Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Two -time Superbike Champion Wes Cooley teamed w it h jo urn alist Pete r Clifford and Britt Turkington to take fourth on a Tea m Hammer Suzuki. had to be so me w ha t reli eved. as he'd ea rl ier admitted th a t th e pote nt Suzuki was a b it "over m y head. " T he third restart sa w Hall ra ce with Bra y, Hall's Ya maha no w fitted with a rear Mich elin tire in spi te of th e tea m 's Metzeler co ntract. Lap times aga in dipped into th e I:29s, as th e two p u lled away fro m J acks, Harth a nd Turki ngton. T urk in gt on was havi ng a handlin g pro blem with t h e Team Hammer mach in e; " It was tankslappi ng a ll the way down the back straight awa y," h e said. " I o n ly used abo ut a quarter- thrott le o n th e straigh ts. bu t I was b litzin g the corners." T he Texa n reckoned it was ca used by ei ther an ou t-o f-ba la nce tire or a bad wheel bearing. En te ri ng the fift h h o u r . Hall p itted with a problem simila r to Ha m m er 's - a bad fron t wheel bea rin g - the H u man 's third of th e year. The w hee l was quick ly cha nged, the b ike refueled. a nd Ch ivi ngton sent into the fra y. It was shortly th erea fter that Team Suzuki made their o nly gr een flag pit stop. tak in g just 20 seco nds to refuel a nd cha nge th e rear tire, with Smith replacing Bra y a t the controls. T he stop gave th e lead to Du tch man I' s H arth, bu t he wo u ld sti ll have to ma ke a pi t stop. Chivi ngton sudden ly appeared o n pit road. \VER A offi cia ls having black-flagged him for reac h ing down a nd removing a loose sidecover from th e mach ine. Norma lly. this wo u ld n ' t have bee n a problem, but th e plasti c part landed in th e m iddl e of th e front straightaway, and sta rte r " Airborne" AI Wilco x ha d to ride his p it bik e down to retrieve it. A few laps lat er. Chivingt on pi tted agai n in an unsch eduled stop. takin g th e crew by surp rise. H all resumed th e riding ch ores . At th e same time. Dutchman II pitted, with Kipp replacing J acks. Dutchman I' s H arth staye d o u t for wh at seem ed an etern ity. trying to milk every last drop o ut 'o f th e Suzuki's fu el tank. Nearing the end of th e fifth hour, he pitted . with Brauneck climbing on board. If H arth co u ld have la sted j ust five minutes lo n ge r, victory co u ld have been Dutchman's, as th e race was red-flagged for th e fourth time. A rider had crashed under th e Ni ssan bridge and another two had fa lle n in turn o ne , a nd it took 15 minutes to clean up th e messr Dutchman seized the op port u nity, cha nging both tires o n both bikes fortu na te. since th eir so ft-co mpo u nd Mich elin fro nt tir es wo u ldn' t ha ve go ne th e d istan ce. H yper-C ycl e's Carry An drew wa s clearl y ' sidi ng with th e AMA/ CCS tea m . as he was now helpin g Dutchman in th e pi ts. 'T he restart set th e stage fo r a 40minute dash to th e fin ish . Dutchman a n d Suz uk i were now th e on ly team s o n th e lead lap , an d H arth a nd Bra y locked horns fro m th e o nse t. H arth led u nti l the fou rth la p wh en Bray outbraked him into turn o ne. th en led agai n coming o ut from under the Nissan bridge. b ut Bra y retoo k th e lead going int o tum 12 at th e bottom of the hill. As 'the sun bega n to set and the air tu rned cold, th e pace heat ed up, with Bray and Ha rt h tu rn ing th e race's fast est laps. Bra y stre tc hed his advantage, and at the finish , it was Bra y by some 25 seco nds over Harth. wi th Kipp two la ps beh ind in th ird a nd Clifford an addi