Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

f-j 8 ~ . Rentzell co nti n ued h is scorchi ng p a ce th rou gh out th e first h our averagin g 95 mph a nd o pen ing u p a o ne lap lead over secon d pl ace Tea m Suzu ki by th e end of hour one . High Tech moved into. th ird p lace wh en th e So lmax m achine ran ou t of gas .a nd coa st ecl"in to th e pits 4& . - tn in u tes into th e co n test. Human Race, T eam G a m ma , C ensis Racin g, Dreyer Racin g, ' M&M Ra cin g and Ga rla nd S uzuki round ed o u t th e top 10 a fter one hour o f racing. Team Indy co ntrolled th e Medi umweight Producti on class on their H onda Hurricane with Fri tz Klin g a t th e co n tro ls during th e first hour. T eam U no number two a nd FBI Racing a lso led th ei r class in th e ea rly , go ing. ' At the start of th e seco nd hour, H arth slowed dra st icall y o n the Team Suzuki ent ry.: Hi s lap tim es dropped alm ost six seco nds. Four la ps lat er H arth pulled in with some very bad news that so meth ing was wrong with the mo to r. It didn' t have a ny mi drange p ow er a nd to p speed o n the h orsep ower hungry Roa d Atl anta back stra ig h t a nd was down co ns ide rab ly. Steven s h opped on th e sick ma ch in e a nd took off just as Ren tzell was bringing th e Dutchman Racin g Suzuki in for a regularl y Team Suzuki (1) led Dutchman Racing (131) during the ear ly going, but lo st 45 m in utes ch angi ng an eng ine. sch edul ed stop. J eff Heino was ca lled in to replace co u ld n ' t hav e been better. Bright Du tchman regular Doug Brauneck , su ns h in e a n d 70 deg ree wea th er wh o was in California a t an AMA, gree ted racers a nd race fans . T he a wa rds banquet. H ein o was o p tim mor n ing' p rac tice sessio n was ro ugh isti c abo ut hi s tea m 's ch ances at o n severa l .of the teams.' T homas Road Atla nta. Steven s cra shed a T eam Suzuki back" I lik e this trac k a nd Kevin is u p machine as did Gen esis Racin g , defini rt- Iy fast here," sa id Hein o. As pil ot Ken Welty, neither riders were H ei no took th e contro ls th e Dutch in jured. , . man Suzu ki so u nded crisp, the team 'So me interesting team strategy was was loo kin g ver y stro ng. being emp loyed at Atlanta. Quite a T eam Suzuki tun er Jim La bine few team s deci ded to en ter two bik es a nd co-founder Joh n Ulrich were for th e even t, a tr ick made popular hudd led in the co rner o f th eir pits by T eam Suzuki a t la st yea r's event. . discussi n g th e ir o p tio n s, Labi n T he exp la na tio n for runn in g two wan ted to br in g th e a ilin g Suzu ki in machi nes as sepa ra te teams varied for an en gine ch an ge; he reason ed . from team to tea m . G enesis Racing , tha t if the motor blew so mewhe re in ran tea m two , Spee dy Warik er Boys the ba ck sections of th e track ther m a in ly to give a ll o f th e tea m wou ld be 'n o tell in g how long it , member s a m p le ridi ng tim e. The wou ld ta ke to recove r the ma chine. Hu m an Race Tea m' s o ffshoo t was Ulri ch as ked La bine if he th o ug h tj M&l\I Racin g. The H um a ns ho ped the mot or wo u ld last si x ho ur s if i t th at M&M might ac t as a poi nt s was n u rsed, La bi ne's repl y, " You r buffer aga ins t th eir competitors. , g uess is as good as m in e." Starter Al Wilcox waved th e gree n Hein o kept Dut chma n o ut front Dutchma n Rac ing's Jeff Heino and Kevin Rentzell won the final WE RA to 68 te a ms starting rh e . eve n t. d uring th e seco nd ho ur, while Sol End urance ro ad race of the seaso n, co mpleting 224 lap s at Ro ad Atl anta. Suzuki 's Mike Harth led th e field o n max rep assed H igh -Tech for secon d th e first lap fo llowed by Ren tzell o n pl ace. The Human Race Tea m was th e Dutchman mac h ine; Russell o n aga in ru n n ing smooth ly in founh' Sol ma x, a nd Kurt H all on Hum an a nd in fifth was Tea m Suzu ki. T eam Race. T eam Gam ma, wh o