to be however, as Henning held on for
his first of four wins ahead of Kosaka
and Richard Merhar.
Roper scored a landslide win ahead
of the rest of the Class C racers, namely
Norman Nelson and Stuart Rogers, who
rounded out the top three finishers.
Norbert Nickel holeshot the Formula
500 race aboard his 1972 Yamaha 350,
but was gobbled up quickly by
Henning, Tom Robertson and Gwen
Banquer. Once into the lead, Henning
held a firm grip on the point position
and scored the wiil aboard his Yamaha
TR3. Another TR3 rider, George Oiegar,
blasted through the field after starting
slowly and nabbed second at the finish,
just ahead of Banquer and Rick
Doughty.
Honda-mounted Henning battled
with Ducati rider John LOng in both the
350 and 500 Sportsman classes. In both
races, Henning emerged the winner
over Long. Chasing the lead duo home
in the 350 Sportsman class was Harold
Page, while Ralph Auer grabbed third in
the 500 Sportsman class. Making his
road race debut and finishing fourth in
the 350 Sportsman class was five-time
500cc MX World Champion Roger
DeCoster.
Q
Results
F-500: 1. Todd Henning (Yam); 2. George Q;egar
(Yam); 3. Gwen Banq..... (Suz); 4. Rick Doughly (lion);
5. Tom Robertson (Hon).
SOO Premier: 1. Stephen Mathews (~t); 2. Dave
Pilh (BSA); 4. Stuart Rofps
(Nor); S. Tun _ I (BSA).
F-ZSO: 1. Todd Henning (yam); 2. Yoshi Kosak.>
(Yam); 3. Richard Merhar; 4. Michael Perry (Yam); S.
lonathan Cioner (Yam).
CLASS C, 1. Dam Roper (Vel); 2. Nonnan NeIoon
(Nor); 3. Stuart Rofps (Nor); 4. Fagus Warwidt (Vel);
S. ~ A..... (NMW).
500 SPTMN: 1. Todd Henning (lion); 2.lohn Long
(Due); 3. Ralph A..... (BMW); 4. Oiff Bigoney (lion); 5.
Norman He""" (Tri).
350 SPTMN: 1. Todd Henning (lion); 2. lohn Long
(Due); 3. Harold Page (Hon); 4. Roger lJeCcoIft (Due);
S. R.....II Foard (Hon).
F-VINT: 1. Yvon DuHamel (BSA); 2. Pat Moroney
(Yam); 3. Todd Henning (yam); 4.leny Wood (Due); S.
Kurt Uebmann (Hon).
150 SPTMN: 1. Pal Mooney (Tri); 2. Todd Henning
(Hon); 3. Lany Kirby (Yam);4- Stew KalbIleUch (BMW);
5·1.... Morris (Tri).
350 GP: I. David Roper (Ben); 2. Croig McLean (HD); 3. Scott Borem (Due); 4. Malcolm Tunstall (Due); S.
Stuart Ragen (Due).
250 GP: I. Scott Brem (Due); 2. Sven Bier (Mai); 3.
Charles Sexton (Bul); 4.leff Hecox (Due); S. Jaoonllesoey
(Due).
F·7SO: 1. Dave Pither (Tri); 2. Yvon DuHamel (BSA);
3. Jefr Gaynor (Hon); 4. Pat Moroney (H-D); 5. Richard
Moo... (Tri).
PRFrl970: 1. Stuart Rogers (No~); 2. David Roper
(Vel); 3. Rusly Lowry (lnd); 4. OWe Auer (BMW); S.
Fagus Warwick.
200 GP: 1. Sven Bier (Mai); 2. Byron Blend (Han); 3.
Bob Barker (H-D); 4. Chris Laeruze (Bul); S. lohn
Bowman (Ben).
BMW Battle of the Legends II
Springsteen still has it
By Donn Maeda
Photos by Kinney Jones
GAINESVILLE, FL, MAR. I
etween 1975 and 1985, three-time
Grand National Champion Jay
Springsteen rode a HarleyDavidson XR750 to 40 National wins.
Although it may have been quite a
while since his last National win,
"Springer" proved that he still has what
it takes to grab the gold, as he topped a
star-studded field to emerge the winner
of the 2nd Annual BMW Battle of the
Legends, held in conjunction with the
second round of the AHRMA/BMW
Classics Series.
The race, which was held for the first
time in 1992, pitted 15 great racers from
the past, and in Springsteen's case - present, against one another aboard identically-prepared BMW Rl00RS Roadsters
in a pair of sprint races. Springsteen
secured the overall win with a win in
the fIrst leg and a runner-up finish in
B
Reg Pridmore (55) leads David Aldana (13), Gary Nixon (white #9 plate), Don Castro (11), and Jay Springsteen (black #9 plate).
the second, edging runner-up David
Aldana, another veteran dirt tracker;
and Yvon DuHamel, last year's Battle of
the Legends winner.
