Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

:-. V ..0 o ..... u 1 Fred Merkel wrapped up th e in augural Superbike World Championship with hi s 1-5 t ally in the New Zealand round of t he seri es at Manfeild, o World Championship Superbike Road Race Series: Final round Team Green's Larry Roeseler finished t hird overall , but jum ped into t he points lead ~ith just one more round left in th e series, • the course was a lright. Their danger markings are a bit different from ours in Distri ct 37 so that it took some time to get used to but it was well mar ked . A ni ce course. " Kra u se maintained a sizzlin g pace down th e las t, near-verti ca l hill trying to stay o u t in front of Smith and stormed across ·th e finish line with less than 10 seconds to spare, " I got th e lead a bo u t a mile ba ck when Ted and I got going down a rocky hill a nd h e fell over, " sa id Krause. "I looked ba ck a nd all o f a sudden Dan.was th ere a nd Larry was there - a ll o f th em." . " I' ve had three no-finish es this year so I'm way ba ck in th e series, but I had a good tim e tod ay ," said the Kaw asaki l Answer lSmith /M et zel er/White Bros.lT sub aki /Renth al /Sh o ei /F &L I A s c e r b i ssponsor ed ra cer. " It was a prett y fast co u rse." was the co m me n t from Smith, who was ridin g a' C agiv a N.A.lGoldbeltl Scot tv'Au t o l i tel Arail Alpin estarl Maxima/M etzel erI T su ba k il Ascerbis / Renth al /F&L/Z R a cingsponsored Husky. "It cou ld've been a bit more technical but what th e heck. It 's better th an not racing. " Hard on Smith's heels was R oeseler's KX500. " I had a good ride I' m h appy , " sa id th e Ma lcolm . Smith/ Dunlop/Sco ttlRenthallTsubaki /Pro-Cir cuit / As cerbis / Troy Lee Desig n / Max im a- backed racer. " Dan Ashcraft and I were tied for th e overall lead going into this race, so I shou ld be leading th e seri es now." H u nnicutt raced in to claim fourt h overall, with Yamaha's As hcra ft completing a consis tent ride in fifth. Sixth overa ll wa s claimed by Honda C R500 pilot Tod d P eu g h , w ho th a nk ed Smi th, Boise H o nda , AlIsp ort P ro motions a nd Vern on Peugh. "It wa s a prett y good co urse: It was just too dusty and a bi t too fas t," sai d Peugh. Peugh was fo llo wed in by Dave Porter, whose seventh overall finis h earned him ' a win i n the 25 0cc division. " I had a good race," sa id Po rt er. " I passed a lot o f g u ys on the start and then I got five guys right at th e finish. I was runni ng back in 10th j ust three miles out from th e fin ish." The second 250cc compet itor to cross the finish lin e was Frank Smith in 10th overall, with KX250 pilot Reed Bright finishing third. Po rter wa s followed in by Ida ho ra cer Curtis Di ce, Honda , with Parry continuing his - ra ce-long domination of th e Vet class in ninth overall. " I needed a 500cc b ike, i t was so fast," sa id th e YZ250 pilot, whose fourth win sewed up th e hon o rs in th e Nati ona l Hare & Hound Vet division . "I had a good start and i t was going reall y well but in th e second loop I cra shed and broke my clutch perch off. I had to ride th e who le second loo p without a clutch whi ch was p retty interesting," said Parry, who thanked G ra n a d a Yamaha, Scott's Scooter Service, PJ I , Smith Goggles and AXO.. Braas ch co nti n ue d h is series-l on g domination o f th e 125cc division wi th a w in in lfith : o vera ll. " I hi t a roc k a n d crashe d on a downhill o n th e fir st loop, so after I p assed all th e 125s I just cruised in, " said Bra as ch, wh o 's sp onsored by Yamaha of Covina, O'Neal, Spectro, Smith, Pro-Circuit. " I clin ched th e Nat iona l (I 25cc) number o ne with this race a nd I wanted to m ak e su re I made it to th e finish." The fir st a ma teu r 10 cross the line was Eri c's Motorcycles/T'Sdvt/Pro wheel-sponsored J i m C lark wh o brought his KT M home in 23rd overall. • Resu lts O/ A: 1. Paul Krause (Kaw); 2. Dan Sm it h IHus); 3. Larry Roesel er (Kaw) ; 4 . Ted Hunnicutt (Kaw) ; 5. Dan A shcraft (Yam); 6. Todd Peugh (Hon); 7 . Dave Porter (KTM); 8. Curt is Dice (Hon); 9. Kenny Parry (Yam); 10 . Frank Smith (Hus); 11. Gart h Sw eetl and (Hus); 12 . Kerry Fow ler (Han): 13 . Reed Bright (Hon); 14 . Phil Dougl as (Suz); 15. Dave Chase (Hus); 16. John Braasch (Yam); 17. M att Cull in s (Cag); 18. Dave Kersting (Kaw); 19 . Ger ry Fouts (Hon); 20 . Duane Scott (Yam). OPEN EX; 1. Paul Krau se (Kaw); 2. Dan Smit h (Hus); 3 Larry Roeseler (Kaw ). . 25 0 Ex; 1. Dave Porter (KTM); 2. Frank Smith (Hus]: 3. Reed 8 right (Hon). 