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Round 1: DeLand Airport By Matt Benson DELAND, FL, FEB. 26 hey saved the best for last. Though there was plenty of close racing throughout the opening round of the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association's 1999pavement season, the day's final event - 500 Premier by Works Performance - was as good as it gets. This one was a classic ba ttle of big singles, pitting a 1961 Matchless GSO piloted by Barber Vintage Motorsports' Stephen Mathews against Englishman John Cronshaw aboard his highly deveioped 1968 BSA. After losing the narrowest of leads on the last lap of the lo-lap feature, Mathews again took control several turns from the end and hung on to win by less than a bike length. For the third year in a row, AHRMA's pre-Daytona warmup event took place on a 1.8-mile temporary course laid out using runways at DeLand's busy municipal airport, a World War Two-era former Naval Air Station with pavement to spare. (The facility also is a Mecca for skydivers, who provided a constant, colorful counterpoint to the two-wheeled action below.) Deland isn't likely to make anyone's list of favorite tracks, but road racing and airfields have a long history together, and the event allows racers to shake off winter's cobwebs and work the bugs out of their machines before moving to Daytona International Speedway three days later. The event attracted more than 375 entries, dozens of them from overseas, and the weather was perfect. Cronshaw led the 500 Premier field into turn one, but by the time they completed a lap, it was Mathews at the point position of a four-rider breakaway group. Oose behind and setting a furious pace were Cronshaw, former MY T ...: _ e CD :::E 50 Agusta works rider Gianfranco Bonera on a '67 MY and Adam Popp on an M3 Racing '67 Honda 450. By the second lap, Popp began to lose ground on the lead trio, and then it was Bonera's turn to fall behind Ma thews and Cronshaw. At the halfway mark, the Italian pulled the howling MY multi back into the pits, satisfied with the way the machine was performing and 'saving it for the real test at the speedway. For the last few laps, Mathews and Cronshaw never seemed to be more than a few feet apart, diving incredibly hard into the turns on suspect pavement and skinny tires. At the beginning of the final lap, Cronshaw forged his way around Mathews and held the lead as the pair disappeared from sight. But just a couple turns from the last dash to the finish line, the Georgian reclaimed the lead and just managed to hold on to it as the pair sprinted for the checkered flag. Popp crossed the line in third, followed by Pa t Mooney on a Norton Manx, defending class champ Larry Poons on his G50powered Seeley Condor and Rusty Lowry's Harley KR750. The day began with an excellent Pre1940 race between Ralph Auer on a 1939 BMW 500 and Alex McLean on a '39 Norton. Auer held the lead until the last lap of the six-lap event, when the Pennsylvanian moved to the front and stayed there for a narrow win. Blake Wilson was third on his '37 Indian. On the track at the same time were the 200 Grand Prix machines, and this one was a b'attle between Dennis Poneleit on his '68 Honda 17S and Johnny Demoisey on a '71 Triumph 250. Demoisey 'had taken the lead away from the Honda rider on the second lap, and Poneleit returned the favor on the white-flag lap, staying out front until the pair reached the checkered flag. It was classic battle of big singles in the 500 Premier class. Barber Vintage Motorsports' Stephen Matthews (81) won the race on a '61 Matchless GSO, narrowly defeating Englishman John Cronshaw (71) aboard his highly developed 1968 BSA. In the combined Sportsman 350/250 GP race, Gary Platt, Jack Silverman and Blake Wilson jetted away on their Honda 3S0s. Wilson hung tight in third for the first half of the race as Platt and Silverman battled over the lead; then the West Virginian moved past both to take over the front spot himself near the race's