Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

he was faster at the bac k of the circu it. I' m gon na beat hi m in the secon d one, though , just wait a nd see." Race two ... ........ ........ ~ Q,) ..D. .o ..., u o Fred Merkel (1) regained the World Supe rbike po ints lead over Stephane Mertens (4 ) in Sicily. ~ a:: a:: ::J ::;; Gr ou lx (H· DI; 6. Earl Bowlby IBSA); 7. Bob Castl ed in e (H- Dl; 8 . David Newsome (Tr i); 9. W ad e W illi am s (Ha n); 10 . Louie Gerenc er (H oD). co o co > co ~ o ::I: a.. World Championship Superbike Road Race Series: Round 9 Merkel lights back in Sicily By Kel Edge P ERG USA, SICILY, SEPT. 24 Team Rum i H onda rider Fred Merk el did just enough in bo th legs of the Sici lia n round of th e World Su perbike Cham p - Ted Hunni cutt ro de his Kawasaki t o second overall be hind To m Willis at Un ited Enduro Association's hare sc rambles at Lucerne. AMA National Championship Hillclimb Series: Round 6 Williams, Reiser win Freeinansburg By Maxine Casey FR EEMANSBURG, PA, SEPT. 17 H onda rider Greg Williams took top honors in th e 540cc class and Tom Reiser made it three wins in a' row with his 24 8.27-second blast up th e s teep slope of the 500-foo t hill belonging to th e Bushkill Vall ey Motorcycle Club of .Eat on, Pennsylvania. Reiser , wh o won th e Invitat ional National a t York, Pennsylvania, in Jul y and the Na tional held a t Mu skegon, Michigan, in August, had a score to sett le with this hill. In th e June hillclimb, Reiser lost a carburetor off hi s Harley-Davidson XR in th e last breaker a nd finished 14th. This low finish dropped him so far in the point sta nd ings for th e Grand National Championship that he has little chance of ca tch ing up and making a clean sweep for the season. T oday, he fell again at 385 feet on hi s first a ttem p t. Reiser's teammate Bob Castledine held the lead at the end of th e first round with a 9.36-second rid e. But John Williams on a Honda changed this with th e first ride in round two. Williams smoked the hill in 8.39 seconds for a com fortable lead. Four rid es la ter, Reis er found the groove and took th e lead for good. Williams held for second a nd Lou Geren cer fin ished th ird with an 8.68-seco nd ride. Greg Williams' first-ride tim e of 8.97 seconds was good for the win in th e 540cc class . Tim Frazier o n a BSA was second and T riumph rid er Zip Hale was third. The gremlins caugh t up with Paul Pensonnault for the first time this seaso n, as his bike fouled o u t on th e hill. Steve Dressor had to pull off th e line and load up to go hom e. Doug Klont, was also fo rt una te as he broke hi s toes when h is foot go t ca u g h t between a roc k a n d th e foot peg. Likewi se Danny Halcomb, wh o was tossed off hi s Trium ph into a tree a nd taken to the hosp ital with possible back injuries, fortunat ely, he was released fro m th e hospi tal. There are two hillclimbs left in th e series. Greg Williams is leading th e 540cc cla ss point standings, with defending cha m pion T im .Frazier close behind. Current cha mp J eff Yoder is leading th e 800cc ranks with ' several riders, incl uding hi s fath erin -law Lou Gerencer, nipping at his heels. Results 540: 1. Greg Wi lli ams (Hon); 2. Tim Frazier (BSAI; 3. David Hale (Tri); 4 . John Hislop (BSA); 5. Paul Garrity ( B SA~ 6. Ralph Kreeger (Tri); 7. Scott Kiogima (Hon); B. Larry Licht (BSA); 9. Doug Klont (Tri); 10. Bill Apk ella (Kaw). BOO: 1. Tom Reiser (H-D); 2. John W illiams (Honl; 3. Lou Gereneer (H· D); 4. Jeff Yoder (H·D): 5. Jon ionsh ip to regain th e lead in the series poi n t standings. The Californian 's pa ir of hard-fough t second pl ace finishes ga ve him a slender, two- po int lead from T otal H onda's Stepha ne Mer tens wi th j ust two races to go . On a day of mixed weather, the racin g was as hard as ever. Ital ian Birno ta rid er Gia ncarlo Falappa had . qualifi ed fastest in practice, bu t took a tumb le in an Italian Cha m pionshi p race the da y before, and was su fferi ng from a painfu l sho u lder. Alongs ide him o n th e front row of th e gri d were two Ameri cans , Merk el a nd Birnota' s Mike Baldwin, pl us Du catis Balda ssare Monti a n d Mert en s. Race one Onl y 32 rid ers made th e start and a t the green light it was Yamahamounted Itali an Fabrizio Pirovan o away fir st foll owed b y Monti , Mert ens , Merkel and Falappa. The pace was franti c from th e beginn ing a nd And ers And ersson , Ra ymond Roch e, Davide T ardozzi -a nd Baldwin were just behind the leading pac k com pleting th e first lap. On lap three, Merk el shot past Pirovano toge ther with Mert en s, a nd these two im med ia tely for ged a su bs ta n tia l lead . Merkel was go ing fast, but Merte ns always looked as if he kn ew that he co uld pass him. On th e 13th lap, Mert en s di d just th at, passing Merk el in th e fast back section. From