125 EX: 1. Joh n Braasch (Yam); 2. Kevin Case . (Yam); 3. Mike Hodges. VET EX; 1. Kenny Parry (Yam); 2. Kerry Fowler (Hon); 3. Matt Cull ins (Cllg). SR EX: 1. Dave Kersting (Kawt, 2. Louie Marshal; 3. Steve Thompson (Hon). OPEN AM : 1. Ji m Clark (KTM); 2. Sam Key (Hon); 3. Ray Neill (Hon). OPEN NOV: 1. SIeve Casper (Hon). Merkel crowned World Champion in New Zealand MAN FEI L D ;NEW ZEALAN D, OCT. 2 Californian Fred Merkel became the first ever Superbike World Champion when he tu rn ed in a brilliant two-leg display in the con clu din g series round at Manfeild. The 26-year-old three-time AMA Superb ike Champion a nd 1986 Cainel P ro Road . . Ra ce Champ ion .to o k ~IS H onda RC30 to a stu n n ing o pe n i ng victory ? n a rain -soa~ed tr~ck a n d t~ en cli nc hed th e !ltle with the biggest gamble o f hIS ca ree r when he o p ted fo r full wet ti res o n a drying track for th e.seco n d leg . Despite ht.s brave gamble, h e ,:"as gre~ll l y a ~sls t ed b ¥ two g la n ng Ita.han. mi stakes. First, the l e~d e r gO ll~g mto th e ~ew Zealand. m e~lIng, David e T ardozzi , cra sh ed hIS Birn ota o n th e warm-up lap for leg two. The secOl~d. sig?ificam erro r ca rne wh e~ Fabrizio P iro van o mad e a clumsy prt sto p midway through the second leg to chan ge from Wt;ts to sl icks. But, a fter s trea k l ~lg away with the .•seco n d l e~, Merke! s gamble a lm ost p roved his undoing. Although a co m fo! tab le s.eries lea dt;r, he drop ped from first to fifth p lace m the clos~ng laps and had to rely on th e Ital ia n blunders to hel p him to his title. H e was, h o wever, a very worthy World Cha mpion a nd the day's di id W' f h outstan mg n e r . mner 0 t e second ' leg , Bel g ian Ste p hane . b M e! ten s summ ed up th e occasl?n y . saymg on the victory ros tr um , . The ' best rider in the series wo n the title," . I id d T h e open mg eg prOvl e a sensationa l fo u r-w ay ba tt le du ring th e . I d M k I 1 ear Iyaps t 1 rat invo ve er e , Pirovano, Good fellow a nd P h illis. F ' 1 II M erkel ' s ski ll a n d w et . . . 11 a y , wea ther a hili ty began to take h im clear of th e field a nd h e fi n ished 17 . . ' seco nds clear of nearest rival Piro vano wiih Tardoz zi in fifth posi tion . . . h keeping th e championship c ase wide o pe n with j ust th e o ne leg . . 0 I ' remal.nmg. ~ y tW? p omts separa ted first 10 thud posm o n , Merkel had posted th e fastest lap of th e leg a t I minute, 16.12 seconds . ~e.rtens sac rificed a good fourth posmon when he slowed to a llow T ardozzi th rou gh o n the fin al lap a nd Austral ian Rob Phillis seized o n th e o p p o rt u n i ty 10 nip th rough a n d relega te Mertens to sixth. Af ter Merkel' s softer we t comp ound began giving him prob lems' in th e second leg, h e was ra p id ly dropped by Bel gi an Mertens a nd the Australian tri o of Ma lcolm Ca m p bell , w ho made a wrong tire choice first time out, Phillis a nd Campbell 's brother-in-law Robert Sco lyer o n th e o the r Honda Australi a ' m a ch i n e. Mertens turned in th e fastest lap not on ly of the leg but o f th e da y a t I minute, 11.26 seco n ds. Gary Goodfell ow took sixth, a la p in arrears through wrong ru bber, after having posted a th ird place finish in the fir st leg. The late season performa nc es by Goodfellow pu t him i n eighth place in th e final point standings. • Results . 1ST LEG: 1. Fred M erkel (Hon); 2. Gabrizio Plrovano (Yam); 3. Gary Goodfellow (Hon); 4 . Rob Phillis (Kaw ); 5. Davide Tardozzi (Bim); 6. Stephane Mert ens (Bim); 7. Tom Douglas (Yam); B. Robert Scolye, (Hon); g. T erry Rymer (Hon); 10 . Glen W ill iams (Duc); 11. M alcolm Campb ell (Hon); 12. Mi ke King (Due); 13 . Andrew Str oud (Bim); 14 . Andy McGladdery (Hon); 15 . Robert Dun lop (Hon). 2ND LEG; 1. Mert ens; 2. Campbell ; 3. Ph,llI s; 4 . Scolyer; 5. M erkel; 6. Goodfell ow; 7. Rymer; B. • W ill iams; 9. Stroud; 10. McGladdery; 11. Douglas; 12. Dun lop; 13. Pkov ano. 14. Dale Warre n (Hon); 15. King. FINAL POINT STANDINGS ; 1. Fred Merkel (99); 2. FabrIZIO Ptroveno (93.5); 3. Davida Terdczzi (9 1.5); 4 . Ste phane M ertens (90 .5); 5. M arco Lucchinelli (64); 6. (TIE) Rob Phillis/A lex Vieir a (4 2); 8 . Gary Goodf ell ow (Hon ); 9. M alcolm Campbell (36); 10. Terry Rymer (32.5 ); 11. Roger Burnett (31.5) ; 12.. (TIE) M ichael Doohan /Joey Dunlop (30); 14. Eric Del ca m~ (2.9.5);.15. Chris tophe Bouhebe n (28); 16. Adnen Mon llas (26 .5); 17 . Edw in W eibe l (23.5); 18. Jari Suhon en (21); 19. (TIE) An der s An ders son/ Andy M cGladdery (l B.5); 2 1. (TIE) M ichael Dowson/ Paullddon (17); 23. Virginio Ferr ar i (16); 24. Robert Scolyer (15); . 25. Ernst Gschwender (14 .5). 17

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