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/127141
Pete Johnson and his Triumph Trident won the 750 Grand P.rix class. He also won the Premier 500 race. Kurt Lieb m ann made a last-lap pass to take second in the 750 Grand Prix class on his 1970 Honda CR750. AHRMA Historic Cup Series: Round 4 Johnson doubles at Road America By Brian Catterson Photos by Werner Fritz EL KHA RT LAKE, WI , J UNE 26 Nostalgica Scuderia 's P ete Johnson won two classes of th e AH R MA Historic Cup races, h eld in con junction with th e Cam el Pro Series road races at R oad America. The 24 198 7 A H R MA ' Ch ampi on 1' P rix a nd Premier 500 con tests, ' top p ing vetera n racers Kurt tasted victo ry in th e 750 Grand Liebmann a nd Da ve R oper , respectively, T he H istoric Cup races were held at the conclusion of the race weekend aft er all the professional classes were run and most of the fans had go ne ho me. AH R MA Director Ga ry Winn reported that AMA/CCS Chairman Ro ger Edmondson doesn 't want to ru n vintage bikes (and poss ibly Pro Twins ) at N a tional s beca u se o f all eg ed problems ca used by th e vintage bikes spilling o il onto th e racing surface. " We had another oi l problem th is morning dur ing pract ice," said Winn at the afternoon riders' meeting. " It cos t us 23 minutes; now they're timi ng us! " " We' ve got the rep uta tion , so now we hav e to live with it," said Johnson , proposi ng th a t the AH RMA assign someone to look over th e bikes as they come off th e trac k. The AMA was al so dismayed by the protocol exhi bited by so me of the vintage racers. O ne rider allegedly turned around on the race track pas t th e start/fin ish lin e and rod e back. to th e pi t exi t. Joh nso n p ut his 1969 Tri ump h Trident out front a t th e start of th e 750 Grand Prix race leadin g Bill Weidner o n a '72 Ducati 750SS. Kurt L iebman n held th ird on hi s '70 H onda CR 750 after start ing o n p it row . " T he bike wo uld n' t start, so I mis sed th e warm -up lap," explained Li ebmann. " The magneto either doesn't put o ur eno ugh juice o r it sp un on the crank; I'm not su re which ," T eam Obso lete's Da ve R o per, mean while, was circu lating in ninth p lace on th e ex- Dic k Mann Dayto na 2QO-win ning BSA Rocket 3. "The lead came off the coil during practice, so I o nly go t one lap of practice," said the lanky, beard ed Brookl yn , New Yorker. Coming around on the th ird an d fin al lap of th e four-m ile circu it, L ieb mann crep t past Weidner to take second at th e flag . Scott McCuskey came hom e fourth and T im Pa rker fifth , both on Laverd a 750SFC s. So me th ing was clearl y wrong with th e T eam Ob solete entry as Roper was unable to crack the three minute barrier, while Johnson was turning 2:47s. . "T he clutch was sli p ping," said Rope r. " I thought about coming in , but I didn 't know if Bard (Do novan, T eam Obsolete mechanic) had th e . tool s, so I- just co ncentra ted on stayin g under th e bubbl e. It 's a sim ple ad justment, bu t with a three. la p race .. ," Nortons dominated th e 750 Sportsm an cl ass, as T erry Wolfe (' 72 Commando ) too k th e victo ry, defeating Rob er t Goodpaster ('7 1 Combat) a nd Sco tt Serritell a ('72 Combat ). T he Premier 500 race featured the usu al J oh nson vs. Roper ba ttl e. Pa t Moroney grabbed th e lead a t th e start on h is '68 H arley-Davidson KR, but it was Rope r leading J ohnson across ' the str ipe to begin lap two. T he fast- . £l ying d uo led the field by over 30 seco nds, which stretched to a country mi le by the end of th e four -lap event. Roper, ridin g a '59 Match less G50 , led J oh nso n , riding a '69 H o nda CR450, pas t the start/ finis h line every lap but th e mo st important one - the last. Ex-CZ factory rider Frank Mra zek ('71 Honda CB500), Liebmann ('54 BMW Rennsport ) a nd Kei t h Gonyo u (' 60 BSA DB 34 rou nded o ut th e top five , respecti vely. "We were dici ng back and fort h, a nd drifting both wh eels o u t of the carousel, " sa id J oh n son , w ho' d turned a m ultitude of la ps around Road Am erica in End urance, Pro Twins and Vintag e racing. " I go t Roper down th e back stra igh t and hit the brak es to the point whe re th e front whee l was bouncing up an d down!" • Results 750 GP: 1. Pete Johnson (Tri): 2. Kurt Liebmann (Han); 3. Bill Weidner IOuc); 4. Scan Mc Cuskey (Lay); 5. Tim Parker (LaYI. 5DOSPTMN: 1. Chr is Hella nd (Due); 2. Gr eg W ill s (Tri). 2-STRK GP: 1. Keith Gonyou (Yam); 2. Mark Gonyou (Yam ); 3. Don Berg quist (Bri); 4 . Tim Richards (Suz); 5. Larry Vancil (Bri). 750 SPTM N: 1. Terry Wolfe (Nor); 2. Raben Goodpaster (Nor); 3. Scon Se" itelle (Nor); 4 . Scon Rothermal (Due); 5. J eff rey Hayen (BMW). CLASS C: 1. Pat McHenry (Ind); 2. AI Knapp (HD); 3. An Barda (Ind). 2DOGP: 1. s ven Bley (Bul); 2. J ohnn y Anderson (Bul). PRE 500: 1. Pet e J ohnson (Hon); 2. Dave Roper (M at ); 3 . Frank Mrazek (Hon); 4 . Kurt Liebmann (BMW); 5. Keith Gonyou (BSA). 350 GP: 1. Joe Lachnie t (Yam); 2. M ike Mitchell (Du e); 3 . Don From m (Due). 250 GP: 1. Gordon Pulis (Due); 2. Ken Baker (Duel; 3. Er ich Bley (NSU). PRE·1940 : 1. AI Knapp (H·D ); 2. George Wil son (Ind).