then on, Merkel did hi s best, but Mert en s was in superb form and held th e advantag e to th e chec kered fla g, winning by less than two seconds. In third was Pirovano, some 24 seconds adrift, but six seconds ahead of Monti in fo urth p lace. Roch e had held fourth place ea rly o n, but his Ducati expired wit h yet ano the r electrical pickup prob lem .' After th e race, defending cha m p Merk el sa id, "That has to have been o ne of th e tough est races I've ever had. Stephane (Merte ns) rode rea lly hard , but fair. I was a bit quicker th an him in th e twisty sections, but Heavy, dark clouds hung over 'the circuit as the field blasted their way to the fir st ch ica ne . Monti led, follow ed by Squadra Corse Duca ti teammate Roche. Behind these two was Baldwin ·on th e Bimota, the so le Bimota Experien ce teamster as Falappa was in too much pain to ride. Merten s a nd Merkel were having th eir usual tooth-and-nail battle in fifth a nd six th places, chased by Andersson, J ari Suhonen and Christophe Bouheben. On la p five, Baldwin surprised everyo ne by taking the lead , but it was sho rt-lived, a nd one lap lat er it was Mert en s o n the charge again. For th e seco nd tim e on the day Baldwin 's race ca me to a n early end, thi s time o n la p seven, two laps soon er th an in th e first leg. The two Du cati s were right in Merten s' wh eel tra cks, and pressurin g th e Belgi an , w hen sudde n ly Merten s' bike went on three cylinders, droppin g h im down to fifth . Roch e, in the meantime, d isp osed of Mon ti a nd began to pull out a h uge adva ntage. O nce in th e lead, , he was in to tal control a nd wo n by six seconds, Behi nd hi m cam e a terrific scra p betw een Mo nti a nd Mer kel, who had just fo ug ht his way up from fifth pos it ion . Wit h j ust th ree la ps to go. Mer kel ou tbraked Monti a t th e en tran ce to the last chica ne a nd th ought a bout chasing after Roche. But th ere were no t eno ug h laps left , and Merkel was ha pp y to co llect h is seco nd, second pl ace of th e day , especiall y kn owin g that Mert en s o nly ma na ged seventh p lace. Mont i finished third , a head of Pirovano, Suhone n a nd Igoa. So, wi th two rou nds remain in g (in Austra lia and New Zea land ) Merkel has regained hi s lead in the series, albe i t by j ust two po ints , fro m Mertens. Pi ro va no is third, with Roch e four th (after his DNF in the first race). It 's to ug h at the top , and it will likely only get to ug he r. Resu lts FIRST LEG: 1. Stephan e Merten s (Honl; 2. Fred M erkel (Han); 3. Fabr izio Pir ovan o (Yam); 4. Baldassarr e Mon ti (Ouc); 5. 'Anders Andersson (Yam); 6. Jar i Suhonen (Yam); 7. Patr ick Igoa (Kaw); 8. Davida Tardozzi (Bim); 9. Marco Lucchi nelli (Duel : 10. Giorgio Bontempi (Honl; 11. Arn ad Harmati (Han); 12. Corrado Kanic i (Duc); 13 . Aldeo Presciuni (Yam); 14 . Silva na Ricchett i (Han); 15. Adriano Marducci (Han). RACE TIME: 36 min ., 46,90 1 sec. AVERAG E SPEED: 105 .132 mph SECOND LEG: 1. Raymond Roche (Due); 2. Merkel (Hon); 3. Monti (Duc); 4 . Pirovano (Yam); 5. Suhonen (Yam); 6.lgoa (Kaw); 7. Mert ens (Honl; 8. Christophe Bouheben (Kaw); 9. Mar ino Fabbri (Bim); 10 . Marco Dall"Aglio (Yam); 11. Harmati (Honl; 12. Bontempi (Hon); 13. Preseiutti (ya m); 14. Kanici (Due); 15. Oscar La Feria (Yam). RACE TIME: 36 min .. 34.6 15 sec. AVERAGE SPEED; 104 .766 mph WORLD SUPERBIKE C' SHIP POINT STAND · INGS: 1. Fred Merkel (226); 2. Stephane Mertens (224); 3. Fabrizio Piro vano (193); 4 . Raymond Roche (172); 5. Giancarlo Falappa (139); 6. Anders ' Andersson (132); 7. Terry Rymer (101); 8. Baldassarre Monti (99 ); 9. M ike Baldw in (74 ); 10 . Jari Suhonen (67 ). Willis wins L.ucerne HS By Donnetta & Bob Murray LUCER NE VALLEY, CA. SEPT. 17 The United Enduro Associati on hos ted i ts first desert race wh ich proved to be successful desp ite a storm movin g throu gh the area a nd lin gering rumor s of race cance lla tio n beca use of th e enda ngered desert tort o ise. T om Willis. aboa rd a KTM , earned th e overall win in the Best of th e West Series Hare Scrambl es by a full minute. Willi s, who is spo nsored IJy Pro Cycle/Z ' Racin g/O 'N ea l/Frontier Fu les VP a nd Fred Kalm ick, had a med iocr e start wi th two or three kicks a nd had to work h is way up to the lead ers by pas sin g riders on e by one in th e dust. Leading the pack 'past th e bomb into a sandwash was Derr ick Pai ement o n a Ka wasa ki fo llowed clo sely by T eam Gr een's Ted Hu nn icutt. Com in g in to the firs t check, th e lead cha n!;(ed to Paiem ent, KTM 's Dan Smith and Wilhs, riding fender-to-fender. Willis passed both to tak e th e lead for th e first tim e. As Will is pulled away int o th e o pe n terrain, Smith foll o wed in hIS wak e. Third pl ace cha nged as Hunnicutt and Pai ement swapped

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