Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Rothmans Honda's Eddie Lawson passed Kevin Magee on the final lap to complete an American sweep of the U.S. ·Grand Prix. Team Marlboro Yamaha's Scotsman Niall Mackenzie (6) got a pOor start but battled past P.F. Chili (9) and Christian Sarron to finish fifth. ~ssions, earning pole position for the second time ever and the second time at Laguna Seca. Rainey put the Dunlop-clad Lucky Strike Yamaha on the pole with a lap of I minute, 27.120 seconds for an average speed of 90.742 mph. The Califorruan's best lap, turned in SatUIday's first session, was 1.994 seconds quicker than his pole-earning time of one year ago, a time set on a rougher, narrower circui t. Unlike in Australia where he would not find his race setup until Sunday's warm-up, Rainey felt his preparation was complete. "It's the first time we haven't changed susper;tsion settings between sessions this year," Rainey said. "It feels pretty good. Everything feels good. We might try a little preload adjustment,. but that's it." Rainey would use AP-Lockheed's carbon-fiber discs in the GP as he did through the majority of qualifying. "They come right in; I'm happy with 'em," he said. "I'll try to get the best start I can and go as fast as I can. That's. what I've got to do," Rainey also felt his tires would work better in cooler temperatures and thus was hoping for cloud cover for the GP. Next best was Schwantz, a reverse of he and Rainey's 1-2 Australian qualifying positions, but still a constant reminder of the current changing of the guard at the top. The Texan and his Pepsi Suzuki were .184 of a second slower than Rainey with his 1:27.404 lap coming in the final session on SatUIday. Schwantz had tried a 16-inch front ,wheel, but would stick with a 17 for the GP, citing lack of testing as a reason for staying with the larger front wheel. He would also opt for carbon fiber front brakes, a first for him. The Laguna Seca layout was hard on brakes last year, and the top two were hoping the carbons would provide anchors for the distance. "I was just trying to get the bike working," Schwantz said after the last session on SatUIday. "The bike we had the race setup on had a little problem, so I had to ride the other bike with used tires from this morning. We'll test the race bike tomorrow. I'm prepared to run low 27s that's fast enough to run at the front." Third quickest was Gardner (1:27.504), despite a Saturday crash that he' attributed to front brake problems. The crash oceured in the final practice session when his carbon-fiber brakes apparently seized entering turn nine - a fast lefthander; this after running off the track on back-to-back laps in tum six. "They just locked solid," the Australian said. "It just wouldn't stop so I tried holding them on a bit to heat them up - they just locked up going down the hill." Gardner's AP Lockheed brakes differed from the Lucky Strike squads in that his used a Nissin master cylinder with the Lockheed calipers and brakes. He would not use the carbons in the GP. "I'm a bit put off on them now." He was also undecided on front wheel size and would make a decision during Sunday's warm-up. Magee jumped to the front row with his 1:27.908 in the final session. "I went out to be more aggressive from the start, and use all the session for getting a good lap rather than worrying about details on the bike," the Australian said. "It was a good session, although I'm not quite SUIe , on my tire choice for the race yet. The thing is trying to ride around problems instead of whinging about them." Both Magee and Rainey had been working extensively with the onboard diagnostics linked to a computer in the pits. "My front tire chatter showed up on the computer Wayne Rainey douses runner-up Kevin Schwantz on the rostrum. Thirdplace finisher Lawson was absent, stBying with the fallen Shobert. - you can really see it on the scale," Rainey said. The final rider on the front row was Sarron on the Gauloises Yamaha. The Frenchman clocked a I:28 flat in the second session and would sit on the outside of the front row. The second row would consist of Lawson (1:28.214), Mackenzie (1:28.319), Taira (1:28.341), who was a crasher in the corkscrew on Friday, and Spencer (1:28.400). "The track's a lot better," defending World Champion Lawson said on Friday. "It's a lot wider and smoother. I chased the front end around a little bit today, but I think we can catch up. Today we used 16s - it steers a little better, but we still have to find a tire. I think we'll stick with it again tomorrow." ' Spencer had experimented again with 16-inch front wheels, but had planned to stick with 17s for the race. He had encountered problems in the final session, namely a dragging rear brake. Mackenzie, who finished third here last year on a Honda,' had enough to adjust to, and didn't try a 16. "The bike's working good," he said. "I've got enough to mess with without trying 16-inch wheels. I'm not even thinking about it. Everything feels a lot better here than in Australia. I had a hard front tire on and we'll try something else in the morning." The third row would see Haslam (I :28.55), Chili (I :28.868), Doohan, who was a crash victim on Friday when Gardner, again out of brakes, rammed him entering the corkscrew (1:29.193),. Shobert (1:29.833) and Mamola (1:30.127).. Mamola was still struggling with an ill.handling Cagiva. "It's better 7

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