Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

EVENTS By Ray Collins Photo by Joe Weinroth D AYfONAB EACH. FL. OCT. 26 ist ory was revisited at the new Team Obsoletc/Vanson Leathers L a..-Trans-Atlan tic Ma tch Ra ce a s thi s th rillin g English raci ng for mu la from yes teryear was updated to straddle the Atlantic Ocean with his toric bikes in mul tipl e eve nts . Th e form at is s im ple: Two teams. .consisting of four 500cc-mounted rid ers and three 750cc pi lots each, compe te in two races on the same day. Former TAMR star j ohn "Mooneyes" Cooper was captain of the British tea m, with su ppo rt from former Daytona w inners Da v e P ither and Colin Bree ze. bot h on Rob North Tri- flaM Match Races ie dorf, Moore and Lon g. while Tunstall fried the d utc h on hi> BSA and Cal Rayborn III was a nonst arter on the ex Roger Reiman XR750 H-D. Green stood in on his AjS. In the second ra ce, Roper' s how ling MY took an easy lead, followed by Henning, McGahan, Swann , Wood , Hose and G reen . Pither 's Co mmonwealth Racin g triple start ed without a ho t lap when h is cl u tch cable gave ou t in th e paddock. "Th e cable brok e in her e before th e ra ce - I pu lled the clutch in and 'pingsnap' it went. We so rted it out and I started from the back of the pack." He still managed to lead the 7SOs, followed by Moore, Sind orf and Tu nsta ll. Breeze and Lon g suffe red from mechanical gremlins. As a prelude to th e first TAMR of the da y , s ix -ti m e World Champion Jim Redman led a parad e of Team Obsolete's exo tic bikes, followed by Rope r on th e MV 500/3, Coope r o n th e ex-Dick Man n BSA Ill , Long o n th e SOO MV / 4, a nd Green on th e AJS 7 R3 "T ri ple Knocker ." The 350cc GP / 5OOcc Sportsma n combined race vies wi th the TAMRs for the title of "most exciting" due to the battle between Erik Green on a Team Ob solete AjS 7R 350 and Todd Henning on his Drixton Ho nda 500. Despite the difference s in displacement, a battle royal developed and raged on until lap six. Af te r d icin g with Green all along the front straight into turn one for every lap , H en n ing mad e hi s m ove and pulled ahea d. The final tally wa s USA 319. UK 333,. Pither bein g top scorer. T he T rans-Atla ntic Matc h Ra ce s were begun in 1971 as a way of developing a common set of rules for Formula 750 racing in bo th the United Kingdom and the United Stat es. A cha llenge series was then ru n be tw een th e tw o . countries, with th e Un ited Kingdom as the sole host . Tradition sa w the races usually run ove r th e Easter holidays; great rid ers s u ch as Dick Mann, Cal Ray born, Yvo n D uH a m el a nd Dave Alda na wo n races for th e U.S . team w hile john Coo p er , Paul Smart, Ray Pickrell and Barry Sheene d efended the crown. At the end of the original series, the United States had six wins to the United Kingdom's 12. The series ended in 1986. "I was sorting out some suspension changes for the first few laps,".Henning said. "OnceI got a good feel for it, that wasit." After tha t, he left Green second overall a nd first in th e 350cc GP class, far a he a d o f Du cati-mounted Geoff McCarthey and