wink Price, Jay Denham, and Jim Cardinale. In a small Formula One field, Shaw beat Rudolf Von Lignau, Danny Roberts, Jimmy Shelton and Bob Hicks. Shaw's final win came in the Unlimited Superbike race in which he beat Danny Roberts, Steve Caya, Robert Caraway, and Jimmy Shelton to the checkered £lag. One of the weekend's best races was the Middleweight Supersport Expert battle. The new Honda 600 Hurricanes were out in force with several tOP pro riders opting for one of the new machines. On the pole and taking the holeshot was Camel Pro Formula Two rider Garry Griffith. Following Griffith on his Hurricane was Thomas Stevens and Ricky Orlando. By the time the field hit the west banking, Griffith had built almost a 25bike lead. By lap three Polen had moved into fifth behind Greg Tysor with Randy Renfrow also moving up through the field. On the white flag lap Orlando, Tysor, and Polen were locked into a three-bike draft. Stevens had taken the lead from Griffith. Polen continued to move and was side-by-side with Stevens on the last lap, squeaking by for the win. Stevens took second, Tysor third, Orlando fourth, and Griffith falling to fifth. Polen took the Unlimited Supersport Expert win over Mike Harth, with third going to Paul Bray, fourth to Aaron Turner, and fifth to Fred Hopp. . The combined Heavyweight Supersport Expert and Novice race saw a duel between Polen and Harth. It was Harth taking the early lead with Donnie Rowe running a surprising second, Wink Price third, Polen fourth, and Paul Bray fifth. Leading the second wave Novice group was Shawn Nicoloff and Mike Reed. On lap two Polen got around Price and Rowe in the east banking for second and started to go after Harth. Harth, Polen and Rowe, all Suzuki GSXR750 mounted were pulling away from the field with Reed, also on a GSXR 750, taking the ovice lead on lap three. Polen continued to close on Harth with the pair hooked up on the white £lag lap and preparing for a final lap charge to the green. Bruce Osborn got around Reed on the next to last lap for the ovice lead as Harth and Polen were set for the final lap confrontation. On the east banking Harth and Polen were running two abreast. As they took the white £lag for one more lap Polen tried to go around Harth entering turn one, only to have Harth slam the door on him. Polen tried again to go around in the International Horseshoe again, but no luck. As they headed onto the banking for the final time, Polen gOt around for the lead but Harth moved alongside coming down the front straight and headed for the checker. Harth waited for his move and made it in a slingshot pass just as they hit the finish line, taking the win by half a wh!';eJ width. "Man, I really. respect Doug. I'd like to thank my sponsors Dunlop tires, Dave Rhodenbaugh and Jesse Burgess," said Harth. Following Harth and Polen home were Rowe, Price and Ottis Lance. Novice winner Bruce Osborn led Mike Reed across the finish line. Expert Tommy Blackwell topped the Lightweight Superbike One class with Shawn Nicoloff taking the Novice portion. Kevin Rentzell won the Expert Formula Two race. • ~. Results F-1 EX: 1. Rick Sh.wIV.m): 2. RudoflVon UgNlU (y.m); 3. D.nny Roberts ISuo). F-2 EX: 1. K.vin R.naell (Y.m); 2. Pehl Strunk (Due); 3. G"'Mm .l

• Cover