Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

, • Fred Eiker averaged 1 0 8 .2 mph on the Wood-Rotax 600 single to w in La Carrera III . It was his second overall La Carrera victory. Peter Davies of Kingsheath, 'England rode Ii 1974 Laverda 500 to seventh overall . The veteran compared La Carrera favorably to the Isle of Man . i Eiker gana La Carrera Classic III! By Brian Catterson Photos by Lynn Hall & Keith Davis BAJ A CALIFO RNIA, MEXICO, MAR. 19, Fred Eiker became th e first two-time La Carrera win ner by racing to victory in La Carrera ClassitIII, the latest incarnation of the biannual event. Riding theWood-Rotax 600cc four-stroke single on which he finished 20th in the Daytona 250 GP race Eiker , averaged I08:2 mph over the 115-mIle. r~ce course. Paul Ra s- musse~ fini shed second oyerall b~ averaging 106.~ mph o n hi s Ducati 7.5~ FI-B, .whil e DU!1ne Su m mers finished th!rd; averagmg 104.4 mph 0!1 a Du cau 7:>0 Paso. Since October of 1985, La Carrera has been held on Mexi co's Highwa y , 3, which is closed for the occasion, between the Baja towns of Ensenada and San Felipe. In th e spirit of th e great races of the past, lik e Italy's 'targa Florio, La Carrera is th e last of the true point-to-point road races . Each spring, the race features classic cars (10 years or older), and runs east from the Pacific Ocean to !~e ~ulf of California. In th e fall, It s 'run what ya' brung" and the directi on is reversed. Motorcycles, new and o ld (b u t no mod ern fourcyli nder machines), com pe te in bo th events . T he race o rig ina llv ra n th e entire distance bet ween th e'two towns but is now a bit sho rter, just m issin g San Felipe a nd in stead term inating at th e junction of Highwa ys 3 and 5. Two riders start every 30 seconds with the results scored on overall time. There is a mandato ry 10 minute pit stop at Independen cia. Unfort u na tely, La Carrer a ga in claimed the life of one of its competitors when 53-year-old Maurise to have it along. Summers sai d that he would have tried to repair his race bike, but his voltmeter burned up , that night, rendering it useless. His dad drove home with the broken bike Friday night and had it repaired at . Sunn ymead Cagiva for Sunday's Formula USA race at Willow Springs . Olin Daunell , another La Carrera veteran, averaged 103.4 mph to finish . fourth overall and first in the 500cc Twin division. His modified Kawasaki EXSOO was geared nine teeth taller than stock and had a Vance & Hines two-into-one exhaust system which, Daunell claimed. " has less ground clearance than stock, but - only on the right side. " A ba tt le between two Kawasaki employees. Clay Carson and Tom McMahon, who started at the same time, saw the two Kawasaki EXSOO riders draft their way to San Felipe. Olin Daunell rode a Carson beat McMahon to the line to . fourth overall and first in the claim fifth. hotly-contested 500 Twin class. Seventh overall was a tie between 45-year-old Englishman Peter Davis on a '74 Laverda Montjuich 500 (first "Budge" Mansur died after crashing vintage bike) and David Gibbons on his Harley-Davidson special at the a Yamaha 550 VIsion. The duo 14 kilometer mark in the mountains. averaged 101.3 mph. Doug Kirk also fell off his Yamaha Ninth overall was another veteran. RZ350, breaking his collarbone. Eddie Bru sh . o n a modified KawaRa ce da y saw stro ng winds blowsaki EX500. Brush was the last of the ing from the north which severely " to n up" (over 100 mph ) riders. affected the racers' top speeds. As an averaging 100.6 mph. Tenth place example, Eiker averaged just 108.2 finisher G reg LaCava narrowly mph on the Wood-Rotax, while in missed membership in this excl usive the past he averaged morethan 109 club by turning a 99.9 mph average mph on a Kawasaki EX500. T he road speed on his BMW . was also not entirely closed off, with Kawasaki Motor Corporation cona number of