VOLUME ISSUE MAY , P115
moments was qualifying at the
front of the grid in the 1982 Su-
perbike National at Laguna Seca.
"I remember sitting there on
the front row and looking over
and seeing Kenny Roberts,
Freddie Spencer, Randy Mamola
and Wes Cooley, and thinking to
myself what an honor it is to be
here, on the front row, with these
guys."
The torrential conditions of
Mid-Ohio in 1982 across both
days meant it would be races
of attrition. As was customary
back in the day the Formula One
race would distill into a battle
between Baldwin and Kawasaki's
superbike-mounted Cooley. The
latter took an early lead that at
one stage had ballooned out to
10 seconds only for the former
to close inexorably on his NS500
and take the lead just after the
halfway point of the 31-lap race.
It was a position Baldwin
would never relinquish as Cooley
dropped the Kawasaki while in
pursuit on lap 28, promoting
Wise to second with Suzuki's Jeff
Hein in third. However, Baldwin's
winning margin over Wise was
so large he was only 25 sec
-
(Left) Wise (28) leads the way at Mid-Ohio in
1982. (Below) Wise was greeted by his extremely
happy Honda crew after his win at Mid-Ohio.
