Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

It looked like a close finish. but the Human Race Team (2) was actually one lap behind Team Suzuki (leading). Team Suzuki claimed the 24-hour race despite having use of only one gear du ring the final three hours of the event. WERA Tsubaki/GS Battery National Endurance Road Race Series: Round 8 Team Suzuki nails Nelson 24-Hour By Larry Bell GA R RETTSVILLE, OH, J U L Y 30-31 Team Suzu ki En du ran ce turned in a " H ail Mary" performance in winning a twice redflagged an d controversial 20th Annual 24 Hours of Nelson Ledges. T eam riders Wes Cooley, M ike Harth, J amie a m e s a nd Ru s s ell P a ul k J 14 became o ne of a h~ndful. o f teams ·to score mul tiple WIns in the endurance classic. Their last in ca . 1984 WI . me m .- . . The "!eam. SUZUkI Emgo/ ~I/ SBS /MIchehn /Fox R acm g / Tsubaki -backed GSXR lloo clicked off 876 laps (1752 miles) on the two- . mile trac k, despit~ having use of just one gear for the final th ree hours. Second was the Human Race Team with Ka yo Racin g third. Heavy weight P ro d uctio n. winner Sol~ax Racing USA and Hard Cor e Racing rounded out th e top five overal l. Last year's winners, the Human Race Team, finished with 875 laps (1750 miles). Charlie Buse, Andy Fenwick, Ben Martinez and Tim Morrissey rode the Megacycle Cams/ Klo tz/Fox Ra cing/Tsubak i sponsored Yam aha FZRlOOO. T eam captain Dave Zupan finished building the motor a t trackside as parts were being shi p ped in and fitted to the chassis. He started th e bike on ly a half-hour before practice time. Peren nial powerhouse Kayo Racing finished third with 868 laps (1736 miles). R iders J eff Dea n , Ma r k Heiser, Don Rowe, Tom Sloan, J im Tribou a n d ca p tai n Ken Welty started the race on DOT 003 Yokohama radials." T he Ka yo / Yok ohama / D.1. D / G S Ba tt er y/ Ara il Spectro-sponsored team raced o n this tire previously without hand grooving and fou nd it to their satisfaction. When heavy rains and lightning forced a red flag in the early hours, Yokohama 's Da ve Graham was su m moned to ha nd-groo ve the tires to accommodate the wa ter, Kayo co u ld no t switch to full ra in tires beca use a shipmen t was not sched uled to. ar rive in time, Welty said. T he motor was freshly rebui lt durin g the week by Bee J ohnson. Solmax Ra cing USA started its D u n lop /E BC / AG V/ N G K/ R Ksponsored GSXR I I00 o n Dunlop K591sbefore goi ng to ra dia l rain tires when the storms hit. Riders J ohn Eide nberger, Ro n Ewerth, Cra ig Gaver and Kevin Ren tzell wo uld later have lighting problems during the early mo rn ing da rk ness whe n they began blowin g taill ights and headlights, forci ng seven additional pit stops. The team turned 853 laps (1706 mi les). H ard Core Ra cing ro unded o ut th e top five with an exceptiona lly strong performance in its first-ever 24-hour event . Riding the team's Mid west Action Cycle/ Sp ectre-ba cked GSX R IIO O we re Rob b y Br au n schidel, Je ff H arder, Dave Mill er, Shawn Nicoloff, Dave Probest .and Larry Sch warzbach , They initially challe nged the fro nt- runni ng Team Suzuki in the openi ng ho ur an d were frequently on th e same lap. T he team su ffered a cri mped brake line in the early mo rn ing, wh ich cost them 18 minutes in th e pits and any hope of a higher p laci ng. The race was almost boycotted by the teams tha t we re present o n Friday, after it was learned tha t severa l porti ons of the trac k had been resurfaced with an asphalt rejuvena to r in an effort to repair the deteriorating track su rface at a cost less than a total resurfacing job . . The areas of grea test concern were th e ground and groo ved turns two and 13. Those portions were treated wi th asphaltic co ncrete, according to Stan Tumas, Director of Operations of K.A.E. Paving Consultants. The material is co m p o sed of liquid asphalt, sand and stone of various sizes. The track was treated abou t two weeks before the event and had not had enough time to knead into sha pe. Many of the bikes ' tires were pulling up p ebbles an d losing traction. Some riders threatened to walk out, but officials co nvinced th em to practice for severa l hours and vote. After eveni ng practice, they voted 20 to six in favor of holding the race as p lanned. Again in the morning, track officia ls held a vote and it was nearly unamim o us in favor of racing; only th e Racing O ttawa and Cycle Speed tea ms p ulled out of th e even t. Track manager J o hn McGill called in two street-sweering trucks to clea n th e trac k of al residue and T umas said he woul d sp li t th e cos t o f the clea ni ng. Usu all y, a good la p for a H eavyweigh t-class bike is in the 1:15 to 1:18-ra nge. During th is race , the top mach ines were tu rning laps in the 1:16 to 1:21-range. A treac hero us ra in, wind and Iightning storm moved through the area shortly after th e start of the race at 3:00 p .rn., forcing two red flags - th e first during the second hour, and the second after 9:00 p.m . The Iightning struck the ground between turns four and seven, inj uring two cornerwo rkers wh o were rushed to the hos p ita l. They were released an d back at the event by th e end of the race, according to Competitio n Race Control. After the race , a physically- and emo tiona lly-drai ned Jainie J ames said that th e team was fo rt unate during the weekend. " We were lucky," he said. " I did n't know Fenwick was that close. I had to do so me wi ld ma neuvers. " Fen wick ma naged to ge t tha t close because of several inci dents du ring the wan in g ho urs of the race. With Team Suzuki leading by o n ly two laps in the 19th and 20th hours, its machin e sta rted to blow fuses as James rode th e bik e. T he mach ine coas ted to a stop as it exited the carro usel and J am es had to install a higher amp fuse. The crew co uldn't afford to ga m ble with downtim e. J us t before noon, with on ly a fourlap lead o n th e Human Race Team, the b ik e bega n having shifti n g problems. Newly-hired crew chief Butch La Croix sai d th at " maybe a shi ft fork ha d bro ken as a resu lt of a sp ill Wes Cooley had ta ken in the ni gh t. Only fift h gear is actually useable because six th bogs the mo tor too mu ch." The yo ung J am es sai d that he " learned a great deal a bout keep in g cornering speed up and setting new lines by creating a larger arc. " The Human Race Team pulled no punches in its efforts to reel iri th e troubled leader. Dave Zupan had to p ut his race motor together in a mara thon session d u ring Friday nigh t and had it in th e chassis and started for practice early _Saturday morning. . . The H um ans started o n DO T Metzelers beca use th ey wa nte d some tread to run with sand being on th e track. T hey figured to go to full rac ing ra ins later, if needed. T ha t came a bout at the first red flag . The flag periods were a boo n to some of the teams as it a llo wed them the luxury of mo re time to iro n things out.

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