cars, trucks and even tinues to support La Carrera. proa bus(!) seen on the cou rse. There viding plaques for all of the fini shers were also reports o f a horse, a dog a nd also braking markers. which and a video crew on the road, but would have been a p precia ted b y firstthe gen eral concen sus was that. it timers unfamiliar with the road , but wasn 't as poorl y policed as in th e somehow these went unused. past. Refreshments were supposed to be Winner Eiker, who last won La served near the finish li ne , but this Carrera in September of 1986 on a a lso didn't happen. The organizaNorton , said that the wind was tion was. in a word, " unor ganized," " rea ll y bad." The Dunlop/Shoeibut there we re few complaints. sponsored rider used radial slicks in Everyone had lots of fun , and having th e race , but a fterwa rds felt that street fun is what La Carrera is all about. tires would have worked better. The . Kawasaki again fielded a team of Wood-Rotax was geared for 154 mph morojournalists on KL R650s , at 8500 rpm (o ne tooth larger on the EX500s and 250 Ninjas. Included in co u n tersha ft sprocket than at Day the group were Mark Tuttle of Rider tona), but wouldn 't pull more than magazine, Nick Ienatsch of Motor8200 rpm during the race. Ro n Wood cyclist. Brian Halton of City Bike, stated that he would liked to have Margaret Fowler of Free 2 Wheel. run with lower gearing. , Michael Ross of American Roadrac" I kn ew th e wind wou ld be bad, ing, and Brian Catterson of Cycle but I didn 't know what direction it News / Motorcycle Road Racer would be blowing from, " said Wood. Illustrated. ' " I didn 't want it to be undergeared Larry Coleman of Kal-Gard and if there was a tailwind. " passenger Mike Taylor of Barnett The Wood-Rotax road racer has drove their Kawasaki -powered finally reached production and sidecar outfit to the class win and Wood has begun to build the initial 12th overall at an average speed of 10 bikes for which he 's already 98.3 mph. Although they used a fourreceived orders. The motorcycle is a cylinder engine. they were allowed true clubman racer , and will be sold to co mpete because race organizer for a p p ro xima tely $10,000 . to "an Lo yal Tru esdale finds them average gu y market. " " different". Runn er-up Ra smussen , who' s Race co-organizer Cliff Carr rode raced in all but 'the first of th e th e Cycle New s Harley-Davidson previous La Carreras, was one of the p roject bike to the Open 1000 clas s ear ly starte rs, beginning slowly and win. The 883 Sportster was comgraduall y working h is way up to a p letely stock except for clip-e ns and rac e pace: After the race , the Liverrear-sets, a nd although Gil Vaillanmore, California resident was conco urt of Works Performance profid ent that he'd won since he wa s th e vid ed some shock ab sorbers, Carr firs t rider to th e fini sh line by a good elected to use th e stoc kers to bett er five minu tes. U n fo rt u na te ly for ga uge its original performance. Rasmussen , Eiker wen t faster. Vaill a nco urt himself rode a 1964 T h ird p lace finishe r Summers, Veloceue Venom 500cc single to who wo n the fall '87 La Ca rrera, fin ish third in the Vintage Single intended to compete o n h is Du cat i ca tego ry. Georgian Ben o Rodi won 750 L aguna Seca . H owever, th e thi s class on his BSA B50. recu rring ignition pi ckup problems which hav e plagued him in club Robert Flam averaged 85.8 mph on race s forced him to use his ba ck-up hi s Kawasaki Ninj a to win the 250 bike - a stoc k Du cat i Paso with 2000 Stock class, with T im McCl ellan, a m iles on its tires. five-foot, two-inch tall Kawasaki Summers had ta ken th e Pa so ou t district manager from Columbus, of the war eh ouse at Cagiva North Ohio , taking second. Michael Ross Am eri ca , where he's em p loyed, to use (Con tin ued to page 21) 15

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