Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Marlboro TransAtlantic Trophy Match Races \ (Top) Britain's Ron Haslam leads Randy Mamola (6), Mike Baldwin (43) ..Roger Marshaln (11), Barry Sheene (7) and Kenny Roberts (2 ) at Dulton Park. (Above) In the Snetterton ra in , Roberts is pursued by Marshall, Mamola and Haslam. Brits top Yanks in England . sho u ld n' t try to become h eroes si nce thisis a team event a n d th at 's what ' we did ," ca p tai n Sheene sai d. " I wouldn' t hav e -be l ieved th e sc o re would h av e turn ed o ut lik e thi s if yo u' d to ld m e th at before th e series." " We rea lly didn 't expec t thi s kind of weath er , bu t the E ng lis h team ro de b rill i ant l y to pull it o ff," sa id R obert s. T he di ffer en ces w er e clea r. Th e Ame rica n team wa s ri d ing o n m o stl y unfam iliar m ach in er y i n i n cle me nt wea ther an d n ot a lways as a tea m. Neit her R obert s n or L a w son wa s a ble to u se th e po we r o f the .heavier bi g-bo re Yam ah as a nd the d ifficu l- tie s were magni fi ed in t h e rai n. Mam ol a wa s th e o n ly ri der o n h is G P m ount . t he XR -45 M ark III HB S uzu ki, a n d the co m bi na tion was p er fect. Bald win , a lt ho ugh h e'd won th e Mal a ysian GP th e previ ou s wee k, had little ex pe rie nce o n the ' H onda N R500. · Cooley wa s r id ing o n ly h is second ra ce o n the Fo rmul a O ne Kaw a saki , a nd Alda na h ad never seen hi s m ount b efore the ra cin g sta rt ed . T he Bri t s were co nsis te nt a nd p ack ed t he mi df ield wit h th e numbers n eed ed to as s u re a vic to ry. Aft er p u l- lin g a 79-69 lead at O u lton, th ey i ncreased it in th e ra in a t S ne tter to n to 161 - 133 and fin ish ed it o ut a t Brands H atch 245 -198 . O f th e six tea m m embers o n the Bri tish team there were o n ly two Dl\' Fs i n th e entire ser ies a nd those by. riders ru n - nin g at the ba ck o f the pack . Hon da G B's R og er Ma rsh all , the m an w ho won the o n ly race th a t Shee ne d id n 't last year , fi n is hed seco nd a mo ng the Br i tish with 55 po ints, a hea d of Hero n S u zu k i's S hee ne w ho scored 40, pri vateer Gra ham W ood wi th 30, Shee ne 's teamm a te Kei th H euwen wi th 27, a nd reserve Ma rk Sa lle, riding in p lace of th e inju red Mick Grant, with 23. Qulton Park Se t in th e ge nt ly s lo p ing C hes hire co u nt rysi de . the 2.76-m ilec irc u it gave rid ers fit s wit h its b u mpy surface a n d uphill -d ownhill secti ons. " " It ' s so bumpy th a t i t' s h ard to ph ysi call y h an g onto th e b ik e ," sa id Shee ne . "I found tha t o ne of th e screws in m y wrist is co m ing loo se. " " T h e on ly p lace th at yo u ca n u se th e p ow er o f th is bi ke is o n the hill o n . the ba ck st ra ight a n d as soon as yo u get th e re vs u p yo u h a ve to bac k o ff," said L aw son . "T h is is n' t th e righ t bi ke for this track , bu t we h ad to rid e th em si nce o ur G P b ik es a re ge ll ing rea di ed fo r H ockenheirn (the West Germa n G P on the foll ow in g wee k- en d) . Ther e' s goi ng to be a lot of wh eeli es." T he Am er ican h and a p peared to be st re ng thened wh en th e a ge less Mi ck Gra nt was forced to withdraw with a br ok en h a nd, as was fi rs t a lter n a te R o b Mc Elnea , lea ving Mark Sall e to be chosen . In th e un offici al practi ce. H a slam wa s fa st est , turnin g la p s in th e o ne minut e , 36 .2 seco n d' r an g e with Baldw in second at I :36.9 a n d Mam ola in w i th a I :37. I. Ask ed if th e tea m h ad dis cussed stra tegy, Baldwin said , " Yea h, we d ecided we were go i n g to wi n it th is yea r. " _ After th e team ca p ta ins se t the grid, the g ree n fla g w a s dropped and i t w as Haslam leading Marnol a, Baldwin , Mar sh all. L aw son , Rob erts and Sheene into Old Hall Corner for the fir st o f th e II laps. Coming down the fa stest part of th e co urse , Baldwin w ent in Kni cker Bro ok Corner a little hot , hit a bump o n th e o utsi de of th e turn a n d pitched it a wa y, a lmost taking leaders Haslam a n d Mamola with him . " Ra n d y and Ron were a h ead of me a n d they sl ow ed down m ore than I th ought and instead of taking the inside I h ad to go wide and hit tha t the road race ser ies wa s n othin g short o f di sa strou s. H onda 's Mi ke Baldw in cras hed i n th e fas tes t co rner i n the fir st race o f th e series a t Oulton P ark, br eakin g three toes o n h is lef t foo t an d effec tive ly e ndi ng hi s ridi ng a n d th e team 's cha nces fo r victo ry. Kaw asaki 's Wes Cool ey a n noyed th e Br it ish fans by ge tt i n g the bett er o f British tea m ca p ta i n Barry S heene i n th e fir st ra ce at O u lto n, but fe ll in th e seco n d o ne, re inju ri ng the co llar- bon e th e h e'd bro ken a t Da yton a. H e fell aga in th e next day in a ra i ny prac- tice sess io n at Sne tte rto n a n d wa s de- tun ed for th e series . H e finis hed w ith 19 poi nts. Vetera n Dav id Aldan a borrow ed th e Brit ish-ba sed S u zu ki 500 sq ua re- fou r o f R oberto P ietri a n d wa s n ever co m pe ti tive . " I just told my team th at th ey Mam ol a scored 60 p oints. Seco n d to Mam ol a o n the Amer i- ca n sq ua d , wa s team cap tai n Kenn y R oberts, who tall ied 5 7 p oints whil e wr e stlin g hi s' D a y ton a -winnin g Yamah a OW-69 a ro u nd th e short Br iti sh ci rc u its . Sim il arl y-m ounted Yamah a teamm at e Eddie L aw son, making h is fi rst Mat ch R a ce a p pear- a nce, sco red 43 p o ints. For the rest of th e Am erican team series. . Afte r fin ishing sec o n d to Ameri ca 's to p sco rer, Randy Marnola, in the opening tw o races a t Oulton Pa rk o n Sa tu rday , Haslam took co m ma n d a n d won th e following fou r rain-pl a gued races - tw o a t Snetterton o n Sunday, a n d tw o at Brands H atch o n Monda y o n his works H onda N S500 to a mass 70 p o ints a n d put th e series out o f rea ch . By Hanny Ray Abrams RO CHEST ER , KENT, E N G L A N D, MAY 2. Led by top scorer " R ocket" Ron Haslam, Britain defeated a seemingly invincible American team 245 -198 in the 13th running. of the Match Races, its ninth win in the 20

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