Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ l.C') C'J .... Q) ..0 8 Q) ;> o Z Kevin Rentzell (48) leads eventual winner Thomas Stevens in the A Superbike Expert class; Rentzell finished second. Scott Russell came away frern Road Atlanta with a win in the Production Expert class on his Yamaha FZR. topping Jamie James. Greg T yso r wo n two cl asses d uring t h e WERA f i na ls at Road A t lanta; the Georg ia n w o n th e C Production and C Superbike Expert classes. WERA Grand National Finals Roos, Stevens, Tysor double at 'Road Atlanta By Larry Lawrence BRA SELTON . G A, NO V. 5-8 T op amateur road racers from across the country ga thered at the picturesq u e 2.5 mile R oad Atlan ta co u rse, to co m pete in the 15th Annu a l Western/Ea stern R oad racers As sociati o n Grand Na tio na l Fi na Is, Cou t i n g eu cy m on ey f 'I 'I ' ro m t n ee moto rcyc e manuIaci urers as well as numerous 16 a fte rma rke t co m pa n ies was up for g ra hs a l t he fi nals , G eorg ian s Cam R oo s and G l eg Tvsor as wi-ll as Floridia n T ho m as 51'ev en s lo o k h onu- t wo E x pe rt Nat ion a l t it lcs eac h. Mike Smi th a nd Ra y Yodel proved to be th e cl as s o f Ih e Nov ice field, eac h win ni ng Iwo, G eo r gi a l ide l s. dominated Ih e act ion , Wilh seven riders fl o m t he Peach Siale lakin g hom e th e g o ld, 'I I 1 " I I " 01 1<'1 Nalule coopera lel anI g'av e pani cipanl s and spl'C1a tols fOUl Ja ys o f ueaut iful weat her fo r Ih e ._ ,' " ~~ve n t. I he sprl m a CII.IHl sla rted o n rhu rsd a y w ll h Ihe VlIl tage classes, J ess MOlTis cOlllin ued hi s lon g time d ( ~lIIi!lan ce of ~i n tage ~ac i ng b y w lll n lllg the VlIl tage 1111ee a nd Vin lage Fo ur e\'('n h o n ;, pair o f T ri u mp hs, S IIl ~1 ki~m oll~IIt'l1 !~h~ I R llm ll" ,11 .uul BSA min ( . n 'g \I d ll s WOII t lu - Vin ta ge Om- a nd V in ta g e Two cl as"'s. n'spl'cti\d y. Frida y's r;lCing act io n Slaned wi th , \\' iscolls ill r id er And y Fe nwic k d ( :fcn ~lin g hi,S D P m~I II Cl i o,1I t it le b y wruu nu; eas dy o n h i-, C ra ig Bau ers lw ll / R D G a l ag e / Fox / Sl w ei spo uso u «] Kawa sa ki EX 500, FenWi ck, led from th e sta n a nd a ft t' ~ In rtl lll g a siri ng o f I :- I ~ s "'~I hy .l o Sl"'OI ~ ds a lll'l~ o n ly 11 \'(' laps, I' e n w lck SC i Ill S mach 1111' on ~T IIlSe tow:n:d Ihe end, a nd co l h-~' I ed S IOO Imm Ka wa sak i 10 1 l he WilL C " S'I I, I ' I ,l:a lg l amuall g I WOl.l . ~ n t Ie N O~'I ("{' cl ass o n a not hl'!' I'.X;,OO, .I . i\(;lIer was close to Shamball gh ca ll I" bill t he Penn s,",vallia r ide l: pulled ;I\\'aygrad ua lly' fOI Ihe Will , Ko u p 's Kaw a sa ki /Bl' Cy cles-sp onso red Sham ba ugh a lso coll ected 100 for hi s win. KUl'1 H all led th e B Superb ik e ra ce for [our laps be for e Kevin Re ut ze l! a nd T yso r to ok o ver o n lap five. Relllld l ra n a co up le of la p s in the 1:32 hr: « kel on Ihe Ka yo Corp, S u / uk i GS X R i !iO and pull ed away 10 wi n by th ree seco nd s over T\'so i . Tysor" , Ilard wor k o n h is produc iion CS X R was in va in , though , becau se he was docke<.l o ne la p for doi n g a humou r p r io r 10 the s ta n. ' " I m issed Ihe pa rt o f th e riders ' tllt Tli ll g wh er e th ey wer e te ll ing rvr -rvbodv not to do burn o ut s." sa id T ysc'lI . " j " ,.. been d o in g th em a ll yea r: iI lu -lp-, nu- ge l a good start by g elling tlu- ti res good a nd st ick y. I rh i u k a one-lap p en alty is 100 slee p , I m ea n vo u m iglu as well no t race uu der Iho se ci rcu rus ta nres. I wo u ld rat lu -r IJe fi ned tha n pu t o u t o f th e Ia n ·. " Th cpcn uh y moved KUrl Hall i n i o st'co nd and Bruce N iel d 10 third. II loo k New Yo rker AI Lain hart ;1 w hi ]« to ge t hi s Dea n Beck el Jr. s po nsored 12:, l\I BA go ing bu t o nce Ill ' did ir W;IS sm oo th sai lin g to the Fo r mu la T h ree C h a m p io ns h i p, Kawasa ki G Pz3llr,-mounl ed Jim Eas lo pe ne d up a b ig lead on ih« fir st lap, w h ile La inh art began