Butch Sprain o n his Hond a 305 (who inexplicably crashed in th e horseshoe on the last lap). On e of the dasses not won by Henning wa s Thunderbikes, which saw Cal Rayborn III on a 10K Ha rley-Davidson VRI000 pull out so far ahead of the pack so fast tha t it see med there was no way to sustain his lead - and ther e wasn't. He puBed in after one lap, leaving Je rry Wood on his Bimota to win over Ducat i rider To m Fournier and Wood ' s so ns Eric and Jeff. f>' Daytona Intemlltional Speedway Daytona Beach, Aorlda October 26, 1997 " ,.. TRANS-ATLANTI C MATCH RA CE ' ! 750: 1. Dave Pitho..,(Tri ); 2. Co lin B1'\'t'7..t'(BSA); 3. Std Sind urf (H·O); 4. Richard MI..IUt't" (Tri); 5. John long (T ri). TRA NS-ATLANTIC MAT CH RA C E It 500: 1. Todd Hennmg (Hon ); 2. S tu art lon es (~); 3. Ch ris McC.l.han (St.oe); 4. JelTV Wood (Mat); 5. Mich.lel H!he (S,.>,,). • 500 SPTS MN: 1. Todd He nnin g IHo nl. 2. Mark A). Naddkcov (Hoed; 3. Ted Hubbard (BS 350 G P: 1. Erik C rce n (AIS); 2. Geoff McCa rthtry (Due) ; 3. Butch Sprain (Hoet>. 5ITW F-l : 1. Tom Foumit-r (Oue); 2. Stt"V~ A<;pland (Dud ; 3.)dfWnod CBim). srrw f -J : 1. Leste r Me tzler Jr. (H -D) ; 2 . Kenneth Hun ter ()(aw); 3: lus tin Long (K.Jw). SITW 2~STR K : 1. Bra d Pal m e r (Ya m) ; 2. Rich ard Herrington 0 (Yam) SlMONO r- I: 1. Michel Barnes (Dud ; 2. Jerry Wood lDud; 3. John Long (Hun). F-250: I : Tod~ Henning (Hon) ; 2. Harold Pa ge J ~ . (Han); 3. Sakis Vasilupoub. (Y.un). 350 SPTS MN: 1. Todd Hennin g (Ho n); 2. Rick Breckon(Hocd; 1 M.u-kNadelkov (Han). 200 Gr: 1. DennIS Ponc..oU.;t 0'> ,..... N' ,..... ... Q) "S > o z Q) 42 - u mph triples. Vet eran scra tchers Mik e Hose, C hris McGahan, La r ry Swan n an d Stuart Jones all rod e Seeley G-50s, su pported by Stef Sindorf on a Harley XR750IT. Isle of Man winner Dave Roper led the U.s. team, riding a former Agostini 500 MV Agusta triple. Veterans John Lon g and Richard Mo ore r ode Rob North Triumphs. Malcolm Tunstall grabbed th e cha nce to ride the ex-Dick Mann BSA III. Tod d He n n i n g ' s Dri xton Hon da 500 was joined by auc tioneer Jerry Wood on a Team Obso lete Matchless G-SO and Erik Green on a T / 0 AJS 7R. In the first race, Henning ran away from the 500 singles of both teams . Roper developed a flat tire at the start . Pit her's triple headed Breeze and Sin- (Above) Todd Henning (454) 01 the U.S. S team batt les with British rider Stuart Jones (8) lor the lead In thellrst TransAt lant ic Match Race. Henn ing went on to wi n, w it h Jo nes second. PRE-'52ICL.Q 1. Doc & ts&ccr (lnd> ; 2 Stc. -e ... 0). ere(H. • 750 SrTSMN: I . Todd HenninK (Hen) : 2. Ki rk CO!OWirt (Yam) . THDRBK: 1. jerry Wood (Bim); 2. To m Fournier (Duc);3. FricWood ; 3. Stu.u t [on es (St"-e); 4. Larry Swa nn (Sed; 5. Chris McGah.1n (See). F-7SO: I. David Pith l,.'I' O'ri ); 2. Dave Roper (85M; 3. Co lin Breeze (BSA ). T'RAN > ATL\.NTIC MATQf RACE n. 7'50: t . Dave Pitht-r (Tri); 2. Richard M~ ITri); 3. Std SinJorf (H-O); -4 . Malcolm Tunstall (USA). T'RAN >ATLANTIC MATOI RACE n SOO: I. Dave Roper (MV); 2. Todd H~ {Hon}; 3. Chris M.:.Cahan (Sec); 4. Lany Swann (S.>e); 5. Jeny Wood (Mat).

• Cover