Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Aldana grabbed the hol eshot in AHRMA's most presti giou s cla ss, followed closely by Roper and Mclean, all on Team Obsolet e G50s. A sho rt di stance back were Ma th ews and H on da CR45O-mounted Kurt Liebmann. On the second lap, Roper made his move in to ' the lead. . "I think I had my bike set up a little better than Aldana. The only time he had on it was a little practice this morning. The bike wasn't geared quite right, so he was at a little disadvantage there," Roper said. As Rop er opened a lea d of six second s, Mclean closed to within a second of Aldana. Mathews trailed in fourth, ab out eigh t seconds behind Mcl.ean at the finish. "I raised th e front end up abou t a half-inch, but it didn't feel quite right. The front kept pushing hard. What can I say?" Mathews shrugged . Among the weekend's bes t races was th e Formula 750c c e ven t p ittin g DuHam el on th e ex- Dic k Mann BSA trip le ag ain st Jerry Wood ' s Triumphpow ered Rickman Melisse. Wood hung close behind DuHam el , with Nortonm ounted Don Vesco some di stance behind in third. Any hop e Wood had of getling a round the fast French Canadian was dash ed whe n the pair started running up behind backma rkers late in the race. "He is fearless in traffic," Wood said of DuHamel. "He got through and I got boxed." DuHa mel kept up his torrid pace in the all-comers Formula Vintage race. Aldana and Wood were out fron t for a lap or so before DuHamel and Todd Henning charged th rough to take over the 1-2 spots. As DuHamel kept the big BSA ahead of Henning's nimble Yamaha 350, Wood slipped in to third ahead of Aldana. When Henning applied pressure, DuHamel raised the pace another notch. "I was running 1:27s, the bes t this bike has ever d o n e here," Wood said . "DuHa mel must have been do ing :26s to ge t away fro m Tod d . Th at ' s a very respect abl e time on th at old mot orcycle." On the fifth lap , DuHam el emerged alone from behind Loudon's hill section and kept his head do wn unlilthe checke re d fla g, unaware H enning had crashed ou t of the race. "O n th e last lap I had cha ng ed my line (in turn six)," said DuHamel. "I knew that if I'd go too wide on the bottom, he'd get me on the ins id e. So I don 't know if he got on the brakes too hard or what." H enning dominated ' the AHRMA Sportsman a nd Formula classes, winnin g Sportsm an 350, 500 and 750cc on his Honda tw ins (the 750 win came on a 450cc machine!) and Form ula 250 a nd 500cc on Yamahas. In th e Sp ortsman 500cc class, BMW -mounted Tom Verville put in a s pi rited rid e to finis h second, while in the 750cc class it was Larry Kirb y who kept the pressure on Henning. Greg Nichols piloted a blazingly fast Norton to USCRA cl as s w ins, while Craig McLean captured the AHRMA 350cc GP win on an AJS 7R and U5CRA's sid ecar racers got involved in a free-for-all that saw the lead changing every lap. A Yamaha twin driven by Andrew Fairbank was victorious in Saturday's sidecar event. Battle of the Legends "Actually, we had it planned that we would keep all bunched together. But that all fell apart when the flag dropped," David Aldana said of the Battle of the Legends riders' intent to provide the crowd with a close race. They need not ha ve worried. David Aldana (13) won both legs of the exciting Battle of the Legends race. Gary Nixon (9) was third. Greg Nichols was very fast all weekend. He won three classes over the two days. Although Aldana, '(vo n DuHamel an d Ga ry Nixon finished 1-2-3 in both six-la p legs, th is eve nt wa s as exciting and unpred ictable as racing gets. The Loudon Ba ttle of the Legends race was th e third time the event has been staged, an d the first time it has been held other than during Daytona Bike Week. Ten past North American racing stars competed on iden tic ally prepared new BMW R100R street bikes . All were repeat competitors except for Dick Klarn fot h, the 64-year-old threetime Daytona 200 winner. Alda na shot to the lead of the firSt race, held Saturday on a damp-but-drying track, with DuHamel and Nixon in hot pu rsuit. Nixon got past DuHamel on the seco nd la p and then reeled in Aldana. Fro m tha t point the race was on in ea rnest. On la p five, Aldana s hu t the door firmly on Nixon as the pai r exited an uphill turn. The ne xt time ar ound, th ey were cylinder hea d -t o-cylinder head when Ni xon made an oth er mov e for the lead a-nd went down. He was up quickly in third behind DuHamel, hi s machine and the seat of his leathers dirtcovered. Don Emd e fin ished a co m fo r table fourth, follow ed by Roger Rieman in fifth, The second leg on a su nny Sunday started the same way: Ald ana imm edia tely in the lead. Th is time, tho ugh, it