Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Su rprise entrant Wes Cooley led Team Suzuki to v ictory at the W illow Springs six-hour. Cooley teamed wtih Jamie James and Mike Harth. Human Race Team's Ben Martinez and Kurt Hall suffered brake problema but finished th ird overall and second in the Heavyweight Superbike class. • Solmax Rac ing's Kevin Rentzell and Scott Russell ove rcame an early crash to take second overall and f irst in Heavyweight Production. WERA Tsubaki/GS National Endurance Road Race Series: Round 2 . Team Suzuki "Hammers" competition at Willow Springs By Brian Catterson ROSAMOND, CA, APR. 16 "T h e one constant in racing is change," said Team Suzuki Captain John Ulrich, exp lain ing why h e' d changed his m ind and decided to use Wes Cooley after earlier saying that he wouldn't. Ulrich sent the two-time AMA Su erbike Ch am p io n .P . out to ride dunng the fourth hour of the slx-h0';lr enduranc~ race because the team s regular riders, Mike Harth and Jamie J ames, were having trouble with the bike's han- ~~;~~~~~e~a:~~~~~Jte:scli~~~~ 10 the problem. " We had a situation where we thought there was a problem with the bike. Mike said there was a problem, and we couldn't ask Jamie because he was out riding it, so we sent Wes out," said Ulrich. . Defendi ng WE RA National Enduranee Road Race Champions Team Suzuki inheri ted the win when leaders Team Hyper-Cycle retired during the fifth hour. Suzuki won the race by five laps, setting a new six-hour distance record 'of 567.5 miles (227 la p s on the 2.5-mile CIrCUit) at. an average speed of 9.4.58 mph. This surpassed the prevIous record of 560 miles (224 laps) set at Willow Springs last year by HyperCycle S I' . , .. 0 max Racing USA s Kevin Ren~- ~~~ b~~k~~~~ ~;~~~~~ ~~~~h.~ot~k~ second overall, and. First In the Heavyweight P:oducuon class. The ru~ner-.up pla;ang ~lIowe? them to maintain their senes pomts lead; after two of.15 rounds, Solmax no,:," leads SUZ!1~1 186.45 to 179.7. A team s 10 bes~ finishes ,!-r.e co un ted toward the se:Ies championship. Thud overa ll fell to the Human Race Team's Ben Martinez and Kurt Hall, with fourth going to K.D. Racing's Ken Davis and Chuck Magnusson on a Suzuki GSX R750. An impressive ride for fifth overall and first in class was turned in by Middleweight Superbike competi- · tors Jim Williams Racing. Team riders Mark McDaniel, Peter Wensloff and Don Canet rode their Suzuki 600 .Katana consistently al1 day, beating many larger displacement ma chines: Overcast skies, a strong br eeze and temperatures in the 70s greeted competitors at the Antelope Vall ey facility. Though rain threatened, th e cloud cover occassionally gave way to suns hine. The hard Iuck story of the weekend belongs to Red Stripe Racing. Brent Schuster, Don Fielden and Craig Gaver made the long trek from Kentucky on ly to suffer tuning problems with their Yamaha FZR400 which prevented them from starting the race. The race got underway at 11:40 a.m, with 38 teams lining up on the grid. Scott Russell of Sol max Racing USA false started, but quick ly returned to his position on the grid. The second attempt at a start saw Team Suzuki's Mike Harth take the lead into turn one fol1owed by Solrnax' Scott R ussell, Kayo's Mark Heiser, Hyper-Cycle's James Domay and Johnson and Woods' Chuck Graves. Jason Pridmore, son of former AMA Superbike Champion Reg Pridmore, was forced wide in turn nine on the first lap, running off and crashing the FBN Racing Team's Yamaha FZR400. . " I had nowhere to go," said Pridmore, who pitted twice following the crash - once to change helmets since his visor was torn off - but continued on to an eventual fourth in class at the finish. Domay, who's won three in a row at Willow Springs in the Formula USA Series, grabbed the lead on the third lap, showing his fami liarity with the track by turning lap times in the I:28-range before the crew told him to slow to consistent I:32s. . EBC /Shoei /Kal~Gard /Sudco l 0 ' NeallCoswo rt h / R K/ Ba tes/ Racers Supply-sponsored Team HyperCycle usually competes in the AMA/ CCS Endurance Challenge Series, but decided to compete at their home track in order to better prepare for the next AMA event at Road Atlanta on May 14. Domay led Harth, who turned one lap at 1:32.6,97.1 mph, wh ile Graves held down a respectab le third on the J o h n so n and Woods Suzuki GSX RIIOO . R u ssell pursued in fourth and by the 15-minute mark was up to third. Team From Behind dropped their Kawasaki EXSOO at the edge of the track in tum one, bu t picked it up and returned to action. Later, on lap 71, they were seen with their speedometer cable draggi ng on the ground moments before a high speed crash in turn nine ended their day. By the 45-minute mark, Domay had lapped through sixth place, and was extending his lead. Russel1 set his sights on Harth, and a few minutes later put th e move on for second. " I was working a lot harder tha n Russell," said Harth, who was disqualified from the win in a Suzuki Cup race at Talladega on April 10 because he was running an illegal six-speed transmission in his personal GSXRllOO - a decisio n he said was his own and in no way a reflection on Team Hammer/ Suzuki. Bruce Hammer, however, thought otherwise, fining Harth $1000 and threatening to fire him if he's ever caught cheating again. As a result there was noticeable tension in the pits between Harth a nd Ulrich. Dunlop/KaI-Gard/EBC/RKIProgressive Suspension-sponsored Solmax Racing USA's R ussell stretched his advantage over Harth, and soon lapped Kayo Racing, who had problems throughout the day. Kayo had added an additional reservoir on to the top of their . Yamaha FZRIOOO's fuel tank, and the sharp welded edges rubbed th e riders' arms uncomfortably. Ken Welty covered it with foam rubber and tape, which reportedly helped. . Russell was one of the first to pit, coming in at the 50-minute mark and handing off to Kevin R entzel l. Ren tzell has been racing ears lately, and winning a n umber of races.. "Car raci ng is like slow motion com pared to this," he said. . Nearing the completion of the firs t hour, Graves cras hed the Johnson and Woods bike in turn one. He picked it up and managed to make It back to the pits, but the team lost valuable time making repairs. They soldiered on , but retired on lap 134 with a bro ken chain and engine case. They were credited with a seventh place fin ish in the Heavyweigh t Superbike class. Rad Ra cing also suffered a broken chain, and were seen p ushi ng their Suzuki GSX R750 back to the p its from turn eight. They eventually rejoined the race, netting a fift h in the Heavyweight Production class . The leader pitted after one hour and 20 min utes, with Carry Andrew replacing Doma y in a brilliant five-

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