Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Michel Mercer (above) followed home winner ' and teammate Gary Goodfellow at the Superbike Cha llenge West Road Race in Calgary. Goodfellow tops Superbike Challenge West Road Race By Jeremy Fleming 48 CALGA RY, ALBERTA, CANADA, AUG. 8-9 G ray Goodfellow returned to the Canadian Nationa l Championshi ps with a clear victory a t round five of the Mo toplan-Ca stro l-backed series a t the new Race Cit y facil it y in Ca lgary, while his Suzuki teammate Michel Mercier placed a safe second to 'virt ua lly clinc h hi s second consecutive number one p lat e. After sta lli ng o n the lin e in hi s hea t race an d chargi ng up to fifth, Goodfell ow go t a n incredible sta rt in the fin al 10 put hi s Yoshimura North West/Shoei/W iseco/Castrol! Dun lop Suzu ki GS XR 750R LTD into th e lead by the firs t turn. Mercier slotted into second on th e number one Sunoco/ShoeilTreen / Wiseco / Dunl o p/Phoenix/Yoshimura N W/ Gray 's/ Rocke t GS XR, while Steve Dick's Allied Honda In tercept or was righ t o n Mercier's rear fender for t hird. Fo u rt h p lace r id er Tom Walth er, H o nda VFR750 In terceptor, had Rueben McMurter , Tom Do uglas and No rm Murphy ri gh t o n his tail. Ro th man -H onda rider Paul MacMilla n was at the back of th e field after the firs t la p, du e to an offtrac k jo urney caused by a nea r crash wit h Wa lther just as MacMill an was att empting to pass. Goodfellow was setti ng a blazing pa ce a t the front, while poi nts leader Mercier was fo llowing his prerace " plan of staying out of tro ub le and rid ing for the points. But Dick was a ll over Mercie r, a nd most observers fig ured that the Frenc h-Canadian wou ld let th e West Coast champ by. But Dick had a ge nt le lo w-side ca used by a co ld front tire, a nd althoug h undam aged, his VFR co uld not be restarted. T he top two fin ishing positi ons were now locked in Goodfellow a nd Mercier. Behi nd th e lead er s , h ow ev e r , McMurter and Murp hy were staging a terrific ba ttl e over th ird, wh ile Walther a nd Douglas had fall en two seco n ds back to di spute fifth . McMurter wa s ha vin g handlin g troub les. Murphy's GSXR was han dling well after the switch to J 7·in ch wh eels, but wi th two ' Ia ps to go Murphy ran out ot ground clearance in a fast sweeper and had a n endover-end crash. Although uninjured, Murphy 's bike was a , me ss and McMurter moved into a safe third. Meanwhile , Walther was safe in fourth after Douglas slid off in the same turn tha t Dick cras hed in o n lap 10 of 12. Quickl y back to hi s sligh t ly da m aged bi ke, Dougl as franticall y restart ed and didn 't even lose fifth ! Earl ier in th e race, Douglas had to slow a nd get rid of a loose side cover tha t was fla p pi ng aga ins t hi s leg. Sixth p lace hono rs went to Kyle Andrews, a rookie P ro. Andrews was almos t caug ht at the flag by MacMill an , wh o had blasted throug h the field after a slow second la p to get the dirt off h is tires follo wing his near miss with Walther. T he hardlu ck Ro th ma ns-H onda squad did n 't even get to start tea m leader Art Ro bbins when bro ken va lve springs a nd no spares forced hi m to park for th e weekend. Dou g H nat used h is Onta ri o H onda-backed Yamaha T Z250 to cruise away from th e depl eted For - . mula T wo pack, whi le Ontar io based tea m mat e Geoff Dav ies wo n th e Am ateur F-2 class o n a H onda RS250. Rookie Pro and ho me tow n hero Jim my Dewitte wal ked away fro m the Pro 600cc Prod uction ba ttle o n a H onda Hurri can e. Seco nd p lace fin isher Wa lt he r pro tested Dewitte's engine. A full tear-down revealed tha t no thing was out of the ordi na ry, lea ving the results Dewitte ah ead of Walther, who won a drafting battle over th e Suzuki RG 500 of Nick Defago