Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 2: Daytona International Speedway Henning bounces back In spi te of losing the 350 race, Green and his fast Duca ti won the 250cc GP event by a margin of 18 seconds. In the Sportsman 750cc divisio n, it was a battle of the twins with Larry Kirby and his Yamaha XS650 sw ap p ing th e lead with Pat Mooney's Triumph Bonneville. At one point there was a third leader, Triumph-mounted Chris Stobaugh, but he failed to finish the race. When the checkered flag flew , it w as Kirby ahead of defen din g class champion Moo ney. The Formula 750cc class saw a hardea rn ed win for Jeff Ga ynor aboard the Ecurie Class ics Ho nda CR750. He wi thstood pressure from second-place finisher Jerry Wood on h is Du cati, and was chased by Honda CR750 rider Kurt Liebmann, Mooney on a Triumph-Weslake and John Long on a Rickman-Triumph. Other vintage winners were: No rton- (Left ) Todd Henning rebounded f rom a disastrous open ing round to win lour classes at Daytona. (Below) John Long took his Yamaha to a flrst-place fi nish In Formu la 500 racing . (Bott om) Ste Kalbfleisch (461) leads AI Char1es (414) and Michael Eiland (641) In the 750cc Sportsman divis ion. ClassIcs Day attracted over 600 entr1es . By Matt Benson Photos by Kinney Jones DAYIDNA B EACH, n, MAR 7 hen Todd Henning left the season's first national in Georgia, all four of his motorcycl es were out of commissi on with mechanical problems or crash damage, but just three days later, th e Sye d Leathers I Avonl Works Performance /Bell / Ca strol-supported rider scored four convincing wins in five rides at round two in Daytona. "W ith out all of the frien ds and supporters w ho help ed me, 1 never could have d one it," Henning sa id of the marathon effort to ge t his bikes up and running. The effort was suc cessful, and Henning returned to Massachusetts with first-place trophies in the 500cc Premier, Sportsman 350cc and 500cc, and Formula 250cc classes. Henning's toughest competition came in Sp ortsman 500cc, where he had to share the lead at va rious times with Pat Moon ey' s Du cati 450. Shadow in g the lead pair were eventual third-place finisher Ralph Auer, on a BMW RSO, an d Jason Bessey's BSA500. Classics Day drew almos t 600 entries, a nd a n estimated 40,000 specta tors, includ ing a p air of exotic works MV Agustas. Under the guidance of John Surtees, the former owner I rider of one of the MVs, Barber Dairy Products' Stephen Mathews survived a battle of attrition in the 500cc Premier class to take the howling multi to a third-pla ce finish behind Henning's Honda-powered Drixton replica and a hard-cilarging David Aldana on Carl Hokanson's Matchless GSO. The other MY, entered by Team Obso- _ lete a n d ridden by En glis h m a n Jo hn Crenshaw, w as patched u p after a mishap at Roebling Road, only to go out earl y with electrical problems. Another much-anticipated entry, TO's tin y Jim Redman/Mike Hailwood Honda 25, was a non-starter, the victim of mechanical woes. Still, Team Obso lete owner Rob lan- W nued was upbeat about, the beginning of a new era in vintage racing. "The exotic m u ltis ha ve arriv ed ," he said . "I hope other people, like Mr. Barber an d I, will bring these machines ou t of the museums and hav e some fun." An other of the 500cc Premier casual- ' ties was Da vid Roper, who spent j he opening laps aboard his TO Match less G50 d icin g with Hennin g. As Henning be gan to pull a w ay on his powerful Honda twin, Roper wen t down with a flat front tire. Aboard his faithful AJS 7R, instead of the Honda six, Roper came out on top in an excellen t 350cc Grand Prix battle with West C oas t Brit ish Raci ng 's Michael Green and his Ducati single Even though he was on a 250cc ma chine an d broke a clutch cable early in the race, Green managed to lead Roper for most of the event

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