wo n th e Indy . dropped from fi;s t Medium Summit-Point ro un d, had p roblem s weig h t P rodu cti on m a ch in e way' off th e lin e a nd was nea r the back back to 12th in th at class wh en th el of the fie ld bu t q u ick ly cha rged near Hurrica ne th rew a cha in. The team the front on th eir G SX R. regain ed lost grou n d after th e cha in H art h and Rentzell went w hee l-to rep air o n ly to run o u t o f gas la ter ' wh eel o n th e bi g Suzuk is fo r fou r in th e rac e to pu t th em o u t of lap s befo re Rentzell o utb ra ked co n ten tion . Harth , go t th e lea d a n d sta rt ed Def endin g Li gh tw e igh t class By Larry La'!"rence p ulli ng aw ay, tu rn ing la ps in th e one cha m p io ns Ro yal e Racin g saw th eir mi nu te, 32 seco nd ran ge. hopes of renew ing th eir ti tle go up BRASELTO N . GA , NOV. 7 " I co u ld ' ve run wi th h im bu t it in smoke whe n th e Royale Yam aha , was m or e importa nt to th e tea m RZ3S0 blew a n engine two hours into th at I rid e co nserva tively an d no t do '. th e race. Now FBI Racin g had th e a ny th ing stu p id," sa id H a rth . Lightweig h t titl e wrapped up. The' , It was a rough si tuatio n fo r T eam Fast Boys fro m Ill in o is had their Suzuki after los ing a t Riv erside to Ka wasaki in a co m fortabletwo lap Dut chman , Tea m Suzuki wa nt ed to lead over T error Racing by the end pr ove th at th ey were the best team of th e seco nd hou r: ; o n the tra ck , hut wi th th e ever D utchm an Ra cin g n ear ly h ~ d unfolded d u r in g th e ra ce wh e n Road Atla nta. T he D u tchm an co nsistent Hum an Race T eam in a po int s leader T ea m Suzu ki los t 4S th ei r ride p ut to a n early end toward · Suzuki GS XRIIOO performed ' th e end of th e seco nd hour. Hein o good pos ition to win th e cha mp io n mi nutes doi ng an engine cha nge and flaw lessl y covering 560 mi les sh ip sho u ld Suzu ki make a mi sta ke, was flyi ng do wn hill toward th e last finish ed 30 th. T he fi na l po ints in the six-hour even t. High th e stra tegy had to be o ne o f winn ing , turn w hen a rider on the RZ:l50 of sta nd ings reveal ed th at Suzuk i won T ech Racing wi th Larry J uerin k and the ti tle even if it meant losing the Mas saro ' s Autom otive Ra c in g the ti tle by a mere one an d o ne-te n th race, Eri c Moe finished second on a no ther po in t o verThe Hum an Race Team , cha nged h is line rig ht in front o f Last year's Atla n ta win ner H igh Suzuki, two la ps beh ind Dutchman who fin ish ed fourth a t Atlanta. He in o. A co llective gasp wa s heard Tech Racin g bega n moving up fro m Raci ng ; . Yamaha -m o u nt ed So lm ax It was th e fourth endu rance cha m in th e sco ring tow er as Hei no skill thei r fifth row sta rt , an d by lap five, pi onship for the Ca lifornia n tea m . fu ll y a voided th e ca tastro p he. T he Raci ng finished th ird o ne lap behin d Larry Ju erin k pushed th e H igh who previously won ti tles in 1983, maj or co m p la in t that th e Dut chman H igh T ech . Scott R ussell and T erry T echSuzuki past th e Huma n Race rid ers h ad ,a t this race was the wide 1984, an d 1986. Suzuki motorcycles Bai ley h a n dl ed th e rid in g fo r T eam Yamaha into fourth place jus t h ave now wo n th e WERA crow n for varietv of b ikes on th e tra ck and the So lmax. behind Scott R ussell on th e Solmax speed ' difference espec ia lly on the five co nsecu tive years. An intense dra m a for the overa ll Yamaha. Co n di tio n s for th e 1987 fin al" do wnhill back straigh t. W ERA / EB C Champ io ns hip WERAjEBC Brakes National Endurance Series Final -Dutchman wins at Road Atlanta; Team Suzuki secures title Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Dutchman R acin g ,wi th riders Jeff H eino and Kevin R en tzell , won the final WERA/EBC.Brakes National Endurance race of the season at 14

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