Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Team Lockhart's Larry Shorts (above) and Dale Quarterly rode to -victory at the Road Atlanta round of the U.S . Endurance Series . Du tchman Racing (3) cla imed second at the Road Atlanta 500 aboard a Suzuki, w hile Yamaha-mounted Top Gun Racing (17) finished fourth . AMA/MotoWorld U.S. Endurance Series: Round 10 Team Lockhart blisters Road Atlanta 500 By Randy Marrs BRASELTON, GA , AUG. 15 Ridin g to their fifth win of the 1987 season, their second in a row, and their second win this year at R oad Atlanta, T eam Lockhart's Larry " Rad Red " Shorts and Dale Q u arterley rode 38 other teams into th e pa vem ent around Road Atlanta 's demanding 2.52-mile road co u rse. 36 Bo th Sho rts and Quarterl ey were down o n power, with th e red-haired d uo suffering fro m a bou t of the flu , but you co uldn' t tell it as they bea t second p lace Dut chman Racin g by 29.18 seconds with the fro nt two co vering 124 la ps. Finishing third was th e T eam Sanibel entry a lap down. Both Lockhart a nd Du tchman rode on Mich el i n radia ls wi th Sani bel finishin g on Metzeler bias p ly slicks, a nd a ll th ree rode GS XR I IO O Suzu kis. Ta ki ng the GTU win in front of their ho me crowd was the T eam UNO H on da CB600 Hurrican e wi th riders' Troy Sorenson an d Adam Smi th finishi ng fifth overa ll, covering 120 laps. As the season nears th e end , th e points standings co nt in ue to remain close and shuffle with each ro und. The battle for the GTO lead, which California based H yper-Cycle Racing has led for a go od portion of th e seaso n, has changed for th e last three ro unds. After the Mid -Ohio round (ro und eig ht), H yper-Cycle lost th e GTO po ints lead to th e Mich iganbased Hi gh T ech Ra cing Suzuki as th ey headed for Memphis (ro und nine). Co ming in to th e Road Atlanta round High Tech led H ype r-C ycle by 176 points, Chica go, Illino is' eco nd Ci ty Racin g held th ird in GTO points j us t 85 beh ind H yperCycle a nd Pennsylvania 's Dutchman Racing held fourt h 171 poin ts down to Second Cit y. After ho ldi ng th e GT U and th e overa ll poin ts lead for most of the season, Asp ha lt Aviators los t the overa ll a nd GTU lead to Ka yo 's GTU tea m after Mem ph is, a nd , going into the Road Atla nta ro und Kayo GTU held a sli m 30-poi nt lead o n the Avia to rs. Sa turday morning's practi ce sessio ns began on an ominous note for th e Kavo ent ries in what would lat er turn o ut to be a race the Ka yo teams would have rather mi ssed. Taking deliv ery of a new H onda CB600 Hurrican e for the remaining five ro unds, Kayo 's T ommy Sloan overcoo ked turn one and cra shed. "I just go t in too hot in turn one," he said. " We d id some suspensio n cha nges a nd used some stiffer fork o il a nd 1 guess it was too stiff ." The Kayo crew led by Linsay Rentz ell went to wor k on th e crashed Hurricane to get it read y for th e I:30 p .m . start . On th e pole sa t th e Lockhart Ra cing/U.S. Suzuki / AG V/ Ka l G a rd /Ca m -2 / P erform a nc e Ma chine/RK/Mi chelin-sponsored GSXRllOO Suzuki with High T ech Racing next to Lockhart. H yperCycle Ra cing, Dutchman Racing, and Kayo Racing fill ed ou t th e front row all mounted on th e potent Suzuki GSXRs. Holding the pole position for th e GTU entries in the second wave were the GTU 1986 Nati onal champs, Paul Smith Racing on their Yamaha FZ600. Fam ous for his lightning fast holeshots, Kevin Rentzell on the Ka yo Racing Suzuki led the field into turn one and proceeded to leave the balance of the 38 teams behind. Doug Brauneck on th e Dutchman Racing/ Pennzoil 10 Minute Oil Change/ Mi chelin /Shoei /D.I.D /GS /PB II ND /Yoshimura-sponsored GSXR1100 Suzuki ra n a di stant seco nd, exMiami-Vice, sometimes Kayo GTU rid er, a nd full -time T eam Suzuki rider Thomas Steven s ...as taking a break from th e WERA Enduran ce Ser ies a nd ridin g fo r th e T eam a nibel ent ry with Mark McGuad e in th ird. Fourth was th e T eam Lockhart Suzuki with Quarterley taking th e first leg a nd all three runnin g in a tig h t pack. Fifth and lead in g the next pack of GTO teams was th e Top Gun Racing Yam aha FZR I 000 , H yper-C