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/127139
Thus a race th at had promised much ended up deliveri ng little except for Lawso n 's 23rd victory, and a h an dsome 40·poi nt lead over Gardner. Rainey was wh ooping with glee on th e rostrum , now second overall , 12 points ahead of Ga rdn er and 28 behind Lawson . " I never expected to be standing up here," sai d Rainey. 250cc race As well as leading th e 250 title chase, Sito Po n s is also riders ' r ep resenta ti ve to the FIM . a n d attended a meeting prior to practice to dis cuss safety at the circu it. The far bend. where the track turns to run back on th e high side of th e vall ey, had been tigh tened slightly :...- a wa y of increasing runoff area - and he praised the cha nge, wh ile 500cc class representative Eddi e Lawson sai d it m ad e no difference, beca use the bigger bikes were on a di fferent line. Observers noted th at o n ly o ne 250cc pil o t regul arl y took wh at o ne ex p ect ed wo uld ' be the 500. lin e .. . ru nn ing right next to the far side of the track under brak ing, th en turning q ui ckl y and pu tting o n th e power on early as he aimed for a late apex. It was Masah iro Shimizu's works H onda. Ra ther surprisingly, when th e 500s came out, th ey followed the same route as mos t of th e 250s, though the y did dr ift wider on th e exit under th eir far grea ter power, which may have been what Lawson meant. Shim izu q ua lified on ly 11th, so hi s • li ne di dn 't seem to be pa ying di vidends in spite of his ear lier handful of horsepower. Bu t he su re had the right bik e for th e job. All the YZR riders now had th e new exha usts. pistons and cylinder heads, and Luca Cad alo ra reported he had been able to go down o ne sprocket- size as a result of th e horsepo wer. Even so, for a while it look ed as though it was go ing to be a one-horse race , a nd that anyone not riding a H onda need no t app ly. T his was after three p r actice sessions, wh en Reinhol d Roth was on pole, a nd th e entire front row con sisted of NSR H ondas. In deed, sixth-fastest was not a YZR, but th e insp ired Manfred H erweh 's T Z, and on ly th en came th e work s Yamaha riders Cadalora , and Garri ga. H ad Friday aftern oo n 's rain been repea ted o n Sa turday, then th ese would have remained th e grid positions, but it stayed dry for a hectic final sessio n and Cad alo ra man aged to slot into fourt h place, the o nly Yamaha on the front row . . Cornu ended up on po le, with Ro th second, Swiss veteran lead ing German d itto ; wi th Fr en chman Dom in iq ue Sarron thi rd, a nd Pons' NSR to th e far end in fifth . All-the times were very close . . . the top 10 riders wit hi n the same second . . . on this tra ck where slipstreaming is everythi ng. Mang was pushed down on to th e second row i n th is last sessio n , between six th pl ace G arriga a nd La vado, whi ch was ra ther sur prisi ng because th is is the circui t closest to his Bavarian hom e, and he had wo n the intern ati onal r ace h ere the weekend before. Meanwhil e anot her fast TZ had thrust to th e fore, a revit ali zed Ivan Palezzese, th e Venezuelan privateer finally finding the form that made h im so form idable last year, claiming the last place of the second rank. H erw eh was next, leading ro w th ree, then Shimizu a n d Carlo s Cardus, returned after hi s ghastly crash in Spain (where his helmet came off), and sayin g he was well , but tak in g it " softly, softly." H is ear ly return was the cause of m uch YAMAHA DEALERS LAGUNA.SECA TOUR J-ULY 9, 10,1988 Come see the hottest road racing in the western states, and take 'a lap aroun,d the track Tour Ticket Price - $35.00 Tour t icke t includes 2 day admission w ith paddock pass, parade lap, cap and pin . Parade lap participants mus t be in Yamaha staging area by 11 :30 a.m . Sunday. Part ic ipants m ust ride street legal motorcycles, wear a he lmet, and follow officials inst ructi ons. Th is is a parade lap at controlled speeds. No t ra ilers on t he track. For tickets to the Budweiser/Nissan 200 at Laguna Seca Raceway, see one of the following dealers: ' Airport Honda·Yamaha·Kawasaki. IndewDOd, CA 2 1 3 /671 -0 4 0 6 Long Beach Yamaha. Long 1IeadI, CA • •• •••• 2 13/498-6578 Alhambra Yamaha. AJIwnbra, CA •• • • •• • • • • 818/289 -5301 Malcolm Sm