Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Team Viceroy Yamaha's John Kocinski earned his third successive Castrol 250cc Grand Prix title with t he win at Sears Point International Raceway. AMA Castrol 2SOcc Grand Prix Series: Round 7 Kocinski wins, clinches third title at Sears Point By Br ian Catterson Photos by N ick Cedar SONOMA, CA, AUG. 13 Team Viceroy Yamaha's John Kocin ski took advantage of a crash by arch-rival Richard 0 Iiver to clinch his third consecutive AMA Castrol250cc G rand P rix Championship one 'race earlier than planned at Sears Poin t Inter. IR natrona aceway. Th e. 21 -y~a r-o Id '. ~od esto, . Cahfor~ll reslde~1t anmh~lated the .a. co mpe titio n, turmng lap limes over two s<;conds faster than the rest a~d s ton~ll ng to a 47.32-second margm of victory over teammate ThoJ"!las Stev~".s an.d John ~ssak Racing ~p r.llta . r ider Robbie Petersen. Kocm.skl ~om'pl~ted 20.laps of th e 2.5-mtle circu it in 35 rmnutes, 7.750 sec~nds, at an average speed of 85.399 m ki . hi I oc m s I cam e mto. tIS, t te ne:ctto-last round of the eig h t-race senes . . wit h a 15-pomt Iea d i t h e stan d'mgs in over Randy Mamola Racing Yamaha rider Oliver, 96 to 81. Few doubted that Kocin ski would win here at the track wh ere he does much of his testing, moving him one step closer 10 his third title but what no one suspected was tha~ the normally surefooted Oliver would crash on the first lap of the fina l, allowing Kocinski to amass an insurmountable, '35point advantage. Going into the final race at the new Heartland Park Topkea road race course at Topeka, Kansas, Kocinski stands alone at the top of the charts with 116 points. But the battle for second - and the $10,000 lion's share of the Castrol purse (since Kocinski uses Motul oi l and is ineligible - is heating up. Oliver currentl lies second with 81 k'. 10 points, followed closely by Donny Greene (74), Petersen (65) and Stevens (61). Be him d t h e batt I' mg S tevens I Petersen ' duo came the returning Jimmy Filice. Filice, who's on the mend from an ankle and hip injury suffered in Suzuka, Japan, said he "feels good," and rode as hard as he, hi s Edwin Honda RS250 and the Michelin tires were abl e to, and posted a strong fourth place finish. Multi-time AMA Formula Two champ Donny Greene, who hails from nearb y Novato, California, finished fifth on the Splatrnasterbacked Dunlo -shod Mciver Racin Y h' P g ama a. . . True te;> form, Kocinski snatched the lead n?h~ at the start of Saturday a.£ternoon s flr~t heat race and led the h eld up the hi] l 10 turn two , ~ev~r to. be headed. Lassak Racmg .s Richard Moore gave chase on hIS Yamaha TZ250, follo,:,"ed by Greene, Stevens, and Mote-Liberty Yamaha pilot Cam Roo s. Stevens had forgotten to pre-enter and was coming from the third row of the grid, but forced his way past Moore and into second place by the third lap of the five-lap affair. Oliver's teammate Danny Coe was recovering from a botched start attempt and was embroiled in a battle with Yamaha rider James Stephens of nearby Menlo Park, California. The duo's tussle carried them past Roos and into fifth and ' sixth places, but on lap four they had a slight coming-together, and Roo s and Ben Williams snuck past to take ' the positions at the checkers. Stephens edged Coe for seventh place. As a result, Coe would be coming from the fourth row of the grid in the final. Honda rider Mike Sullivan and 1986 Yamaha rider Vance Specht rounded out the top-10 finishers. At the £lag, it was Kocinski posting a 15.24-second winning margm at an average speed of 85.555 mph, an advantage of better than three seconds per lap on the 2.5-mile, 12turn road course. Kocinski 's faster heat race time would set him on the pole for the final. Heat race number two belonged to Oliver, as the Californian led wireto-wire , posting a 12.17 -seco n d > margin at an average speed of 84.722 mph. . Behind Oliver came Petersen, . Filice and Hasty Racing Yamaha rider Doug Brauneck of Georgia, their positions remaining unchanged from start to finish. Brauneck tried to get around Filice repeatedly, outbraking him into the turn II hairpin on the final lap , but the 1988 250cc U.S. GP winner would not be denied. Yamaha rider Chris D'Aluisio of New Fairfield, Connecticut, fought his way up from eighth at th e start to fifth at the finish, passing local rider AI Salaverria and Brent Van De Stadt (a South African friend of Petersen's), both on Yarnahas, en route. Yves Halliburton on the Rotax-powered Frank's machine, Yamaha rider Mark Schubert and Honda rider Stephen Darcy rounded out the top 10. Overnight, Oliver and his tuner Dan Kyle experimented by raising the upper rear motor mount of their TZ250, duplicating the setup used on Kocinski's bike. But the move was for naught, as Oliver reported that he couldn't feel any difference after Sunday morning's practice. "I know it may be foolish, but the