Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127134
John Long (3) makes his pass on Jimmy Adamo (26); Long won the Grand Prix class for his first victory since 1985 when he won at Daytona; Dale Ouarterley (3 2 ) leads Jimmy Adamo (26), Doug Brauneck (1), Dave Kieffer and the rest of the Pro Twins Gra nd Prix class on the f irst lap . AMAjCircleBell Pro .Twins GP Series: Round 2 . Long drought ends with Road Atlanta win By Paul Carruthers Photos by Randy Marrs BRASELTO N, GA, MAY 15 Florida's John Long ended a three-year drought without a win as he annihilated the com p etition in the the Pro Twins Grand P ri x class at Road Atlanta. Long and his Longevity Racing Ducati beat the Fast by Ferracci Ducati of D I Q t i d th T ' a e . uar er er an e. earn Leoni Ducat! of JImmy 14 Adamo by almost 12 seconds. " I can't remember the last time I won," Long said. "I'm serious, I can 't remember. You 'll .have to look it up in the archives." Long later remembered that his last win came on a 250cc Yamaha in October, 1985 at Daytona International Speedway. Long began his professional career in 1972 and finished that season as the top- ' ranked AMA Novice road racer. Fourth place in the premier class of twins racing in the U.S., went to Dr. Dave Kieffer on his Rough Stock Racing Ducati with Kevin Erion, who had ear lier won the Mod ified Twins class, rounding out the top five on h is Del Amo Cagivasponsored Du cati. The pre-race favorite, defending Pro Twins GP Ch am pion and third place Daytona finisher Doug Brauneck, suffered mechanical ills on the ultra-trick Dr. John's Moto-Guzzi. The rocker arm carrier broke before the bike even got to turn one, causing the intake valves to remain closed, ending Brauneck's .ra ce.. He h~d earlier se.t the ~astest nrnes In pra.cuce on what IS basically an all-new-sinceDaytona machine. For the first time the Moto-Guzzi was using a 17-inch rear wheel with Metzeler radial slicks. The bike also featured a new chassis, new cylinder head with redesigned ports, a shorter stroke and bigger bore and a new crankshaft and cylinder. One of the tricker features is the front suspension which uses a remote-mounted Koni shock absorber which works in . conjunction with the front fork. Unfortunately, the bike didn't get much of a chance to run with the front runners in the final. When the flag dropped on thefinal it was Adamo leading Quarterley and Brauneck, who was already feeling the effects of the broken rocker arm; Long, meanwhi le, was fifth behind Duane Summers, but the pair were already a good distance behind tile leadi ng trio. By the end of the second lap, Long had disposed of Summers, who now had his hands full with Kieffer and Erion, and was charging after the · leaders, led by Quarterley. Kevin Stansy was a lonely eighth followed by Hilton Van Staden. O n lap three, Long was past the fading Brauneck who would call it a day three laps late r. "I saw the Guzzi and thought, 'Okay, that's one'," Long said later. On the fifth lap Long got by Quarterley and the race for the lead was again a three-rider duel. O n lap six, however, Long established himself as the rider to beat by taking over the lead spot and pulling clear. Quarterley and Adamo were left to battle for second, a race that would go to the £lag. Kieffer, meanwhile, had pulled clear of Erion and Summers momentarily on the seventh lap of the 16-lap race. A lap later, though, at the halfway mark, and they were all three back together. At this time, Long was putting a lap on three-time Gran d National Champion Jay Springsteen, who was nursing an illsoundi ng Harley- Davidson and would shortly pull int o the pits on lap 10. Erion seemed to pull clear of Kieffer and Summers on the nin th lap , but the duo managed to reel him back in o n la p I I. Adamo and Quarterley were still quarrelling over second place, with Long way ahead. On the final go-around, Adamo led Quarterley, but as they came down the hill toward the finish line it was the Rockland, Massachussetts, rider holding off the New Yorker for second place, despite Adamo's.inside challenge in turn 12.. . The battle for fourth also went to the line with Erion leading as the final lap started, but Kieffer taking over when it counted most. Summers, who incidently was previously a world-class desert and ISDE competitor, was left to watch from behind, ending up sixth in his bestever National performance. " I got the world's worst start," Long said. "The exhaust broke loose on the front cylinder, but it was still pulling red line. I had the esses and the straight over them and could see I was catching up. I went past, looked around a lap later and they were gone." " I didn't have the sus pension right," Adamo said. "We ran into traffic at the top of the hill and he shut the door on the exit of the second corner from the finis h. It was hot out there; this four-valve gets warm." Results _ PRO lWINS GP: 1. J ohn Long (Due); 2. Dale Quarterley (Duct 3. Ja mes Ad amo (Due); 4. David r: Kieffer (Due); 5. Kevin Eri on (Duel; 6. Duane Summers (Duel; 7. Randy Kirmec (H-Dt B. Kevin Stansy (Due); 9. Hilto n Van Staden (Due); 10. Er ic Pltillippe IDue). PRO lWINS POINT STANDINGS: 1. J ohn Long (30); 2. Dale Quarter ley (25); 3. Kevin Er ion (16t 4 . Doug Braun eck/Ji m my Adamo (13); 6. Kevin Stasny (111. ' AMA Pro Twins Modified Production Series: Round 2 Erion makes it two for two at Road Atlanta By Paul Carruthers Photos by Randy Marrs BRASELTO N, GA, MAY I4 Californian Kevin Erion kept h is im macula te P ro T wins Modified Product io n record in tac t as he easily won the class at. Road Atlanta, leading wire-towire, Erion, aboard his Two Brothers Racing/Del Amo CagivalTsub aki / Mic he lin -sponsored Ducati , followed up hi s first -ever clas s 'win at Daytona in March with another impressive o uting. Florida's Dennis Liebrech t rode his Ducati to a second place finish, 6.31 seconds behind Erion. Third p lace went to Eri c P hillip pe of North Carolina on yet another Ducati. Blaine Paulus Jr., and Frank Shockley rounded out the top five. The 12-lap final was a rather dull parade as pole sitter Erion led from the word go . The Pete Cazzari/ Trevor Heath/Jeanette Holbeinsponsored Liebrecht also had a lonely ride in second place. Third place was held early by Paul us, later by J . Craig Shambaugh and finally by P hill ipe. Pau lus, who ended up fourth was the first non -Ducati with seventh place finisher Sharp also a nonDucati man on his Harley-Davids on. Edward Abdo rode a 1988 Honda H awk to 12th place. "Everything went well. I'm j ust .glad I wasn 't pushed," the smiling Erion said. "I need to ride faster, but today it was just whatever it takes to win. It was a lo t of fun out there." Results • PRO TWINS MODIF IED: 1. Kevin Erion (Due); 2. Denn is Liebraeht (Due); 3. Eric Phillipe (Duel; 4 . . Blain Paul us Jr. (M ·G); 5. Frank Shockley (Duel; 6. J oseph Wa llace (Due); 7. Thomas Sharp (H-D); B. Al an Hippan stea l (Yam); 9. Russ Mattson (Duel; 10. Stan Fridu ss 1M-G). PRO lWINS MODIFI ED POINT STANDINGS: 1. Kevin Erion (40); 2. Dennis Liebraeht (27); 3. mE) Thoma s Sharp/Blaine Paulus Jr. (17); 5. mE) Jo seph Lamiroult /Erie Phill ippe (16); 7. Frank Shoc kl ey (1 51; B. (TIE) Robert Gr iffiths/S ta n Fr idu ss (13); 10. Craig Shambaugh (12).