ycl e Ra cing, Hi gh T ech Racin g in a pa ck, then ca me Never Read y Racing, T eam Florida, a nd South Flor ida Racing in th e next bunch rounding o ut th e top 10 by the end of the first lap. The GTU lead was held by Donaid J acks on th e Paul Smith Racing/ Kendall O i l/SuperTrapp /RSC / Cycle Rider s/RK/KMW Systemssponso red Yam ah a FZ600 , Kayo Racing, and T eam UNO sepa ra ted by no more th an one-ha lf a second. Asp ha lt Av iators held a di st ant fourt h o n the ir Yam ah a FJ 600, Roswell Ra cin ~ was fifth in GTU , a nd Front Racin g ra n sixth in the 600cc class . By lap two Ren tzell ha d a 10second lead a nd was increasi ng it each lap. Top Gun Racin g soon joined the ba ule for second th rough fifth and remained on Lockhart 's rear wheel. With Rentzell threatening to turn th e race into a runaway, th e GTU race was beginning to look lik e a 10-lap spri nt race . It was obvio us Kayo had the cra shed Hurricane back in o ne pi ece as Paul Smith, Kayo, and T eam UNO remained locked in a 1-2-3 draft. Continuing to ma ke hi s come bac k after a n early seaso n dirt bike crash, Kayo 's Donn ie Ro we pressured Paul Smith's J acks as they went under the bridge in turn II. Turn ing in what would be the best race of hi s career, UN O's Troy Sorenso n kep t th e pressure on Rowe just beh ind in th ird. By lap four , Rentzell o n the Ka yo Cor poratio n /Yo kohama / D. I. D/ GS / Daito / Auto -Li tre/ Fox / Cvcle Perform ance-sp onsored GSXR i 100 Suzuki was a lrea dy beg inning to lap back markers. Quarterley moved the Lockhart Suzu ki in to third and closed o n Dutchman. The GTU race sa w Row e put th e Ka yo /Sl oane Cycl e /Y ok oha rn a /D . I . D /GS / Shoei /K erker / Auto-Litr e/Cycle Performance-sponsored Honda Hurricane in front a t the end of lap four with Sorens on moving the Team UNO H onda in . front o n the next la p. By lap 17, Stevens o n th e McQuade Constructi on/Ft. Myers Cycle/Speed ~ Sport- sponsored Suzuki got aro u nd Lockhart. On lap 22, the firs t incident of wh at would be a long and fru strating day for th e Kayo riders happened. As Rentz ell , who by now had lapped midway through the field including th e GTU leaders, suddenly slowed as he exited turn one. The pace he had been setting apparentl y broke the cush drive on th e Suzuki. " I was just cru ising, my pit crew even ~ve me a slow down signa l,';' he said, "I went into turn one and felt a severe jerk and th e rear wheel locked up. 1 felt a bunch of parts hit me and thought the motor had blown up. It pulled the st u ds through the Marvic cush drive, (five and one-half-inch Marvic ), the motor was good and strong today." Dutchman by now had built a sizable lead on Team Sanibel and was the team on the move. Brauneck co ntinued to put time on Sani bel with Top Gun Racing's Bill Kell y and Bryan Schwing making their strongest showing of the season running fourth on th eir Competition Cycl e/P ro-Pad /Shoei / RK / Golef Coa st- sp on sored Yamaha FZRIOOO, and Jim Sh errill a nd John Curwick o n the T eam Florida Suzuki GSXRllOO in fifth. Soren son o n th e T eam U N O / Atlanta Lawn & Sprinkler/Palmer & J ones/NKG /Ka yo Corp.lWiesco/ Kerker H onda and Rowe on the Kayo Honda were runnjng two abreast ent ering turn II lap after lap with Rowe trying to gain th e advan tage on U NO . Sore nso n would ho ld the ed$e as th ey exi ted from under the bndge maintainin g U N O's lead until lap 35 whe n Kayo took the GTU lead fo r th e next two laps until UN O moved back in front. Dutchman Racing made th eir first pit sto p o n lap 37 with Lockhart staying o ut a nd moving into th e lead. Dave Schl osser had th e Dutchman Suzuki in second, Sanibel third, a nd Never Read y Ra cing's Buddy Keller a nd Brad Smith o n th eir Suzuki G SXR movin g to fourth , dropping T op Gun down o ne spot. Adam Smith, now o n for UNO, wor ked into th e top 10 taking sixth overall. At th is poin t (lap 10) the stand ings remained virt ua lly uncha nge d with Lockhart hol d in g firs t overa ll a nd Team UNO hold ing first in GT U. So uth Florida Racin g's Rick Shaw and Ken Stephens o n thei r Yamaha

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