Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~. :. ~ 00 00 Q') ...... "' (.0 ~ ...c:: u l-< C'\S :E Pete Johnson rode a ' Honda 450 to an easy win in the Premier 500 race, f inishing almost 50 seconds ahead 0 Cra ig McLean. Paul MacMillan rode to victory in the Formula 750cc Four-Stroke event, his first ever vintage race. Dave Roper was more than five seconds behind. Pat McHenry (41 ) prepares to dive under Pat Moroney (8 ) for second in Class C competition. Moroney held off M ike Smith (1 ) to finish third . AHRMA Vintage Road Races MacMillan masters Daytona _ Vintag'e By Henny Ray Abrams DAYTONA BEACH, FL, FEB. 29 Riding h is fir st ever vintage event, 27-yearold Can adian Paul MacMill an won the Formula 750cc Fo u r-S troke race by more than five seconds over T eam Obsolete's Dave Rop er wi th .Floridi an J ohn Long finishi ng a distant thi rd . MacMillan J' um ped into the . lead at the start and im me - 34 diately used th e pow er advantage of his Ecurie Classic 1970 CB750 H onda to mo tor away fro m Amol Precisian's CB750-mo unted Kurt Liebma nn a nd Roper, on th e Dick Man n BSA tri pl e. H onda-mounted Lon g was fourth ahea d of th e T rium p htri p le ridden by Robert Rogers. Exiting the Internati onal H orseshoe on th e fourth lap, Liebm an n got 'int ? a r~ar wheel slide. Isaved it, then ~llgh - slded over the fron t end, ~ra~hIng the H~nda for th e first time In Its IS-year life. T hat p ut Roper into second an d Long int o third and that's how they fin ished after 10 laps. " It was fun racing against people I've been read ing about for years , like Roper a rid Liebmann. I looked back and Liebmann was in the corne r, and I thought he was catchi ng me and then I saw the start of hi s fall," MacMillan said. "There was oil on th e track. I was lucky.eno ugh to spot it." . The bik e MacMillan rode belon gs to T om Faulds, and he mi ght race it .again if MacMi llan has his way. "If T om will ha ve me I'll ride it at every even t." Ro per said that he had a coup le of problems in th e race including some missed shi fts. But he added, " Even in th e best 'of condi tio ns I cou ldn' t have caught him. He was riding reall y well." T he year 1988 will not be considered a "vinta ge" year for raci ng " his toric" motorcycles at Daytona. Crash es, mech anica l br eakdowns, attr ition and off-trac k con troversy pr evented the ma tch-ups amo ng the top rid ers th at have ma de for close racin g in th e past. Still, th e event, held on th e first Monday of Speed Week, cont inued to grow in popularity with 228 entries and crowds li ning the entire in field roa d cours e th at , alo ng with part of th e west banking, the American Hi sto ri c Motorcycle Racing Associa tion uses for the vintage bik e ra ces. T he track measures 1.75 miles. Modified Production Pro Twins Champion Pete J ohnson rode the number-one pla te, Fast-by-Ferracci Drixton H onda 450 to an easy win in th e P remie r 500 ra ce as hi s purs uers fell by the wayside. Ro per dro pped a u t on th e o pen ing la p wi th "incredible clu tch slip, " th at he noti ced o n th e warm -up lap. A cou ple more riders fell in th e horseshoe and by the th ird of 14 laps it was obvio us th at the on ly question wo u ld be Jo h n so n 's ma rgin o f victory. It tu rn ed o u t to be a lmost' 50 seconds with Crai g McLea n fini sh ing second on th e 1965 Seeley G-50 Match less and Dan Philli ps taking third o n a B-50 BSA Gold S tar. Pro Tw i ns G ra n d Prix Ch ampi on J imm y Adamo was fourth o n a Ren o Leon i Ducati Desma 450 th at Leoni p rom ised would be morecom petitive in its next o uting. Liebmann tried to ride, bu t injuries he suffered in h is F-750 fall fo rced h im o ut ear ly in the race. " I t' s u n fortu na te th at Dav e (Ro p er ) a n d Kurt . (Lie bma n n) dropped o u t. I don 't li ke win ning li ke th at," J ohnso n said. ''I'd rath er be o u t th ere duking it o u t wi th th em. " J ohnso n added th at he 'd id n ' t kno w tha t Roper had drop ped out and never backed off. " I was goi ng for i t as hard as I could," J o hnson said. " I kept com ing up on yellow flags and I knew I couldn 't pass o n it.'