Three-time AMA Superbike National
Champion Reg Pridmore grabbed the
holeshot at the start of the first five-lap
race with two-time Grand National
Champion Gary Nixon, former land
speed record-holder Don Vesco and
Springsteen in hot pursuit.
The five riders rode in close formation for the first two laps before being
joined by Aldana and eight-time
World Champion Phil Read, both of
whom started poorly. On lap three,
all hell broke loose and all seven riders swapped positions repeatedly as
they raced down the back straight
and around the banking. At the start
of lap four, Springsteen held the lead,
with Nixon, Aldana and Read close
behind.
Aldana assumed the lead on the next
lap, but lost it just as quickly when he
missed a shift in the back side of the
track.
"On one side of the track, you
couldn't get past guys, but on the other
side you could just zip past," said
Aldana. '1 missed a shift back there and
I figure that it cost me the race."
Springsteen pounced on Aldana's
mistake and motored into the lead, but
found himself behind DuHamel as they
raced towards the checkered flag.
Springsteen tucked in behind the
French-eanadian and drafted past to
score a narrow win.
"Everyone was riding really smooth,
and I had a few scary moments out
there when my tires were cold," said
Springsteen. "As we raced down the
back straight, Yvon sort of sat up and
looked to the left. I went high and
passed him on the right."
DuHamel had an explanation: "The
engine would hit the rev-limiter and
stop pul1ing. It would do it on the fast
parts of the track, and it was a probleIn."
Aldana crossed the finish line third,
ahead of Nixon and Read.
The second leg Pridmore jetted out to
another great start. Aldana, Nixon, Don
Castro and Springsteen chased after
him, and it was Aldana who was the
first to strike.
"I got a good start and figured that I
would try to get away real early," said
Aldana. "I knew that I could get away.
It might have been better for the crowd
if I got a bad start, but hey, this is still a
race"
Yvon DuHamel hitches a "tow'" to winner's circle from David Aldana behind Battle
of the Legends winner Jay Springsteen. Springsteen and Aldana each won a leg.
Once into the lead, Aldana proceeded to walk away from the field and he
went on to score the win. Springsteen
eventually motored into second after a
heated battle with DuHamel, and he
clinched the overall win by leading
DuHamel across the line. Nixon again
finished fourth, with Read notching
another fifth-place finish.
"Aldana got a good start and got
away from us," said a delighted
Springsteen. "I tried to play catch-up
after that, but it was no use. Yvon and I
had a good race."
Once again, DuHamel's machine faltered, and struggled with one cylinder
at times.
"It's too bad that the machines
weren't equal," said DuHamel. "If the
engine had run good the whole time, I
think it would have been Aldana and I
battling out front."
Relegated to fourth overall, Nixon
remained upbeat. '1 had a good seat for
the show, but I really would have rather
had them chasing after me," said Nixon.
"Those guys were pretty quick today,
and if the race was 100 miles long I
would have still gotten fourth. Hey, I
got beat."
Q
Results
RACE 1: 1. Jay Springsteen (BMW); 2. Yvon
DuHamel (BMW); 3. David Aldana (BMW); 4. Gary
Nixon (BMW); 5. Phil Read (BMW); 6. Reg Pridmo...
(BMW); 7. Don Emde (BMW); 8. Hugh Anderson
(BMW); 9. Don Vesco (BMW); 10. Walter Villa (BMW);
II. George Roeder (BMW); 12. Don Castro (BMW); 13.
Bart Markel (BMW); 14. Roger Reiman (BMW); IS.
Walter Zeller (BMW).
RACE 2: 1. Aldana; 2. Springsteen; 3. DuHamel; 4.
Nixon; S. Read; 6. Pridmore; 7. Villa; 8. Emde: 9.
Anderson; 10. Reiman; 11. Vesco; 12. Roeder; 13. Castro;
14. Markel; IS. Zeller.
Olk 1. Jay Springsteen (BMW); .2 David Aldana
(BMW); 3. Yvon DuHamel (BMW)! 4. Ga,! Nixon
(BMW); S. Phil Read (BMW); 6. Reg Pridmore (BMW); 7.
Don Emde (BMW); 8. Wailer Villa (BMW); 9. Hugh
Anderson (BMW); 10. Don Vesco (BMW); 11. George
Roeder (BMW); 12. Roger Reiman (BMW); 13. Don
Castro (BMW); 14. Bart Markel (BMW); 15. Walter
Zeller (BMW).
33