only reason we're trying it is because John's bike has it," Oliver said of the change. Oliver's bike also features H onda forks which he said allows h im to use th e English Dun lo p front ' tire that the others can't, d ue to excessive chattering problems. Twenty-four riders lined up for the start under beautiful, cloudless skies, and once again it was Kocinski who grabbed the holeshot, disappearing off into the distance and entertaining the estimated 10,000-stro ng crowd with a virtuoso riding exhibition. Kocinski opened up a three-secondper-lap advantage from the start, leading by some 12 seconds by lap three, then watched his pit signals, settled into consistent I:44 lap times and gradually increased the gap. Oliver gave chase in second followed by Petersen and Stevens, but before the first lap went into the books, Oliver's rear tire came around in turn 10, £licking him off into the hay bales . " I made a wrong (rear) tire choice," admitted Oliver later, explaining that he had chosen. a hardcompound Dunlop. "I'm the one that has to ride the bike, and 1 made a wrong decision. .. . Oliver was fortu nate 10 escape with on ly an aggravated reminder of the shoulder he inj ured in one of his two Mid -Ohio cras hes, but hi s bike bounced off the hay bales and caree ned back into the path of the following riders. Amazingly, no one hit it, though it did cause anxious moments for Fi lice, Greene and Moore. "I saw O liver fall, so 1 thought, 'O kay, now 1 just have to deal with Robbie (Petersen),' '' said Stevens later. O n lap three, Stevens passed Petersen and would hold second place till the finish. Petersen p ursued him, but Stevens stretched the gap to a comfortable, three-second margin. Filice held fourth place the first time across the stripe, but Greene used his local track knowledge 10 take the position on lap fQur. Filice retook the placing on lap six and would finish in that position. "I started catching Petersen there for a bit, but 1 decided 10 just stay consistent and stay on two wheels. It was reall y slick out there," said Filice. . Moore held down sixth place, as Brauneck turned in a dazzling performance, picking off riders one by ' one on his way from way ' back in the pack. Brauneck was outside the top 10 at the start, but passed Stephens, Roos (who was riding without the use of his tachometer, which had come loose), Coe and Salaverria, and was up to seventh p lace by la p five. He then set his sights on Moore, and by lap I I Brauneck was into sixth place. Stephens and Coe resumed their heat race battle in the final, with the local ace leading the Cycle magazine test rider for most of the duration. Coe moved past on .Iap 17, but on the final go-round, Stephens reclaimed the placing. Coe finished on a less-than-perfect-looking rear Dunlop, but reported that the tire felt fine, and did not hamper his performance. At the finish, it was Kocinski taking his fourth straight victory and fifth of the season. Teammate Stevens continued to show the form which made him the second-ranked 250cc rider in 1988, and made it the second Viceroy Yamaha sweep in a row with his fine runner-up p lacing. Team Viceroy Yamaha is sponsored by Motul, Shoei, Takai, Dunlop and Cam 2. Petersen cruised home in third, three seconds in arrears, while Filice and Greene comp leted the race lonely in fourth and fifth. Brau neck, Moore, Stephens, Coe and Salaverria ro unded out th e top 10. " I always ha ve the best bike on th e trac k prepared by Bud Aksland, and the best Dunlop tires," said Kocinski in the winner's circle immediately after the race. "It just goes to show," Kocinski continued. "I may have broken my wrist earlier in the year, but 1 rode as hard as 1 could to give the fans the show they deserved. Next year I' ll be racing in Europe, so they won't get to see me." That was a fact which didn't upset teammate Stevens one bit: "Wait till next yea:," he said. Results 2G-LAP CASTROL 250 GP: 1. John Kocinski (Vam); 2 . Thomas ' Stevens (Vam); 3 . Robbie Petersen (Apr); 4. Jim Filice (Hon); 5. Don Greene (Yam); 6. Doug Braun ecl< (Vam); 7. Richard Moore (Yam); 8. James Stephens (Yam); 9, Daniel Cae (Yam); 10.AI Salaverria (Vam); 11. Cam Roos(Vamt 12. Chris D'Aluisio (Yam); 13. Brent Van De Stadt (Yam); 14. Vanca Specht (Yamt 15. Mark Schubert (Yam). TIME: 35 ;07 .750 AVERAGE SPEED: 85.399 mph _ POINT STANDINGS: 1. John Kocinski (11 6); 2. Richard Oliver (81); 63 . Don Green e (74); 4 . Robbie Petersen (65); 5. Thomas Stevens (61): 6. Doug Brauneck (54): 7. Danial Cae (51); 8. (TIE) Richard M oore/Alan Cart er (41); 10 . Chris D'Alu isio (34t 11. M igu el DuHamel (3 1); 12. (TIE)Cam Roos/Jim Fil ic e (27); 14 . J amas Step hen s (26 1; 15 . AI Salaverr ia (13); 16. William Hi mmelsbach (12); 17. Steve Crevier (11); 18. Ben W ill iams (7): 19 . Jon Cornwell (6); 20 . Brent Van De Stadt (5).

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