ith. Riverside, CA •• •• • •••• ••• 7 14/687 -1300 Dick Allen Honda-Y'! maha. Newhal~ CA ••• • • • 805/259 -8460 Malott's Honda Suzuk i. Manteca, CA ••• ••• •• 209 /823 -7 181 Beach Yamaha, Iholltingto_ Beadl,l;A • •• • • • • • 7 14/549-9086 Martini Yamaha. s,.ns, NY •• ' •••• •• • • • • • 702/359·7117 Berkeley Yamaha, 8ertleIeJ, CA • •• •• • • • • •• 4 15/525-5525 M ission Yamaha, Lagana Nigel, CA •• •• • • • • • 71 4 / 5 82- 0 3 5 1 Motorcycle City. loMpoc, CA •• • •• ••••• • • • 805 /736-7777 Burbank Yama ha. Burlla" CA •• ; •• ••• •• • 8 18/845 -8738 Hayward-Yamaha . RaJWani, CA •• • •• • • •• • • 415/537-7014 Napa Valley Yamaha. Napa, CA • , • • • • •• •• • 707/253-0468 Capi tol Yamaha. Sacralnento, CA • • •• •• •• • • 916/485 -9200 Orange County Cycle. Gardea Grove, CA • • ••• • 714/ 53 0- 7 34 0 P.C .P. Yamaha. Sacra..eato~ CA •• • • • • •• •• • 9 16/428 -4040 Yam aha Motor Sports. Pico R"era, CA • •• • •• 2 13/861 -4 13 9 Golden Gate Yamaha, Sa_ trancisco, CA ••• ••• 415 /771 -4535 Co ncord Yamaha. ColIconI, CA • •••••• • •• • 4 15/798-2580 San Bruno Yamaha . SanBruno, CA • •• • • • • • • 415/952 -3600 South Bay Yamaha. National CitJ. CA •••• •• • • 6 19/420-2300 Dale 's Modem Cycle. SanBenardino, CA ••••• 7 1 4 /884-6464~ T&O Yamaha Buen a Park. Bueaa Park, CA •• • • 71 4 / 5 22 -8 2 0 0 Dav is Honda -Yamaha·S uzuki. Dawis, CA • • • •• 9 16/753-3466 T&O Yamaha. loMita, CA •• • •• ••••••• •• • 2 13/534-2311 Ted Evans Motorcycle, Las Angeles, CA •• •••• 213/306 -7906 Thousand Oaks Yamaha. Thousand Oaks, CA • • • 805/497-3765 Fairfield Yamaha. Fairfield, CA • • • '; ; • • • '• • • • 707/422-3150 T~o Wh eels. In~ .. Ilerced.t.PA •• • •• • •••••• 209/698 -0578 Fast ' s Palo Al to. Palo lito, CA • •• • •• •• ••• • 4 15/493 -3414 VIckery Yamaha. Denver, IOU •••••••••••• • 303/755-4387 Foothill Yamaha. Tujunga,CA ••• • •' •• • •••• 8 18/352-3277 Stockton Honda·Yamaha. Stoclrton, CA • •• • •• 209/465 -3200 .. Wr ight Motors, Lodi, CA •• •••• •• •••· • • • • 209/ 368-1 139 Franklin Cycle Sales. Greeley, CO •• • • •• • • •• 303/352 -6992 Clovis Honda·Yamaha. ClOVIs, CA • • • • • • • • • 209/299 -2511 Yamaha Cou ntry. SanJose, CA ••• •• •••••• 408/287-2946 Fremont Yamaha. Fremont, CA •• • •' • • • • • • • 4 15/793-2368 Yamaha Redlands. Redlands, CA ••• • • • • •• • 7 14 / 7 9 3-247 3 Gilroy Yamaha, GilroJ, CA • • •••• •••• • •• • 408/842 -9955 8eaumont Yama ha-Kawasaki. Beaumont, CA ••• 714/845 -4882 Grand Prix. SantaClara, CA ' y • • • • • 408/246-7323 Sunwest Yamaha, Corona, CA •• • • •• •• •• •• 714/735 -7721 Motors West. Campbell, CA • •• • • • • • • • • • • • 408/378-8719 . Yamaha Cucamonga. Cucamonga, CA • • • • • • • 714/987-241 1 , Hanford Suzuki-Yamaha. Hanford CA • • • • • • • 209/ 582-6716 , Yamaha Goleta. Goleta, CA • ••• • ••••••• •• 805 /964-7714 M inus 1. MerJSville, CA •••••• •• ••• •• ••• 916/742-8281 Yamaha San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, Cl 805 /543-6723 ' International Motorcycle, Caaoga Park, CA • • •• 8 18/346-3700 Yamaha San Jose. SantaClara, CA •• • • • • •• • 408 /226-5900 J im & J im 's of Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa, CA• •• • 707/545-1672 Yamaha San Mateo. SanMateo, CA • • • • • • • • • 415 /348 -7100 Richmond Yama ha. Ridnnond, CA • • • • •• • • • 415/235-7322 Yamahe Suzuki Sports Center. Seaside, CA • • • 408/899 -2401 Kawasaki-Yamaha Ventura, Ventura CA •• ••• 805/653-5884 , Liverm ore Yamaha. Livennore, CA •• • • • • • • • 4 15/449 -712 1 LeBard & Underwood. La Habra, CA ••• •• • • • 714/879-8252 ON RACE WEEKEND BE SURE TO VISIT THE YAMAHA TENT. -------------------------------------------RANDY HAWKINS WINS LITTLE BURR RANDY WINS AGAIN ,USING A HARDENED "BLACKLOY' REAR SPROCKET IN OHIO. He has depened on the "BLACKLOY" sprockets all year saying "The BLACKLOY is definitely the longest lasting sprocket I have ever run Bar-None." Mqchined from 7075-T6 alloy with a special hardened finish - all tooth sizes are available for Street, Dirt, or ATV's. See your local dealer and demand the best - don't . settle for less! HARDENED "BLACKLOY" Your local deale r can get the exac t sprocke t you need . all standard 7075-T6 alloy rears are in stock and are GUARANTEED to be shipped by the neX! day . Next time you NEED it fast get it every time • on time only from SPROCKET -SPECIALISTS