tional two la ps down in fourth. With virtuall y no ch an ce o f a win. th e Humans had sen t Morrissey o ut to bri ng th e bik e home in fifth. five laps in a rre a rs. " H e (Bra y) mad e better use o f traffic," Harth said after th e race , adding. " Su zuk i m o tor cycles reall y put it to th em toda y." (S u zu k is finish ed first th ro u g h fourth appropria te co nside rin g the \VERA Fina ls were sha ring the spotligh t with the Suzuki C up Fina ls th is weekend.) " I th o ug h t I coul d cat ch th em . b ut I started havi ng trouble downsh ift ing near th e end." sa id Kipp. " To come out here and run a six-ho u r after runni ng three-hours all year. I think we did pretty good." Kip p 's teammate Jacks was not as upbeat. a nd fc1tthat they were down on power compared to th e other teams. especia lly to H yp er-Cycle. " We had th e to p tea ms fro m each organ izatio n_a nd everyo ne was j ust ro ck i n ' a nd ro l l in' ," Kipp co ncl uded. . Since this was th e fin al race o f th e ser ies. th e tit le i n so me o f the su p port ing classes was still up for gra bs. The H eavyweight Producti on title was 'being co ntested by TBA Ra cin g a nd E&H Racin g/ Solmax , but both teams e nco u n te re d diffi cultie s. TBA 's Suzuki G SX RIIOO bent a val ve in pra cti ce. a nd th ey wer e force d to enter th ei r back-u p bike. which needed a n ew cl u tch in stall ed p rior to th e sta rt. Firs t. the clutch cover gasket leak ed , necessitat in g a n early p it sto p for repairs. Later, Ri ck Del gado cras h ed . d am a gin g .th e br ak es and putting a hol e in th e to p frame rail. T he bik e wa s hast ily rep a ired. th en graduall y improved during each of the sub sequent red flags - by th e end of the race it didn't look half bad. E&H 's GSX R750 a lso su ffe red cras h da mage. and in th e en d fin ished si xth in class and 38th overal l. Despi te th eir lowly eigh th in class In the w inner's circle, Team Suzuki's Paul Bray (center) is interviewed by Glenn Billings as M ike Smith works on the champagne cork. a nd 47t h overa ll. TBA. with ride rs War d Cook a nd ed Hart (in add ition to Delgado ). cla imed th e class title. The H eav ywe ig h t P rod u ct io n class tod ay was wo n by Mar c La ut zen h is er , David H a rma n and Michael Step he ns of Action Su zuki Racing . wh o put thei r GSX R I IOO into ninth overall. Reg 'O Ra cing's J aso n Pridmo re (so n of three-time AMA Su pe rb ike Ch ampion Reg P rid more) a nd Avery Stewart ran as hi gh as thi rd in th e Heav yweight Pr odu r tio n class. but dropped o u t with a broken br ak e hose in the fo u rt h hour. Another Hea vyweigh t Prod uctio n team th at had p robl em s was T eam G at ewa y. who broke a cylinde r stud o n th eir CSX R 1100 o n th e 12th lap. They,were ready to ca ll it qu its, but fill ed a 750 stud (bare ly) a nd rej oined the race during the fourth hour. event ua lly fini shi ng n inth in class. a nd 48th overall. . The Mediu mweight Super b ike ti tle was als o up for gra bs. with Ro ya le Racing a nd Team America having a sho t at it. Am erica .needed to win the class, an d led unti l th e fifth hou r wh en th ey were passed by even tua l winn ers Bill Lo omis a nd T ili illl Bue o n th e Cycles Un lim ited Racin g Yamaha FZR600. Ro yal e ' s T erry Bailey. Do u g Henr y a nd J im East recov ered from ' an ea rly race co ll isio n w hi ch dam aged th eir FZR600 's fai ri ng a nd shift lever to finis h n inth in class a nd 35th overall - good eno ug h to clai m the class ti tie . Caz Racin g' s FZR 600 threw