was DuHamel pass in g Nixon to take over second slot. But Nixon didn't give up easily, and the pair spent a couple laps running si de b y side un til DuHamel was able to p ull away and se t his sights on Aldana. Aldana a nd DuHam el ran toge ther on the final lap, and then so me th ing s t r a ng e happened : From out of nowhere, Nixon zipped from third into first. But as the lead trio closed on the checkered fl ag, Nixon's ad vantage seemed to disappear. From a d istance, it was unclear just what had occurred and who crossed the line first. As it turned out, on th e white-flag lap, Nixon drifted onto the grass at the chicane. The final lime around, though, he over-corrected and took an inadvertent "short cut" through the chicane. Realizing what he had done, Nixon rolled .o ff the throttle as they approached the finish . "He cut off the chicane!" Aldana exclaimed. "I just about d ied. But then I started thinking, That's okay, because if DuHamel gets third and Nixon beats me, my first and second would be better than his third and first. I was computing all the way to the flag." After sorting ou t what was what, AHRMA ra ce officials moved Nixon back to third beh ind A ldana and -DuHamel. Rieman fi nis hed ahead of Em d e in the second leg and earned fou rth ove rall by virt ue of his 5-4 placings over Emde's 4-5. And the group's . se ni or member, Klarn foth, showed he can ride briskly, finishin g seventh each timeout. ~ Results AHRM A 200 GP: 1. Go~don Pu lis (~ai); 2. James Kirby (Yam); 3. Ed Sensenig (Due); 4. Mike Gontesky (Du e); 5. Chris Jensen (Hon). 150 CP: t . Jaso n Bessey (Due); 2. John Step he ns (Due); 3. Erik Myhre (Du e); 4. Ed Sensenig (Due); 5. Mike Gontesky (Due). 35DGP: I. Craig Mclean (A)S); 2. To m Leech (Soz ); 3. 8i1l Lindsay (Bu l); 4. Ed Sen seni g (Due); S. Ka rl Myh re (Due). SOO PREM: I. David Rope r (Mat ); 2. David Aldana (Mat); 3. Cr aig Mclean (Ma t); 4. Step hen Mathews (Ma l); 5. Kurt Liebmann (Hon). F·250: 1. Tod d Henn ing (Yam); 2 . Janet Gunn (Yam); 3. Chris Jensen (Suz); 4. Jerry Kinzl (Yam) . F·500: 1. Todd He n n ing (Yam); 2. Rich Baulch (Kaw); 3. John Christher (Ya m). F-15&. I . Yvon DuHamel (BSA); 2. Jerry Wood (RicTn); 3. Don Vesco (Nor ); 4. Kurt Liebma nn (Ha n); 5. Peter Anderson (Tri }, F-VINT: I . Yvon DuHamel (BSA); 2. Jerry Wood (Tri); 3. David Aldana (Mat); 4. Kurt Liebmann (Hon ); 5. Do ug Pedrick (Due). SPTMN 35&. I. Todd Henning (Hon); 2. Russ Foard (Han); 3. Stan Li ppert (Hon); 4. Frank Smith (H an ); 5. Don Fro mm (Due). SFTMN SOD: 1. T odd H enn ing (Han) ; 2. Tom Verville (BMW); 3. Jason Bessey (BSA); 4. Tam Stanci ll (Ho n); 5. Rich Peterson (Hon). SPTMN 750: 1. Todd Henn in g (Han) ; 2. La rry Kirby (Yam); 3. Joe Smi th (BM"1; 4. Greg Bido u (Tri); 5. Oiff Mu rray (Yam). CLSC 6605: 1. Stephen Ma the ws (Ma t); 2. Stewart Rog e rs (Nor); 3 . CIi(( M urra y (Vel); 4. Ti m Sta nci ll (BSA); 5. Rus ty Lowry (H-D). CLAS5 C: I . David Roper (Vel); 2. Stewart Rogers (Nor); 3. Erieh Bley (BMW); 4. Butch Baer (ln d); 5. AI Knapp (H-D) . FRE-4O: 1. David Rope r (Vel); 2. Ste wart Roge rs (Nor); 3. Butch Baer (Ind); 4. Doc Batsleer (100); 5. Erich Bley(BMW). BMW LEGENDS OIk I. David Alda na (1· 1); 2. Yvon DuHamel (2-2); 3. Gary Nixon (3-3); 4. Roger Rieman (5-4); 5. Don Emde (4-5); 6. Don Vesco (6-6); 7. Dick Klamloth 11 -7); 8. Don Castro (9-3); 9. Dick Mann (8-9); 10. Bart Markel (Ill-IO). USCRA 200 GP : I. Bill Greenwood (Ho n); 2. Abbott Lah ti (Hon); 3. C reighton Demarest (Han); 4. Jan e t Gu nn (Yam). 250 GP: I . Gary Morell (Due); 2. Tom Courts (Due); 3. Alex Steinburg (Due) ; 4. Henry Syphers (So2); 5. Tom Lichtman (Hon). UW SlVINT: I . Tod d Henning (Yam); 2. Rick Soles (Yam); 3. Fritz Au gustine (Yam); 4. Stan Lipert (Yam); 5. Tam Co urts (Due) . H/W SIVINT: I. G reg N ie ho ls ( No r); 2. Todd He nni ng (Ya m); 3. Rid e. Soles (Yam); 4. Stev e Keegan (Due) ; 5. Thane Gillies (Nor). SIDECAR: 1. Andrew Fairban k /Kim Gl assberg (Yam); 2. Ed FrankellJohn Sey m o u r (N or); 3. Mark Gibson/Car Otto (BMW); 4. Tom Verville /Tim Courts (BMW); 5. Sam Stoney/Oona Aldrich (y am ). AM-eAN CHALLENGE SOD GP : 1. Steven Keega n (Due ); 2. Tom Verv ille (BMW); 3. Ku rt Liebmann (Ron). 350 GP: 1. Todd Hennin g (Ho n); 2. St an Lipert (Hon); 3. Mike Webber (Due). 250 G P: I . Gary More ll (Due) ; 2. Paul Glynn (BuI); 3. John Seym our (Due) . 200 GP: 1. C reig hton De marest (Hon); 2. Bill Green wood (H on ); 3. Gordon Pulis (Mai). IIIW SlVINT: I . Greg Nichols (Nor); 2. Riek Soles (Yam); 3. Kurt Liebmann (Hon) . UW S/VINT: 1. Pe ter Pur ke y (Y.am); 2. Fr itz Augustine (Yam) . OPEN: 1. Jerry Wood (Tri); 2. Pete Kogu l (No r); 3. Jell Wood (Tri). 29

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