Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127846
ROAD RACE SUNOCO RACE FUELS FORMULA USA or I Ie (Len) Dave Sadows ki (25) leads the Formula USA pack down through the ROlId Atlanta esses on the opening lap as Tray Batey (t), Fritz Kling (2) and Curtis Adams (45) give chase. (Top) The race turned into a three-man battle with Sadowski (25) winning when Batey (1) dropped out. Kling (2) ended up second in the lirst race and Ihird In the second. (Above) The second leg is led off the line and Into turn one by Chuck Graves (34).The lormer Formula USA Champion ended up third in the first leg and lourth in the second. By Henny Ray Abrams BRASELTON, GA,JUNE 22 ob Muzzy was about 2500 miles I away from Road At lanta on Su n- 20 d ay, but his presence was u ndeniable in the Formula USA races at th e Br id ges tone Dixie Cycle Fes t. Th a t' s because Team Lab elle's Dave Sad owski wo n the firs t F-USA race on a Mu zzy Raptor customer bike, a machine which the team had taken delivery of the day before p ractice bega n. It was the race debut for the motorcycle which Muzzy had -promised to build for some lime, and it proved to be a strong sales tool. "It ain't a Kawasaki," Sadowski said, correcting the race annou ncer in the winner's circle after his first-race win. "It's a Muzz y made-in-America motorcycle, and it's a rocket ship." Sadowski also pointed ou t that Muzz y had missed the previous two AMA Superbike races to ensure that the Raptors were delivered on time. After winning the first race, Sadowski, who lives not far from the Braselton track in Jefferson, Georgia, finished second in the second race, strengthening his championship-leading position and serving notice that, if he gets to ride the bikes in the remaining five rounds and has lime to get them set up to his liking, the 'cornpetition's in for a long season. "The Muzzy Raptor is a great motorcycle," Sadowski said. "I can' t wa it to ride it agai n." When that might be depends on Sadowski's friend and benefactor Dean Scarpa. Scarpa, who had sponsored Sadowski when he was part of Team Desmo, bought a pair of the MU72y Raptors and allowed Sadowski to race th em in Atlanta. What Sadowski will be on at the next round in Portland, Oregon, has yet to be decided. _ That's for the future, and this is the present, an d it belonged mostl y to Sadowski, thoug h a pit-boa rd cock-up, which prevented him from knowi ng h e was coming under attack, helped cost him the second F-USA race. That one went to defending F-USA champion Tray Batey, the Tennessee rider taking his first race victory of the year on the Valvoline Suzuki. Batey'S cause wasn't helped by a mechanical DNF in face one, which dropped him to third in the point standings behind Dutchman Racing Yamaha's Fritz Kling. The Yamamonster pilot took a dose second to Sadowski in the first leg, then a fading third in the second one, candidly admitting that his machinery and tires were up to the challenge, but he wasn't. "I need to find the charge back in my system, " Kling said. Kling was one of severa l riders whose placings were consistent on the day. Graves Motorsports' Chuck Graves was a solid third and fourth, his second-race effort hampered b y fo rearms which pumped up due to a full day's plate of racing. In addition to the two F-USA legs, Graves raced the Buell Lightni ng and EBCBrakes Spo rtbike classes. Sadowski's Team LaBelle team mate Jason Fraser was fourth and fifth, though he was on the team's Honda CBR900s and not the Muzzy Raptors . In both races, he had good battles with - and finished just in front of - Valvoline Suzuki-mounted Grant Lopez. Lee's Pe rfo rmance Center's 'Lee Shierts, Z10ck Racing's Eric Wood, and Grigg Electric's Steve Grigg all finished both legs in the bottom half of the top 10, with Grigg, another Muz zy Raptor customer, taking a seventh and a ninth. Of the two races, ru n on a hot and humid d a y over the 2.52- mi le Road , Atlanta circuit, the second was the faster by about six seconds . Batey won that 13lap , 32.76-mile race in 18 minutes, 8.227 seconds, at an average speed of 108.374 mph. Because last year's races were run over 12 laps, it was a new race record. Sadowski was .678 of a second behind . He was 2.153 seconds in front of Kling in the first race, having averaged 107.789 mph. The one-two weekend padd ed Sadowski's championship lead to 15 poi nts, HI3-168 over Kling after three of the eight two- leg rounds . Batey is a di stant third, with 136. The Ski patrol went out early in the first race, the Muzzy rider trying to take a flyer and make the race rome to him . It worked well, though only two could come.