a chai n o n th e 22m] la p , a nd though th ey lost eig h t laps. the team finished sevent h in Mediurnweiglu Superbi ke a nd 24th overa ll. T he Med iumw eight Producti on class was sewn u p by We' re Human Too's J im Still and Bru ce Baldus. who tod a y fi nis hed seco nd in 'class a nd 15th ove ra ll . just o ne position beh in d Ro yal e .Ra cing II 's Doug McIn tosh a nd Fra nk lin Kn igh t. The Ligh tweigh t titl e had a lrea dy been cl inc hed by Ra w Racin g , a nd with no Yam aha co nt ingency money o n the li ne in the endura nce race. th ey opted to si t th is o ne o u t. Paul Black a nd Pat Kenney of No Tun ics Racin g won th e Lightweig ht cla ss on th eir Yamaha FZR400 . Results C IA : 1. Team Suzuki Enduran ce (5uz ); 2 . Dut chman Racing (Suz); 3. Dutchman Racing II (Suz); 4 . Team Hammer (Su z); 5 . The Human Race Team (Yam); 6 . Renfrow Littlejohn Raci ng (Ya m); 7 . Dar otun e Racing Ottawa [Suz]: 8 . Cycles Unlimited Racing (Yam) ; 9 . Action Suzuki Raci ng (Suzl : 10. Team America (Yam). The Human Race Team finished fi fth due t o m echani cal problems. H/W S/ BK: 1. Team Suzuki Endurance [Su z]: 2. Dutchman Rac in g (Su z); 3 . Du tchman RaCing 1IISuz); 4 . Team Hamm er (S Ul); 5 . Th e Human Race Tea m (Yam); 6 . Ren frow Littlejohn Racing (Yam); 7. Derotune Racing Ottaw a [S uz], 8. weB Racing (Suz); 9. American Spir it Racing (Kaw) ; 10 . Team Tres Hombres (S Ul). H/W PROD : 1. Act ion Suzuki RaCing (Suzl; 2 . Darotu ne Racing II (Suz); 3 . Credit Card Racing (Suz): 4 . Killer Bees (Suzl. 5. B·Callll (Sud. 6 . E&H Racing /Solmax (Suzl ; 7 . Team Tha t Color (Sull; 8 . TBA Racing (SUl); 9 . Team Gatew ay (Suz); 10 . Reg·O Racing (Sull. MIW S/B K: 1. Cycles Un limited Racing (Yam l; 2 . Team A meric a (Yam ); 3 . Team Machine (Han I; 4 . DDR Raci ng (Yam); 5. Team Dinosaur (Yam); 6 . SA S Raci ng (Vam); 7. Caz Racing (Yam); 8 . Team Ran (Ha n); 9 . Royale Racin g (Yam); 10 . Tea m Hatch ett (Hon). M /W PROO: 1. Royale Racing II (Suz); 2. We·r. Human Too (Suz); 3. The Lynchman (Suz): 4. Tutti Fru tti Racing (Hon); 5. Hond a of Ni les Racing (Ha n); 6. POQ Racing (Yaml; 7. Team SOB (Han); B. Eagle Endurance Racin g (Yam ); 9 . -d arman's Virginia Gentlem en (Yaml . U W : 1. No Turtl es Racing (Yam); 2 . RKN Racin g (Yaml; 3. Cycle Speed Racing (Yam): 4. Capit al Crti es Racin g (Yam); 5. Re-Cycle Racing (Yam): 6. Voigh t Bro s. Racing (Yam); 7. Not Racing Ag ain (Ha n); 8 . Repc -M an Racin g (Yaml; 9 . Ava nt Design s (Yam). W ERAIEBC BRAKES ENOURANCESERIES FINAL POINT STANDINGS : O/A: 1. Team Su zuki End ura nce{1 0 34 .11; 2 . The Hum an Race Tea m ( 1000.39); 3 . Roya le Racin g (7B3.921; 4 . Team A merica (753.81); 5. We're Human Too 17 .61): 6. TBA Racing 1714.301; 7. 49 Team M ach ine (6 9 5.491; 8 . Royal e Rac i ng II (68 4 .0 1): 9 . Raw Racing 16B2.14 ); 10. Team Gat ew ay (6 79 .30); 11 . E& H Racin g /S ol ma. 1677.23): 12. RKN Racin g 1619.261; 13. Caz Racin g (617 .90): 14 . Cycle Speed Racing (600 .57): 15. CIA Racing (5 17.33). H/W S/B K; 1. Team Suzuki (B54.411; 2. The ' Huma n Race Team . (827.9 91 3. Hyp er -Cycl e ; (307 .98) . H/W PROO: 1. TBA Racing (711.91); 2. E&H Racing / So lm a. (70 1. 2 3): 3. Team Gat eway (694 .30). M /W S/ BK: 1. Royale Racing (742.92r, 2. Team Amer ica (724 .65): 3. Team Mach ine (630.491 . M /W PROD: 1. We're Human Too (B29 .61): 2. Royale Racing II (703.0 1); 3. Honda of Niles (423 .15 ). L/W : 1. Raw Racing (7550.141 2. RKN RaCing ; (689 .26); 3. Cycle Speed (688 .57). 13

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