! McLean also didn' t know wh ere he stood on the track. " I just kept going," the Californian said. "As I got farther awa y from the leaders and in front of th e ~uys behind me I just kin d of took It easy. I had no idea I was second. The o nly laps I was going real hard wer e th e first fiv e or six, " the AHMRA 350 GP Champion said. One rid er wh o chose not to com pe te was Roger Reiman. The former Grand National Champion a n d Dayton a winner felt unduly singled o ut by rules prohibi ting flat slide or smooth -bore carbure tors and decided " th e da y before the ra ce n o t to co nfor m. The on ly double winner among the II vintage races was West Coa st British Racing's Mike Green. Green began his day by winning th e 250cc GP class for the thi rd year in a row o n a 1965 Du ca ti Diana 250. ·'It was th e easiest o ne I've had in three years," Gr een said. Du catis ridden by J eff Hecox and Mike Asakawa finish ed secon d and th ird. Six races lat er, Gr een came ou t on a 1973 T- 140 750 T rium p h to win the 750cc GP class by 100 yards over Norton-mounted Vic Bannister and Rob Tuluie. T hree races lat er Green finis hed seco nd in th e Sports ma n ' 750 to Frank Sh ockley o n a Triumph . T odd Henning fini sh ed th ird. Green 's Ir onman per formance also in cluded a fifth in th e 350 GP class and a six th in th e Premier 500. Results • 250 GP: 1. M ike Gr een (Due): 2. Jeff Hecox (Due); 3 . M ike Asaka wa (Duc ); 4. Vic Bann ister (Duc ); 5. Lee Robison (Bul); 6. Nick Phill ips (Duel. 2·STRK GP: 1. Keith Gonyou (Vam); 2. Todd Henning (Vam); 3. J im Baker (Vam); 4. M ike Moscoso (Vam); 5. Ja mes Reed (Vam); 6. Kevin M urra y (Bul ). . SPTSMN 500 : 1. David Walden (Tr i); 2. Dan Phillips (BSA); 3. KarlheinlZ Huber (Han); 4. Greg Will s (Tri); 5. Ed Abdo (BSA); 6. Jerry Gillen (BSA). 200 GP: 1. Jo hn Long (Bul); 2. Johny Anderso n (Bul); 3. Jon Stauff er (Han); 4. Rich ard Goldman (Ben); 5. Pasquale Guar gent i (Rum); 6. Denny Jaworski (Han). 350 GP: 1. Malcol me Tun sta ll (Due); 2. Joe Lac hni et (Yam); 3 . Craig Mc Lean (Nor~; 4 . Br et M orshead (Due); 5. M ike Green; 6. Alan Cath cart (Due). CL C: 1. Norm an Nelson (Nor ); 2. Pat McHe nry li nd); 3. Pat Moro ney (H-O); 4 . M ike Smith (Tri); 5. L.V.Hall (Ind); 6. Denn is Leggett (Ind). 750 GP: 1. M ik e Green (Tri ); 2. Vic Bannister (Nor); 3. Rob Tuluie (Nor); 4. Frank Mrazek; 5. Jerry Wood (Tri); 6. M ike Smith (Tri). PRE-1940: 1. Beno Rodi (BSA); 2. Larry Feece (Rud); 3. M ar ia Bat sleer (Ind); 4 . Ger oge W il son (Ind); 5. Bob Reynold s (Nor ); 6. Dick M ills (Nor). SPTMN 750 : 1. Frank Shockley (Tri); 2. Michael Green (Tri); 3. Todd Henn ing (Tri); 4. Jesse Mo rr is (Tri); 5. R.N.Root (Tr i); 6. Chuck Chirco (BMW). F-750 4-STRK: 1. Paul McM illan (Han); 2. Dave Roper (BSA); 3. J ohn Long (Han); 4. Robert Rogers (Tri); 5. Bill W eidn er (Due); 6. Scott M cCloskey. PRE500: 1. Pete Johnson (Han); 2. Craig McLean (Mat ); 3. Dan Phillips (BSA);4 . Jimmy Ad amo (Due); 5. Ray Lewi s; 6. M ike Gr een (Due).

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