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·TIME REMEMBERED The 1985 Daytona 200 By Paul Carru thers Photos by Daytona International Speedway Archives here were two classes of riders at the Day to na International Speedway in 1985 - Freddie Spencer and everybody else. Simply p ut, no o ne h a s ever do minated Bike Week th e way Spencer di d in '85. The man from Lou isiana wo n the 10o-mile Internationa l Lightweight 250cc GP race, he scorched to victory in the l00-mile Formula One race, and he to pped off his all-conquering weekend by d ominating the Daytona 200. The 1985 running of Bike Week began a new era at Daytona International Speedway as Superbikes took over from exotic Formula One bikes in the Daytona 200. There were several reasons for the change, but two were the more noteworthy; the France family's allegiance with s tock-ca r racing, and th e high cost of Formula One machinery. Proponents of the change also argued that produ ction-based Superbike s would look just like the motorcycl es customers were buying, and the people in the stands could more closely identify with them. Of course, there were also detractors from making the swi tch, but nevertheless the change occurred and it came to pass for the first time in 1985. It mattered not to Spencer what he was riding. He won going away in each of the th ree major classes in '85, becoming the first racer to do so. His victory in th e Dayto na 200 also en ded a 13-race win strea k for Yamaha in the 200-mile r. The outcome of the 200 wasn' t mu ch of a surprise. After all, Spe ncer and the factory Honda were expected to win. What was somewhat of a surprise was that he ended up winning despite losingsome two minutes in the pits early in the race when a misfire developed in the VF750F's engine. The week began as usual with qualifying, and Spencer quickly established himself as the man to beat, lapping the 3.56-mile course in 1:57.768 - nearly two s e co n ds quicker than Fred Merkel. There was al so a difference between Spencer's Honda and the Honda ridden by teammate Merkel - with Spencer' s having been shipped directly from Japan and featuring a four-into-two-into-one exhaust rather than the four-into-two dual exhaust. The .exh aust and a much wider front Michelin tire were two of the more obvious differences between the two Hondas, but Spencer was able to go just as quick when he jumped on Merkel 's spare during practice. The third-fastest qualifier was yo ung Kevin Schwantz. The Texan qualified at 2:0 1.380 on th e air-cooled Suzuki GSXR750 to lead Wes Coo ley - who had (Above right) Freddie Spencer en route to victory In the 1985 Daytona 200 - the first year that Superbikes were run in the featured race at Daytona International Speedway. (Right) Spencer pits during the Fonnula One race on his factory Honda NSRSOO.