a nd the H ur rica ne of Steve Dick. Resu lts A M F·2: 1. Geoff Davies (Hon); 2. Dave Morrison (Yam); 3. Don Hessler (Yam). AM 400 PROD: 1. Larry Visco (Hon ): 2. Doug Thompso n { Hon~ 3 . Oon Hengst ler (Hon) . A M 600 PROD: 1. Kip Wortley (SUl); 2. Benc it Pil on (SulI; 3 . Shane Butt s (Sull. A M 750 PROD: 1. Peter Hollingor (Suz); 2. JeanFranco is Lecle rc (Su z); 3 . Chris Lacy (Yam ). AM 7 50 S/ BK; 1. Peter Holl ingor (Suz); 2. .JeenFranco is Lecler c (SUl); 3. Rob Leeb (Suli. AM OPEN: 1. Pet er Hol l in gor (SUl) ; 2. Patr ice Govete (Hon); 3 . J ean- francois Leclerc (Suz). YAM RZ350 CUP; 1. Dw igh. M cKinley (Yam); 2. Paul Hopper (Yam); 3 . Brian W oods (Yam ). PRO F-2: 1. Doug Hnat (Yam); 2. Frank Van Sert ima (Yam ); 3 . Larry Kempter (Yam) . . PRO 600 PROD; 1. J im Dew itt e (Hon); 2. Tom W alther (Hon); 3. St eve Dick (Hon ). PRO 750 PROD: 1. Gary Goodf ello w (SUl ); 2. Steve Dick (Hon); 3 . Nor m M urphy (Kaw) . PRO OPEN PROD: 1. Gary Goodf ell ow (SUl); 2. Steve Dick (Hopn); 3 . Kevi n J ohnson (Suz). PRO S/ BK: 1. Gary Goodfell ow (SulI; 2..M ich el M ercier (Suz); 3. Rueben M cMuner (Yam ); 4 . Tom W alther (Hon); 5. Tom Dougl as (Yam ). Ehmke smokes Panama HS By J. Frizzo PANAMA, IL, AUG. 9 T om Ehmke won th e Open cla ss today at the Pan ama Hare Scrambles. Ehmke survived hi~h heat and held off rival Chris Caplinger over the 4.8 mile course to take the victor y. Ron Blaine took a dip in the creek at Stepp Mill's Hare Scramble. George Lawson took th e Senior class win over La rr y H a yes, while John T oman ovi ch held off Jim McDade for the l25cc class victory. Brian Sams pu lled the upset of th e day by win ni ng th e Mini class over J oe Cordray, who was prev ious ly unbeat en . Results MIN I: 1. Brian Sams (Honl; 2. J oe Cordray (Kaw ); 3 . Ja son Blair (Yam). 125 : 1. J ohn Tomanovich (Han); 2. Jim Mc Dade (Kawl: 3 . Mark Franc is (Kaw l. 200: 1. TIm Bow man (Kaw); 2. Doug M effo rd (Kaw); 3. Ray Devlin (Kawl. 2 50: 1. Bob Ham ilt on (Yam); 2. J im Fri u o (Hon); 3 . Jo hn Cash (Hon). OPEN: 1. Tom Eh m ke (Yam); 2. Chris Caplinger (C-A); 3 . Bob Capling er (C· A). SR: 1. Georg e Lawson (C-A); 2. Larry Hayes (CA ); 3 . Har old New ell (Hus). Ellis takes Virginia Short Track By Joe Kelly RI CH MO ND, VA, AUG. 12 Virginia Stat e F airgrounds motorcycl e rac ing keeps ge tt ing mo re competi tive each week. T he quartermile clay surface was in excellent shape. No d ust, no ru ts, a nd the riders cou ld pass any whe re, any time their horsep ower a nd skill wo uld let them . Brian Strong had a great n ight. He rod e a Yamah a to victory in the 125cc hea ts an d final s. Doug Elliott, rid ing a Suzuki, was givi ng Stro ng quite a tu ssle until th e fourth turn of the last lap. As Elliott mad e a n ou tside pass almost work , his from en d bobb led throwing the han dlebars out of control a nd into his stomach, The wind was knocked o ut of the luckless rid er giving second to Ryan Sipe. Rusty Rogers ret urned to the loca l racing scene after a profita ble fo ray on th e AMA Regional a nd Ca mel Pro circuit. Rogers put his Suzuki to the fro nt a hea d of Ho nda rider, J ay Willia ms. Chris Rickma n , riding a Kawasak i, gave th em both a hard ru n in th e first 250cc qua lifier. Bill y Elli s, on a H ond a, stormed to th e fro nt in the seco nd. On the third lap, Rob ert Lewis made it by on th e ou tside. On the whi te flag lap Wayn e Eckert shot by for second narr owl y m issing the wi nning posi tio n. T he main was all Rogers. Chris Rickman a nd Rob ert Lewi s gave h im a ll the race he wanted, but the Ro gers' track mastery of many yea rs came forth to let him take the victory. The 500cc Four-Strokers were th e crowd p leaser of the ni ght, Bill y Ellis ro de his H a rley-Da vid so n to the front in the first