halfway mark. As Wilson opened a bit of a lead, the dispute between Platt and Silverman raged on.with Silverman crossing the line in the second spot. 250 GP saw former class champion Jay Richardson take his '62 Ducati to a close win over Bultaco-mounted Jim Neuenburg. Th.e Accu-Products-sponsored Formula 250 was a battle between the Honda 350s of Kemp Archibald and Tim Stancill, as Stancill got around Archibald while moving through traffic late in the race. Neuenburg held down third on his Bultaco. Also on the track at the same time was Class C, and this one was a three-way battle between Carleton Palmer's Vincent Grey Flash, Auer's BMW and McLean's Norton single. Auer held what seemed to be a commanding lead over Palmer and Mclean until near the end, when both slipped past the BMW rider. McLean then ran into machine problems while leading, and Palmer took the win. Hand- and foot-shift machines are scored separately in Class C, and among the handshifters, it was Indian-mounted Wilson getting the win over Tim Droege's Harley. . Bob Goodpaster and his Norton Commando found the newly created BEARS class to their liking, leading wire to wire over his Team Expert colleague Cal Lewis, also on a Norton twin. In the Classic '60 portion of the race, Rusty Lowry led the entire way aboard his Harley KR, while Triumph-mounted Geoff Ryan worked his way around Pat Mooney to take second. The next race combined 3S0 GP and Sportsman SOO, with Neuenburg getting the best of a back-and-forth battle with Richardson, as Archibald and Demoisey waited close behind for the leaders to make a miscue that never came. Auer, riding a BMW RSO, got his win for the day ahead of BSA BSO-mounted Don Jagger in Sportsman SOO. Sportsman 750 was a fast-moving four-rider freight train made up of Triumph-mounted Frank Shockley, Kunio Asakawa, Geir Jacobsen and Mike Eiland on a Yamaha twin. While Shockley held the lead the entire race, behind him it was anything but certain, as Asakawa made the run from fourth to second from Eiland on the final lap. . In Formula 7S0, Adam Popp flat out howled away for the win on the M3 Honda CR75O, with Will Harding finishing a distant second on another of the Honda fours. Up at the same time in Formula SOO by Accu-Products, Hondamounted Hikaru Miyagi held off the Yamaha of class champion Christopher Spargo. . Popp took the Honda four out again m. the Accu-Products Formula Vintage race, with the same result as in Formula 7S0. Second was the Norwegian Jacobsen, ahead of Spargo. . In AHRMA's modern-bike classes, Battle of the Twins Open and Formula Two took to the track at the same time, and the leaders of the two classes mixed it up. Battle of the Twins Open winner Peter Branton got involved in a tussle with Formula Two entrants Michael Hausknecht and Steve Von Borstel, with Hausknecht winning not only his class but the overall race as well. Shockley rode his vintage Triumph 750 twin to the Battle of the Twins Formula Three win, and Battle of the Twins Two-Stroke went to German Walter Hoffman on a Yamaha 250. In Sound of Singles action, Jeff Nash rode his Ducati to a convincing Super Mono win. Super Mono 2 belonged to Craig Wright on his BBM SOO, while behind him, Colin Fraser's Yamaha SRSOO won a battle for second against class champion Mark Hatten on another BBM. The always closely contested Skorpion Cup went to Galen Miller over Alex McLean, as Blake Wilson won the contest for third over Robert Wrublevski. Rolf Knecht came from Switzerland to earn the Sound of Thunder win on his Ducati over Guzzi-mounted Hausknecht. Third was David Podolsky on a new Aprilia twin. _ Det..nd Munlcilpal Airport Det..nd, Florida Results: Febru8ry 26, 1999 (Round 1 of 19) 200 GP: 1. Dennis Poneleit (Hon); 2. Johnny Demoisey (Tri); 3. Uwe Markovac (BuD; 4. Dennis Macaluso (BSA); 5. Mark Samuelson (BSA). • 250 GP: 1. Jay Richardson (Due); 2. Jim Neuenburg (Bull; 3. jonathan White (Due); 4. Ron Melton (Bull; 5. Chari.. Sexton (Bul). 350 GP: 1. Jim Neuenburg (Bull; 2. Jay Richardson