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/127149
Kawasaki and one lap behind th e Bimo ta. The works bikes were nine laps ahead by no w, but both of th e races were tight. But with th e Suzuki holding a lead of just under a minute, the Dutch Bimota crashed a t the end of th e main stra igh t. Bemelman remounted and rod e through the ch ica ne a nd the fast downhill ri ght-hander before realizing that he had sp read oi l everywhe re, th anks to hol ed cases . Bikes started cras hi ng everywhere incl uding th e works Honda. Fortunat ely for th e H onda squad, the pace car was sent ou t at 3:30 a.m, while th e oil was clea ned up, and th e p it crew mad e up for their ea rlier lapse by repl acing all th e bodywork and th e ex ha us t sys te m in fiv e minutes. Yes, five minutes, Suzuki took advantage of th e pace car to give their bike end urance racing's eq u ivalent of a full service, so the leaders found th emselves sitting behind the pace car together at 4:55 a.m . when th e gree n lights went o n. They were exactly a lap apart. As dawn bro ke, H o n da had another stroke of luck. The Suzuki shed an engine mounting bolt and even that simple replacement job put the Honda back in front by 43 seconds at 7:00 a.m. No w Dom inique Melliand pulled his slowest rider ou t of the fray and th e elegant Moineau and terrier-like Crine piled th e pressure on the two Honda pilots. The lead was cut back, th e Suzuki retook the lead and th en opened up . a gap of just over one minute' at 10 in the morning, 19 hours into th e race. The gap s ta yed the same .through the 20th hour, and then th e Honda men went for broke - 13,000 rpm all the wa y. Down came th e lead and Vieira, Bouheben and the pit crew performed faultlessly. The race was to finish at three o'clock. At 11:20 the lead was 40 seconds, at 12:45 it was down to 30 seconds. At 1:45 Bo uheben had closed to within 18 seconds of Crine who was looking really wi ld and decking the GSXR everywhere. Do m inq u e Melliand cal mly motioned his relatively inexperienced pilot to coo l it as Boheben closed in . Coming u p to the final changeover . the p it boards said the difference was 11 seconds. Crine pitted first, and 'Mo ineau sped away just ' an hour from his fou rt h title. Honda came in next time around - but the bi ke . looked decidedly secondhand. The sto p took four seconds lo nger than ' Suzuki's, but when both bikes were out on the track again, th e reason for the tatty fiberglass became a pparent. The gap was up to 45 seconds - Bouheben had I?one straight on at the bus stop, avoided the first row of ba les, bounced off the second a nd toppled over. The 30 seconds that the incident put o~ his lap time cost Honda the race and their chance of the title. Twenty-two laps in arrears, R icha rd Hubin led th e Johnson Kawasaki team to third. For Hubin, it was his l l th Spa 24-Hours, his ninth finish and his seventh rostrum. The paddock ' s sympathy was entirely with Suzuki..Moineau's four titles have been won with different partners. Hi s first was for Honda in 1980 with Marc Fon tain. His Suzuki titles came in '83 with Hubin, in '87 with Le Bihan and now in '88 with Crine. Moineau will be doing the World Championship Superbike Series next year, as the four endurance races on the calendar don't gi ve hi m enough racing. ' • Results 1. Moineau /B i han /C r ine (Suz); 2 . Vieira l Bouheben /Gu ignabodet (Hon); 3 , Hubi n/ Simul / Steven (Kawl; 4 . McFar lan e/Oxley/Menl ey (Vam); 5. Ver kenne/Brag ard /Sonnet (Ha n); 6. Schueul Lehmann/ Beck (Kaw ); 7. MouchetlMasneda / Chat eau (Suz); 8. Lagamm e/ Lacross e/Serva is (Suz); 9. Lacrosse/ Diaz/ Orban (Suzl. Hawkins & Bertram r & 2~ at Jack Pine National Enduro Sprocket Specialists congratulates Randy & Dave on their win in Moorestown, MI. Both riders were running ou r supe r tough hardened "Blackloy" sproc ket, they know it will go the distance. All "Blackloy"s are 7075-T6 aluminum wit h a spec ial hardened fini sh that will outlast all other sprockets ! The latest on two wheels! Cycle News every week! ~~C'. . . . CENTERS JIiJf • • MOTORCYCLE Mo,ottyc/e setYi~ . tuneups• • ccessories.M Vms. Sett.. c.,.•., ~/1IDnI~ LIIaIIoa: U III,.. 142S8 E. Impen.JH", . (2731946-3459 9IJ()7 Sunland A.... (818) 768-91J26 s. Vol,., 1<>_ 2466W Set>u. Blvd.. (213) 53I/{}J14 _ 828 w. Vermont A.... (714) TT 4-UJ49 lMf . .... 5210 Long8uch Blvd (213) 423-1l878 .• $Do. S. II S861 Firestone Blvd (2131927-0895 .. • • m lo 806 E. HunI1ngton Drive. (IfIB 303 ) -li382 .l st and 2nd Overall <3;:;; .••, G$"'" ~~ . - - - AMA National Championship Enduro Morristown, MI August 21, 1988 _. i¥plm Sll\!th Suzuki Riders RANDY HAWKINS and DAVE BERTRAM Make a Clean Sweep With BEL-RAY. 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