working hi s wa y rlu o u u h Ihe field o n hi s slow slart ing mach ine, H a lfwa y int o t he ronu-st Lai n h.ms li u k- two-stroke l ip ped a ro u nd t hc o u tsid.. of th e Ka wasa ki 10 lake the lead , The :'.lB A (w h i, h is a bo u t half Ih e si ze of a 7:,()cc p rodu ct ion m a chine ) p erto rmed ad m irn hly in th e cl osi ng laps a nd wo n bv [ive seco nd s at th e fini sh , In ll'rest ingl y, G leg Com st o ck wo n t lu - Formul a Three t it le last year r iding a 125 :\IBA . Ann Ar bo r , :'.Iichigan 's Thomas E"inger wa, a ha p p y rarcr a fle r ta k ing ho m e the Novir« F-3 title a nd " 1000 fro m Ka wasa ki for rid ing a Kawasa ki ~50 ill tl u- race. On e l ace Ian qu ipped , " I th ou g lu this was Form u la One, wher e're the Form ul a bikes- ." a s t he Form li la class r ouux-titr» S to ok the ir wa rm up lap, It was nue. th e Form u la O ne cl ass w h ic h u sed to be d om in a ted bv Ya mah a T Zs , S u zu k i R G s a n d H onda RS , was now fo r th e m ost pan a bi g -bore S u perb ike race, T h e race fan s d id n 'l ge l 10 sec ma n y tw oslrokes, bUI w ha l lliey did see wa s th e la sll'SI racing of th .. we e kend, , Th olll as Sle\ '('ns ridi ng a hi g hl y lu ned T "am Sllll iki hack-up end u ra nn' m achi ne bliSlcl"{'d the rest o f Ihe fid ll. run n in g sewra l la p s in the I : ~8 range, T o g ive a n id ea o f ho w fasl th aI pace was . th e la p lillles lu rn ed by St e\ e ns w('le a s fasl as ra ce tim es tu rned by Wa yn e Ra iney a nd Kevin Schwan tz in th e Ca mel P ro Superbik e ra ce in Ma y, Kevin Rent zel l a nd Mike H arth fini shed second a n d th ird. W hen asked a bou t th e torrid pace set b y St e ven s, R e ruzel l re p l ied. " T ha t bi ke is just p lain Iast." Du ring la st yea r 's Form u la Two fi na I so m e o f the closest raci ng lo ok pl ace between Roos, Cli ff Bigoney a nd Pete Frost, In Ih al ra ce Fro st cras hed a nd No vice Roo s beat Ex pert Big oney \0 the line. One year lat er and th e sa m e three g u ys wi th th e add it io n o f Dan Reif a nd G ra ham j am es p UI o n a show i n the F-2 Ex pert class. Roo s led the firs t lap rid in g a n ex o t ic Yam ah a FZR 400 . T Z25 0m ounted Bigouey m otored b y Roo s for the lead OI~ the second la p . By t he halfwa y po int . yo u cou ld th row a bl anket o ver james. Bigoney. Roos and Frost. .lames d ropped o u t IWO laps lat er lea vi ng Big oney, Roos, 'Frost a nd hard charg in!; Re if 10 haul e it OUI 10 th e checke red ' fla g. Bigoney used th .. LOp speed of hi s H eyser Cycl e/Lockhart H in uelsbar h Ra c in !;/ Ca rl Bi!;on,n'- sp o ns o red TZ250 to power to a narrow victory a t the fini sh , Ro o s h eld o n fo r second whil e Reif a nd Frost rou nded o u t.the (01) r u n nel'S, " I h ad a grea t lim e o u t there with those g uys ," sa id Big ouev. " 1 ha ve great res pe ct fo r them. I hope we can ge l to g ether agai n n ex t year. " T he Fo rmula T wo No vice race tu rn ed in to a Xlike Smi th \ ' S, Ron C elwicks balti c. Sm ith 's Ro swell (G eo rg ia) Racin g Ya m aha RZ350 had horsepo wer o n Gelwi cks RZ b u t Gelwic k see med to be a b le to h us tle h is m achine a ro u nd th e t u rns a lilli e quick e r. At th e chec kered flag it was Sm it h w ho took th e wi n, Tilt" C lu b ma n cla ss races turned in to cl assi c co n fro n ta tio us bet we en o ld a nd n ew techno lo g y, i.e. multi cy linde r m ach in es vs. thum pers . In both th e N o vice ami Expert races th e new bea t OUI the o ld , but noi with out a fight. N ovi ce Wi ll iam Gra y rod e h is Trud ie Hopkin ssponsored Yamaha FZR ,IOO to lh e w in afte r a race- lon g d uel w it h Yam aha S R6 00-mo un ted Wi ll iam Card e ll. In lhe Ex pe rt ran ks FZR -m o unl t'd Ro os won aft er be ing cha ll enged by Yam a h a S R X6 00 -mo u n teu Lanv Burkh older. . " 1 had a uo u l as much lOp speed as h is FZR did. b ut I had some h and lin !; a nd g ro u nd .cl ea ra n ce

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