qualifier. R usty Gaita hel d second. On the th ird circuit, Rogers stormed his H arley by bo th to take th e lead and victory. Rogers led off the line in the second qualifier. T rack poin t leader, Ch ris R ickman, put his Yamaha in second with Clayton O liver riding hard on hi s rear wh eel. Oliver made it by for second on th e white flag lap. The laps ran ou t as he closed a bike lengt h behind Rogers a t th e chec kered flag . As th e ligh t turned in th e main, the whole field blit zed the track go ing into the first turn . But the race was red -flagged puttin g Rogers, Ellis and Oliver o n the pe nalty line. Again, a good charge had the crowd on their feet , as Chns Rickman led through th e first turn wi th Ga ita tied to his rear whee l. Robert Lewis was third. Ellis moved by Gaita on th e third lap and closed o n the front twosome. Ellis put on th e pressure finall y getting by Gai ta on the sixth lap. As Rickman a nd Ellis went through th e fir st tu rn, han d lebar-tohandlebar, Rickman slipped go ing down. The red flag came out as machine and rider were blocking th e field . On th e restart Ellis took off with Gaita , Rogers and O liver tied in a knot. On the white flag lap Rogers went hi gh in a pass a tte mp t that fell short. Gait a, trying to co ver th e o u tside, left a ho le ope n ' at th e bottom of the track. O liver made use of it , go ing to seco nd, closi ng a bi ke len gth in arrears of Ellis a t the flag. It was the first 500cc victory for Ell is. Chris Copley rode his Yama ha to vi ctorv in th e h ea l and fea ture con testing the 50cc Min i cla ss. Ben Wa lters mad e a last lap pa ss wor k to ta ke second over Kenny Long. Dai sy Lucy received a three foo t tro p hy for bein g the number one lady racer at the track this season. Res ults 125: 1. Br ian Strong (Yam); 2. Ryan Sipe ( Su~); 3. Doug Ell iott (SUl). . 250 : 1. Rusty Rogers (Sull; 2. Chris Rickman (Kaw ); 3 . Robert Lew is (Hon ). 500: 1. Billy Ellis (H-D): 2. Clayton Oliver (Hon); 3. Rusty Gaita (Hon). 50 : 1. Chr is Copley (Yam); 2. Ben W alters (SulI; 3. Pau l Lyn ch (Yam). 60 ; 1. Br ian Str ong (Hon); 2. M ike Hacker (Kaw ); 3. John Nick ens (Sull. 8 0 : 1. Br ian Str ong (Kaw); 2. M ike Hacker (Suz); 3 . John Nickens (Suli. Hawkins handles Stepp Mill HS By Lo ren & Barbara Williams T RAVELE RS REST , SC, AUG. 9 Rand y H a wkins started last and finished first to top the 250cc Expert class a t the St epp Mi ll - H a r e Scra mb le. Ha wkin s. who was running la te, made the start of the co mpetitio n onl y because a . rider in the 200cc Amateur division had 10 return to th e pits for a fresh spark plug, delaying the start of th e race. Marvin Cole led th e Experts into turn one, but by th e end of the first la p (the rive-mile mark ) Ha wkins was lead in g the field , He held onto his lead to take the overall. Glenn Rector gra bbed th e lead on the first lap in th e 200cc Amat eur class a nd was lookin g good for the win until hi s transmission ex pired on the third circu it. Rector's retiremen t left David Sherbert in the lead with Brian Coster fo llowing. Cos ter soo n dropped o ut with a fla t tire, leaving Sherb ert to tak e the win. Wayn e Stephens fi nis hed second. L ocal H u sq va rn a rider Kevi n Hudson led from start to finish in the 250cc Amateur class. Ron Blaine fin ish ed seco nd in th e cla ss and the show po sit ion went to Greg King. Semor Men acti on saw a return of the Marion Looper-Tony Coggins ba ttle, with Looper holding sway. Results 200 AM : 1. David Sherbert: 2. W ayne Step hens. 200 EX: 1. J erry McCarson. 250/0PEN A M : 1. Kevin Hudson; 2. Ron Bla ine ; 3 . Greg King . 25 0 OPEN EX: 1. Randy Hawkins ; 2. M arv in Cole. SR MEN : 1. Ma rion looper; 2. Tony Coggins.

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